Best Sale 🎉 Versa 2(NFC),Black/Carbon  🛒

2 reviews for Best Sale 🎉 Versa 2(NFC),Black/Carbon  🛒

1. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Mels – November 26, 2019

   Love the watch. The size is perfect. The screen/resolution is crystal clear. The selection of bands is great (though changing bands is a bit challenging). The fabric band that comes with the Special Edition version is great. Classes it up a fit. Have also ordered a sport band to wear while playing soccer, swimming, etc. The device includes nearly all desired features needed for a fitness/smart watch. It does not have built-in GPS but rather uses connected GPS. Some may see this as a deal breaker; others will recognize the battery savings that this affords. And so far, the watch performance has been excellent.There are some reviews that describe Versa failure after getting it wet. I have successfully showered with the watch with no problem. I have not yet had a chance to try it in the pool. Based on the specs it should be fine, but time will tell. The Versa is not recommended to be worn in hot tubs.As Fitbit has long been a leader in activity tracking, I won’t spend time on those features. Compared to the Samsung watch that I’ve worn … step counting, heart rate info, calories and sleep tracking all seem to be in line with my historical measurements. A big benefit is that the Fitbit app is much more robust then the Samsung health app with significantly more data to analyze.The watch software and the battery consumption on both watch and linked phone need some attention. I’m still trying to determine the optimal settings to achieve a balance of desired performance versus battery life. With current settings, I can average about 3 days before needing to charge give or take a half day depending on usage. I’m currently using the always on display which is nice. It does consume some battery, but so far has not been too heavy of a drain to make the feature unusable.If you choose to use the music app to control music playing on the phone, then expect a massive battery hit. This functionality requires linking an additional bluetooth connection called Fitbit classic. It’s my experience that this connection continuously drains the battery on both the watch and the phone — as much as 20% while sleeping. That is with the watch in sleep mode and the phone on do not disturb. I have removed this connection and will control music the old-fashioned way. Note that this applies ONLY to playing music on the phone and not to connecting to bluetooth earphones.Another setting offered in the Fitbit app is “All-Day Sync.” This feature constantly updates the data — activity, heart rate, etc. — from the watch to the phone. Sounds good, but it also is a battery hog and I have it disabled. As far as I know, syncing can be done one of two ways — either via the all-day setting or manually when you open the app. I’m currently choosing to update manually. The developers need to add an option so the devices can be set to sync on a user-defined interval — hourly, every six hours, daily, etc. A setting like this exists for nearly every other phone app that requires data to be synced. Weather apps are the first that come to mind.I am a Samsung user — Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Buds (wireless earphones). I can tell you that the Galaxy Buds will not work with the Versa 2 watch (as of 11/26/2019). The Buds will link, but they will not play audio. Something to do with different types of bluetooth used in the devices. The issue is discussed in several online forums, but no word from Fitbit or Samsung if it will ever be addressed or fixed. The watch does pair to the S10 without issue and works perfectly well. All notifications are received timely and the bluetooth connection is much better/stronger than with my previous Samsung watch. It easily stays connected at 30-40 feet.There are a couple of issues that need to be addressed related to phone notifications on the watch. First, Gmail is the only client that is available as the “default” mail application. Or, at least it is in my Fitbit app. I can select to be notified by other email apps from my phone, but Gmail is the only app that can be set to receive “special” notification treatment according to the Fitbit app. Secondly, alarms on the phone (and I use quite a few) are NOT available to notify on the Versa. This feature would be a big plus to me. You can set 8 alarms on the Versa. However, each