FitBit Versa

[rinorobert]

Hi Guys,

Has anyone who ordered the new Fitbit Versa in South Africa received theirs yet?

If yes, what are your thoughts so far?

Cheers

 

[Gamer]

Hi Guys,

Has anyone who ordered the new Fitbit Versa in South Africa received theirs yet?

If yes, what are your thoughts so far?

Cheers

Necropost.

Just got one on Friday. My first fitness tracker. I'm impressed, does everything it says and seems to do it well. No issues linking to Myfitnesspal, Discovery Vitality and Strava.
FNB pay is supported as well (pic), which makes it extra easy to tap and pay without taking your wallet or phone out your pocket.
Very nice sleep analysis, easy to get to 'today' screen. I charged once at about 40%, based on that I'd probably get around 5 days usage between charges, although I'd rather top it up rather than taking it all the way down.
Price was a no brainer through ebucks, 40% off so cost only R1800 which I paid in ebucks, so really cost me nothing.

 

[L-Dog]

Currently have a Garmin so unfortunately I can't help. Check out dcrainmaker if you are looking for a in depth review

 

[Nefertiti]

Necropost.

Just got one on Friday. My first fitness tracker. I'm impressed, does everything it says and seems to do it well. No issues linking to Myfitnesspal, Discovery Vitality and Strava.
FNB pay is supported as well (pic), which makes it extra easy to tap and pay without taking your wallet or phone out your pocket.
Very nice sleep analysis, easy to get to 'today' screen. I charged once at about 40%, based on that I'd probably get around 5 days usage between charges, although I'd rather top it up rather than taking it all the way down.
Price was a no brainer through ebucks, 40% off so cost only R1800 which I paid in ebucks, so really cost me nothing.

What FNB credit card do you have? When I try to add my card it says its not supported and its a gold FNB credit card.

 

[RogueTr00per]

I got the Versa SE, i must still open the box and set it up though I'll feedback when i do if it's still necessary.

IIRC OP started quite a few of these Fitbit Versa threads and then didn't bother to reply after others did

 

[Gamer]

What FNB credit card do you have? When I try to add my card it says its not supported and its a gold FNB credit card.

Platinum/Premier CC. Sounds odd, you need to add the card on the Fitbit website or app I think.

I got the Versa SE, i must still open the box and set it up though I'll feedback when i do if it's still necessary.

Haha, give yourself 30 minutes to setup before being able to put it on, it will need to update firmware etc and must be plugged into the charger. Ebucks also had the SE version for an extra R500 but only difference was the an extra strap that I didn't like the colour of. In the US only the SE versions come with Fitbit Pay, so would have been worth the R500 extra for that, but fortunately locally, they have the std black with NFC too.

 

[RogueTr00per]

@Gamer Yeah I feel silly now for getting the SE version, but at the time I wanted to be sure I would get NFC and all the literature I've seen must be based on the US promotional material hence its misleading.

I like the look of the grey charcoal material band that comes with the SE but it sounds like a hassle to change bands before workouts. Have you changed bands at all, is it a mission?

 

[Gamer]

@Gamer Yeah I feel silly now for getting the SE version, but at the time I wanted to be sure I would get NFC and all the literature I've seen must be based on the US promotional material hence its misleading.

I like the look of the grey charcoal material band that comes with the SE but it sounds like a hassle to change bands before workouts. Have you changed bands at all, is it a mission?

You're right, it is misleading. I researched a lot to make sure the "NFC" advertised std model was not a typo before I made the purchase.

I've changed the strap yes, as it comes with the small band fitted and I needed the larger one (both are supplied). A little finicky the 1st time, but it's one of those things that once you know, it's super easy. Quite a clever little mechanism to change bands. It won't be a mission to change out I don't think.

 

[RogueTr00per]

@Gamer Thanks, I finally set mine up with Fitbit Wallet without issue. Will have to test Fitbit Pay next chance I get.

@Nefertiti Did you come right?

edit: I see Dischem has the std edition for R2799 or R2899 on special right now, so I pretty much paid R900 more for the SE :/

 

[Nefertiti]

@Gamer Thanks, I finally set mine up with Fitbit Wallet without issue. Will have to test Fitbit Pay next chance I get.

@Nefertiti Did you come right?

edit: I see Dischem has the std edition for R2799 or R2899 on special right now, so I pretty much paid R900 more for the SE :/

Nope, wallet is not enabled for gold card users

 

[RogueTr00per]

Used it for the first time today monitoring heart rate, did an hour workout and just scraped by with 70.78% average heart rate for the hour. It seems to under report my heart rate for weight training type stuff, and the cardio it seemed to over report. Will wear my Polar H7 chest strap next time to compare.

 

[RogueTr00per]

Did a workout wearing both the Polar H7 chest strap as well as the Versa. On this occasion I selected Strength workout on the Versa and also wore it a little higher up on my wrist. Average HR was 2bpm lower than the H7 so I suppose that's acceptable.

Used Fitbit Pay last night, works great!

 

[Gamer]

Did a workout wearing both the Polar H7 chest strap as well as the Versa. On this occasion I selected Strength workout on the Versa and also wore it a little higher up on my wrist. Average HR was 2bpm lower than the H7 so I suppose that's acceptable.

Used Fitbit Pay last night, works great!

Thanks for the feedback on the HR, good to know.
I notice the use of different clock faces has an effect on the sleep monitoring. Lots of comments about this on Fitbit forums. Hopefully they issue a fix in future firmwares.

 

[Gamer]

Necropost.

Just got one on Friday. My first fitness tracker. I'm impressed, does everything it says and seems to do it well. No issues linking to Myfitnesspal, Discovery Vitality and Strava.
FNB pay is supported as well (pic), which makes it extra easy to tap and pay without taking your wallet or phone out your pocket.
Very nice sleep analysis, easy to get to 'today' screen. I charged once at about 40%, based on that I'd probably get around 5 days usage between charges, although I'd rather top it up rather than taking it all the way down.
Price was a no brainer through ebucks, 40% off so cost only R1800 which I paid in ebucks, so really cost me nothing.

So I've moved on quite quickly. Got a Garmin Fenix 5X Plus last week and flogged the Versa for R2500.00 today.
I shall move on from this thread now...

 

[RogueTr00per]

So I've moved on quite quickly. Got a Garmin Fenix 5X Plus last week and flogged the Versa for R2500.00 today.
I shall move on from this thread now...

Before you go, was the Versa too Mickey Mouse for you?

 

[Gamer]

Before you go, was the Versa too Mickey Mouse for you?

No, not at all. To the contrary, I think it's a very capable device. Feature wise, it offers more than many people would need, and includes stuff that is usually exclusive to devices for twice the price, if not more.
What ultimately swayed me to start looking for something else was the lack of GPS. As I said in my first post, this was my first fitness tracker. I used it for its intended purpose from day one and I found that going for a run but being forced to carry my (fairly large to me) phone to track my distance, pace etc wasn't ideal for me personally.

I miss the touch screen ease of the Versa, but I also now don't worry about the battery life anymore, a week with the Fenix and I was on 55% before I decided to top it up.

The GPS makes a huge difference and links up to my Strava account seamlessly. A glance at my wrist while running or cycling, instantly gives me pace etc info. Much better usability for me personally.

Same with Versa, music straight off the watch to my Bluetooth earbuds which is a win.

Lastly, I'm a big oke in general and while I got used to it, I felt the Versa was a bit small on my wrist. It didn't bother me, but I'm used to large watches, so it took some adjustment from my norm. The Fenix is better suited to my wrist I think, but again, this is just a passing comment and was not a factor in my deciding to change.