Fitbit Versa unveiled: Pebble Time Steel's spiritual successor

Fitbit unveiled its second smartwatch – the Versa. It runs the same software (Fitbit OS 2.0) as the Ionic, but costs $100 less. The more rounded design should be giving you Pebble Time Steel flashbacks (Fitbit acquired Pebble a while back).

The Fitibit Versa promises 4 days of battery life, the battery takes just two hours to charge fully. The color touchscreen promises 1,000nits of brightness for stellar sunlight legibility.

The watch is waterproof up to 50m so you can take it swimming. It has a heart rate tracker built in (same as the Ionic) and offers 15+ exercise modes. You’ll get at-a-glance info of your weekly health and fitness stats.

Fitbit Versa

The Versa connects to your smartphone over Bluetooth LE and displays notifications. There’s built-in storage, allowing you to carry 300 songs from Deezer (in the US and Europe). US users can also listen to Pandora.

Then there’s Ftibit Pay – available on all European Versa watches, but Americans will need to get the pricier Versa Special Edition, which includes an extra NFC chip necessary for Pay to work.

One big omission compared to the Ionic – you’ll need to bring your own GPS. The Fitbit Versa is available for pre-order at the Fitbit shop for $200/€200/£200. You can also find it at Amazon, Best Buy and Target. Shipping will start in April.

The watch comes with a silicone band as standard (worth $30/€30), but you can buy a Horween leather band for $50/€60 or a metal or mesh band for $80-$100/€80-€100. The woven bands are exclusive to the Special Edition.

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