alarm uses some battery, and I would simply be duplicating alarms on multiple devices. For example, I would not remove an alarm from my phone as I may need it while the watch is charging or not being worn.To correct other reviews that I’ve seen, music CAN be uploaded and stored on the watch. The process requires using the desktop app and is a bit slow, but it works. IF I had wireless headphones that connected properly, then I could play music direct from the Versa without the phone.One other small issue is that weather info does not exist on the clock face by default. Third party clock faces can be installed, but I’ve found that they often require a separate setting for weather updates, which then only work if the All-Day Sync option is enabled. I’m continuing to search for alternatives to see what options exist.There are quite a few apps available for download and use on the watch. I haven’t found any to be all that relevant or helpful to me. At least not yet. But the platform and functionality are there to use if desired.Also, I need to mention that the Alexa integration is great. We have a heavy investment in Echo devices in our household, so to have the same functionality on my wrist is a great bonus.If, like me, you are apple averse, then this is one of the best smart watches available that I have found. And very affordable. At this point, I would rate it 8 out of 10. And I would certainly increase that rating with continued additions to and improvement in the software, connectivity and watch features.**UPDATE 12/9/2019**Fitbit released a firmware update a few days ago which added some great features. The Versa now saves your 5 most recently used clock faces and you can change them on the fly without having to go to the app. Though there are tons of clock faces to choose from, one of the drawbacks with Fitbit is that you cannot flag, save or otherwise have access to your favorite faces. You have to keep a manual list of the names or just remember so that you can find them again. There needs to be a way to store a list of favorite faces and apps so that you can access and install them quickly.Other updates include that you can now customize the action of the side button, the sleep score is displayed on the watch, the list of exercises to choose from has expanded, and by reports the heart rate data has been improved.So I’ve learned that one of the tricks to manage battery life and connectivity is to restart the watch after making certain changes, such as switching to a new clock face. You may notice that the Versa stops sending notifications or is not syncing to the app. I’ve found that after a quick restart, the watch works perfectly again. Maybe it’s a software glitch, but at least there is an easy workaround. And if you leave the watch alone, then these issues should not occur.For full functionality of the watch, including some features of many clock faces, I have re-enabled the All-Day Sync setting. The watch and app perform much better with the setting enabled. And unless I receive a ton of notifications or am constantly playing with the settings, I am now getting 4 to 5 days of battery life which is great. This could also very well have something to do with the recent software update. I am not currently using the always on display. I estimate that AOD cuts the battery life by 30 to 50 percent.Also, before you make a decision with the help of reading these spectacular reviews, you might gauge the quality of the reviews. This watch is by no means perfect and may not be the best choice for you, but you should decide that for yourself. Then return it if you’re not satisfied. This is an electronic device and there can be duds. Some buyers have expressed frustration after receiving a device that was dead on arrival. Completely understandable.But there are many 1-star reviews that are not from a literate source. A two word review that reads “hate it” is not helpful. One review reads only “no fitbit pay” which is completely untrue. The Versa absolutely has Fitbit Pay. Also, I’m intrigued that apple phone users don’t just pair their phone with an apple watch. Not sure why they are shocked that the Versa does not work as seamlessly for them as a product designed by their phone maker. Bottom line … be your own judge.As referenced in my original review, I have updated my rating of the Versa 2 to a 9 out of 10, based on performance and recent software updates. Hopefully my positive experience will continue.

2. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Just Theo – January 26, 2020

   FITBIT overall score: 2 stars. I’m going to put this out there….. I am not a fan of fitbit. I think it’s crap that you have to pay extra for services they advertise. I get it if they have extra stuff like coaches and videos, but the tracker related stuff should not be charged for. I tried the premium membership and I prefer beachbody workout on my TV than the tiny screen on my phone giving me a workout…. and if I was traveling and had no choice, I could still use my beachbody app. The only feature that I would have used is the sleep insights and I am not going to pay for a membership to use one feature that I don’t really care about. I also dislike the fact that they hype you up and act like they will consider a new feature and I have yet to see them implement a single feature I have voted for. They leave it under consideration for months and then say ‘nope’. Their reminders to move feature is only useful if you’re a total couch potato and want to be reminded to get up for the last 10 minutes of your hour. I wanted to use it to remind me to move if I haven’t reached my own hourly goal…. you’re stuck with their 250 step hourly goal. You can’t change when the reminder to move goes off either. Sooo, say I want to set an hourly goal of 1000 steps, the reminder to move sounded 10 minutes before the end of the hour (and only if I haven’t taken 250 steps) By the time I could find the graph with my hourly steps and mouse over each section to get the actual count and then add up each count, my 10 minutes was almost up. If I can’t change the 250 step count, it’s not motivating me to move MORE than I already do. If I can’t change when to remind me, then I don’t have a chance of completing it. What if my work break is at the beginning of the hour and I forgot to take my steps? The ability to change the hourly step goal and the reminder times are a simple fix and Fitbit closes their ears to people.On my fitbit charge 3, I had a work around and set a silent alarm on the fitbit app to remind me to complete my own step goal. This was fun, because I had to write down the steps I had already taken for the day and then get my steps in. I spent more time sitting in front of my computer trying to figure out how many steps I took than I did actually taking steps some day. The funny thing is, on the versa 2, it actually does show me my steps this hour… but only until I reach the 250 step goal and then I am back to using the graph on my phone again. Now the even funnier thing is, Fitbit has removed this feature of setting silent alarms on the app. At least for the Versa 2. I googled where it was and searched for THREE hours, it’s no longer there. I even watched a video that was on youtube showing it was there two months ago, but when I followed the steps, my screen didn’t match up with the video. I can set a silent alarm from my watch, but only 8 alarms total, so I can’t set an alarm to go off each hour for 12 hours to get 1000 steps each hour…… And the hours I need it to go off changes depending on the day of the week. The other feature complaint is the ‘relax feature’ I like it, BUT you can only set it for 2 or 5 minutes…. why the restriction? Why can’t I pick 10? 15? Set my own? It’s not relaxing to reset it every 5 minutes for 15 minutes.My final complaint with fitbit (there really are more, but these are the biggest ones), the user manual within the app is USELESS. Take the above example of silent alarms. If I go to the ‘how to use’ section and click on silent alarm section, you would expect a walk through of how to set a silent alarm, right? No, this is literally what is says: Silent alarms: Set a silent alarm on Versa 2. Your device gently vibrates to wake you up in the morning or alert you at a certain time of day. If you don’t dismiss an alarm, it goes off again in 9 minutes. (Btw, when I got the charge 3, it took FOREVER to figure out how to dismiss a silent alarm instead of snoozing it). And this is how the entire ‘how to use’ portion is on the app. It’s all a description on what each feature is used for, no instructions on how to set it up. Notifications? Timers? Alarms? Quick Replies? Weather?Be prepared to google search how to do EVERYTHING other than how to remove the wrapping from your watch.So why the 5 stars? Well, I knew when I bought this watch that I think fitbit trackers are the dumbest of the trackers. BUT when I got the Charge 3, I had a newborn baby. I was going to return it the day I bought it, however I discovered one redeeming quality…. it will notify me by vibrating when I have a call. I am on the clock 24 hours a day and when you have a newborn baby, the phone ringing is frustrating. Missed calls when the phone was on silent. So the notifications and quick replies gave me a reason to keep it. So I can’t give a crappy review of fitbit on this device when I knew going in that it wasn’t going to be what I wanted for a tracker. I gave it a crappy review on the Charge 3.But this time, I bought this one due to Alexa being on the watch. I have a Fire TV, an echo show, 2 echo dots, a kindle fire and a kindle paperwhite, (earbuds are on the way) I am a prime member and I have several subscribe and save items. My whole world is tied together on this watch. My packages come? Shopping list? Whatever reminders I setup through Alexa comes on my watch too. I can watch my workout on the firetv and if the baby needs me, press the button on my watch and have it pause the TV…. I can’t tell you how many times I have had to look for the remote in the baby’s toybox just to pause the tv, then rewind and pause…. lol. I know that amazon music is not tied to the versa, I am hopeful that Amazon flexes a little muscle and gets it. Or google buys fitbit out and uses common sense and adds it as a feature. But the notifications from my phone, the link to Alexa were enough for me to upgrade from the Charge 3. I have found I like the clock faces for the versa 2 and the ability to see more of my stats from the watch and less looking at the app. And being able to have Alexa log my food on myfitnesspal for me is nice too.Ok, one final complaint about fitbit….. versa 2 has Alexa…. common sense to have amazon music, right? Nope they must be getting money from Spotify and Deezer to keep it off there. But I am not paying for a second service for music when I get amazon music with everything else I need, shipping, movies, tv shows, smart house controls.UPDATE: disappointed with bluetooth range. The watch disconnects from my phone a lot. I know that some of this is the phone, however my apartment is small and my Charge 3 never lost connection while I was home. I sit my phone on my desk to keep it out of reach of my toddler and rely on my watch to notify me if I have a call (can’t hear the ringer with the toddler and kids). Realistically, I am usually within 10 feet of my phone 90% of the time, 15 feet if I am in the kitchen. I will go to use spotify from my kitchen and it will tell me connection is lost.