Cameron Summerson
The Fitbit Versa is one of the best smartwatches you can buy right now, especially if you’re an Android user. But today, Fitbit announced a handful of new devices, including the more affordable Versa Lite.
The Versa Lite Keeps Most of the Crucial Features from the Versa
The Versa Lite, which intros with a price of just $160, keeps most of the best parts of the Versa in the more affordable package. The shape and size are the same, though Fitbit decided to liven it up a bit with some fancy new colors.
The Lite tracks steps, calories, sleep, and heart rate, is water-resistant, has multiple exercise modes, tracks pace and distance, mirrors notifications from your phone, offers the same clock faces as the Versa, and offers female health tracking. As I said, most of the best features from the Versa are present in the Lite.
The biggest omission in the Lite is probably its inability to play and store music, which could be a dealbreaker to some. That’s a pretty big get for some users (like runners) who want to work out without having to bring a phone with.
Otherwise, the Lite skips the floors climbed tracking, swim laps tracking, and on-screen workouts. Those are all pretty niche (if not a little bit of a novelty in the case of floors climbed) so they’re good features to get cut if you’re picking and choosing.
The Versa Lite comes in white, lilac/silver, mulberry, and marina blue. It’s available starting today.
The Inspire, Inspire HR, and Ace 2 Were Also Announced Today
Along with the Versa Lite, Fitbit also introduced the new Inspire and Inspire HR, which will replace the now-discontinued Alta line. The Inspire remains very similar to the Alta, though it offers a touchscreen and a new clip that will let users wear it on their waist instead of wrist. Naturally, the heart rate sensor on the Inspire HR won’t work in that case.
The Inspire line offers activity and sleep tracking, is swim-proof, heart rate monitoring (on the HR model, that is), and “more precise calorie burn tracking.” It also has “up to” five days of battery life.
The new Ace 2 for kids also made an appearance today with a $30 price reduction over its predecessor ($70 vs. $100). This kid-friendly tracker is cartoony and fun for now, but it’s built off the Inspire hardware so it can be updated to a full Inspire when the kid outgrows it, according to The Verge. That’s pretty legit.
Like the Inspire, the Ace 2 offers activity and sleep tracking and five days of battery life. It also features parental tracking and control.
There’s no release date for the Ace 2 yet, but you can pre-order the Inspire or Inspire HR today.
An App Update is Incoming
Finally, Fitbit announced that the Fitbit app is going to get a major overhaul soon with lots of new features and a new interface to “make it easier to view and understand health and fitness stats.” I’m into that.
This update will also bring a new “Fitbit Focus” feature that will offer “relevant insights, messages, and tips to keep users engaged, informed, and motivated.” Again, very cool.
There’s no timeline for when this update will roll out, only that it’s coming “soon.”
You can learn more about all the stuff Fitbit announced today but checking out by heading here. You can also read the full press release here.
