For its second smartwatch, Fitbit is taking a more casual approach.
As its name implies, the Versa is versatile in design, with myriad customizable clock faces, straps, and color options.
It's versatile in functionality as well, capable of tracking all of your typical fitness metrics, as well as fielding your texts, calls, and app notifications.
It even has its own solid app library.
And at $199.95, the Versa is one of the more affordable fitness tracker-smartwatch hybrids on the market.
If that wasn't enough, it's also one of the first to natively support female health tracking both in app and on-device.
That makes it our Editors' Choice for smartwatches.
Sleek and Chic
You'd be forgiven for thinking the Versa is the Apple Watch at first glance.
From the "squircle" display to the modular straps, the resemblance is uncanny—and that's a good thing.
Where the Fitbit Ionic's blocky design leans sporty, the Versa's rounded corners make for a sleeker, friendlier look and feel.
It's waterproof up to 50 meters, or 5 ATM, meaning it's safe for both the pool and shower.
The Versa is available in a single size with three default case and silicone strap combinations: a black aluminum case with a black strap, a rose gold aluminum case with a peach strap, and a silver aluminum case with a gray strap.
For $229.95, you can get the Fitbit Versa Special Edition, which features woven straps in charcoal or lavender.
In terms of accessories, Fitbit is offering everything from classic silicone bands to leather and metal mesh options, ranging from $29.95 to $99.95.
I opted for the rose gold and peach combination.
As you can see in the images that accompany this review, it's an attractive look, and I appreciate the ability to choose a more feminine color palette.
Too often, smartwatches are geared toward a strictly male audience, resulting in products that don't look or feel right on female wrists.
I also tried a black mesh strap.
I like how it dresses the watch up, though unlike the silicone bands, which have holes for easily finding your size, to adjust the mesh band, you have to first open the clasp.
Then you need a flathead screwdriver to pull up the latch before you can tighten or loosen the strap.
While I love the variety of bands available, swapping them is a little tricky.
The straps are secured via ball pins, which you pinch to remove.
While it's easy enough to take straps off, it's a bit trickier to put them on.
It's doable, but finicky enough that I wouldn't want to have to change straps frequently.
With the Apple Watch, you simply press a latch and slide the straps into place.
The Fitbit Ionic also uses a simpler latch mechanism.
See How We Test Fitness Trackers
The square display is crisp, bright, and clear.
It measures about 0.95 on each side and has a resolution of 300 by 300 pixels.
But like the Ionic, it does have a rather thick bezel.
It's less noticeable on the Versa, but don't expect an edge-to-edge display like the Apple Watch.
There are three buttons, one on the left and two on the right side of the case.
When pressed, the left button brings up music controls, the top right button toggles the exercise app, and the bottom right button is for the alarm.
These functions can be changed to your liking.
Inside, the Versa packs an impressive array of sensors for the price.
In addition to your typical three-axis accelerometer and gyroscope, it has an altimeter, an ambient light sensor, an optical heart rate monitor, and an SpO2 sensor (peripheral capillary oxygen saturation, an estimate of the amount of oxygen in your blood).
For connectivity, it supports Bluetooth and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi.
If you opt for the Special Edition, you'll also get NFC for contactless payments.
Battery life is estimated at over four days, while charging from zero to 100 percent takes about two hours.
As of this writing, I've worn the Versa for two and a half days and still have 55 percent battery left.
That's much better than your average touch-screen smartwatch, which typically gets somewhere between 24 to 48 hours of battery life.
It also enables the Versa to track sleep, as you don't have to take it off every night to charge.
Speaking of charging, it's a little disappointing to see the Versa comes with a bulky, boxy proprietary charger.
It's not ideal for stowing in your bag, and if you lose or break it, you'll have to buy a new one.
A Stronger Ecosystem
One of our main issues with the Ionic was the lack of apps for Fitbit OS at launch.
That's still somewhat true—both Apple and Google have a wider selection of third-party apps.
But Fitbit is catching up.
There's now over 550 apps and clock faces in its App Gallery, including Deezer, Pandora, Philips Hue, Starbucks, and Yelp.
Additionally, Fitbit has a series of "experimental" apps that are part of its Fitbit Labs.
The Versa also supports female health tracking.
