Fitbit Versa Lite Review

About a year ago, we reviewed the Fitbit Versa, which was a follow-up to their successful first smartwatch, the Ionic. The Versa itself is a toned down version of the Ionic, and now the company has decided to thin it down further by introducing the Versa Lite.

At a glance, it looks just like the standard Versa, minus a couple of buttons. On the inside, it shaves off a couple of features. But this begs the question — is this all you really need in a fitness-oriented smartwatch?

Design and Construction

The frame is a square with rounded corners, constructed of lightweight aerospace-grade aluminum. Like the standard Versa, the Lite Edition doesn’t try to look like a traditional circular watch. And while this approach definitely does work due to the company’s design history, I actually wouldn’t mind a future product that can be worn both in the gym and at a meeting.

Up front, the actual watch face is a 1.34-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 300 x 300px, just like the original Versa. Brightness is listed as 1000 nits and even bright direct sunlight during my morning bike rides wasn’t an issue. Don’t expect it to be as nice and vibrant as Apple, Samsung, or Huawei’s smartwatch displays, though.

The bezels around the actual display are quite thick, but if you use a black watch face as I decided to, you should be fine. It’s also nice that you get Corning Gorilla Glass 3 to protect against falls and scratches, which will probably happen at one point or another during your ownership.

For the Versa Lite, you only get one physical button situated on the left side, which acts as your back button when you’re using an app, or the lock button when you’re on the home screen/watch face. This is honestly all you need since touch navigation is pretty much all you need to get around the different apps available.

At the bottom of the device are the charging contacts and sensors, which include the heart rate sensor and SpO2 sensor that measures blood oxygen levels.

The strap is made of a durable, flexible silicone material that is a staple in activity trackers. It uses a pin-type buckle which is very secure. I also like the fact that the strap’s keeper has a little nub that slots into one of the excess notches.

The Versa Lite is one tough little cookie. Aside from the tough aluminum build and Gorilla Glass, we get up to 50m of water resistance. So yes, it’s swim proof, but swim tracking isn’t available as a feature.

OS, UI, Apps, and Storage

The Versa Lite uses Fitbit OS. Pre-installed apps are just the essentials — Exercise, Relax, Alarms, Weather, and Timer. You get dedicated icons for Tips and Settings, and for good measure, Strava is pre-installed if you’re a user of the platform.

Swiping down reveals notifications, and swiping up opens quick access to daily statistics. Accessing apps is as simple as swiping left from the home screen/watch face. Users may add more apps via the Fitbit companion smartphone app.

The app requires both Bluetooth and Location to be turned on, so it can consume quite a bit of your phone’s battery life. Initial set-up is quick and easy, it’s a simple pairing process. Give it some time to automatically update and set-up the Versa Lite, and you’re in business.

The app acts as a central command center for the smartwatch, allowing you to check out detailed stats for your activity and sleep, change your watch face, and install native and third-party apps; even Flappy Bird, if you so wish.

Since we don’t get local storage on the Versa Lite, music is a bit of a challenge. You can’t store music locally, but you do have some music control over what’s playing on your phone. There’s also a third-party app called Spotify HR, which is very slow and sluggish, but works if you really want this functionality.

Fitness Tracking

The Versa Lite’s 24/7 heart rate tracker is its most potent feature. Along with your age, height, weight, and sleep data, it’s able to give you a pretty accurate picture of your activity — even calories burned while at rest.

Guided workouts aren’t available on this device, but the Exercise app provides a number of trackable workouts which includes run, bike, treadmill, weights, workout, walk, and an interval timer. If you forget to use the app though, the Versa Lite can automatically track your workouts too, with scary accuracy to that.

Along with the help of connected GPS (which does mean that you need to take your phone with you if you want to track your position), the Versa Lite has been consistently able to track my biking sessions without using the Exercise app. It even tags the activity as “Outdoor Bike”, thanks to the connected GPS.

The stats given to you are heart rate, calories burned, active minutes, which are then broken down into separate fat burn and cardio stats. This data probably won’t be enough for intermediate or even professional athletes, but the long-term benefit for average users is that overall progress ends up tracked over time.

And on that note, while it’s a bummer that elevation data is not in the picture, and you can’t track swimming despite that 50m water resistance, the Versa Lite’s fitness tracking capabilities should suffice for those of us who are just about average, working out a few times a week to every day.

Battery Life

The Versa Lite is listed as having 4 days of standby on a single full charge, which is quite accurate, though this definitely changes depending on your usage. It honestly lasts quite a long time, though. I prefer having all-day sync turned on, and I have it on me every time I work out, which is anywhere from 3-6 times a week.

Despite this, I only feel the need to plop it back into the charger about every three days. Charging is quick as well. From a completely depleted battery, a 30-minute charge nets you 41%, which is actually very good. I just wish there was a simpler way to charge than the included charging dock.

Conclusion

I am hesitant to call the Fitbit Versa a smartwatch. It definitely cannot compete with the Apple Watch or Wear OS (Android) options. It’s a great fitness tracker with some smartwatch features — but I think that’s okay. This is what Fitbit has been great at doing over the past years, and they definitely have not lost their way.

As a device, the strong, gorgeous design and accurate fitness tracking are its best features. It strips down just enough features from the original Versa to still be worth considering. With that analogy, perhaps the Versa is at fault for not being enough of a smartwatch, ergo, how could the Versa Lite be?

At PHP 10,390USD 177INR 15,009EUR 169CNY 1,289 though, I’d say the Versa Lite an even better deal than the original Versa. That’s steep territory for someone just looking for a device to assist their fitness journey, but the Versa Lite is surely a companion you’d wanna keep with you on said journey.

What we liked:

• Awesome design and build quality
• Tough as nails
• Great fitness tracking
• 24/7 heart rate
• Simple UI
• Stellar battery life and fast charging time

What we didn’t:

• Lack of an app ecosystem
• Just average smartphone app
• Lack of dedicated GPS
• Lack of elevation data
• Lack of guided workouts

The Fitbit Versa Lite is available at Digital Walker branches for PHP 10,390USD 177INR 15,009EUR 169CNY 1,289.