Speaker 1: Fitbit Versa is a great smart watch for everyone. What's
Speaker 1: going on. I'm Rich Dmiro. This is Rich on Tech Daily,
Speaker 1: and this is my review of the Fitbit Versa. Now,
Speaker 1: when it comes to smart watches, let's get this straight.
Speaker 1: Apple Watch is king. There is no denying that it
Speaker 1: really offers the best combination of useful features plus tight
Speaker 1: integration with the iPhone. I love the Apple Watch. I
Speaker 1: think it is the best wearable out there. Problem is
Speaker 1: it excludes a lot of people, Android users and anyone
Speaker 1: who thinks it's a little too expensive or someone who
Speaker 1: doesn't need all of those features. Enter the Fitbit Versa.
Speaker 1: I've been wearing this for a few weeks now. I
Speaker 1: actually bought it site Onseen on Amazon, and it is
Speaker 1: easily the best alternative to the Apple Watch for several reasons.
Speaker 1: You get a lot of the same useful features without
Speaker 1: a lot of complication or fuss. So let's take a
Speaker 1: look at what I'm talking about. For starters, the Versa
Speaker 1: looks and feels great. It's lightweight, it has a super
Speaker 1: slim profile. I love the screen although it's tiny, it's
Speaker 1: super bright. It's vivid and way better than the predecessor,
Speaker 1: which was the Fippit blaze on that you can see
Speaker 1: individual pixels on the screen. It was kind of dull
Speaker 1: looking that is no longer. The case set up with
Speaker 1: the Pippit Versa was a little rough. It's not as
Speaker 1: smooth as the Apple Watch. It took a little bit
Speaker 1: longer than I expected, and the process actually failed at
Speaker 1: the end, which was kind of frustrating, so I had
Speaker 1: to do it again. But once you take the half
Speaker 1: hour so to connect the Versa to your phone, download
Speaker 1: the latest software, pair it up all that good stuff,
Speaker 1: you really don't have to do that again. And like
Speaker 1: I said earlier, the Versa works with iPhones and androids.
Speaker 1: Wearing the Versa is very comfortable. The battery lasts just
Speaker 1: as long as advertised. I got about four days each time,
Speaker 1: although I'd probably charge it at like twenty five percent
Speaker 1: because I didn't want to run out. It's really nice
Speaker 1: to not have to charge it every day, and I
Speaker 1: even went on a short weekend trip without packing an
Speaker 1: additional charger, which is always nice. Fippit Versa has lots
Speaker 1: of great stats that report back to you. For starters,
Speaker 1: you get your steps, your floors climbed, and your all
Speaker 1: day heart rate and I personally am a big fan
Speaker 1: of the active minutes. This to me is the best
Speaker 1: indication of the physical activity I'm getting on a daily basis,
Speaker 1: whether I'm working out or not. I took the Versa
Speaker 1: on several runs and I was very happy with the results.
Speaker 1: The big thing you're gonna hear is that the Versa
Speaker 1: does not have GPS on board. Now this sounds bad,
Speaker 1: but in reality, this only comes into play for a
Speaker 1: few situations. First off, if you're a really big time
Speaker 1: athlete and you need super exact stats, this is not
Speaker 1: the watch for you. If you're a runner, you want
Speaker 1: specific maps of your run, again, this is not for you.
Speaker 1: But the Versa does have something called connected GPS. That
Speaker 1: means if your phone is nearby while you're working out,
Speaker 1: it's just going to use the GPS data from sensors
Speaker 1: on your phone to fill in the blanks. So I
Speaker 1: ran with my phone in without the phone, and I
Speaker 1: found that the stats collected by the Fitbit both ways
Speaker 1: were just fine. It still uses its on board sensors
Speaker 1: like accelerometer and algorithms to figure out how far you're
Speaker 1: running and your pace and all that good stuff. So
Speaker 1: let me tell you I'm a big runner. I had
Speaker 1: no issues with the no GPS on the Versa. Now.
Speaker 1: One feature I was excited to try out kind of
Speaker 1: bummed on the Versa was the ability to store music
Speaker 1: on the device. You can hold up to like three
Speaker 1: hundred songs, and this is the holy grail for runners
Speaker 1: because you can run without your phone. All you have
Speaker 1: to do is connect a pair of Bluetooth headphones to
Speaker 1: your Versa and you're free. But I found it's not
Speaker 1: really that easy to transfer your own music files without
Speaker 1: connecting the verse Sa to your computer. You can't do
Speaker 1: it through the app, and that's kind of a bummer.
Speaker 1: And I hope they change this in the future with
Speaker 1: a software update, because when I saw the message that said, hey,
Speaker 1: connect your Versa to your computer to do this, I
Speaker 1: was like, uh, since I wasn't ready for that reality.
