Is the Versa compatible with more Android phones?

[knowsnofitness]

I've never owned a fitbit ever, but the Versa really caught my eye and I was ready to preorder until I read other people's experience with previous Fitibits and Android phones not in the compatibility list, which is missing a lot of phones new and old.

The people I planned on gifting the Versas too own LG G6, Asus Zenfone 3, LG Q6, and other phones not in the compatibility list which leans heavily to Samsung phones.

Does the Versa use the same system as the old Fitbits when it comes to the Android app or is it somewhat more forgiving now that Fitbit has bought Pebble.

Thank you very much.

Moderator Edit: Clarified Subject.

[Lufalulz]

Fitbit purchased pebble a while ago.

At this moment, the Fitbit Versa has as much pebble as the Ionic, which has as much pebble as a... anything that really doesn't have thaaat much pebble in it. The main difference, however, is how it looks.

Nevertheless, to answer your question. Whenever a device is not supported by Fitbit it doesn't really mean that it's not compatible. It's just that the Fitbit team has not tested every single feature of the app to work on that specific phone.

So when you buy a 200 or 300 dollars watch and your phone is not on that list, you're essentially gambling.

Your phone could work wonderfully with the Versa no matter what Fitbit throws at you and it could also work beautifully until Fitbit releases an update that doesn't take into consideration the hardware specifications of your device. And it really wouldn't be their fault because again, it's not supported.

The watch could also work perfectly as if your phone were fully compatible and then all of the sudden it could get damaged and customer support would have to ask you to try with a supported device because even if the watch's fault there's no way for them to know.

So, yeah. I've seen people using Ionic and Versa with Huawei P10 Lite (which Fitbit has specifically labelled as incompatible), Moto G5 and anything in between.

It may work but as soon as something goes wrong, you'll be forced to stick with that or try with a different phone.

200 to 300 dollars is a big investment for some people.

[taijitu]

I actually heard of a user from Singapore receiving a Versa more than a week ago and syncing it with their Zenfone 3 just fine here on the forums, their handle was something along the lines of Cutiepie or Cutie-pie

[knowsnofitness]

Found cutie-pie's post. Thank you.

He/she had to use Fit Notifications, a 3rd party app to get notifications to work on her Zenfone 3.

I thought Fitbit, being such a household name for trackers, would be more inclusive of compatible phones.

Guess I really might have to gamble on a device that might not provide notifications at all.

[SteveH]

@knowsnofitness if you buy direct from fitbit.com then they offer a 45 day return for refund for any reason. If it doesn't work out then you can just return it.

[cleaner24]

Well i learned the hard way about compatibility. I have a Blackberry running Android 6.0 and my Charge 2 works fine with it. I wanted to upgrade to the Versa as my existing Asus Smartwatch was inoperable after Google updated their software and Asus did not. I gambled and lost and my Versa worked great for about 4 hours. Then the smartwatch features stopped working while the fitbit features worked fine. I was going to return the watch and received authorization to do so but instead asked my wife if she wanted to try it with her Moto 5 phone and it so far is working very well and she likes it. She also has an Alta hr which has not synced well with her Moto 5 phone. Go figure. I do hope fitbit finds a way to improve compatibility as it is imperative for their long term success. 

[MarcoGFitbit]

Hello everyone, I hope you're doing well, @cleaner24, it's great to have you on board the Fitbit Community! It's nice to see you as well @SteveH, thanks for all your help. 

Please note that many Android phones have all the hardware requirements to be a supported device but are currently not on our list of supported devices. This means that we have not tested it for compatibility and added it to the list yet. For the time being, we don't have an specific date or time-frame of when is going they will be listed as compatible. 

While these devices has all the specifications to be compatible and are currently working with the Fitbit app, it's possible to come across some issues along the way. I appreciate your understanding while we work to improve this experience, if there's anything else I can do for you, please feel free to reply. 

[DramaQueenDiva]

I have a Samsung, and have never had problems syncing my Ionic or Alta HR to the Fitbit app.

[Cantryboy]

I am considering getting the galaxy s9+ which isn't there yet but i'm planning on just syncing with my laptop which allows Bluetooth syncing until it works.

[byankster]

Shooting from the hip here, whenever you read a post about something not working on someone's Fitbit keep in mind the problem might be in their phones and they are blaming the Fitbit.  Not only does one have to consider if the phone is compatible but the configuration of the phone (what apps are running) has to be taken into account.  When you read a post that has "my Fitbit was working great and then all of a sudden it stopped syncing" what app did that person recently install has to be considered.   

