Fitbit’s second smartwatch is the one worth buying

We liked Fitbit’s Ionic, the company’s first smartwatch after years of making fitness trackers for health-conscious consumers. But despite its many positive attributes, the Ionic was ultimately flawed: it was expensive, it had limited access to apps and had a design that was pretty polarizing, especially to women, a key demographic. But it seems Fitbit is a quick study as their second smartwatch, the Versa, addresses many of the issues that the Ionic had resulting in a smartwatch that’s a worthy alternative to the current smartwatch king: Apple’s Watch.

Petite design and size means it fits on more wrists

While the Versa is a tad smaller than the Ionic, its design has a broader appeal compared to its larger sibling. Its square design with its rounded corners gives it a safe (some would say boring) and appealing aesthetic. Its smaller size means it won’t look weird on petite wrists, opening up its use to both men and women, and Fitbit includes small and large wristbands for both sexes. The Versa is available in more colors than classic black, and special edition versions of the smartwatch even include snazzy textured wristbands for that extra feeling of premium-ness.

We’d forgive you if you mistook the Versa for the Apple Watch from a distance, since their design is quite similar. But unlike the Cupertino firm’s wearable, the Versa has three buttons instead of a crown – two on the right, one on the left – for navigation and use. The lone button on the left turns the screen on and off and doubles as the back button, while the two on the right start and stop your workouts.

The Versa has a 1.34-inch color display, with brightness topping out at 1000 nits. The display is bright enough to be used even in direct sunlight without any problems. Much like Fitbit’s other fitness trackers, the Versa is water resistant up to 50 meters.

Has the same suite of sensors as the Ionic save one

Being a Fitbit product, the Versa has all the sensors you’d expect from a top-tier fitness tracker. It has an optical heart rate monitor as well as a SpO2 sensor, which monitors your blood oxygen saturation levels. That’s on top of the usual 3-axis accelerometer and gyroscope that you’d associate with regular fitness trackers in the market.

But the Versa doesn’t have a built-in GPS sensor unlike the Ionic, which means you’ll have to take your phone with you when you run.

If you do decide to run without your phone, you can still listen to music via Bluetooth since the Versa has around 2.5GB of onboard storage. There’s an option to connect to Deezer as well for your music needs.

The special edition also has NFC capability which the base version lacks for wireless payments, specifically Fitbit Pay, which isn’t available as of the moment in the Philippines.

Check out the Versa’s connectivity options and UI on the next page