While other smartwatch ecosystems offer period-tracking apps, they're not built into the main OS experience.
With the Versa, you can swipe up from the main screen to view your daily stats.
With it enabled, you'll see a widget that tells how many days until your next period, as well as how many days until your next fertile window.
When you open the widget, you can toggle between a calendar view and your personal trends.
To get started, you can enter the type of birth control you use, your typical period length, cycle length, and whether you want Fitbit to make predictions about future cycles.
A trends screen also lets you view your average cycle length, period length, and estimated ovulation day based on your previous cycles—all important metrics if you're looking to get pregnant, or if you want to keep track of irregular periods.
At the bottom of the screen, there's a green plus button you can use to log details.
Fitbit does an excellent job of offering lots of options for keeping an eye on your symptoms.
You can log everything from flow intensity, fluids, physical conditions like cramps, sexual activity, and "cycle-altering events," such as the morning-after pill.
Like the Ionic, the Versa also supports onboard music storage (you can listen to music through a pair of connected Bluetooth headphones).
You can load up to 300 songs or podcasts for on-device playback, letting you leave your phone at home.
You can also download stations or playlists to play offline from Deezer or Pandora (new Fitbit subscribers can get three months free from Deezer and one month from Pandora).
Other features and interface elements remain similar to what you get on the Ionic.
To access your phone notifications (including text, call, calendar, and app notifications), simply swipe down from the clock face screen.
Android users can also send quick replies to text straight from their wrist.
Swiping up takes you to a quick summary of your daily steps, movement, and heart rate.
To view apps, swipe left.
There are four apps to a screen, and you can swipe left and right to browse through all of them.
Loading apps can be a bit slow, but it's noticeably improved since the Ionic launched last summer.
Fitness Features
The Versa has a leg up on the smartwatch competition when it comes to fitness tracking.
In a controlled, one-mile treadmill walk at 3.5 miles per hour, it logged 2,122 steps.
By comparison, a Yamax SW-200 Digi-Walker recorded 2,172 steps on the same walk, for a difference of just 2.3 percent.
On a one-mile run at 5mph, it tracked 1,908 steps to the Yamax's 1,967, for a difference of 3 percent.
These are excellent results.
For distance, the Versa underreported my one-mile walk as 0.87-mile.
It fared better on my run, logging an excellent 0.98-mile.
This slight disparity isn't too surprising, as the Versa doesn't have GPS, like the more expensive Ionic does.
This won't be a big deal for indoor runners, but it means you may want to use your phone's GPS for distance when you take it outdoors.
The Versa can track plenty of other activities as well.
The Exercise app has options for biking, intervals, swimming, weights, and a general workout option.
And if you play tennis, you can download a Fitbit Labs Tennis app.
You also get the option of guided on-device workouts through the Fitbit Coach app.
Out of the box, there are three workouts with step-by-step instructions.
You can receive personalized or recommended workouts by downloading the Fitbit Coach app.
The Versa proved reliable when it comes to heart rate monitoring.
During my tests, it was always within five to 10 beats per minute of the Polar H10 chest strap.
It also logged my sleep with accuracy.
And like Fitbit's other trackers, it offers detailed insight into sleeping habits and patterns.
A True Hybrid
The Versa has a major edge on the smartwatch competition when it comes to battery life, and unlike the Apple Watch, it works with both Android and iOS phones.
The Fitbit Ionic offers GPS, NFC, and a slightly larger display, but we strongly prefer the Versa's design and the fact that it's $100 less.
If you're looking for the best app selection (and you're an iPhone user), get an Apple Watch.
If you're focused on fitness, there are too many good trackers on the market count.
But if you want the best of both worlds, look no further than the Fitbit Versa.
It combines the good looks and some of the app selection of the Apple Watch, with the fitness tracking capabilities Fitbit is known for.
At $200, you're getting a ton of functionality for the price.
Add in industry-first support for female health tracking, and you get our Editors' Choice for smartwatches.
Pros
Sleek, lightweight design with lots of style options.
Accurate fitness tracking.
Guided workouts with Fitbit Coach.
Stores music on-device.
Long battery life.
Supports female health tracking.
View More
The Bottom Line
The Fitbit Versa offers just the right blend of smartwatch and fitness tracking features for a reasonable price.