[cleaner24]

I shared my experience not to criticize Fitbit but to be informative and I appreciate the response.  To be clear I used to have a Pebble. It synced  and worked well with 3rd party apps with my current phone without any issues. I had a Android Wear watch which synced and worked well with third party apps. I tried the Versa (and I really liked it when it worked and it works fine on my spouse"s wrist now) and it syncs fine for health data but does not connect for 3rd party apps or for fitbit apps either. This is on Fitbit because I have a phone running Android 6.0 and all other watches and headphones etc connect fine including my GM car which incredibly Fitbit help suggests I disconnect from to achieve better bluetooth connecting with my device. 

My point is fitbit OS needs to be compatible with  current Android and ios operating systems and I hope fitbit resolves these issues soon. I have already ordered a smartwatch from another company and will keep my charge 2 for daily use too which I am happy with. 

[WIUpnorth]

The list of compatable phones is old. It appears to be the same one from when we got our ChargeHr in 2015. How many of us are due for a new phone? Fitbit has some real problems a head of them if they don't start looking at comparable phones.

[morjoie]

I totally agree with cleaner24.  Fitbit needs to improve compatibility with Android mobile devices much more quickly.  I own a HTC 10 phone, which had no problems syncing with my Charge HR 2 device.  I wanted to upgrade to the Ionic, and after I bought it, was disappointed to find that the HTC 10 (a phone that is nearly 2 years old, BTW) was not supported, and that connectivity is a real issue.  Sometimes it worked, often it didn't.  It's also not compatible with the HTC U11, Samsung S8, S9 or the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL phones, among others.  Wifi connectivity is intermittent, too.  I've never seen a device have so many problems finding and retaining a 2.4 ghz wifi signal!  When I called Fitbit, the agent suggested that I disable the (inactive) 5 ghz band on my dual band router.  This, even though my wifi signal was plainly in the 2.4 ghz band.  Well, I certainly wasn't going to do that.  Fitbit OS has compatibility issues and Fitbit needs to solve them if they want to hold onto market share.

[MarcoGFitbit]

Hello everyone, I appreciate your participation in the forums. It's great to have you on board @morjoie, welcome to our family! 

We really appreciate our members's input and feedback and I would like to thank you for yours. Our team is always looking to improve the Fitbit experience and would like to mention that the Fitbit app is compatible with more than 200 Apple, Android, and Windows 10 phones and tablets. Our team is continually adding more devices and improving their compatibility, so if you don't see your device on the this list check back soon.

As mentioned before, there are some mobile devices that have not been tested it for compatibility and haven't been added it to the list yet, and even though I don't have a specific timeframe for when they will be added I would like to point out that in order to use the Fitbit app you must have one of the following operating systems installed on your phone or tablet:

• Apple iOS 8 or higher
• Android OS 4.4 (KitKat) or higher
• Windows 10 version 14393.0 or higher

Thanks again for your patience and understanding, if there's anything else I can assist you with, don't hesitate to reply, I'll be happy to help. 

[DWade83]

Id like to see the LG V30 in the compatible list as well for the Versa. I would like to gift this for my husband since his pebble is going to lose a lot of features soon. I get that this is a flagship phone but I am nervous to get a $200 smart watch and not have it work either.

[MarcoGFitbit]

Hello there @DWade83, welcome aboard to the Fitbit Community! 

We really appreciate our members's input and feedback and I would like to thank you for yours. In this case the LG V30 still is not listed as a compatible device. so, we cannot guarantee that all features will work as is expected. Keep in mind this is not a statement that your Fitbit tracker is not going to work with your phone but we do not have a specific timeframe for when the phone will be added to the list. 

Thanks for your patience and understanding, if there's anything else I can do for you, please feel free to reply. 

[Redbarn03]

Why isn't the product tested before released? 

[Divewahine]

Good question. I just got the Samsung S9 and really want to get the versa, as my Gear S2 is dying. However, I don't want to spend the $$ if all of the features don't work. Really between a rock and a hard place. I've been with Fitbit since the beginning (had the original fitbit, fitbit Ultra, Fitbit One - which still works), and am a bit disappointed. I really want to stay with Fitbit,but am having a hard time with this one...

[razerf15]

S9 works just fine. Samsung is well ahead of the game. It's compatible. They just won't give Fitbit permission to say so because of competition with their own Samsung Gear watch line.

[Divewahine]

Good to know. I was looking at the S3, but it's too "manly" for my little wrist. The only thing is...I give up the ability to make/receive calls and respond to messages. Tough decision...