Better than Blaze - smart enough but... Review on Fitbit Versa Smartwatch

This is my third fitbit fitness band. I have owned the charge, Blaze & now this - the versa. So I have seen the evolution of fitbit up close. Now to the product review - this is somewhat an evolution of the Blaze smartwatch & less of a revolutionary product. I managed to get it for 14, 500/- during Amazon sale event - which brings it in the same range as the US price in$. Which is why I got it. I was happy with the Blaze - its basic but does its jobs well. The versa is more of a minor upgrade.

What's good about it?

-The design & ergonomics are right on point. In my opinion, this is way more comfortable to wear than almost any smartwatch out there. Leagues ahead of iwatch in terms of size, form factor & comfort. Weighs almost nothing & you will forget that you have it on your wrist.

-A great fitness tracker. As is the case with most FitBit trackers. First of all - this is a fitness tracker. And it does the job well. Continuous heartrate monitoring is on point & consistent, the pure-pulse tech works well and is able to detect & classify physical activities very well. The app ecosystem is fantastic & it also plays well with other fitness apps. Data is sharable(if you allow it to be shared).

-Water resistant. Yep - this was a big plus for me. The blaze was splash proof. It had survived through the pouring rain. However, I could not take it for a swim! What good is a fitness tracker if you cannot take on a physical activity? This one is rated at 5ATM or 50 mts - good enough to swim with. That is a step up for sure.

-Future ready. This comes with an O2 sensor which is disabled at the moment. Expected to be enabled in future with a software update.

-Apps & watch faces are a plenty. Well watch faces yes, Apps are still limited. But I do get Strava:) Being a cyclist, it was a selling point for me. Though, the integration of Strava is way better on iWatch. Nothing which cannot be improved via software update - so there is hope & room for improvement. Runners & cyclists will cherish this.

-Battery life is 3-4 days. This is a bit of a step down from the blaze, to be honest. The blaze had better battery life.

-An extra band in the box. Size Small is pre-fitted. Size Large is in the box. Smart decision instead of having to sell units of varying sizes.

-The charging dock is better than the previous gen Blaze. No more removing the tracker from the housing or removing bands each time to charge. The dock is simple & works as a nightstand. Still bulky but better than what I am used to.

-The vibrating motor is a big step up. Its strong & the alarms will wake you up silently without disturbing others.

-Market is filled with accessories options. Bands, cases, stands - you name it. Way cheaper than apple accessories.

What is not that great?

-No in-built GPS. Connected GPS required your phone's GPS. I understand why this was done by fitbit - GPS drains the battery very swiftly & takes the cost up. However relying on the phone all the time is a negative in my books.

• Songs stored locally is a total sham. The process of transferring songs & the time taken to do so is just ridiculous. This is more of a gimmick than a feature.

-A bit pricey. 20k is too much to ask IMO. I mean the iwatch is now selling for 25k. Not everyone gets it for under 15k. I was lucky maybe. I'd say 12-13k is the right price for the versa.

-Still far behind when comes to Apple iWatch in terms of features. This kinda does everything without doing enough. Notifications, quick replies(if you are on android) & limited apps. iWatch does a lot more. But then that costs a lot more.

This is a sport watch more than a smartwatch. It has all the right features. Display is easily legible under direct sunlight. You can customize the buttons to create shortcuts to a stopwatch or an activity etc. But apps are a bit lacklustre.

Still does the job for me. And the fact that it tracks all essentials of fitness in one app - makes it worthwhile. As against say iWatch which needs 3 different apps.

Sleep tracking is something I find myself using a lot. Its pretty useful & the insights provided by the app are very helpful.

I will stick with this versa for now.

I'll update my review after a month of usage. I use it for cycling, weight training & some yoga. Overall - I like it but only marginally over the Blaze.

Feel free to ask me questions about the product - I will be more than happy to help you.

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Updated on 22-Oct:

Been using this for a while now. Here are my observations:

• The display is far better than the blaze. Its crisp, clear & the black levels are impressive. Colors pop out. And in general I found it to be higher resolution compared to previous gen blaze.

All screens shows more information with the ability to delve deepers on most metrics to see a trend.

• Connectivity: I also found that it connects much more easily to the phone. And syncs even when the location service is not turned on. Strangely, the blaze sync worked only with BT & GPS turned on the phone.

  
  




• Battery life: Comparable to Blaze thankfully. 4-5 days if you turn off notification. 3 days with notifications turned on.

  
  

Another positive is that the battery level nidicator shows the exact% number. Which is a step up from blaze showing a bar with 4-5 blocks making up the battery level indicator. I find the x% remaining on the versa much more useful.

• Aesthetics: pleasing to say the least. Looks great on the wrist although I find it a tad bit slammer. I do wish they offered a bigger size like the iwatch 38mm & 42mm. Most men with wider wrists will want a slightly bigger watchface which does not look out of proportion on the hand.