So how does the Fitbit Versa 2 compare to the charge 3 two of probably the most popular Fitbit devices out there right now we’ve got kind of like a SmartWatch reverse an activity band so we’ll talk about the big reasons why you would get one device over the other.
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Let’s get to it okay so before we talk about the big reasons why the charge 3 is better than the Versa 2 and vice-versa. Wow I didn’t even plan it but it rhymes out perfectly, So we’re gonna talk about the similarities and they have a ton of overlap interestingly enough like one looks like a watch one looks like an activity band but in terms of capabilities they have a lot in common so let’s start with the fitness features
Fitness Features
So both of them have connected GPS so if you bring your phone with you on a run high biking whatever you can actually get all of your GPS based information on your wrist, the devices do not technically have GPS but they piggyback off of the info from your phone so if you got that Fitbit app on your phone you can track yourself you know your distance your route your pace your speed all the stuff that would come from GPS. Additionally both of them are completely water-resistant down to 50 meters and they will track indoor swimming so they’ll do running cycling hiking swimming cardio sessions all of that so now Fitbit is actually tracking swimming I mean it’s been doing it since 2017 but both of these devices are water-resistant and will track swimming which is great because I actually like to swim and I’ve noticed that they’re accurate which is also great because you buy a device hoping that it’s accurate and it’s pretty close for swimming as far as activity tracking features it’s everything you have come to expect from Fitbit in the past I mean I’ve reviewed probably every Fitbit and since 2013 something like that and you get a similar suite of actual metrics and stuff that it’s gonna track so steps calories burned distance traveled you get a daily goal sleep all-day heart rate and heart rate during activities you also get reminders to move you get alarms all that stuff.
Smart Features
And they both have some smart features one has more than the other but they both have some smart features, for example, both of them will relay incoming notifications from your phone so if your phone is on you can look on your wrist and they’ll tell you who called, who sent you a message, calendar reminders and then also third-party apps as well so if you look in the app you can enable which third-party apps you’re gonna see show up on your wrist so that’s the big stuff that they have in common.
Why pay more for the Fitbit Versa 2 over the Charge 3
One reason and I discussed this earlier and it’s pretty obvious but I do want to go over it, It’s a watch-style device so if you do want to replace your watch rather than just like supplementing your watch you would probably go with the Versa it’s incredibly comfortable they’re both very comfortable this is one of the most comfortable smartwatches I’ve ever tried I really like the design also it has a color touch screen and the software is a lot faster than what the original versa I love to display it’s very crisp and clean they got rid of the Fitbit logo that made the display size larger it’s really nice on the charge 3 you have a basically a grayscale like swipe screen it’s not technically a touch screen and certainly not as nice as the screen on the versa 2 and I think over time that might be something that you’ll appreciate having versa like the dumb down screen on the charge three additionally this could be a big deal or not a big deal depending on your standpoint.
The Versa two has music storage so you can store up to 300 songs whether it’s your personal music or playlist from Pandora or Deezer you can store them on the watch and then when you go running or something or you go to the gym you can just have your Bluetooth headphones paired to the device itself so it’s not as full-featured as something from Apple and it doesn’t really have any podcast capabilities that I’m aware of but you can store music on the watch for you know basically phone-free listening and that’s not a capability of the charge 3
Also there are third-party apps available for the Versa series so I think United Airlines has one great Starbucks I mean you can pay for Starbucks using your wrist which is fantastic they’ve got Strava they’ve got dozens of other apps some of which are cool some of which I don’t think you’ll use but it’s nice that you at least have that Fitbit app gallery where you can try and download some apps to make it feel even more like a SmartWatch and speaking of feeling even more like a SmartWatch that’s one thing that is new to the Versa too.
So if you hold down the one button it has on the side it no longer has three buttons just the one if you hold that down it will engage Amazon Alexa if you have your phone nearby and the Fitbit app is running and then you can ask it all the normal alexis stuff you can ask about the weather sports to create timers and alarms and you know all the stuff you can’t have it plays music for you it doesn’t have a speaker it just has a microphone so it’s not actually gonna talk out loud to you can’t make calls or anything like that so you get maybe 70% of the features from Amazon Alexa and again you have to ever phone on you but that is new to the Versa
And the last thing for the Versa – is it comes standard with Fitbit pay whereas the charge 3 you have to get this special edition so if you want to pay for stuff on the go at certain vendors that have like supported payment terminals it comes standard on the universe’ – not every bank is supported the list is growing it’s not as long as Apple’s but if you want it like we have a coffee place down the street here and we can pay for and it’s not even Starbucks you can pay for stuff using Fitbit pay so there are a lot of places that you can pay for goods and services with Fitbit pay you’d actually have to fork out a little bit more cash for the charge three special edition.
To get that now speaking of the Charge 3 why is it better than the Versa 2
It comes with great deals
So I think you saw this one coming right price it is significantly more affordable than the Versa – so the Versa – is $200 lets you charge 3 is $150 so you’re talking a price point difference of $50 that’s not accounting for discounts or anything you guys know you’ve heard this for years that we look for deals every day and we post about them on our website and our mobile app so if you check in the blog we are really good at finding deals on Fitbit device I want to say last week we saw a really great deal on the Versa light and the Versa – and the original Versa so check in the description you know chances are you’re not gonna pay full retail but the full retail prices are two hundred and 150.
It is a perfect accessory
The other thing for the Charge 3 is that it’s got the more sleek kind of skinny looking frame to it so if you did want to make it a little bit more covert and not just announced to the world that you’re wearing a Fitbit device or a fitness device it probably achieves that more easily because there’s no way to get around it even if you get a nice band for the Versa – it looks like a SmartWatch it looks like a fitness watch whereas I’d say with the charge 3 you can kind of make it looks like an accessory I don’t know if you care about that but that is one small difference I know many people, they care about that stuff
It has long battery life
And the last thing for the charge 3 I think this is totally underrated is that it probably has a day or two better battery life than the versa – in our experience it’s about six full days on the charge three right around there depending on usage and the versa two is about maybe four to five days so probably not a big deal if they charged with you know a micro USB cable or a USBC cable but because they are proprietary charging cables I don’t know I could see a lot of people who travel more often preferring the device that gets them better battery life because otherwise, you have to remember to bring with you a proprietary Fitbit charging cable
That’s it that’s the comparison I’m not going to really tell you which one I would go with look I really like the Versa – I’m not totally sold on Amazon Alexa but it’s a faster better version of the original Versa whether or not you want to pay up for music storage that’s up to you I guess beyond that stuff they’re pretty similar devices have a great day.
