The Fitbit Versa 2 (below) looks similar to the Apple Watch Series 5 (top).
Source:
https://scmp.com/lifestyle/gadgets/article/3031359/fitbit-versa-2-review-one-best-android-smartwatches-five-day Gadgets
Fitbit Versa 2 review: one of the best Android smartwatches – five-day battery life, great fitness tracking
- The US$199 Fitbit Versa 2 fixes many of its predecessors’ shortcomings while boasting best-in-class battery life and superior fitness and sleep tracking
- There are some minor performance quibbles, though, and changing straps is more difficult than it should be
Official product renders of the Fitbit Versa 2 in black
The Fitbit Versa 2 is the American tech brand’s third attempt at a smartwatch. It fixes many of the shortcomings of its previous models, so much so that it is one of the most polished Android smartwatches on the market right now.
Design and hardware
Most Android smartwatches, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch, Huawei Watch GT or TicWatch Pro, have design languages that are clearly trying to resemble a traditional timepiece, with a circular body and a bezel.
Fitbit’s Versa 2, instead, more resembles an Apple Watch. It is square with rounded corners – Apple’s is more rectangular – and when the screen is not on, all you see is a black slab. The chassis is constructed of aluminium and feels dense and durable.
The original Versa has a very similar look, but the new one has a 1.4-inch OLED display instead of LCD, and colours look great. There’s only one physical button on the left side of the watch, with most in-watch actions triggered by taps and swipes.
Around the back is a heart rate sensor, and four pogo pins that charge the watch (the charger is proprietary, unfortunately).
Official product render of the Fitbit Versa 2 in black. Photo: Fitbit
Two sizes of rubber straps are included with the package, each with more than 10 notches to cater to varying wrist sizes. The fit is comfortable, but removing the straps is a chore – Fitbit’s quick-release pin mechanism isn’t quick at all. Changing straps on the Apple Watch, by contrast, is a breeze.
The Versa 2 lacks built-in GPS, which means you’ll have to take your phone with you to track your runs, but there is NFC to support digital payments.
Software and features
Fitbit’s first attempt at a smartwatch, the Ionic, suffered mediocre reviews mainly due to lacklustre software. Now, however, the company has fine-tuned FitbitOS to the point that it is one of the better Android smartwatch software experiences.
The bar isn’t very high, unfortunately; Google’s own Wear OS, criticised for being unpolished, has long been the butt of jokes among Android enthusiasts.
Still, FitbitOS competently sends notifications from the phone to the Versa 2 in timely manner, and I can even respond to chat messages with a selection of canned responses at any time.
The Versa 2 comes with two straps with enough notches to ensure a fit for any wrist size. Photo: Ben Sin
Responding with a specific sentence via voice dictation is possible, but requires the Fitbit app to be running in the background of the Android phone. This makes the experience inconsistent, as sometimes you can respond to a WhatsApp message by speaking, but other times you’re locked to just the four or five canned responses. In this area, the Versa 2 falls far short of the Apple Watch.
Third-party app selection in FitbitOS is decent for an Android – there are apps for Spotify and Starbucks, for example – but still anaemic compared to the Apple Watch ecosystem.
Controlling music via Spotify is hit and miss; sometimes I can control playback directly on the Versa, sometimes I cannot. And yes, the Apple Watch is also significantly better here as well.
Fitbit, of course, made its name as a maker of fitness trackers, so naturally all the exercise-related tracking here is completely on point. Fitbit’s sleep tracking is also among the most accurate I’ve tried.
Performance and battery life
Using the Versa 2 day to day is mostly fine, as the OS is clean, and swipes and taps register without issues. There are minor quibbles, however.
Syncing between smartphone and watch is sometimes delayed, and old notifications linger even after I’ve interacted with them. Some days I’d open the notification panel and see that a message from three days ago I had responded to is still sitting there.
Notifications come in a timely manner, but FitbitOS is not too clever at getting rid of them even after the user has interacted with them. Photo: Ben Sin
Battery life is where the Versa 2 stands above everyone else. The watch can somehow last for five full days on a single charge. Frankly, I’m not sure how Fitbit pulled this off, considering that the screen is a vibrant colour panel, it is always tracking my heart rate and is always synced to my smartphone.
The Apple Watch needs charging every night. Other Android watches can go maybe three days, tops.
Conclusion
The Fitbit Versa 2 is no match for the Apple Watch Series 4 and 5 as an overall product. But considering that Fitbit’s watch is half the price at US$199, and that the Apple Watch doesn’t work on Android phones anyway, this leaves a clear market for the Versa 2: Android users who want a good, affordable smartwatch.
As far as I’m concerned, the two best Android smartwatches right now are the TicWatch Pro LTE and the Fitbit Versa 2. The former handles notifications better but the latter has superior fitness tracking.