Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.
On the other side, you have a wide array of smartwatches that work with various platforms, and at all price points. There's the vast lineup of watches running Android Wear, and heavy-duty devices from companies like Garmin and Samsung.
But in recent months, a new competitor has arrived on the scene: Fitbit Versa, a $200 smartwatch aimed at the everyday consumer. Fitbit Versa is the closest thing Apple Watch has to a real competitor, and an excellent watch in its own right.
So while there are plenty of reasons to love Apple Watch, here are eight reasons to choose the Fitbit Versa instead:
1. Fitbit Versa is significantly cheaper than the Apple Watch.
Fitbit Versa costs $200, while the Apple Watch Series 3 starts at $329.
That said, the Apple Watch Series 1 costs $250. It's still $50 more than the Fitbit Versa, but it's the closest thing to an "entry-level" smartwatch Apple currently offers.
2. Fitbit Versa is smaller than the Apple Watch.
Fitbit Versa is 24mm wide and 24mm tall, making it sightly smaller than the smallest Apple Watch available, which is 38.6mm wide and 33.3mm tall.
3. Fitbit Versa has better battery life than the Apple Watch.
Fitbit says the Versa can get up to four days of battery life. In my own tests, I got almost five full days on a 90% charge.
The Apple Watch, on the other hand, only gets about 18 hours of battery life.
4. Fitbit Versa has fewer apps than the Apple Watch.
Fitbit Versa has only a handful of apps preloaded, and none of them are messaging, email, or traditional social apps. Instead, it's apps like Starbucks, weather, and meditation.
You don't even have the option to load on Gmail or Twitter, which means you're not constantly being pelted with notifications or distracted by frequent buzzes on your wrist.
Apple, on the other hand, is slowly paring down apps on the watch — third parties are also choosing to discontinue their Watch apps — but you still have the options to be inundated by iMessages and emails.
Again, it's all personal preference, but for me, the fewer apps on a smartwatch, the better.
Users can now use the Fitbit Versa watch to track where they are in their menstrual cycle, check when to expect their period, and keep tabs on their fertility.
Apple does not yet offer a similar service for the Apple Watch.
6. Fitbit Versa has sleep tracking built in.
Fitbit has a feature called Sleep Stages, which lets you keep track of how well you're sleeping if you wear the watch at night. You can also set a sleep schedule, track your awake time, and track your sleep averages over time.
While there are several third-party apps for tracking sleep on the Apple Watch, Apple does not make its own sleep-focused app for the watch.
7. Fitbit Versa has an SpO2 sensor, which means it could eventually track conditions like sleep apnea.
The Fitbit Versa (and last year's watch, the Fitbit Ionic) have an SpO2 sensor, which measures blood oxygen levels. While it's not able to track health conditions like sleep apnea quite yet, the possibility is there.
Apple Watch has plenty of built-in sensors — including a heart rate sensor, accelerometer, and gyroscope — but no other advanced health-tracking sensors.
8. If you change your mind about the Versa, Fitbit offers a 45-day money back guarantee.
Fitbit gives you 45 days to return the watch if you decide you don't like it, and offers a one-year limited warranty on the device.
Apple offers a much shorter return window of 14 days, although Apple does offer one perk Fitbit does not: You can trade in an eligible Apple Watch for an Apple Store gift card to use toward a new device. If it's not eligible, Apple will recycle it for you.
