Fitbit Versa 3 vs. Versa 2: We compare Fitbit smartwatches
Find which smartwatch fits the bill
Fitbit Versa 3 is still an incredibly popular smartwatch—and a worthy upgrade to the dated Versa 2.
Of course, we now have a brand new Versa 4. But that doesn’t mean these two aren’t worth your time.
Fitbit Versa 3 offers excellent wellness, fitness, and sports tracking features that make it a great upgrade and solve some of our biggest bugbears with Versa 2.
But many people will find the older version great value, especially as it’s treated to a host of deals.
We’ve used both—here’s how Versa 3 and Versa 2 match up. And don’t forget to read our Versa 3 vs. Versa 4 guide too.
Design and comfort
Versa became known as Fitbit’s “mass appeal smartwatch” because it boasted a more everyday, unisex style than Fitbit Ionic.
Fitbit has largely kept the same look on Versa 3, though it takes some design cues from its Sense health watch, with softer lines and greater comfort.
Versa 3 is slightly larger with a 1.58-inch display and a 336 x 336 resolution. Versa 2 features a smaller 1.39-inch display with a 300 x 300 resolution.
In terms of dimensions, Versa 3 measures 40.48mm x 40.48mm x 12.35mm compared to Versa 2’s 39.95mm x 39.84mm x 12.15mm dimensions.
Fitbit Versa 2
Versa 3 colors 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 straps that include its Infinity band as well as Horween leather, woven, and knitted bands. It also introduced partnerships with designers Pendleton and Victor Glemaud to make bands for Versa.
It carries the same 5ATM waterproof rating, making it safe for a shower and a pool swim (up to 50 meters depth).
Fitness and sports tracking
Fitbit Versa has always felt like Fitbit’s best watch for 24/7 activity tracking. Those features remain on 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.
Versa 3 gives you all of Versa 2's features, including 20 goal-based exercise modes, such as pool swimming, automatic exercise recognition, and working out in heart rate zones.
But Versa 3 also has built-in GPS, so there’s no need to borrow the GPS signal from your phone to track outdoor activities.
The latest Versa uses Fitbit’s PurePulse 2.0 heart rate sensor, which the company claims will improve accuracy and features. Fitbit says its machine learning algorithms may map multiple heart rate signals and build them into a better picture of your heart rate.
Versa 3 also gets Active Zone Minutes—Fitbit’s 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, Versa 3 will have the upper hand.
Health tracking
Fitbit Versa 3
While Fitbit’s Sense watch has now arrived on the scene, that doesn’t mean Versa can’t be used to keep track of your daily metrics.
Both Versa 2 and 3 enable you to monitor resting heart rate and access menstrual health tracking features. There’s also an SpO2 sensor, which can now be used for Fitbit’s Estimated Oxygen Variation.
Versa 3 includes all of these features and also uses Fitbit's PurePulse 2.0 heart rate sensor technology, which the company says improves accuracy.
> Fitbit menstrual tracking guide
Versa 3 also inherits the ability to alert you if it detects an unusually high or low heart rate.
Both devices will feed data into the Health Metrics Dashboard and will show:
- Breathing rate
- Blood oxygen
- Resting heart rate
- Heart rate variability
- Skin temperature variation
Both devices have also been updated in 2022 to include the continuous monitoring of irregular heart rate rhythms, which can alert you to conditions such as atrial fibrillation.
Smartwatch features
Fitbit Versa 3
Every smartwatch feature you’ll find on Versa 2 is sticking around for Versa 3. That means you get a smartwatch that works with both iOS and Android phones, letting you view notifications, store music, and download offline playlists from services like Deezer and Pandora. You can also access apps and watch faces from Fitbit’s App Gallery storefront and make use of Fitbit Pay.
Both watches offer smart assistant support, though Versa 3 adds another assistant to choose from.
Another Versa 3 feature that isn’t supported on Versa 2 is the ability to take calls on the watch when connected to Bluetooth. With Versa 3, you’ll also be able to adjust call volume and send calls to voicemail.
Versa 3 also adds a built-in speaker, but rather than providing voice feedback from Alexa or Google Assistant, it’s mainly used for taking calls.
Battery life
Fitbit Versa 3
These two watches match up when it comes to battery life. Whether you go for Versa 2 or Versa 3, you’re promised 6+ days of battery.
When we enable the always-on display mode on Versa 2, we typically get 3–4 days of usage. When testing for our Versa 3 review, we had the always-on display mode and notifications enabled, along with GPS usage 2–3 times a week. With all those accounted for, the smartwatch tended to last us 5–6 days.
One big addition Versa 3 gets over Versa 2 is fast-charging technology. It uses a magnetic charger that will get you 24 hours of battery with just 12 minutes of charge. That’s a pretty desirable feature.
Initial verdict
There’s no doubt that 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 Versa 3 makes some pretty significant changes that should make it the smartwatch worth paying a little extra for if you have the choice.
