Swimming with Versa....have you? Can you?

[CaptainsChairwo]

Has anyone used versa whilst swimming? Seeing some mixed and confusing messages online. The sales plus is water resitstant for up to 50meters but fitbit moderators saying this is water resistant not waterproof and not to use it whilst swimming?? I would love to use it and want to make sure i wont ruin it. Is it a marketing plug or has anyone tried and tested? No smart arse answers just helpful please thanks!

[PinkyRabbit]

I have generally swum 3 times a week since I bought my Versa at the start of July. So far no issues. Lengths are counted properly. 40 * 25m each swim. Heart rate recording during swim is very hit and miss. I personally don't shower with the watch on. Nor do I dive into the pool. I have the standard silicone strap.

Pity a lot of other things about the Versa do not work as advertised...

[Psh64]

Does your calories burned make sense and are your active minutes  recorded?

[geezer45]

I swim 5 days a week and got my Versa in early June.  It has never worked properly for me.  Fitbit replaced by first Versa watch within 30 days and this Versa just stopped working one morning.  I used the swim mode every day. Occasionally the laps recorded were accurate but more often they were very inaccurate.  I did adjust the length of the laps for 25 yards to reflect the 20 yard pool that I use.   I have had it record as few as one or two laps although I completed 15 to 20 laps and other days it recorded laps far in excess of what I had actually completed.  It did record the time swimming accurately but that was about the best I can say for it.

While steps appeared to be fairly accurate, it seldom recorded the number of flights of stairs I completed accurately.  I have had the device under count the number of flights I have completed and other days significantly over count the number of flights.  Therefore I have to assume the number of flights of stair climbed was inaccurate more than it was accurate.  

Overall, I would not recommend this product to anyone.  I have had other products that were very accurate but purchased the Versa because it was waterproof and could be used to record laps.  It has not been able to accurately record my sleep activity. the number of flights of stairs nor the number of laps swimming.   It does appear to be waterproof although I have no idea why the device stopped working when it had a full charge.   Fitbit has offered to replace the device but given I have two Versa models that failed to work properly I would prefer a full refund.   The help desk stated that they could not offer a refund because I purchased the product from another retailer and not the Fitbit online store.  

[delorisjamtart]

I used mine this morning during my practice. It recorded the distance as 1,450 m. I calculated it afterwards and it was off by 600 meters in an hour long practice. I'm assuming that it can't accurately track kick or drills. 

[PinkyRabbit]

Psh64:

As the watch does not record my heart rate correctly in the water, then I must assume that the calories burned are some sort of estimate. And to be honest they look low.

[Psh64]

Is it calculating burnt calories somewhat accurately and logging your swim as active minutes?

Sent from my iPhone

[Xctual]

Accidentally swam with mine and it worked just fine after. I shower with it just fine too but I prefer to spend my shower time charging it. While the watch itself does say it's fine about 50 meters deep or less you have to understand water pressure. You can simulate what being so deep would do to a watch if you were to shoot it with a pressure washer continously. Water and electronics usually don't mix so what FitBit has achieved with the Versa is quite an amazing feat. Also, don't spray it with a pressure washer and you more than likely won't damage it even if you're splashing around in a pool. Diving and exerting extreme amounts of force to the watch is a different story though.

[geezer45]

I never checked the accuracy of my burnt calories but it does log' my swim time as active minutes.  I swam for 45 minutes one day and it only recorded 1 or 2 laps and I used the same stroke consistently.  It appears that if I am only kicking and not doing any arm movements the laps don't record.  On another occasion it record laps accurately for several laps, stopped tracking laps, then record 5 or six laps in one length of the pool. 

[PinkyRabbit]

My swim is always 28min for 40 * 25m lengths. I normally do breast stroke, but throw in a fast front crawl every 10 lengths. I do push off hard for each new length. Calories show as around 190. When my heart rate IS measured, it is normally around 100bpm.It is logged as active minutes.

[GreginJaxFL]

I did with my second Versa and it died in less than 20 minutes.  Poor thing started to vibrate until it died.

[Matt-Toronto]

I am considering getting one - if i do I will swim with it - is says swimproof and water resistant to 50M right in the product marketing.  FYI for anyone that used to buy watches - they stopped using the word "Waterproof" about 20 years ago and replaced it with "Water Resistant to ____ (depth)".  The deeper the rating, the better the waterproof-ness of the watch - this is true of all Watch Manufacturers - so don't let the Fitbit description of Water Resistant scare you off.

[lenny4d]

@Xctual"so what FitBit has achieved with the Versa [50m waterresistant] is quite an amazing feat."

All smartwatches/trackers that come out these days have the same waterresistant spec.

[amarcel]

Don't press the buttons while you are under water and you should be okay

[Bridget213]

Yes you can definitely swim with your versa and even track your swimming by using the exercise app on it 

[KateT123]

I also bought the Versa because it’s advertised for swimming. There is a specific exercise setting just for swim, so why wouldn’t it be waterproof? However the owners manual says it’s water resistant not waterproof. There’s a difference!

In the directions it warns “if it gets wet remove the Fitbit and dry it off”. Very confusing mixed signals

[geezer45]

I have not had experienced a with the device not being waterproof and was not my complaint. My problems centered around the inability to accurately track my laps while swimming as well as not tracking my sleep patterns. It tracked the number of hours that I slept but not whether it was light sleep or deep sleep etc. I continued to get a notification that my heart rate was interrupted. No matter how I adjusted the wrist strap or which arm I wore the tracker on, it only tracked my sleep pattern approximately 10 nights over a 5 month span. In regard to the swimming laps, the tracker was inconsistent. It would track 3 o4 4 laps accurately then not track another lap for the next 20 or 30 minutes. One time it recorded 4 lengths in the time I completed 1 lap.

[tsherman24]

Are you able to calculate your heart rate while swimming?

[lenny4d]

@tsherman24  "Are you able to calculate your heart rate while swimming?"

When you select swimming as an exercise, the tracker turns off heart-rate. If you select some other exercise or no exercise the HR sensor remains on but what you get is unreliable...

That is because the optical tracking doesn't work well if there is water between skin and sensor. What you get varies - I have noticed that sometimes the value gets 'stuck', other times it seems reasonable for whatever it may be worth.

I am not sure how exactly the calorie calculation is done, but it doesn't use/need the heart-rate. A quick search on the net shows what seems decent swimming-calorie calculators that simply use pace (stroke rate, speed, distance) and body parameters (weight, length).

[Psh64]

Does your calorie calculation appear accurate?
On my charge 3 it appears to be around 1/3 of what my flex 2 would calculate. I’m also only getting a few minutes of activity but am actually swimming for an hour. Any experience with this? I’m just trying to see how my charge 3 experience compares to other people’s versa experience.

Sent from my iPad

[geezer45]

No, I haven't. One of my frustrations with this tracker. It may track it but I never figured out how to see my heart rate while using the swim function.