Fitbit’s legacy of providing versatile smartwatch-meets-fitness-trackers continues with the Versa 3, a wearable that gives a stable mix of capabilities for the value.
This watch is much from the easy pedometer Fitbit began with, too. With a variety of sensors for monitoring well being and common exercise, the Fitbit Versa 3 is well-equipped for normal health. Fitbit’s working system will not be as sturdy as a few of its opponents, however it nonetheless continues the corporate’s development of designing a few of the greatest health trackers and carries assist for each Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant onboard.
Probably the most health-conscious customers or critical athletes could desire one thing with extra sturdy monitoring, like an Apple Watch or one thing from Garmin. However outdoors of particular use circumstances, the Versa 3 shines as a succesful all-arounder and is likely one of the greatest Fitbit units.
Design
The Fitbit Versa 3 includes a modern and easily curved case design present in different Versas. It additionally continues the development of diminishing {hardware} buttons — it has none, opting as an alternative for a touch-sensitive space on the left facet of the watch case.
At virtually a half-inch thick, the Versa 3 is not the thinnest watch however its curved edges go a great distance to assist preserve it from feeling overly giant and snagging on sleeves and pockets an excessive amount of. The case is constructed of aluminum and includes a delicate antenna line round its circumference.
The Versa 3 includes a 1.58-inch AMOLED show that will get loads shiny to be used in direct daylight. It is also a pleasure to have a look at because the pure black pixels of the AMOLED panel assist it mix in with the black bezels across the show. It is a appreciable step up from the LCD show on the unique Versa.
The watch has a mic on both sides and even includes a speaker on the suitable facet. The pairing of those permits for cellphone calls on the watch, although it is not loud sufficient for sensible use outdoor on busy streets.
The Versa 3 includes a new watch band design and attachment mechanism. The bands connect with a easy latch that is extremely straightforward to open, although I by no means by chance unlatched it throughout time with the watch. Nevertheless, there’s a clicking sound I hear whereas transferring the watch once in a while, and the plastic development of this mechanism raises sturdiness considerations in comparison with a extra conventional metallic pin connector.
The brand new straps included with the Versa 3 are just like the sports activities bands for the Apple Watch that characteristic two loops. This retains the free finish from flopping about however does make discovering a great match trickier, because the little bit of band that tucks again beneath reduces house within the loop. The strap is a agency rubberized materials that is stretchy sufficient to stay snug, even when my arm swells mid-workout.
All of those designs are packaged and bought in three official colour combos: Black/Black Aluminum, Midnight/Smooth Gold Aluminum, and Pink Clay/Smooth Gold Aluminum.
Software program and interface
The Fitbit Versa 3’s sensors can monitor coronary heart price, sleep high quality, bodily exercise, and extra.
Mark Knapp/Insider
The Fitbit Versa is an easy product proper from the beginning. The pairing course of with my Android cellphone was fast and my cellphone detected the Versa 3 mechanically once I started the setup course of on the watch, prompting me to put in the Fitbit app.
The show is pretty straightforward to navigate with easy swipes and faucets however I nonetheless discover a whole lot of fundamental actions require that rather more of my consideration because of the lack of {hardware} buttons. Animations within the software program are additionally comparatively clean.
The touch-sensitive button takes some getting used to. It does an attention-grabbing job mimicking a bodily button, because it does not reply to a light-weight contact, as an alternative requiring a extra forceful press. And it provides satisfyingly tactile haptic suggestions, too.
The watch helps tons of options by way of its software program. App notifications from my cellphone come by way of promptly and permit me to answer with pre-set messages, emojis, and even voice dictation. Having Google Assistant obtainable on my wrist can be glorious for setting timers and reminders in addition to controlling sensible residence devices.
The Fitbit Versa 3 has Fitbit Pay by default, in contrast to the unique Versa which solely provided it on a particular version of the watch. It labored promptly once I paid in a restaurant.
