Fitbit’s new Versa Lite is a $160 take on the smartwatch

Fitbit’s Versa was a big deal. After testing the water with the Surge, Blaze, and Ionic, the Versa has by far been the company’s most successful smartwatch. I even called it “the first smartwatch I can recommend to most people” in my review.

Now Fitbit is making its smartwatch offerings more affordable with the $160 Versa Lite, as well as introducing new version of its ‘dumb’ fitness trackers too.

The Versa Lite is $40 cheaper than the original and includes most of its core functionality, including activity, sleep, and heart rate tracking, as well as notifications, apps , and 4+ day battery life. In turn, you lose the ability to track floors climbed or laps swam, though the device is still waterproof to 50M. There are also no on-screen workouts, and you can’t store music on the Lite.

I think that’s a fair compromise given the money saved. And if the price doesn’t sway your opinion, you might be tempted by the swanky new blue and purple colors.

If all you care about is basic fitness tracking, Fitbit’s also announcing the Inspire ($69.95) and Inspire HR($99.95), which basically offer the same features as the Alta and Alta HR but with a new design and a proper touchscreen instead of the old accelerometer-based tap. You can also purchase a clip accessory if you’d rather not wear the devices on your wrist and just want to count steps.

Lastly, there’s the Ace 2, a followup to Fitbit’s fitness tracker for kids. This time around, it’s basically just the Inspire with a more child-friendly rubbery shell. That means your kids could essentially upgrade the device when they’ve grown enough to not need the Ace’s child-oriented software. It also means a big price drop to $69.95 compared to the original’s $99.95.

In all the Alta, Alta HR, Flex 2, Zip, and original Ace are being phased out. The Versa Lite, Inspire, and Inspire HR will be available this month, while the Ace 2 will go on sale this summer. If any of the devices tickles your fancy, you can preorder it from fitbit.com.

Published March 6, 2019 — 22:39 UTC