Fitbit has launched their latest entry into the smart watch market with the Versa. Some say this is fitbit's last chance to compete in this Samsung and Apple dominated tech niche. Lets take a look for ourselves. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/videos
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00:00Can the Fitbit finally make a comeback and take over the smartwatch market?
00:11You remember the Fitbit, don't you?
00:13In 2013, Fitbit became one of the pioneers for fitness trackers, which were just starting
00:18to hit the market.
00:19But the arrival of smartwatches like the Apple Watch and the Samsung Gear took a significant
00:23amount of wind out of their sails.
00:25But Fitbit hasn't gone away, thanks mainly to loyal users and to the relatively simple
00:30and focused approach to their devices, which is primarily just for fitness.
00:34But in September of last year, Fitbit finally decided to make the jump into the smartwatch
00:38area.
00:39The Versa, which launched just last week, is Fitbit's second attempt at taking on the
00:44other smartwatches.
00:46When we unboxed the Versa, we found everything you'd expect in a smartwatch.
00:50There are two bands, one which is large enough to fit even the largest wrist, including mine.
00:54Good luck actually getting the bands on the watch.
00:56We struggled with this for almost 15 minutes.
00:59Fitbit might make some good trackers, but they have a lot to learn about watch bands.
01:03The charger, well, it's another ugly cord and awkward adapter for your nightside table.
01:08Good luck with that.
01:09As for the tracker itself, it's lighter and a little bit smaller than an Apple Watch Series
01:143, and operates much in the same way with swiping left and swiping right for you to
01:18access all the other features on the watch.
01:21It's got a nice big screen, so you'll be able to easily track what you're doing and
01:25when you're working out.
01:26The Versa is also water-resistant, so you can use it to go swimming.
01:30We haven't tried it out in the pool yet, but we assume it's going to have a lot of the
01:34same features that you'll see on Apple and Garmin, like number of links in the pool and
01:38what stroke you were using.
01:39The one huge thing we've noticed so far is the battery life.
01:43The Apple Watch won't make it through two days without a recharge.
01:46The Versa can go four, which means anyone who just wants to track their fitness can
01:50just put the watch on and forget about it for the next couple of days.
01:54That also means you can track your sleep schedule, which you couldn't do with the Apple Watch
01:59because you had to plug it in overnight.
02:01Next came the setup, which can be done either with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
02:05We suggest sticking with the Wi-Fi.
02:07We did it with the Bluetooth and the connection, and the update took over an hour.
02:11By the way, we haven't had any problems with updating the software or synchronization,
02:16but quite a few other people have complained about this, and there's a long list of people
02:21with problems.
02:22You're not going to find all the app integration you would with Apple and Samsung, who have
02:26hundreds if not thousands of apps available for their various watches.
02:30Right now, Fitbit has about 50, but to a certain extent, you get what you pay for, and keep
02:34in mind Fitbit wants this to be a fitness tracker.
02:37The Fitbit starts out at about 899 dirhams, although you can get a special version, which
02:43costs a little bit more.
02:44That's still about 500 dirhams cheaper than the Apple Watch 3.
02:48The Fitbit may not have all the specs you'd want from a device like the Apple, but Fitbit
02:53is definitely offering a lot of watch for a lot less price.