This isn’t to say there aren’t a variety of hitches with the Versa 3’s software program. I often catch it displaying the incorrect time for a second, lengthy sufficient that if I simply glimpsed the look ahead to the time, I might be misled. This can be a glitch displaying 24-hour time, as I’ve seen the watch show 29:00 at 9:00 PM. It has all the time corrected itself after a couple of seconds although.
I usually discover myself in a tug-of-war with the show waking as properly. I usually press the facet button to wake the display manually however generally it wakes earlier than my button press registers, after which the button press places it again to sleep. This would not be a problem, however the auto-wake is not all the time dependable, so I usually discover myself manually waking the watch.
Monitoring
On high of its smarts, the Fitbit Versa 3 provides a substantial serving to of monitoring options.
The optical coronary heart price sensor can run all day and evening however requires a comfortable match. I’ve usually discovered it capable of preserve constant monitor with out being uncomfortably tight. Nevertheless, that comfortable match can run into points with exercises that require a whole lot of forearm work. I’ve principally achieved mountain climbing with the watch on and whereas it begins out snug, it might probably turn out to be constricting after solely a little bit climbing. Whereas understanding, the watch additionally gives vibration suggestions to point while you enter completely different coronary heart price zones.
There are a variety of actions the watch can monitor. Some are typical, like operating and biking, whereas it additionally has extra normal choices like “exercise” and “boot camp” in addition to specialised choices like tennis and yoga. Naturally, I used to be a little bit disillusioned to must accept the catchall exercise mode for climbing.
The Versa 3 may also mechanically detect some actions, because it did for 2 of my current bike rides. The Fitbit cell app permits for extra correct labeling of actions not less than, so I can tag exercises as mountain climbing after the actual fact.
The watch additionally makes use of its sensors to trace sleep. Afterward, it gives sleep charts and a sleep rating. And for those who use the watch’s alarm clock, it might probably wake you up throughout an optimum interval outdoors of deep sleep. It measures SpO2 ranges by way of the evening however it might probably’t present instantaneous blood oxygenation readings. Fitbit additionally tracks menstrual well being, however like many options, a whole lot of it comes all the way down to the Fitbit app, and never the watch itself.
Battery life
The battery lifetime of the Fitbit Versa 3 hinges largely on what options it is utilizing. For many of my evaluate interval, I ran 24/7 coronary heart price monitoring, wore the watch at evening for sleep monitoring, and tracked 5 to 6 hours of train all through the week. I additionally steadily checked notifications and often used Google Assistant all through the day.
With these settings and the always-on show lively, I bought a little bit over 48 hours of battery life. By disabling the always-on show, I used to be capable of stretch the battery life to a full 5 days. That reveals how a lot of successful the show has on the battery.
Fitbit makes holding the watch powered straightforward. I get a notification every time the watch hits 25% and one other when it will get nearer to useless. This offers me loads of alternative to cost it again up. Even when I overlook, the watch can virtually absolutely recharge in simply an hour, and simply 10 minutes of charging can be greater than sufficient to get by way of the day.
The underside line
The Versa 3’s value makes it a reasonably costly health tracker, but additionally a really inexpensive smartwatch.
Mark Knapp/Insider
The Fitbit Versa 3 is a very nice smartwatch and health tracker due to its versatility. Not like a few of the greatest smartwatches, it is easy to make use of for health monitoring and makes an excellent sidekick for anybody who does not like pulling their smartphone out too usually.
In order for you a watch that does a little bit of every little thing and does not have to be charged each evening, then that is positively a great decide. It does not have each characteristic beneath the solar however it does not have any obvious omissions both.
For extra sturdy well being monitoring options, you could get extra out of the Apple Watch Sequence 8 or the Fitbit Sense 2. The Fitbit Sense 2 ought to be a largely comparable expertise past that, whereas the Apple Watch Sequence 8 affords a extra sturdy app ecosystem, albeit at a better value.
