Fitbit Versa 3 was released alongside Fitbit Sense and Inspire 2, while the Sense is a new model that comes with more health tracking features, Versa 3 succeeds Versa 2 and comes with inbuilt GPS and loudspeaker. This makes it a more comprehensive smartwatch than its predecessor and perhaps a worthy competitor to Galaxy Watch Active 2 which was released last year. I have used each of these two smartwatches and I think these two are some of the best on the market right now. In this post, I compare the differences between Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 vs Fitbit Versa 3 – which is better and which should you buy? Let’s find out.
Don’t have time to read through, you can watch the video comparison of Active vs Versa 3
Fitbit Versa 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 Full Specifications Compared
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The Differences?
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- Design
- Fitness Tracking
- Media and Connectivity
- Tizen OS vs Fitbit OS
- Notifications
- Battery Life
Both Versa 3 and Active 2 has got a very compact design. Although, the Active 2 comes in two sizes; 44mm and 40mm, both are compact. The Active 2 at 10.9mm is slightly slimmer than the Versa 3 at 12.4mm thick with AMOLED powering the display of both smartwatches. Although the Active 2 display is specified at 1.4 inches, it has a wider viewing area than Versa 3’s 1.58 inches display.
As per navigation, Active 2 offers more ways than Versa 3. You can interact with the Active 2 via the digital rotating bezel, touchscreen support alongside 2 physical buttons. This is more than Versa 3 that offers a touch-sensitive screen and a haptic button which I’m definitely no fan of.
You get lots of options to install Watch faces on any of these two smartwatches from their respective stores. However, while you can install Watch faces directly and store as many watch faces as possible on Active 2, Versa 3 only allows you to install watch faces from the Fitbit app and you can only store up to 5 watch faces at a time.
So, as per design, Active 2 looks more premium and decent than Versa 3. It also offers better ways to navigate.
Each of these two is designed and equipped to track your steps, calories, heart rate, sleep, help you manage stress, count floors, and feature preloaded sport modes. There’s also inbuilt GPS in each of these two that allow you to track your outdoor activities like your distance, routes, real-time pace, and heart rate.
Both Active 2 and Versa 3 will track your sleep in four stages; REM, light, deep and awake sleep stages. The sleep tracking figures for these two are very close. Both smartwatches also show your sleep trend overtime.
Each of these two also features menstrual cycle logging, water intake and food intake logging, and more. Both smartwatches also track your SpO2 blood oxygen levels. Talking about Spo2 blood oxygen tracking, Versa 3 only tracks your blood oxygen overnight which it shows through Fitbit’s Signature watch faces, while this feature will come to Active 2 in future updates.
Versa 3 features Fitbit coach which I find very interesting, it can coach you through some of your favorite moves. A near-similar feature on Active 2 is the running coach that coach as you run.
However, Active 2 features ECG, blood pressure monitoring, incidental fall detection which Versa 3 lacks. Active 2 also has more preloaded sport modes, 39 vs 20 of Versa 3.
So, I’ll say Active 2 has more fitness features than Versa 3, although both smartwatches are comprehensive fitness and health trackers that can improve your fitness levels and help you reach more fitness goals.
Both Active 2 and Versa 3 have music storage features that allow storing of your favorite tracks, but Versa 3 has limited music storage options. While you can add your personal tracks to Active 2, you can’t do that with Versa 3. You are only allowed to control Spotify playlists, download Deezer playlists and Pandora stations. This is very disappointing considering that the Versa 2 allows you to add personal music.
Each of these two has both a loudspeaker and microphone, however, while you can make and receive calls directly on Active 2, you can only answer calls on Versa 3 which you must continue on the connected phone.
You can hear Bixby speak to you, but you can’t hear Alexa speak to you on Versa 3.
I’ll say both operating systems offer neat UI that allows you to find what you seek effortlessly. However, in terms of features, Tizen OS is a more sophisticated operating system than Fitbit OS.
For instance, you can install apps and watch faces directly from Active 2 but it’s not possible with Versa 3. After a workout outdoor, you can view routes directly from Active 2, but you can’t do that on Versa 3.
You get 30 widgets to help you easily reach the information that matters most to you on Active 2 compared to 5 on Versa 3.
Both smartwatches allow you to manage notifications received on your phone. Each of these two offers you three methods to respond to notifications; voice replies, text, and preset replies. However, Active 2 offers more advanced options to manage notifications.
There is a maximum of 5 quick replies on the Fitbit app which you can customize, but you can’t add more. Meanwhile, Active 2 allows you to add many more quick replies and as well you can customize preset replies. Active 2 also shows you images received as well as chat history which Versa 3 lacks.
I charged these two simultaneously to full, used both smartwatches to workout outdoor 1hr daily, turned on notifications for the same number of apps with always-on display mode turned off, and Active lasted just about 2 days, while Versa 3 went all the way up to 4 days+. So, Versa 3 has a longer battery than Active 2.
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Which is Better?
In my honest opinion and having used each of these two smartwatches, I will say Active 2 is a far more sophisticated smartwatch than Versa 3. It has a more polished design, more fitness tracking features, more ways to enjoy music, and it’s independent, unlike Versa 3 that has limited music storage options and relies on the Fitbit app for many settings.
On the flip side, Versa 3 is still a fine smartwatch with long battery life.
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