Will the Fitbit Versa make you trade in your Apple Watch?

It's more affordable and has a 4-day battery life, but is it enough?

Fitbit Versa

The Fitbit Versa is the fitness tracking brand's most recent attempt at a "smartwatch for all", with a modern design and affordable price tag, as well as a few new software tricks designed to tempt users away from the Apple Watch.

The Versa is designed to be comfortable enough to wear all day and night. Fitbit promises it's also durable and versatile, with a thin anodised aluminium case and a variety of stylish accessories.

These include Horween leather, stainless steel, woven, or 'Classic' straps, which can be quickly changed to match your outfit or activity. You can see most of the options in the image below.

We think it's a big improvement over the angular Ionic smartwatch, released last year.

There's also a host of smartwatch features onboard, such as smartphone notifications, Deezer music streaming, Fitbit Pay contactless payment, apps, and downloadable clock faces.

Fitbit will soon be introducing 'Quick Replies', which let you send quick pre-populated or customisable replies to text messages and instant messenger apps (Android only).

Fitbit boasts "more than 550 apps", which doesn't quite compete with the likes of the Apple Watch, but it does include big names, like Flipboard, Hue Lights, Nest, Strava, Surfline, Weather and Yelp. 

Of course, Fitbit hasn't forgotten about fitness, and the Versa is the first device to launch with Fitbit OS 2.0.

This includes a new personalised dashboard that provides a more simplified, intuitive and holistic view of your health and fitness data.

You'll be able to see your daily and weekly health and fitness stats, historical activity, heart rate, and exercise summaries, action-oriented motivational messages, tips and tricks, and daily guidance.

You'll also receive more personalised fitness guidance, with 24/7 heart rate tracking, on-screen workouts, and more exercise modes. This is designed to become more personalised over time, sending reminders and providing insights based on your previous data (coming later in 2018).

Sleep tracking is, of course, also back.

The biggest addition to Fitbit's software is the introduction is "female health tracking", allowing you to track your menstrual cycle, and see how it connects to your overall health.

It'll let you log your menstrual cycle data, recording symptoms like headaches and cramp. Once it has enough data, it'll also make cycle predictions.

Fitbit claims this will give users a holistic view of data all in one place "to reveal connections between your cycle and  other stats in the Fitbit app, such as activity, sleep and weight trends to better manage your activity and sleep needs during certain times of the month."

These software updates will debut on the new Versa, but will also be available for Ionic users via a software update.

The Versa has a 4+ days battery life, but doesn't include GPS, like the more fitness-focused Ionic.

The Fitbit Versa is available for pre-sale today, priced at £199.95, with global retail availability in April 2018.

Spencer Hart
Style and Travel Editor

As the Style and Travel Editor at T3, Spencer covers everything from clothes to cars and watches to hotels. Everything that's cool, stylish, and interesting, basically. He's been a part of T3 for over seven years, and in that time covered every industry event known to man, from CES and MWC to the Geneva Motorshow and Baselworld. When he's driving up and down the country in search of the greatest driving roads, he can be found messing around on an electric scooter, playing with luxury watches, or testing the latest fragrances.