I am one of those girls who really really wants to be a fitness goddess, but just wasn’t born for the gym life. Instead I prefer an ‘active lifestyle’ with a variety of activities throughout the week to keep me motivated, my body moving and my mind clear.
When you aren’t trying to lose or gain weight, but rather stick to an active lifestyle for general improved health, it is more difficult to set measurable goals. Something I rely upon to maintain motivation and to feel accomplished in my achievements. So I began researching fitness smart watches which measure weekly performance during a range of different activities. Finally based on functionality, price and design, I chose the Rose Gold Fitbit Versa.
I have been using the Fitbit Versa for 2 weeks now, and following my experience, have put together a list of features with pros and cons to help you decide if the Fitbit Versa is the fitness watch for you.
Fitbit Versa Features: The Pros & Cons
Easy set up
The Fitbit Versa was very easy to set up, by connecting to the free mobile app and following the step by step instructions and help guides contained within the app.
Design
I personally really love the design of this fitness watch. My iPhone and Beats Headphones are pink/rose gold, and the colour of the gadget itself matches really nicely. The watch comes with two different size straps. As someone with a tiny wrist, I was really pleased to find the smaller strap fit my wrist with a couple holes to spare.
The size of the screen is also just the right size for me. Making text and images clear and easy to see and the touch screen elements easy to use.
Battery
I only have to charge my Fitbit Versa twice a week. The battery is fully charged in just a few hours. I choose to pop mine on charge in the evening during a Netflix marathon or bubble bath. This way I don’t miss out on tracking activity. You can even set your Fitbit to send you an email when it’s low on battery (around 25%), a useful reminder.
Waterproof
The Fitbit Versa isn’t just splash or shower proof, but you can also wear it up to 50 metres deep! The ability to track swimming was a huge selling point for me. It tracks lengths, stroke type and calories burned which is perfect for setting weekly goals and watching your progress.
Tracking fitness
You can track a variety of activities to gain useful information. Such as heart rate, calories burned, time, distance, laps, steps and speed. The auto tracker will even notice when you are doing strenuous activity (such as gardening) and track it as daily activity with interesting statistics. This is really useful for seeing which exercises and activities have the biggest impact on your body.
Alerts & reminders
The Fitbit Versa has a silent alarm function, which you can set to repeat on particular days. It gently vibrates until you stop it, just enough to wake you up but not your partner. This is also really useful for subtle reminders. You no longer have to worry about the noise at work, in the cinema or during a class for example.
Fitbit encourages you to walk at least 250 steps every hour. It tells you how many steps you have left to go with around 10 minutes warning, encouraging you to get up and move. This function is really beneficial for those who spend long periods of time sat at a desk. I also use this reminder to get up and refill my water bottle – kill two birds with one stone! (huh – I just realised how horrible that expression is…)
Call & text notification
When your phone is within around 30 metres of your watch, you can receive optional notifications which pop up on your watch. Options include texts, calls, whatsapp’s, social media and more. You can’t reply to texts or speak to callers from the watch. There are however more expensive products out there (like Apple watches) that do allow this feature. For me, these notifications enable me to relax and focus on my exercise session, as I can see if a text received is urgent.
Weekly reports
I was wondering how I could assess my progress week on week without having to look back through the various sections of the Fitbit app. Suddenly as if by magic a Fitbit weekly report hit my email inbox! It highlights stats for the week, with a comparison to the previous week. A great motivator to step up your game.
Tracking lifestyle
I was surprised to discover the Fitbit Versa doesn’t just track exercise, but also water intake, weight, female health and food. I personally choose not to track calories or the food I eat, so am unable to comment on this tool.
The female health tracking function allows you to not only track your cycle, but also other information about your periods and body, such as mood, symptoms and sex. I love having this extra data for helping women to become more in tune with their bodies and learn how their cycle impacts their mind and body.
Whilst I love the water tracker function for encouraging hydration, for me it is a bit buggy. You can enter water intake throughout the day on either the watch or the mobile app which is a great feature. I have noticed however some entries aren’t reflected in the total intake, or occasionally my 1000ml intake is suddenly accelerated to 26,573ml at 11am that day – if that was true, I’d have drowned. This makes me a little distrustful of the data but not everyone may experience this fault.
Auto screen light
This model can be set to automatically light the screen when you turn your wrist. Not having to press a button every time I want to see the time is a necessity for me. There are times however where this feature is problematic. I was awoken by the light a few times the first night I wore my watch to bed, as the screen lit up as I rolled over or lifted my arm out from under the covers. This feature can easily be switched off via a handy shortcut before you go to bed. It is a bit of a pain though remembering to switch it off, and then back on in the morning.
Connected GPS
The Fitbit Versa doesn’t have its own GPS capabilities, but rather uses the GPS from your phone. This means you still have to take your phone out on runs and walks if you want to track your route. This does keep the cost of the product down, so although this can be inconvenient, it makes the product accessible for more people (including myself). If this is an issue however, the Fitbit Ionic has built in GPS.
Spotify HR
The Fitbit Versa has a tailored Spotify app which is essentially a remote control for the Spotify music playing on your mobile app. So again you have to have your phone within 30 metres for this control to work. The controls will only appear on the Fitbit screen once a song is playing (it took me a while to figure this out!), allowing you to skip and pause songs or podcasts from the playlist your phone is currently playing from. There can be a slight delay between hitting the skip button and the song or episode changing, only an issue if, like me, you are impatient and keep tapping tapping tapping until you have accidentally skipped every song in your playlist.
Step counter sensitivity
I have tried and tested the accuracy of the step counter and whilst its generally pretty accurate, I find the step count doesn’t always increase when I’m walking on soft carpet. On the flip side, I discovered today my steps increased as I mixed cake batter. Great for my weekly report – but not exactly well-deserved! (The banana loaf on the other hand was!)
Fitbit Versa: The Verdict
Overall, I love the Fitbit Versa! Whilst it has some bugs and elements which could be improved, it is definitely worth every penny and can highly benefit health/fitness if used correctly as part of a healthy balanced lifestyle by providing encouragement and useful data.
I purchased my watch at Currys/PC World for £169 which came with a free Google Home.
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