Fitbit smartwatch | September is turning out to be a major month for smartwatches. Fitbit on Wednesday declared its new Versa 2, which will land in stores on Sept. 15. Samsung has another smartwatch arriving two days sooner on Sept. 13, and another Apple Watch is likely around the bend, as well. Yet, the $200 Fitbit Versa 2 has new includes that could transcend the challenge. The up and coming age of Fitbit's best smartwatch includes Amazon Alexa network, alongside a superior presentation, a quicker processor and longer battery life. [ techforeverpk ]
Fitbit's likewise propelling another instructing and wellness direction membership administration called Fitbit Premium. It will cost $10 per month or $80 per year and isn't select to the Versa 2. Fitbit Premium will offer guided plans and exercises covering everything from exercise regimens to weight reduction and calorie-checking guides, alongside what Fitbit guarantees will be a redone blend of proposals dependent on your gathered wellness information.
Will Fitbit Premium be worth the subscription cost over Fitbit's already robust and free app? I can't tell yet because I haven't tested it. But it sounds like it could offer more proactive lifestyle coaching in addition to just tracking your information, which is something that I've been looking for in a fitness tracker and still haven't quite found.
Fitbit announced its new watch and service, along with a new $50 basic smart scale called the Fitbit Aria Air that measures weight and BMI, at an event in New York where I got to look at the Versa 2 and its accessories up close.
Alexa is built in and gives text responses on-wrist.
What Alexa can and can't do
Fitbit's never had a microphone or any voice assistant functions on any of its previous fitness trackers. You can activate Amazon's Alexa voice assistant on the Versa 2 by pressing and holding the single side button. Give your command and wait for the action or answer to pop up on screen. You won't hear Alexa's voice, though: Because the watch lacks a speaker, answers are delivered via text responses.
Alexa will work on Android phones or iPhones (provided the Alexa app is also installed) and can search for general information, control smart home devices, find local businesses, start or stop timers and do other Alexa-like things. It can also transcribe voice responses to messages, but only on Android phones. It won't control music on the Versa 2, though, and it won't control fitness tracker controls until later in the year. I'll know more about how Alexa works on the Versa 2 once I test it out in our full review.
Still, adding Alexa is a step up from previous Fitbits and it's a fascinating new direction.
Video: Fitbit Versa 2 and Fitbit Premium promise to revamp my daily fitness
Spotify onboard, but not really
Fitbit's had music support on its previous Ionic and Versa watches, but it could only side-load MP3s from a computer or work with Pandora premium and Deezer. Spotify Premium is a new app that will also come to Fitbit's other Versa watches later in the year. But, while I initially thought it would allow Spotify downloads to the watch, much like you can on Samsung smartwatchesand Garmin watches (Garmin recently added Amazon Music support to its watches, too), it turns out this is only a remote Spotify Connect app that enables control of songs from the Spotify phone app... which isn't much of a feature. Fitbit Versa 2 can store music, but only via side-loads, Deezer and Pandora's premium service.
Versa 2 adds some overdue upgrades, but no GPS or ECG
Battery life is another advantage the Versa 2 has over its predecessors: The battery now lasts five days instead of four. Its AMOLED display can work in a new always-on mode for a couple of days. Apps load faster and the watch is more responsive thanks to that new processor. It has the same 50-meter water resistance as previous models and works with the same Versa chargers and watch bands. Fitbit Pay, a contactless-payment competitor to Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, is also onboard -- and not just on the premium edition like last time.
But the Versa 2 also lacks some features: It doesn't have onboard GPS, making the aging Fitbit Ionic the only GPS-enabled Fitbit device. Fitbit didn't add any FDA-cleared health features, either. Meanwhile the Apple Watch Series 4 and Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 both have electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) technology to sense atrial fibrillation, although Samsung's isn't FDA-cleared yet.
A bunch of the new straps, which also work with older Versa models (the patterned one on the right comes with the Special Edition).
Fitbit's newest health addition, Sleep Score, doesn't need a new watch
Fitbit's biggest new health features are sleep-related and could promise to make inroads to sleep tracking where the competition still hasn't. A new Sleep Score function that was in beta earlier this year will provide more detailed sleep results and grades your night's sleep based on your resting heart rate, REM and deep sleep measurements and time spent sleeping. (I tried the Sleep Score beta earlier this year and it was a decent upgrade.) The Sleep Score feature will work with any Fitbit that tracks heart rate, but more detailed results and guidance will need a Premium subscription. Fitbit's also adding a "smart wake" function that will time an alarm to a window in a sleep cycle that will feel less disruptive, according to the company.
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