The Fitbit Versa is one of the best smartwatches you can buy for $200. It has a great design, fantastic fitness/health tracking, outstanding battery life, and a growing selection of apps and smart features. However, if you do a little shopping, you'll see that there's a lot of competition in this price range. If you're looking for some alternatives to the Versa, these are your best picks.
Samsung's Galaxy Watch Active costs exactly the same as the Fitbit Versa, and for people that want a more complete smartwatch experience, it's tough to beat. It has more options for replying to notifications, a brighter/more colorful OLED display, and a larger selection of apps and games. It also works great for fitness tracking and gets around two days of battery per charge.
Just like the name suggests, the Versa Lite is essentially a lite version of the regular Versa. It lacks the original Versa's on-screen workouts, detailed swim tracking, and local music storage. Everything else is exactly the same, save for the price that's been lowered substantially. If you like the Versa but want something cheaper, this is kind of perfect.
If you want a watch running Google's Wear OS, your best bet is the TicWatch E2. Wear OS is really powerful, offering great notification management, a large app selection, and the Google Assistant. As for the E2's hardware, you'll find a 24/7 heart-rate monitor, waterproofing up to 50M, two days of battery life, and built-in GPS.
The Gear Fit2 Pro takes the form of a fitness band rather than a smartwatch, but don't let the small size fool you. This little wearable is waterproof up to 50M, has a military-grade durability rating, 24/7 heart-rate tracking, local music storage, and built-in GPS for mapping runs without needing to carry your phone.
One of the latest contenders in the $200 smartwatch space is the Amazfit Verge, and for a lot of people, this could be a fantastic alternative to the Versa. It features a lightweight design, gets up to five days of battery life, has a gorgeous AMOLED screen, and a built-in GPS chip. Add all that together with a lower price tag, and the Verge is a seriously great value.
What's the best part about the Garmin Vivomove HR? It doesn't look like a smartwatch. Instead, it looks like a classy, regular dumb watch. The design here is simply fantastic, but it goes way beyond just that. The Vivomove HR is a full-fledged fitness tracker, has a heart-rate monitor, and even syncs notifications from your phone.
The Galaxy Watch Active does more for the same price
The Fitbit Versa and Galaxy Watch Active share a price tag of exactly $200, and if you ask us, the Galaxy Watch Active is probably a better fit if you value smartwatch features over a more fitness-oriented wearable.
Fitbit got a lot right with the Versa, but it's still lacking a few features that the Galaxy Watch Active brings to the table. This includes things like built-in GPS, an NFC chip for mobile payments, and a microphone that allows you to use your voice to respond to notifications.
Samsung's Tizen operating system is also more powerful than FitbitOS on the Versa, offering better notification management, a smoother interface, and a larger selection of apps and watch faces.
The Versa still reigns supreme when it comes to more in-depth fitness tracking and battery life, however, so deciding between one of these two is not an easy decision.
You can really stretch your dollars with the Amazfit Verge and Versa Lite
If money's a bit tight and you want a wearable that offers a comparable experience to the Versa but costs less, the Amazfit Verge and Versa Lite are also great options.
With the Amazfit Verge, you're actually getting a better experience than the Versa for less money in some regards. The AMOLED display is more vibrant, battery life is slightly better, and it even has a built-in GPS. It's lacking some of the Versa's fit and finish, but for the price, you can't go wrong.
Alternatively, if you know you want the Versa but just can't justify spending $200 on a smartwatch, why not get the Versa Lite? It costs $40 less and delivers about 90% of the experience with a casing that comes in some really fun colorways. It's not as powerful as the Amazfit Verge, but if you want into the Fitbit ecosystem, it's a no-brainer.
