KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — From Oppo to Apple to Samsung and Fitbit, various brands have let me try on their fitness wearables for size. I suppose the universe is trying to tell me something when even my prize for a “best dressed” competition was also: a fitness tracker. Fitbit’s latest, the Versa is perhaps the only one that got my friends really excited.
“It’s here?” “How much?” “How does it look next to the bigger Apple Watch?” You can guess who’s pestering me to review it already and it’s not a tech company this time.
I’ll go on record and say that I’m not crazy about wearing something that constantly nags me to well, move already. But a lot of people apparently favour this kind of expensive masochism so here’s a story of my weeks with a Fitbit Versa.
Comfort-focused
I wasn’t as much a fan of the Fitbit Alpha HR as despite its slim and light profile, the rubber-like band had a texture that just wasn’t comfortable.
The Fitbit Versa comes in two editions — the regular edition and a special edition that comes with special woven nylon bands in two colour choices.
My test unit had a rose gold aluminium case with a lavender woven band and a classic black rubber band.
The idea is to wear the lavender band when you want a pretty smartwatch and the extra black band is for working out.
Fitbit encourages you to not take it off. At all. Ever. So I tried that for a week and amazingly I didn’t develop a rash. Why do this? It’s because Fitbit is all about tracking not just your steps and exercise data, but your sleep patterns as well. I wore it in the rain, the sun, doing stair climbs, in the shower and during long siestas — it was comfortable enough it became a constant, unobtrusive presence.
Battery life was impressive — think nearly five days of chugging along before needing a charge. I plugged in the charging cradle into a nearby USB port and was gratified to find that it charged fairly quickly — less than an hour to full.
Finicky software
I find Fitbit’s tracking app the most usable of all the brands. It’s easy to navigate, simple enough to look at your sleep patterns and moving trends, with fun challenges to motivate you to keep up with your fellow Fitbit users.
Sadly as I am a stubborn sedentary potato, my friends constantly outdo me in the Fitbit charts.
Being shameless, it doesn’t bother me to rank 5,000-6,000 steps daily while my fitness enthusiast friends rack up steps in the high five-figures but if you’re the competitive type, this might just motivate you to move more. Or at least move more than your own potato friend.
However the first day I tried it, there were server update issues and updating its basic apps was an exercise in pain. After various resets, reinstallations and Tweeting Fitbit support (who are very responsive on Twitter), I gave up and went to bed. I woke up to a finally-working Fitbit.
Fitbit has its own library of apps to choose from — nowhere as extensive as Samsung’s or Apple’s unfortunately, but there’s enough to help you play music (only Deezer’s music service is supported, sadly), track your water intake and even a quirky game or two.
There’s even a special virtual pet watchface. You need to feed said pet by moving — so if you’re a potato like me, alas, your pet will abandon you for someone who presumably doesn’t spend 18 hours reclining.
All-round winner
Testing it with Android and iOS smartphones, syncing wasn’t an issue with the Fitbit Versa. However, Android phones will get more functionality than iPhones will because the latter locks down most of its OS.
Still, you will still get continuous heart rate tracking, over 15 modes to choose from and soon wallet-free payments might be supported thanks to a built-in NFC chip. GPS, however, requires you to connect to your phone’s as it doesn’t come with its own GPS chip. Swimming isn’t an issue as it’s pool-worthy thanks to a water resistance rating of up to 50 metres.
Overall, it’s been a pleasant experience with the Versa — great battery life, lightweight and comfortable and a great mobile app. It might not appeal to runners who would rather not rely on their phone’s GPS and swapping out watchstraps is a fiddly, annoying affair.
Apple users might still be better off with an Apple Watch as it will offer a lot more integration and app choices. But if you’re on Android, for this price point the Versa is a much better option than all the others out there.
The Fitbit Versa is already available online and at all official retailers for RM990 and RM1,120 for the standard and special editions respectively.
