Versa 3 product feedback

[stefstefstef]

I am a huge fan of the first smartwatch FitBit produced -- the Versa 1. I wore it literally every hour, every single day for the last 3.5 years. The only day I took it off was for my wedding day (and I had to wear a bracelet to cover up the insane tan line from it!)

Sadly, my Versa 1 finally stopped working just last week, and I was devastated, but I quickly reordered a new one because I can't live without it now. I was so excited to upgrade to the newest model and experience all the enhancements made in the last 3.5 years. I even bought 2 extra Versa 3's for my parents -- that is how much I loved the Versa. I wanted to always have one with me and I wanted my family to have one too.

Unfortunately, the new Versa 3 I just got is a much more inferior product to the Versa 1 I had. I am so disappointed in the functionality of the new watch, and all the changes that have been made to the design that I am not sure I can gift the watch to my parents, and I'm not sure I can depend on it like I did my Versa 1. I'm so saddened by this that I wanted to share my feedback with your Product Design team, in the hopes that future versions will be improved, but also so you have some genuine feedback from someone who was a devoted user of your past products. I hope someone finds this helpful and that you'll reach out if you have any questions about any of this feedback I'm sharing.

1. watch band redesign - much easier to change out bands; didn't like the new band style at first because I was worried it would press on my nerve in the wrist, but it doesn't bother me when worn
2. watch body redesign - didn't like the new button design at first, the physical button was nice to use and so easy to find (the new recessed button was hard to find and get used to the first couple of days); the body now seems to have a gasket which makes me concerned about the lifespan of the battery; curved watch face and screen doesn't feel optimal for displaying information (many watch faces aren't optimized to the curved display)
3. left button features -- don't like that the left button no longer serves as a "back" button, so you can go back to the last page you were on. This was a huge adjustment from the Versa 1, because you could always pull yourself out of each window back to the previous by pressing back. It's so annoying that there's no SAVE or BACK button on each page of the watch UI so you can finish doing something and go back without having to go all the way back to the beginning. Also, felt the responsiveness of the left button was not as good as the physical button, very hard to trigger the correct actions by pressing the button.
4. Shortcuts -- like that you now have 4 shortcuts you can quick access, but really dislike that the shortcuts have to be set on the watch itself and can't be done thru the app
5. Configs moved from app to watch -- in general, I really dislike that a lot of the config's you could previously set on the Fitbit App on the phone have now moved to only living on the watch. For example, you used to be able to set shortcuts on the app, now you have to do it through the watch, which is a much more frustrating UI. You also used to be able to set Exercise settings or preferences on the app, instead of on the watch. Having to do stuff on the watch is really time intensive and frustrating, because so much of the UI (the lack of back button or save button, the small screen) makes it much harder to use.
6. Many configurations have been removed altogether. The biggest one that is missing from the Vera 3 is exercise settings. The Exercise app used to have settings you could configure on the Versa 1, like for Run you could set if you wanted notifications every mile or not, or for Tennis you could set a goal. For Interval Workouts you could set how many intervals the workout would be, how long each interval is, and how long each rest session is. These settings are HUGE and make it so much easier to use the Fitbit for exercise. Without it, the watch is not suited to each individual's workout needs and is therefore kinda useless for exercise.
7. The heartrate sensor on the Versa 3 is not accurate compared to the Versa 1. I've been using the Versa 3 for a few days and have noticed it no longer autologs exercise (like a walk or a run or an outdoor bike ride) because it doesn't perceive my heartrate increasing. When I manually turn on Exercise and log a workout, it no longer counts active minutes even if I'm doing a HIIT workout for over 40 minutes (the Versa 1 on the otherhand, would log about 30 minutes of active time for a 40 minute workout, which tracks pretty accurately, with 5 minutes of warmup and 5 minutes of cooldown). Because of this, my daily active minutes and calories are much lower and I find this really demotivating, I can do all the exercise but the watch won't count it. 
8. The speaker for Google Assistant or Alexa is really low audio quality -- makes it really hard to use any of the features requiring you to be able to listen to it (like Google Assistant or taking a call with your watch). If the watch gets wet, water gets inside the speaker, so if you use it while there's still water in it, it sprays water out when it's making noise.
9. The Bluetooth range is worse on the Versa 3 -- I've noticed many of the apps (like weather, or agenda) no longer work without the phone nearby, and I have to constantly have the phone within a few feet in order for it to sync with the phone for this information. With the Versa 1, I could be anywhere in my house and the phone would be synced up with my Versa, so I could always reference the weather or my schedule. If I wasn't near my phone, it would show me the last data pull from my phone.
10. Apps work differently (and not as well) on the Versa 3 -- in addition to the Exercise app no longer having settings you can configure, other apps are downgraded from before. The Timer app for example, you used to be able to set a default time to countdown in the Timer so you could go back to the default, now you have to reset the time each time you use it. The Today app on Versa 1 would show your activity history from the week and your sleep history from the week, without having to go to the app, but the Versa 3 now only shows you one day's worth of information. Notifications on the Versa 1 also were easier to use, because you could individually swipe to clear a notification you didn't want to see, but now on the Versa 3 you have to open each one individually to clear it, or clear all of them. Again, the lack of a "back" button like the left button on the Versa 1 makes using the watch so annoying.
11. Addition of the Google Assistant is nice -- it's easier to respond to a text with a free text response, but the limitation of having to have the phone close by to do anything almost negates this
12. Watch face designs -- disappointed to see in the last 3.5 years, better watch faces haven't come onto your marketplace.

[Guy_]

Hi @stefstefstef   - thanks for the comprehensive review! If you are not satisfied with the product Fitbit have a 45 day refund policy and shops probably a 30 day one.

However there a few tips that might help.

• button does go straight home now, but you can use swipe right to go back one level
• as this model is more sophisticated it is capable of doing things on the watch adequately so it avoids having to get your phone out.
• the exercise list adapts to your usage and only is an issue the first time you do a new exercise, so avoids having to do an exercise list organization at all
• Heart rate is a big drawback compared to a Versa 1 as noted by many, and not of much use for activities, but sleep monitoring seems good
• Water in speaker - this is unavoidable - Apple has a water eject, you found the equivalent for Fitbit, make a call. However water is an issue, noted by many - the seals can be poor and either water gets inside the watch or the face becomes detaches - so avoid getting it wet at all after warranty.
• Bluetooth range, this may be a phone setting as it is not normally a problem, it should work every bit as well as a Versa 1 for range, and may be a simple phone restart may cure. Try the SimpleCheckUp app which can verify if your watch is not connecting, amongst other useful things.
• For the timer you can try SimpleTimer which specifically addresses this problem with 4 default remembered timers and a lot of nice features, integrates beautifully with the SimpleClockPro clock face as an addon.
• when you swipe up your watch you can manage what is shown for Today, without having to leave the clock face, and you can swipe on each entry to get more information
• For notifications you don't want to see, swipe them left to clear them individually
• Google Assistant is brilliant, except now no longer handles routines, it eliminates having to get your phone out, which has to be in range of course [see above]
• With so many clock faces in the Gallery it is odd that you didn't find any that you like.
• You didn't mention the poor vibration, even on strong, compared to a Versa 1
• You didn't mention battery life which needs careful management of features and settings to get the optimal duration

There are lots of new things compared to a Versa 1 which will take time to learn but thanks for your post, it will help others.