Fitbit has announced that it’s launching a brand new smartwatch, the Versa, alongside a new fitness tracker aimed at children called the Ace. The Fitbit Versa boasts constant heart-rate monitoring, music playback and NFC among its features, and fits in below Fitbit’s existing Ionic smartwatch in terms of both price and features.
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Until we get our hands on the one and properly put it through its paces, you can find out everything you need to know about Fitbit’s latest smartwatch here. We’ve included details about its features, price and release date, and at the bottom of the page you’ll also find more info about the Ace, Fitbit’s answer to the Garmin VivoFit Junior 2
Fitbit Versa: Design
Judging from its promotional material, the Fitbit Versa is a fairly significant departure from the Ionic in terms of design. Unlike the angular frame and textured rubber strap of its more expensive sibling, the Versa features rounded aluminium casing and a smooth rubber band. In some photos, it might be quite easily mistaken for the Apple Watch, while in others it looks more like its borrowed its styling from Garmin’s excellent entry-level running watch, the Forerunner 35. At 34mm across, the display is fractionally smaller than that on the Ionic (which is 36mm), and it also features three buttons - two on the right and one on the left - rather than one.
Like other Fitbit watches, the strap can be changed out, of course. In fact, the company is selling a special edition that mixes things up with a slightly more dressy strap.
Fitbit Versa: Features
The Versa includes most of the features that you get with the Ionic. Like most fitness trackers, it keeps tabs on your steps, distance and calories burned, but thanks to the built-in heart rate monitor and altimeter, you also get information about floors climbed and your heart rate.
The watch is water resistant to 50m and will track your swims in a pool, and it’ll also monitor your sleep when you leave it on at night. There’s built-in NFC chip for making contactless payments, and if you like to listen to music when you exercise, you can store up to 300 songs on the watch.
Although there are plenty of fitness-related apps, where the Versa comes a little unstuck is that it doesn’t have built-in GPS. As such, it needs to connect to your smartphone if you want to accurately track your walks, runs, or bike rides. Fitbit claims the Versa has four-day battery life, which is one day less than the listed battery life for the Ionic.
Fitbit Versa: UK release date
There’s no official line from Fitbit on a release date for the Versa, but its website is currently accepting pre-orders and says the watch will ship in 3-4 weeks. So, if I had to estimate a when the watch will be despatched to the first customers, I’d probably say some time in mid-April.
Fitbit Versa: UK Price
The Fitbit Versa is available for pre-order from Fitbit’s website for £199. That’s £100 cheaper than the Ionic and around £60 more than Fitbit’s similarly specced fitness tracker, the Charge 2. For £40 more, you can pick up the Huawei Watch 2, which features GPS and runs Android Wear.
Fitbit Ace: What is it?
The Fitbit Ace looks remarkably similar to the Fitbit Alta, but is aimed squarely at smaller wrists. Designed for children aged eight and above, the device tracks steps, sleep and active minutes, while offering encouragement to be active. The Ace will also be accompanied by a new Fitbit family account that allows parents to keep an eye on activity, and control what apps are connected to the device. It’s available for pre-order now for £79.99, the same price as Garmin’s Vivofit Jr 2. However, you shouldn’t expect to get one for a while, because the website shows that it’ll ship in May at the earliest.