For its second smartwatch, Fitbit is taking a more casual approach.
As its name implies, the Versa is versatile in design, with myriad customizable clock faces, straps, and color options.
It's versatile in functionality as well, capable of tracking all of your typical fitness metrics, as well as fielding your texts, calls, and app notifications.
It even has its own solid app library.
And at $199.95, the Versa is one of the more affordable fitness tracker-smartwatch hybrids on the market.
If that wasn't enough, it's also one of the first to natively support female health tracking both in app and on-device.
That makes it our Editors' Choice for smartwatches.
Sleek and Chic
You'd be forgiven for thinking the Versa is the Apple Watch at first glance.
From the "squircle" display to the modular straps, the resemblance is uncanny—and that's a good thing.
Where the Fitbit Ionic's blocky design leans sporty, the Versa's rounded corners make for a sleeker, friendlier look and feel.
It's waterproof up to 50 meters, or 5 ATM, meaning it's safe for both the pool and shower.
The Versa is available in a single size with three default case and silicone strap combinations: a black aluminum case with a black strap, a rose gold aluminum case with a peach strap, and a silver aluminum case with a gray strap.
For $229.95, you can get the Fitbit Versa Special Edition, which features woven straps in charcoal or lavender.
In terms of accessories, Fitbit is offering everything from classic silicone bands to leather and metal mesh options, ranging from $29.95 to $99.95.
I opted for the rose gold and peach combination.
As you can see in the images that accompany this review, it's an attractive look, and I appreciate the ability to choose a more feminine color palette.
Too often, smartwatches are geared toward a strictly male audience, resulting in products that don't look or feel right on female wrists.
I also tried a black mesh strap.
I like how it dresses the watch up, though unlike the silicone bands, which have holes for easily finding your size, to adjust the mesh band, you have to first open the clasp.
Then you need a flathead screwdriver to pull up the latch before you can tighten or loosen the strap.
While I love the variety of bands available, swapping them is a little tricky.
The straps are secured via ball pins, which you pinch to remove.
While it's easy enough to take straps off, it's a bit trickier to put them on.
It's doable, but finicky enough that I wouldn't want to have to change straps frequently.
With the Apple Watch, you simply press a latch and slide the straps into place.
The Fitbit Ionic also uses a simpler latch mechanism.
See How We Test Fitness Trackers
The square display is crisp, bright, and clear.
It measures about 0.95 on each side and has a resolution of 300 by 300 pixels.
But like the Ionic, it does have a rather thick bezel.
It's less noticeable on the Versa, but don't expect an edge-to-edge display like the Apple Watch.
There are three buttons, one on the left and two on the right side of the case.
When pressed, the left button brings up music controls, the top right button toggles the exercise app, and the bottom right button is for the alarm.
These functions can be changed to your liking.
Inside, the Versa packs an impressive array of sensors for the price.
In addition to your typical three-axis accelerometer and gyroscope, it has an altimeter, an ambient light sensor, an optical heart rate monitor, and an SpO2 sensor (peripheral capillary oxygen saturation, an estimate of the amount of oxygen in your blood).
For connectivity, it supports Bluetooth and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi.
If you opt for the Special Edition, you'll also get NFC for contactless payments.
Battery life is estimated at over four days, while charging from zero to 100 percent takes about two hours.
As of this writing, I've worn the Versa for two and a half days and still have 55 percent battery left.
That's much better than your average touch-screen smartwatch, which typically gets somewhere between 24 to 48 hours of battery life.
It also enables the Versa to track sleep, as you don't have to take it off every night to charge.
Speaking of charging, it's a little disappointing to see the Versa comes with a bulky, boxy proprietary charger.
It's not ideal for stowing in your bag, and if you lose or break it, you'll have to buy a new one.
A Stronger Ecosystem
One of our main issues with the Ionic was the lack of apps for Fitbit OS at launch.
That's still somewhat true—both Apple and Google have a wider selection of third-party apps.
But Fitbit is catching up.
There's now over 550 apps and clock faces in its App Gallery, including Deezer, Pandora, Philips Hue, Starbucks, and Yelp.
Additionally, Fitbit has a series of "experimental" apps that are part of its Fitbit Labs.
The Versa also supports female health tracking.
