If you’re looking for an alternative to the Apple Watch that still gives you all the fitness and wearable fun you can want, the Fitbit Versa 2 might be the answer. The original 2018 Fitbit Versa was a big hit for the company but was overshadowed by the Apple Watch. Fast forward to the Fitbit Versa 2 and the company hopes to attract customers who don’t want to pay Apple Watch pricing.
Even though it wasn’t a huge upgrade from the original, the Versa 2 did still introduce many improvements. In fact, it’s safe to argue the Versa 2 was actually Fitbit’s first real smartwatch. Even after the release of the Versa 3, the Versa 2 still offers plenty of reasons to pick one up.
With that in mind, let’s take at some specific reasons you should pick up the Fitbit Versa 2 today.
What Is the Fitbit Versa 2?
A combination smartwatch that offers a host of fitness features, the Fitbit Versa 2 is a strong entry in the wearable space. The Versa 2 can help you get fit and stay fit between a daily readiness score and sleep tracking. As a strong competitor in wearables, it’s great to see how far Fitbit has come since its 2017 Iconic wearable. Today, the Versa 2 offers enough fitness features to keep everyone happy all while offering class-leading battery life.
One of the biggest highlights is the Versa 2’s OLED display, which offers plenty of viewing flexibility both indoors and out. Even as many smartwatches claim to be the total package, the Fitbit Versa 2 was a quiet competitor in the space that does everything it promises.
Given this, it’s time to start looking at the top reasons to grab a Fitbit Versa 2.
- Amazon Alexa built
- Track sleep quality each night
- Get a 90-day free trial of the Fitbit Premium
- With a larger display
Reasons to Buy a Fitbit Versa 2 Today
#1: Wonderful OLED Screen
While the screen might not be the most important reason to buy a fitness tracker for most people, ignoring the Versa 2’s OLED display is not possible. This bright and beautiful display, with up to 1,000 nits of brightness shows off accurate colors and just looks great. Best of all, you can easily see everything on screen both indoors and outside. This is an important function for a smartwatch as many fitness wearable functions occur outdoors. Fitbit was forward-thinking by adding an OLED display that lets you take full advantage of it, even in direct sunlight.
Better yet, you can utilize Fitbit’s always-on display with the Versa 2. This feature, now popularized by the Apple Watch, allows you to always have the time up on the screen. Alternatively, with always-on, you can always see workout progress on the screen without having to touch anything.
Even if the always-on display is fairly limited after these two functions, the Versa 2 introduced this feature around the same time as Apple. It’s one of those features you never know you needed until you have it and then it’s hard to live without it.
#2: Fitness Tracking
As one of the primary functions of the Fitbit Versa 2, its fitness tracking features are absolutely terrific. Everything from being able to track steps, distance, calories burned, heart rate, and more is possible. One of the great features of the Versa 2 is that if you somehow forget to activate a workout, automatic exercise tracking kicks in. This built-in tech ensures it starts recording all of your fitness stats just in case you miss a button.
Workouts from running, biking, weights, yoga, and more are all going to give you live stats right on your wrist. It’s just so easy to quickly glance and see how much more distance you have in a run. There’s just something about knowing exactly how much distance you have achieved or calories burned to help push you through the end of a workout.
Being able to track your heart rate while fitness tracking is also a must-have feature included on the Versa 2. Knowing that you are in the right stage for maximum calorie burning is something that can be essential for maximizing daily workouts.
#3: Daily Readiness Score
Speaking of daily workouts, Fitbit’s Daily Readiness Score is one of its best features. This tech helps track your previous workouts and lets you know if your body is ready for a full workout today or if it needs more time to recover. Having this feature will help you avoid burning out or worse, injuring yourself by pushing too hard. Of course, you can skip the recommendation but, that Fitbit thought to include this as a feature for all of its customers on the Versa 2, is a great benefit.
#4: Battery Life
When it comes to the Apple Watch, battery life is often at the forefront of any complaints. Thankfully, with the Fitbit Versa 2, they focused on making the battery last for more than a single day.
While the 6-day battery life Fitbit claims is only under the most ideal of conditions, you can still expect at least 2-3 days under moderate use. This means one workout per day and wearing it for a full day without charging in the evening.
If you look to workout daily, add in sleep tracking, and wear during the day, battery life can fluctuate. Even so, there is little question that the Fitbit Versa 2 is going to outpace Apple Watch’s battery life.
©Cast Of Thousands/Shutterstock.com
#5: Excellent Design
One of the best aspects of the Fitbit Versa 2 is just how clean the overall watch body is. It’s thinner than its predecessor, while also providing a slightly larger display. There are some bezels but the inclusion of a black screen helps hide it away somewhat. Another update from the Versa 1 is that the Versa 2 has moved to just a single button on the side.
