New activity trackers - Fitbit Versa and Misfit Path?

[TwoBees]

Does anyone have either of these and can you give me your opinion? I know there are reviews out there - I have read them, but I am looking for some IRL feedback.

[NCGrandma]

I’ll be following this with interest. I currently have a Fitbit Blaze (their early attempt at a smart-ish watch). It was great for a few months but after they issued a firmware update, it has drastically undercounted steps (like only half to 2/3 of the previous counts for the same destination). This is a known issue but basically Fitbit has given up on the Blaze so no more updates. (Fooey!) I’ve been considering the Versa, and have never heard of the Misfit Path.


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[Reyadawnbringer]

I just got a versa as an early mothers day gift and so far I love it! I used to have the original style of the charge 2 and it was frustrating me daily. It would count all these phantom floors that I never climbed. I had to leave the Bluetooth sync off during the day because I have Bluetooth headphones that I listen to and the charge 2 Bluetooth sync would always interfere with my Bluetooth headphone signal. The headphones would drop the connection and then couldn't be reconnected to my phone without turning off the sync for the fitbit and restarting the headphones. It was extremely frustrating.

Now with the versa I have been able to leave the all day sync engaged and use my headphones without interruption. I am not impressed with the "apps" that are available for download to the versa. Then again when I think about what apps I would want to view from my phone I can't really think of any.

I receive all the notifications from my phone on my versa which I LOVE. I felt like I was always missing important stuff because my phone was never in my hand. Now I can see the notifications on my wrist and can decide if I need to respond right away or can wait till later. I can check incoming messages and calls without it being obvious that I am messing with my phone.

The versa does not have the ability to respond to messages from the watch directly, but they claim that feature is coming in a future update.

I find the tracking to be more accurate than my previous fitbit and I love the prompts to get up and move around every hour. It has helped me a ton. I haven't loaded my own music onto the watch itself yet, but that seems like a pretty handy feature for when I might want to go to the gym or out for a walk without having to take my phone. My Bluetooth headphone synced to the fitbit without issues.

The watch I have is the basic version, not the limited edition with the woven band. I had read that others didn't find the woven band to be very comfortable and it held on to sweat and other moisture making it not very practical for swimming or other workout purposes. I find this watch to be the perfect size for my wrist. Not bulky at all. The plain plastic band I got is comfortable. The watch also comes with two sizes of wristbands and they are easy to switch which was nice.

This is my first smart watch so my expectations and needs are pretty low. I had read reviews from others who had different smart watches who ended up disappointed with this watch. I can understand that, I feel like this is a fitbit first with some handy smart watch features not a smart watch which also happens to have some health tracking features.

I know a friend of mine who got the fitbit Ionic when it first came out and I wasn't too impressed with her experience with that one. I got the sense that she was disappointed with it as well but didn't want to voice the disappointment after spending so much money on it. My experience with the versa has been completely different than hers. The only thing my watch doesn't have that hers does is an integrated GPS. Her has a standalone GPS, and mine requires the phone for GPS. I am totally fine with that difference, but it is one that should be noted.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions!

DS1 - 9!
DS2- Expected 07/18

[TwoBees]

I just got a versa as an early mothers day gift and so far I love it! I used to have the original style of the charge 2 and it was frustrating me daily. It would count all these phantom floors that I never climbed. I had to leave the Bluetooth sync off during the day because I have Bluetooth headphones that I listen to and the charge 2 Bluetooth sync would always interfere with my Bluetooth headphone signal. The headphones would drop the connection and then couldn't be reconnected to my phone without turning off the sync for the fitbit and restarting the headphones. It was extremely frustrating.

Now with the versa I have been able to leave the all day sync engaged and use my headphones without interruption. I am not impressed with the "apps" that are available for download to the versa. Then again when I think about what apps I would want to view from my phone I can't really think of any.

I receive all the notifications from my phone on my versa which I LOVE. I felt like I was always missing important stuff because my phone was never in my hand. Now I can see the notifications on my wrist and can decide if I need to respond right away or can wait till later. I can check incoming messages and calls without it being obvious that I am messing with my phone.

The versa does not have the ability to respond to messages from the watch directly, but they claim that feature is coming in a future update.

I find the tracking to be more accurate than my previous fitbit and I love the prompts to get up and move around every hour. It has helped me a ton. I haven't loaded my own music onto the watch itself yet, but that seems like a pretty handy feature for when I might want to go to the gym or out for a walk without having to take my phone. My Bluetooth headphone synced to the fitbit without issues.

