The Fitbit Versa 2 is now official, labelled by its creator as a “premium, voice-enabled lifestyle smartwatch”.
Visually, it’s reminiscent of the outgoing device but boasts a number of notable changes.
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The screen remains painfully small in relation to its bezels, but it’s now an AMOLED display which means deeper blacks and more energy saving. There’s also now a single button instead of three, while the Fitbit logo has finally been removed.
But the major upgrades largely focus on hardware. The Fitbit Versa 2 now features a microphone which allows wearers to reply to texts or notifications. NFC comes standard too, which enables its Fitbit Pay touchless payments system, and comes with a five-day battery life.
South Africans though do get a slightly nerfed version of the watch.
A new Spotify apps has been included, but Fitbit notes it may not be “fully available” in South Africa. Additionally, some markets also boast Amazon Alexa smart assistant support through that microphone. Alexa’s unavailable in South Africa.
That said, it’s still essentially a health tracker.
Fitbit will add a Smart Wake feature which will “machine learning to wake you during an optimal time of your sleep cycle”.
Sleep Mode, effectively a do-not-disturb mode, can now be activated before sleep to disable notifications and the screen.
Fitbit’s also planning to add an Estimated Oxygen Variation graph to its app, which calculates the oxygen levels in the wearer’s bloodstream.
“The data is derived from a combination of the red and infrared sensors on the back of your device,” Fitbit explained.
“Being aware of short term variations in the oxygen levels in your bloodstream may indicate variations in your breathing during sleep.”
The Fitbit Versa 2 is heading to South Africa in mid-October, priced at R3999.
It will be available in “black with a carbon case, petal with a copper rose aluminum case, and stone with a mist grey case”.
A Special Edition of the watch will also be offered. At R4999, buyers get a choice of “navy and pink with a copper rose aluminum case and smoke with a mist grey case”.
Feature image: Fitbit