Speaker 1: I actually signed up for Pandora, and if you pay
Speaker 1: five dollars a month to subscribe to Pandora, your Versa
Speaker 1: will automatically and wirelessly download a selection of workout playlists
Speaker 1: for you every time you charge your device. This process
Speaker 1: was way easier. I'm not thrilled that I'm paying extra
Speaker 1: five dollars a month for this music service because I
Speaker 1: already pay fifteen a month to Spotify. But you can
Speaker 1: always cancel now. There are a bunch of onboard apps
Speaker 1: you can download, like Starbucks, hughe, Nest, United Airlines, and Yelp.
Speaker 1: But I don't see myself using any of these apps
Speaker 1: on versus time screen. I can't see them as being
Speaker 1: as good as the apps on my phone. I'd rather
Speaker 1: just reach for my phone. The only exception to this
Speaker 1: is the Starbucks app. I probably will end up linking
Speaker 1: that just so I can hold my wrist out at
Speaker 1: the drive through at Starbucks and pay with my connected
Speaker 1: Starbucks card. The software overall in the Versa is good.
Speaker 1: It's not that great. There's still lag at times. It's
Speaker 1: not as slick as you'd see on the Apple Watch.
Speaker 1: With that said, it's totally fine for everyday use. You
Speaker 1: get your notifications from your phone if you want, like
Speaker 1: texts and other notifications, as well as little reminders to move.
Speaker 1: There's also breathing exercises. There's built in presets for tracking
Speaker 1: all kinds of workouts like running, biking, swimming, treadmill weights,
Speaker 1: Interville timer. You can set silent alarms which gently vibrates
Speaker 1: on your wrist. I like this for naps, not so
Speaker 1: much for waking me up in the morning, because I
Speaker 1: just don't trust a silent alarm to do that. There's
Speaker 1: also a selection of guided mini workouts you can do
Speaker 1: right from your wrist. There's weather reports, a stop watch timer.
Speaker 1: You get the idea. There's a lot of stuff going
Speaker 1: on here. My favorite stats on the Versa are active
Speaker 1: minutes and sleep insights. Again, I told you about the
Speaker 1: active minutes. Sleep insights are really cool because you can
Speaker 1: see exactly how long you spent awake in ram light
Speaker 1: and deep sleep every night. You also get your thirty
Speaker 1: day average, and you can compare yourself against others of
Speaker 1: your sex and similar age. Now, for reference, the Apple
Speaker 1: Watch can track sleep, but only with third party apps.
Speaker 1: I have a feeling Apple's gonna build this functionality in
Speaker 1: the future, but right now it's just not there. The
Speaker 1: fipbit is water resistance. You can leave it on in
Speaker 1: the shower or take a swim with it. If you
Speaker 1: are familiar with the Blaze, which was last model, you
Speaker 1: had to pop out a little fitness tracker to charge it,
Speaker 1: but with the Versa, the entire thing just sits in
Speaker 1: a cradle with your band on and all. It's much
Speaker 1: more convenient. And speaking of the bands, you can replace
Speaker 1: them because they easily come off. I don't think that
Speaker 1: the Versa band is as nice as what comes with
Speaker 1: Apple Watch, but you will have the option to swap
Speaker 1: that out at a later time if you find something
Speaker 1: you like better. Overall, can't recommend the fipbit Versa enough.
Speaker 1: It's best for daily health tracking for the average person.
Speaker 1: Like I said, if you're a big time athlete or
Speaker 1: a runner, probably be better served with a more niche device
Speaker 1: or the Apple Watch itself. Now, if you have an iPhone,
Speaker 1: you're trying to side between Apple Watch and Versa. It
Speaker 1: really comes down to how much you want to spend
Speaker 1: and all the features that you need. The Versus one
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty dollars less than the entry level Apple Watch,
Speaker 1: and you get a lot more features on the Apple Watch,
Speaker 1: like that onboard GPS, all that integration with your iPhone
Speaker 1: and Apple Music, plus a lot more apps. If you
Speaker 1: have an Android device, I kind of think the Versus
Speaker 1: a no brainer. It's just smart enough to feed you
Speaker 1: all the useful stats you need about your health, but
Speaker 1: without notification or information overload. The Fipbit Versa is two
Speaker 1: hundred dollars. It's available now. There's also a version with
Speaker 1: mobile payment built in for two hundred and thirty dollars.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening. If you like this podcast,
Speaker 1: please rate and review it in the Apple Podcast app.
Speaker 1: You can find a link to everything I talk about here,
Speaker 1: including my Fitbit Versa review, on my website. Just go
Speaker 1: to richontech dot tv, and if you're not following me
Speaker 1: on Instagram, I'm doing a lot of Instagram stories lately.
Speaker 1: Just find me. My username is rich on tech Thanks
Speaker 1: so much for listening. I'm Rich Tomiro. I'll talk to
Speaker 1: you real soon. Mhm.