Our Pick
You get more premium features with the Versa. You can track your swim laps and stairs climbed, you can store and play music, and get on-screen workouts. It does cost more, but if the added features are important to you, it's worth the extra money.
For
- All-around health and fitness tracker
- Tracks swim laps
- Tracks floors climbed
- Stores and plays music
- On-screen workouts
Against
- More expensive
Money saver
If you don't want or need the four extra features that the Versa has to offer — stair tracking, music storage, etc. — you can save some money by getting the Versa Lite instead. The Versa Lite comes in more color options, which may be even more important than added features for some.
For
- Excellent health and fitness tracker
- Has all of the core Fitbit features
- Comes in fun, bold colors
- Less expensive
Against
- Fewer features
It comes down to bonus features versus price and color choices. If the added features are more meaningful to you, go for the Fitbit Versa. If a lower price point and more color options are more appealing, then the Fitbit Versa Lite is the way to go.
Features or price and colors?
The Fitbit Versa and the Fitbit Versa Lite are certainly more alike than different. Both of them will track how many steps you take and how many calories you burn. Both track your heart rate around the clock, allowing you to see your heart rate zones, resting heart rate trends, and more. Both are water-resistant up to 50 meters, making them swimproof and shower-proof. Both have over 15 different exercise modes, allowing you to record your workouts and get real-time stats. Both devices will connect to your smartphone's GPS so you can see stats on your wrist for runs and bike rides.
Since the battery on both can last over four days, you'll only need to charge the Versa or Versa Lite a couple of times per week. Because you're not charging it every night, you can wear it while you sleep. Both devices will track your sleep, both the duration and the time spent in light, deep, and REM sleep. Both offer female health-tracking, allowing you to log your periods and gauge ovulation.
Both the Versa and the Versa Lite let you get call, text, and smartphone app notifications. If you have an Android phone, you can send quick replies on both devices. Both Fitbits offer hundreds of apps you can use for workouts, sports, weather, and more. You also have a variety of watch faces from which to choose.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Fitbit Versa | Fitbit Versa Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Steps and calories | Yes | Yes |
| Sleep tracking | Yes | Yes |
| 24/7 heart rate | Yes | Yes |
| 4+ day battery life | Yes | Yes |
| Swimproof | Yes | Yes |
| Notifications | Yes | Yes |
| 15+ exercise modes | Yes | Yes |
| Real-time pace and distance | Yes | Yes |
| Female health tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Apps and clock faces | Yes | Yes |
| Floors climbed | Yes | No |
| Swim lap tracking | Yes | No |
| Store and play music | Yes | No |
| On-screen workouts | Yes | No |
| Color options | Two | Five |
So what makes them different, exactly? The Fitbit Versa has some extra features that most people will find quite useful. The Versa tracks your elevation — whether you're climbing stairs or mountains. The Versa will also track your number of laps, duration, and calories when you swim laps in a pool.
Best of all, the Versa can store and play over 300 songs. You can also download your favorite stations from Pandora and playlists from Deezer. You can download personalized on-screen workouts onto the Versa, which will coach you through each move and even adapt to you based on your feedback.
While the less-expensive Versa Lite doesn't offer these extra features, it still has plenty of features to offer. Plus, it comes in more colors. The Fitbit Versa comes in only two color options: Black Aluminum/Black band and Rose Gold Aluminum/Peach band. The Versa Lite comes in five colorways: Silver Aluminum/White band, Silver Aluminum/Lilac band, Marina Blue Aluminum/Marina Blue band, Mulberry Aluminum/Mulberry band, and Silver Aluminum/Charcoal band. You can indeed buy additional bands for different looks, but you can't change the color of the aluminum.
Overall we still recommend getting the main Versa because of all those extra features. However, if you want to save some money, you'll still get a solid device with the Versa Lite.
Keep in mind that the Versa has been discontinued by Fitbit, though it is still a perfectly good device and is available on Amazon. If you want the latest and greatest Versa, you'll want to check out the Fitbit Versa 2.
More features
The Fitbit Versa is our pick for its extra features: on-screen workout coaching, swim lap tracking, music storage and playing, and stair/elevation tracking.
Less expensive
The Versa Lite still has plenty of features making it a well-rounded health and fitness tracker. If you don't need the added Versa features, save some money with the Versa Lite.
