Fitbit Versa 3 v Versa 2: We compare Fitbit smartwatches

Fitbit has officially unveiled its Versa 3 smartwatch, the successor to the Versa 2 which launched almost a year ago.

The new Fitbit Versa 3 brings new health, fitness and sports tracking features that make the new version a great upgrade, and solve some of our biggest bugbears with the Versa 2.

But there's now set to be some great Versa 2 deals, and many people will find the older version great value.

We've surveyed the specs sheets to see how the Versa 3 and Versa 2 match up.

Fitbit Versa 3 v Versa 2: Price

The arrival of the Versa 3 is likely to see the Versa 2 eventually slip off from Fitbit's own site. That doesn't mean it will disappear from third party retail sites like Amazon so it's likely to still be up for grabs for a while yet.

The Versa 2 was priced at $199.95/£199.99 at launch, while the Versa 3 went on sale for $229/£199.

However, the Versa 2 can now be found for around $130/£110 – making it a true budget smartwatch option. The Versa 3 has fallen slightly from its launch price, but still holds at around $179/£159.

Fitbit Versa 3 v Versa 2: Design

Fitbit Versa 3

With the Versa 2, we got that same square case with soft edges like the first Versa, with the addition of a new curved display to give it more high grade feel.

Fitbit has offered up largely the same look on the Versa 3, though it takes some design cues from its new Sense health watch, with softer lines and increased comfort.

The Versa 3 is slightly larger with a 1.58-inch display and a 336 x 336 resolution. The Versa 2 features a smaller 1.39-inch display with a 300 x 300 resolution screen.

In terms of dimensions, the Versa 3 measures in at in at 40.48mm x 40.48mm x 12.35mm compared to Versa 2’s dimensions of 39.95mm x 39.84mm x 12.15mm.

Fitbit Versa 2

The Versa 3 colors that will be available include a pink band with a soft gold case, a navy band with a soft gold case, and a black band with a black case.

In typical Fitbit fashion, it also rolled out new bands that include its new Infinity band as well as Horween leather, woven and knitted bands. It's also introduced partnerships with designers Pendleton and Victor Glemaud to make bands for the newest Versa.

It carries the same 5ATM waterproof rating to make it safe for a shower and a pool swim (up to 50 meters' depth).

Fitbit Versa 3 v Versa 2: Fitness and sports tracking

The Fitbit Versa has always felt like Fitbit's best watch for 24/7 activity tracking. Those features remain on the Versa 3 including tracking steps, distance, calories burned, active minutes, hourly activity and stationary time.

And it monitors heart rate 24/7 and keeps tabs on resting heart rate too.

You'll get sleep monitoring including the heart rate based Sleep Scores. You still have all-day calorie burn and access to guided breathing exercises.

Fitbit Versa 2

The bigger disparities lie in what can be tracked when you're ready to get a good sweat on.

The Versa 3 gives you all of the Versa 2 features including 20 goal based exercise modes, such as pool swimming, automatic exercise recognition and working out in heart rate zones.

But the Versa 3 also now has built-in GPS, so there's no need to borrow the GPS signal off your phone to track outdoor activities.

The latest Versa uses Fitbit's new PurePulse 2.0 heart rate sensor, which the company claims will improve accuracy and features. Fitbit says its machine learning algorithms can map multiple heart rate signals and build them into a better picture of your heart rate.

The Versa 3 also gets Active Zone Minutes – Fitbit's new metric based on heart rate zones – and workout intensity maps, which will show where your heart was really working its hardest on a map of your run.

If you care about sports smarts, it looks the Versa 3 will have the upper hand.

Fitbit Versa 3 v Versa 2: Health tracking

Fitbit Versa 3

While Fitbit's new Sense health watch has now arrived on the scene, that doesn't mean the Versa can't be used to closely monitor your health too.

Both the Versa 2 and 3 enable you to monitor resting heart rate, access menstrual health tracking features and there's the SpO2 sensor, which can now be used for Fitbit's Estimated Oxygen Variation feature.

The Versa 3 gets all of those same features, but it also makes use of Fitbit's new Pure Pulse 2.0 heart rate sensor technology, which leads to an improvement in data accuracy for those health monitoring features.

It has also inherited the ability to offer high/low heart rate warnings, if the watch detects something going on under-the-hood.

And both devices will feed data into the Health Metrics Dashboard. Both will show:

Fitbit Versa 3 v Versa 2: Smartwatch features

Fitbit Versa 3

Every smartwatch feature you'll find on the Versa 2 is sticking around for the Versa 3. That means something that works with iPhones and Android phones giving you the ability to view phone notifications, store music and download offline playlists from the likes of Deezer and Pandora. You can also access apps and watch faces from Fitbit's App Gallery storefront and make use of Fitbit Pay.

Smart assistants are also in play here on both watches, except on the Versa 3 you're getting an extra assistant to tap into. Fitbit announced it's adding Google Assistant and the software update for that has just begun to arrive.

Another Versa 3 feature that isn't supported on the Versa 2 is the ability to take calls on the watch when connected to Bluetooth. You'll also be able to adjust call volume and send calls to voicemail.

Added to that onboard mic is a built-in speaker, though it's not used to to hear Alexa, or Google's Assistant when it arrives. It can be used to take calls on your Versa 3.

Fitbit Versa 3 v Versa 2: Battery life

Fitbit Versa 3

These two watches match up when it comes to battery life. Whether you go for the Versa 2 or Versa 3, you're getting promise of 6+ days battery.

When we put the always-on display mode into action on the Versa 2, we typically got 3-4 days. When testing for our Versa 3 review, the new smartwatch tended to last us 5-6 days without always on-display mode and having notifications enabled and using the GPS 2-3 times a week.

One big addition the Versa 3 gets over the Versa 2 is new fast charging technology. It uses a new magnetic charger that will get you 24 hours of battery off just 12 minutes of charge. That's a pretty desirable feature.

There's no doubt that the Fitbit Versa 3 is a better all-round smartwatch.

The big things here are built-in GPS, an extra smart assistant in the form of Google Assistant, a built-in speaker and a pretty impressive fast charging mode.

But if you can live without GPS for running, then absolutely jump on any Versa 2 discounts you can find.

GPS is a biggie if you want more in the way of sports tracking while Fitbit has now shown it can put a smart assistant on a smartwatch and make it work.

The addition of a speaker makes it more useful for communication and that charging tech seems pretty impressive too.

It sounds like the Versa 3 makes some pretty significant changes that should make it the smartwatch worth paying a little extra for if you have the choice.