In my testing, I found that I could easily get more than three days, even when recording long, daily cycling sessions and frequently using the watch to try all the new features. Fitbit says that with typical usage (not using the always-on mode) Versa 2 normally offers an impressive five days battery life before needing to be recharged. To reactivate the regular, full-color, interactive display, you have to make a series of rapid taps on the screen or press the side button.Īnd while Fitbit focused on making the always-on feature energy efficient, there is a cost in battery life. You can’t swipe to pull down other controls or trigger apps on the always-on screen like you can with the normal display. Unfortunately, the always-on screen disables the touch ability of the screen. You can also set the always-on display to appear during workouts, showing a black and white version of your stats, like speed and distance while biking. When it’s inactive, the display is black and white to save battery life (relatively speaking), but it’s easy to read at any angle. The always on screen offers a pared down digital or analog time display with icons showing a few other key bits of info, like battery life and the date. This doesn’t work 100% of the time, leaving you sometimes staring at a blank watch face.įitbit’s always-on feature on the Versa 2 eliminates that complaint.

With the original Versa, like most of its rivals, you had to raise your wrist to turn on the screen. To match that feat with an Apple Watch, you’ll have to spend an extra $200 for the Series 5, announced on Tuesday.Ĭritics of smartwatches sometimes complain that the devices fail at the most basic task of being a watch, telling time, because their displays power down. The squarish AMOLED display is not only brighter and crisper than the LCD screen on last year’s original Versa, but it also gives the watch an always-on display.

The Versa 2’s main improvement over earlier Fitbit smartwatches is its upgraded touch screen. Here are some of the highlights-and glitches-I encountered wearing a Versa 2 supplied by Fitbit for a week: An always-on screen that’s a little off But it’s not the watch for everyone-especially since Apple decided this week to start selling its two-year-old (but still capable) Series 3 smartwatch also for $200.

Fit bit versa 2