This article was written by the TechRadar UK team for a global audience. It has been edited to match the information related to the SmartWatch variant of the UAE.
When Fitbit announced its Ionic smartwatch at the end of 2017, the company said it planned to manufacture more watches in the near future and the first one is already here with the name Fitbit Versa.
The Versa shares a lot with the Fitbit Ionic last year and although the design is a bit smaller, there are some less features and the price is a bit lower, it seems to be a solid addition to the Fitbit family.
Below we have itemized everything you need to know about the Fitbit Versa. You can watch our hands-on video or read our hands on the Fitbit Versa review now.
Price of Fitbit Versa and release date in the UAE
Fitbit Versa is available to book on Fitbit.com as well as on another online retailer for AED 899. That price will give you the black clock with a box of black aluminum, gray with a silver aluminum case, or peach with a rose gold aluminum case.
The special edition of Fitbit Versa will cost AED 999. General availability is expected by the end of April for all models
Design and visualization of Fitbit Versa
Unlike some previous products of Fitbit, the Versa comes with a full metal body design that feels premium but is much smaller on the wrist than the Ionic. We still have to learn the exact dimensions, but it is thinner and lighter than the Ionic or the Blaze, so it seems to be the perfect choice if you have smaller dolls.
You have the color options of gray or pink for the body of the real clock.
As for the straps, you have a large selection of options. There is a wide variety of colors for each one with silicone materials, metal links, metal bands, Horween leather and more to grab.
Fitbit Versa with silicone strap
Fitbit Versa Special edition with Woven Belt
Fitbit Versa with Metal Belt
On the front there is a touch screen to navigate the Fitbit operating system, with some thick bezels around . According to Fitbit, the technology and the resolution of the screen are the same as Ionic with brightness levels of 1000 nits.
The Versa is water resistant to 50 meters, so you can use it in the shower or swim without worrying about flooding the interns
On the left edge there is a power button, and there are two other hardware buttons on the right side of the clock to navigate through the menus if you do not want to use the screen.
Normal version comes with a silicone band in the box, so if you want a more premium band you will need to buy one separately to change it.
Fitbit Versa fitness features
As this is a new Fitbit smart watch: well-known brand for portable health and fitness devices: you should probably only consider buying this if you are interested in fitness features.
Here is your normal step tracking, but now you can see your last seven days of activity directly on the clock itself, so you can make sure you stay up to date with your goal.
On the back there's a PurePulse heart rate scanner that works 24/7, even when you're sleeping. In addition, there is a sleep tracking technology that uses the company's Sleep Stages tracking service.
That will tell you how much time you spend on REM and other statistics about your sleep, in addition to providing comments that will help you improve your night's sleep.
Fitbit Coach is also here to offer training you can do at home, there is also a function that allows you to control your level of cardiovascular fitness.
If you want to take this in the pool, you can as it is water resistant and comes with swimming traces.
Brokers may be disappointed to learn that there is no GPS built into the Fitbit Versa. Instead, it has a GPS connected, so you'll have to take your phone with you to track your location.
Fitbit is also providing health monitoring functions for women to their application and the Versa watch. Specifically, you can enter details about your menstrual cycle so you can see how it affects your health and well-being directly in the Fitbit application.
It is not an innovative innovation, but providing dynamic cyclical predictions allows you to record your symptoms easily and mark when you are likely to be less active.
Fitbit Versa other features
It's not just fitness in the Fitbit Versa. This is also a smart watch, so it comes with a variety of other smart watch features, including notifications from a variety of applications.
Fitbit also plans to allow you to use quick responses to applications like Messenger and WhatsApp. At this time we do not know exactly when this feature will arrive, but it will be debuting on Android in the coming months, and it is likely that it will reach iOS sometime after that.
Like the Ionic, the Versa is running Fitbit OS, which gives you access to the App Gallery created by the company. That means there are a variety of applications made by Fitbit to download for your watch and there are even some third party options like Strava and Starbucks.
More will be published in the Fitbit App Gallery also in the coming months, plus it gives you access to a wide variety of watch faces, so you can further customize your watch with relatively little effort.
If you want to listen to music when you are on the move, you can upload it to 300 tracks on the Fitbit Versa.
If you do not have music, you can connect a Deezer account to listen to music on your wrist, but it seems that you will have to download playlists or your FLOW to the clock before you start running, since that there is no 4G connection here.
Fitbit Pay is also compatible and we were told that it is expected to start operating in the UAE in the second half of the year. Fitbit said it is already in talks with some of the largest banks in the region.
In terms of battery life, Fitbit estimates that the clock should last around four days. We will make sure to test this during our full review, but considering the battery life in the Fitbit Ionic, this makes a lot of sense.