This button is employed as a “select” and “back” button, which should be familiar to Apple Watch owners. Having this single-button action means that you should be able to get any applications or settings you want quickly. The original Versa and its three buttons, unfortunately, are trickier to operate and get somewhere in the settings menu quickly.
Ultimately, the design looks sleek and catchy on your wrist. There is nothing about the Fitbit Versa 2 that makes it feel like a cheap Amazon knock-off. It looks as good while exercising as it does wearing out for a night on the town.
#6: Amazon Alexa Support
With other main competitors offering some level of voice assistance, Fitbit brought forth Amazon Alexa integration for the Versa 2. By offering Alexa support, Versa 2 owners can quickly get news, information, a weather report, or set a timer. Additionally, Alexa integration also helps the Versa 2 function as something of a smart hub. This allows you to use voice commands directly on the Versa 2 to control all of your smart home devices.
This could very much come in handy as you are on your way home and want Alexa to adjust the thermostat in your house up by 5 degrees. Alternatively, It might be a voice command to turn on outside lights. Ultimately, if you can tell Alexa to perform an ask, you can ask it directly through Versa 2.
Alexa isn’t as deeply entrenched in the Versa 2 as Siri is with the Apple Watch or Google with the Pixel Watch, but it’s still just as useful for basic tasks.
#7: Sleep Tracking
Among the most notable features of the Fitbit Versa 2, the inclusion of sleep tracking is a big reason to buy. Everything for telling you how well you sleep at night as well as how much of your sleep was spent in light, deep, or REM stages is important. While it’s easy to dismiss sleep tracking as a novelty feature, sleep is one of the most important things your body can do. Understanding how well you are sleeping can be very important to your overall health.
Fitbit knows this and has introduced a sleep score to help you quantity your previous night’s sleep. With this score, you can start looking at patterns to see why you may not be sleeping as well. It might help you identify various stresses in your life and find a better way to up your sleep score.
Some of the features for sleep tracking do require access to Fitbit Premium, which is a monthly subscription. Available for $9.99 monthly, subscribing to this service will give you total access to your sleep profile.
#8: Attractive Pricing
As the Fitbit Versa 2 has been on the market for a few years, its price has come down closer to impulse territory. As of November 2023, the price is hovering around $140, before any holiday discounts. At this price, the cost-to-feature ratio is really outstanding. Between the sharp design, different color options, bright OLED screen, and Alexa integration, only $140 for a smartwatch is a real bargain. This is often more than 50% less than a similarly-featured Apple Watch. Even better is the pricing of some accessories to help personalize the watch with different color bands.
#9: Spotify Integration
With the Apple Watch focusing heavily on its own music store, Fitbit has turned its attention to Spotify. The capability of holding 300 songs directly on your Fitbit Versa 2 enables you to not have to worry about connectivity or finding a new station while exercising. Instead, just steal a quick glance down at your watch and keep swiping until you find the right song.
The lone caveat here is that you need the Fitbit desktop application to load up your Spotify library and be a subscriber to Spotify Premium. If you are okay with both of these conditions, then choosing Spotify as your go-to music choice for the Versa 2 is a smart move. As a final note, make sure you have your Fitbit Versa 2 updated to the latest firmware to enjoy offline support.
Reasons to Buy a Fitbit Versa 2 Summary
| Summary |
|---|
| #1: The bright and beautiful OLED screen is great for indoor and outdoor use. |
| #2: Fitness tracking with the Fitbit Versa 2 is really feature-rich thanks to Fitbit’s focus on exercising. |
| #3: A Daily Readiness Score helps you determine if you should work out today or take a rest day. |
| #4: Battery life on the Fitbit Versa 2 well outpaces the Apple Watch with up to 6 days on a single charge. |
| #5: The sharp design of the Fitbit Versa 2 looks great while exercising or while heading to dinner. |
| #6: Support for Amazon Alexa with the Versa 2 enables voice commands and acts as a smart hub. |
| #7: Sleep tracking with the Versa 2 is critically important to maintaining overall good health. |
| #8: The attractive price of the Fitbit Versa 2 at under $150 makes it closer to impulse purchase territory. |
| #9: Adding Spotify integration helps millions of Versa 2 owners listen to their favorite songs while exercising. |
Wrapping Up
When it comes to fitness tracking and smartwatches, the industry is getting busier and busier. Even as Apple continues to dominate with the Apple Watch, companies like Fitbit, Samsung, and Google are still carving their own paths. The Versa 2 helped Fitbit continue to drive home its ability to make a gorgeous smartwatch with strong fitness tracking and support for better health. As you can find it relatively inexpensive these days, it’s a steal of a deal for new smartwatch owners.
- Amazon Alexa built
- Track sleep quality each night
- Get a 90-day free trial of the Fitbit Premium
- With a larger display
The image featured at the top of this post is ©ZikG/Shutterstock.com.
