The Google-owned company finally integrates a couple of Google apps into its wearables with Google Maps for directions and the renamed Google Wallet for payments. Both watches now offer over 40 distinct exercise modes to accurately track just about any fitness activity including HIIT, weight lifting, CrossFit and dance. For users that want a more guided experience Fitbit Premium boasts over 1,000 workouts and mindfulness sessions. This subscription service offers additional benefits like the “Daily Readiness Score” that informs you if it’s a good day to go for a harder workout or if you should really take a recovery day. Alongside this, you’ll find personalized goals for “Active Zone Minutes” (set time in a target heart rate zone) for specific recommendations regarding workouts or recovery sessions. Sleep Profile is the latest addition to Fitbit Premium with a thorough analysis of your sleep across an entire month looking at 10 key metrics and offering recommendations to improve your sleep. A free six month Fitbit Premium subscription is included with each Versa 4 and Sense 2 for both new and returning Fitbit owners. Both watches also get Fitbit’s latest operating system with new customizable tiles that allow you to organize your smartwatch exactly as you like it and enable faster access to your most used apps and features. Here’s a closer look at the hardware on the Versa 4 and the Sense 2 to help you determine if one of these new smartwatches is the right choice for you.
Fitbit Versa 4
The Fitbit Versa 4 retains the $229 starting price of its predecessor, making it a formidable affordable alternative to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 ($279) and Apple Watch SE ($279). While at a glance the design may not seem that different from the Versa 3, it is slimmer and lighter and features a more raised band attachment to help it sit more comfortably on the wrist. Users frustrated by the capacitive button on the Versa 3 will be thrilled to see the return of a physical button to its side. Versa 4 features built-in GPS, real-time tracking, run/walk detection and more to ensure that you are getting the best data possible on your health and fitness 24/7. We’ll of course test it for our review, but Fitbit claims over six days of battery life on a charge for the Versa 4 and we’ve seen similar results from them in the past, so it’s a credible claim. This remains one of the most clear cut advantages over Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch which will at best get you into a second day on a charge. Versa 4 will be available starting today in graphite aluminum with a black band, platinum aluminum with an aegean blue band, copper rose with a rosewater band and copper rose with a beet band.
Fitbit Sense 2
Fitbit Sense 2 sticks to the same price point as the Fitbit Sense as well, although at $299 it is $20 more than the Galaxy Watch 4 and Apple Watch SE, however it features a number of more robust health tracking sensors than those watches. The most notable is the new Body Response sensor that Fitbit claims will offer “all-day stress management.” This considers your heart rate, heart rate variability, skin temperature and more to determine events or conditions that cause your body stress. Paired with the mindfulness, guided breathing and other techniques in the Fitbit app the goal is to reduce and manage your stress in a healthy manner. While it is slightly larger due to the added sensors the Sense 2 otherwise follows the new design of the Versa 4 also exactly with the same raised adjustment to the band to improve comfort and a physical button for the first time for the Sense line. The fitness focused features are also identical with built-in GPS, real-time tracking and run/walk detection. Again we will test it thoroughly for our review, but the Sense 2 should offer the same six days of battery life on a single charge, which given the more advanced sensors present on it is an even more impressive feat than on the Versa 4. The Sense 2 is available starting today in graphite metal with a graphite band, platinum meta with a lunar white band, and pale gold metal with a blue mist band.
