Fitbit Versa 2 reviewed, does Apple have competition?

Wearable devices are all the rage at the moment, especially dedicated smartwatch health trackers. Apple is the market leader with its Apple Watch devices, and Fitbit with its Versa series is aiming to take a piece of Apple’s action. The Fitbit Versa 2 is the latest device by Fitbit and being an owner of an Apple Watch Series 3, I was dying to see how it compares.

When I first took it out of the box I was impressed at how good looking and light The Versa 2 is. Setting up the Versa 2 was not as easy as it should have been. The Versa 2 is set up by firstly charging your Versa 2 and then connecting it to your Wi-Fi. Nothing happened until I stood above my Wi-Fi modem and having gotten past this minor hurdle, the rest of the setup ran smoothly. I was then wondering how much I would miss my Apple Watch?  It turns out that I did not miss my Apple watch as much as I thought I would.

The Versa 2 comes with some great built-in features such as Amazon Alexa, a heart rate monitor and a sleep tracker. Amazon Alexa allows you to ask it questions and unlike Siri in the Apple Watch, you get your answers on the Versa 2’s screen as it does not have a speaker. Alexa can also be used to control smart devices, check the weather and even set reminders.

Of course, you will want to customise your Versa 2 with various apps including the Fitbit premium service, Deezer and Spotify. You can also customise your watch face which you can pay for.

The Fitbit Premium service which has a €9 monthly subscription fee gives you access to coaching, guided programmes and wellness reports. The Spotify app requires that you have a Spotify Premium account which is not the case with the Apple Watch, but you can easily download podcasts and songs which you can listen to via Bluetooth speakers.

Fitbit Pay is also available but at the moment the only Irish banks supporting it are AIB and KBC. This should change soon as more banks get on board.

Notifications from your phone will appear on your Versa 2 but there is a catch, you have to have an Android phone to respond to notifications which can be done with preset answers.  As the Versa 2 does not have a speaker, if you answer a phone call on it, it automatically diverts to your phone.

The main drawback of the Apple Watch is the battery life which can last between a day and a day and a half. The Versa 2, delivers  you 4- 5 days battery life and as it is waterproof you can wear it when you go swimming.

When the Versa 2 was launched, it was priced at €199 whilst the Apple Watch Series 3 started at €379, making the Versa 2 the Smartwatch to buy. Since then Apple has launched Series 5 of their Apple Watch and have reduced the price of the Series 3 to €239 in Ireland.

Whilst using the Versa 2, I found that I did not miss my Apple Watch that much and if you don’t need total integration with your iPhone then the Versa 2 is well worth buying. The battery life alone before you consider the built-in sleep tracker and heart rate monitor make it the smart buy.

It is also worth noting that Google bought Fitbit last week and the Versa 2 is one of the reasons why. What this will mean to Google’s Android Watch OS nobody knows, but the smartwatch healthcare space just got interesting again.