Fitbit - Versa Lite Edition

I’ve been using Fitbit for years. I’m currently on my second Versa Lite (had to buy a 2nd on eBay). I upgraded a few years ago to a Charge something, but the music controls didn’t work, so I returned and turned back to the Lite. It’s starting to require more frequent charging, which is a bummer. I’m starting to consider other options, but everything seems to have such a short battery life!

I bought a Sense a few years but the screen cracked so I bought Versa (2maybe?) and the battery completely broke and now I'm back to my original Sense! Cracked but still works well! I've been wanting a new fitness tracker, and while I have been using Fitbit for many years, I've been so disappointed but I just don't know what else I would be happy with.

Charge 6 might still be on sale for 100. Never really used the Smartphone functions on my versa, liking the charge so far Charge does have healthconnect, which is a standard for apps and other devices to share health stuff. I don't know if that works with apple.

Damn. I had no idea they that bad. I used a Fitbit verse for years and it would last like a week even with rides and such.

I adore my Charge 6 and I bought it last year knowing Google is trying to phase them out. (Couldn't resist the sale price!) In the past I've had some of the original Fitbit trackers: I had the original Classic, a Fitbit One, a Luxe, the Versa, and Versa 2. I enjoyed all of them, especially the Versas and for some reason the One. So the Charge 6 to me is like a happy medium: it's a basic tracker in a wristband, not a smart watch. So it doesn't do everything, but it's got a pretty sleek form factor and it does the basics quite well. I use mine the way it was intended: an activity tracker! I can log my walks and runs, connect it like a heart rate monitor to gym equipment and fitness apps, and... That's pretty much it for me. I like hitting 10k steps and seeing the little animation. I like hopping on a spin bike and seeing my heart rate. I like going for a run and seeing what zone I'm in. It's super basic and that's what I enjoy. The only thing I miss is that my Versas had a C25K app that I liked a lot, but I knew when I bought the Charge 6 that it wouldn't have this functionality... Although I do think it's a missed opportunity.

My seventh Fitbit died last week (from Luxe to Versa to Charge 5 and 6, this was my second in-warranty replacement), white line on the screen to no screen at all within 24 hours. So with some Target credit I decided to go with a Garmin Instinct for $200. The GPS is much, much more accurate (even when not paired with my phone), the app tracks a lot more information than the Fitbit app did and takes up a third of the space on my phone. I miss the constant step updates; the Garmin just updates every minute. That's about the only drawback.

The Versas do all that and more and the battery life is 5-7 days.

This. I was a long time Fitbit user with several Charges and a Versa. Switched to Garmin after Fitbit started to go downhill. My Garmin vivoactive 5 has been a great experience and I haven't looked back.

Fitbit and Google burned us in this household, unfortunately... My wife went through 3 Fitbits, I don't remember exactly which versions but Versa and Sense. Each one stopped working just after a year. All Fitbit did since it was past warranty was offer 20% off a new one. And I get that it's a 1 year warranty and I'm not expecting special treatment. What bothers me is they acted like they didn't care and 3 watches failed so easily back to back. I also got burned with WearOS/Google. I don't need to buy new stuff every year, for instance. I have an older WearOS watch and it's just fine. Then 1 day Google pushes a monthly Android update and suddenly WearOS tells me to factory reset my WearOS watch every single time I try to connect it. A factory reset for WearOS, at least on this watch, means nothing restores like it does on a phone. And first day of use on this watch after a factory reset makes it move like molasses - it's literally not usable. So ultimately, Google killed my old watch for no apparent reason. The supposed fix they pushed didn't fix this issue for me either. My wife switched to Garmin a couple of years ago and absolutely zero issues at all. It's already outlive the Fitbits she owned. And now I have an older Garmin (older because the style isn't produced anymore and I liked it). Also, no issues. Maybe I wish I had longer battery life but it's already better than my experience with WearOS.

I was perfectly happy with fitbit versa series and their phone app was both simple and very useful. Then Google bought them and I started to worry because Google trends to ruin things they buy. When i upgraded to the versa 4 I was disappointed to discover Google had messed with the interface. What used to be simple and straight forward was now a mess, with common talks now talking more effort. I switched to garmin Venu 3 and I'm not terribly happy with it. I dont like not being able to track calaries intake. I dont like not have alexa functionality. The garmin app seems more complicated than it needs to be for what it does.