While other smartwatch ecosystems offer period-tracking apps, they're not built into the main OS experience.
With the Versa, you can swipe up from the main screen to view your daily stats.
With it enabled, you'll see a widget that tells how many days until your next period, as well as how many days until your next fertile window.
When you open the widget, you can toggle between a calendar view and your personal trends.
To get started, you can enter the type of birth control you use, your typical period length, cycle length, and whether you want Fitbit to make predictions about future cycles.
A trends screen also lets you view your average cycle length, period length, and estimated ovulation day based on your previous cycles—all important metrics if you're looking to get pregnant, or if you want to keep track of irregular periods.
At the bottom of the screen, there's a green plus button you can use to log details.
Fitbit does an excellent job of offering lots of options for keeping an eye on your symptoms.
You can log everything from flow intensity, fluids, physical conditions like cramps, sexual activity, and "cycle-altering events," such as the morning-after pill.
Like the Ionic, the Versa also supports onboard music storage (you can listen to music through a pair of connected Bluetooth headphones).
You can load up to 300 songs or podcasts for on-device playback, letting you leave your phone at home.
You can also download stations or playlists to play offline from Deezer or Pandora (new Fitbit subscribers can get three months free from Deezer and one month from Pandora).
Other features and interface elements remain similar to what you get on the Ionic.
To access your phone notifications (including text, call, calendar, and app notifications), simply swipe down from the clock face screen.
Android users can also send quick replies to text straight from their wrist.
Swiping up takes you to a quick summary of your daily steps, movement, and heart rate.
To view apps, swipe left.
There are four apps to a screen, and you can swipe left and right to browse through all of them.
Loading apps can be a bit slow, but it's noticeably improved since the Ionic launched last summer.
Fitness Features
The Versa has a leg up on the smartwatch competition when it comes to fitness tracking.
In a controlled, one-mile treadmill walk at 3.5 miles per hour, it logged 2,122 steps.
By comparison, a Yamax SW-200 Digi-Walker recorded 2,172 steps on the same walk, for a difference of just 2.3 percent.
On a one-mile run at 5mph, it tracked 1,908 steps to the Yamax's 1,967, for a difference of 3 percent.
These are excellent results.
For distance, the Versa underreported my one-mile walk as 0.87-mile.
It fared better on my run, logging an excellent 0.98-mile.
This slight disparity isn't too surprising, as the Versa doesn't have GPS, like the more expensive Ionic does.
This won't be a big deal for indoor runners, but it means you may want to use your phone's GPS for distance when you take it outdoors.
The Versa can track plenty of other activities as well.
The Exercise app has options for biking, intervals, swimming, weights, and a general workout option.
And if you play tennis, you can download a Fitbit Labs Tennis app.
You also get the option of guided on-device workouts through the Fitbit Coach app.
Out of the box, there are three workouts with step-by-step instructions.
You can receive personalized or recommended workouts by downloading the Fitbit Coach app.
The Versa proved reliable when it comes to heart rate monitoring.
During my tests, it was always within five to 10 beats per minute of the Polar H10 chest strap.
It also logged my sleep with accuracy.
And like Fitbit's other trackers, it offers detailed insight into sleeping habits and patterns.
A True Hybrid
The Versa has a major edge on the smartwatch competition when it comes to battery life, and unlike the Apple Watch, it works with both Android and iOS phones.
The Fitbit Ionic offers GPS, NFC, and a slightly larger display, but we strongly prefer the Versa's design and the fact that it's $100 less.
If you're looking for the best app selection (and you're an iPhone user), get an Apple Watch.
If you're focused on fitness, there are too many good trackers on the market count.
But if you want the best of both worlds, look no further than the Fitbit Versa.
It combines the good looks and some of the app selection of the Apple Watch, with the fitness tracking capabilities Fitbit is known for.
At $200, you're getting a ton of functionality for the price.
Add in industry-first support for female health tracking, and you get our Editors' Choice for smartwatches.
Pros
Sleek, lightweight design with lots of style options.
Accurate fitness tracking.
Guided workouts with Fitbit Coach.
Stores music on-device.
Long battery life.
Supports female health tracking.
View More
The Bottom Line
The Fitbit Versa offers just the right blend of smartwatch and fitness tracking features for a reasonable price.