The watch I have is the basic version, not the limited edition with the woven band. I had read that others didn't find the woven band to be very comfortable and it held on to sweat and other moisture making it not very practical for swimming or other workout purposes. I find this watch to be the perfect size for my wrist. Not bulky at all. The plain plastic band I got is comfortable. The watch also comes with two sizes of wristbands and they are easy to switch which was nice.

This is my first smart watch so my expectations and needs are pretty low. I had read reviews from others who had different smart watches who ended up disappointed with this watch. I can understand that, I feel like this is a fitbit first with some handy smart watch features not a smart watch which also happens to have some health tracking features.

I know a friend of mine who got the fitbit Ionic when it first came out and I wasn't too impressed with her experience with that one. I got the sense that she was disappointed with it as well but didn't want to voice the disappointment after spending so much money on it. My experience with the versa has been completely different than hers. The only thing my watch doesn't have that hers does is an integrated GPS. Her has a standalone GPS, and mine requires the phone for GPS. I am totally fine with that difference, but it is one that should be noted.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions!

DS1 - 9!
DS2- Expected 07/18

Thank you! I really like your description that this is a fitness watch with some smart features, not a smart watch with fitness features. I am looking for an activity tracker first and foremost, but having those additional smart features would be nice. I do have a few questions.

Are there any analog clock faces? I'm a bit old school when it comes to watches.

Have you had any of the software/syncing issues that I have heard about from some user reviews? Are you pairing it with an iPhone or an Android?

Do you find the step count to be accurate or at least in line with what you saw with the Charge (I know you said you had stair tracking issues with the charge)?

How is the battery life?

[NCGrandma]

In addition to twobees 's good questions, another q: do you use the heart rate feature? Do the results seem reasonable? With the Blaze, I was getting very inconsistent and unlikely HR results at first, when I followed the instructions to wear it an inch or two above the wrist. After I changed to wearing it at the normal wrist, the HR settled down.


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[Reyadawnbringer]

I have had this watch since Sunday afternoon. It fully charged on Sunday and I started wearing it that evening. I am now at 16% battery life. I find it on par with the battery life I had with the charge HR but I'm impressed because the features and screen displays would inevitably use more battery than the charge did and yet I am still getting a long battery life out of it.

I have mine synced with an android phone. I don't have software update or connectivity issues now, but it was giving me trouble Sunday. It took longer than expected and seemed to stall out but then was suddenly done when I was trying to mess with it. From the research I did, my experience was not unheard of, but also not the common experience.

They do have a ton of analog faces. I will see if I can upload the screen shots I took of some of the analog face options.

As for the tracking, I found the charge and the versa to be on par with where I think my steps should be. I have even deliberately counted steps while walking around work and found that the few times I checked the fitbit matched my own count.

As I said before, I primarily care about the fitness aspect, but find the few smart watch features a nice add on. But if I had been coming from a smart watch before I might be disappointed.

DS1 - 9!
DS2- Expected 07/18

[Reyadawnbringer]

In addition to twobees 's good questions, another q: do you use the heart rate feature? Do the results seem reasonable? With the Blaze, I was getting very inconsistent and unlikely HR results at first, when I followed the instructions to wear it an inch or two above the wrist. After I changed to wearing it at the normal wrist, the HR settled down.


Sent from my iPad using Baby Bargains

I didn't get a chance to respond to this earlier sorry! I find the heart rate monitor to be close to where I expect it to be. I have no actually taken my own heart rate manually and compared but the rate reported seem actuate for my purposes.

DS1 - 9!
DS2- Expected 07/18

[TwoBees]

Thanks for the info! I am going to give it a try. Hoping there will be some sales or promos next week for Mother’s Day!

[boilermakermom]

I know it is not exactly what you asked about, but Costco has the Fitbit Charge 2 bundle for $119. It's a good deal, and goes fast.

I have a Charge 2 and I am happy with it. Use it for fitness, HR, watch features. I also like I can read texts and am notified if I am receiving a call. Nice feature when my phone is on the other side of the house.

Battery life is great! I charge it once, maybe twice a week. I wear it constantly, bluetooth always on as well.

Find it to be accurate with steps and stairs.

[TwoBees]

I know it is not exactly what you asked about, but Costco has the Fitbit Charge 2 bundle for $119. It's a good deal, and goes fast.

I have a Charge 2 and I am happy with it. Use it for fitness, HR, watch features. I also like I can read texts and am notified if I am receiving a call. Nice feature when my phone is on the other side of the house.

Battery life is great! I charge it once, maybe twice a week. I wear it constantly, bluetooth always on as well.

Find it to be accurate with steps and stairs.

Thanks for the tip! I have also been looking at this...I want to upgrade from my Alta (original) to something that does heart rate and stairs. What is the bundle?