Fitbit Versa 2 review: A solid replacement, but not totally remade

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Fitbit's first smartwatch may have been the Ionic, but the company is throwing all of its resources behind the Versa. While the Ionic targeted serious athletes, the original Versa was more accessible in design, features, and price. That combination won over a lot of users, so much so that Fitbit made an even more affordable version with the Versa Lite.

But now the $200 Versa 2 is revamping the original Versa by bringing some special edition features down to the regular model and including all-new ones—voice commands, Spotify playback control, and the like—that Fitbit likely added to keep up with the Joneses of the smartwatch world. Fitbit only added to the Versa 2—it didn't remove anything that was already present in the original Versa. Even so, that doesn't make it a no-brainer upgrade for happy OG-Versa owners.

What’s new

Hardware

The Versa 2 retains that rounded-square case design that the original Versa had, only now it has a new AMOLED display, one side button, and an improved processor. The AMOLED panel gives the watch a higher-quality look and feel with deeper blacks and more vibrant colors. Images should also look crisper, and indeed the photos used in the Exercise app appear to have more detail than they did before. But Fitbit OS doesn't use too many photographs, so you'll mostly enjoy the improved screen through the operating system's color iconography.

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