Fitbit Inspire vs. Versa 2 vs. Versa Lite- not sure what to upgrade to

swimmchick87

I posted this in the fitbit group a few days ago and didn't get any responses, so hoping I'll get some bites here...

My trusty Alta seems to be having charging issues and I'm guessing I'll need to replace it soon. I use my fitbit every day/walking is my main exercise so I want to know ahead of time what to get so I can replace right away.

I'm fine with the alta's basic features, and it seems the inspire is the "new alta." I also like the lower price point. However, I really like the look of the versa and I figure if I'm going to wear it every day that's important. The smartwatch look seems to be a lot more stylish than a tracker band.

OTOH I'm a little nervous about the heart rate tracker part. I was part of MFP back in the day when polar heart rate monitors were all the rage for exercise, and there was always a ton of discussion about how they were really only accurate for steady state cardio. I remember people would often have the "new idea" to wear one all day long to find their TDEE and people were always quick to say they weren't accurate for that. Also many discussions about how the only accurate ones included the chest strap, not just the wrist monitor. So how is this different? If you naturally have a faster pulse, won't you be getting an inaccurate calorie burn? However the alta tracks (without heart rate) seems to be pretty accurate for me.

The other weird thing was that when comparing on the fibit website I was looking at the versa vs. versa lite, and in the comparison chart it says only the versa tracks "all day calorie burn." That can't be right? Even my alta tells me how many calories I've burned for the day. Are they referring to something different?

Any advice?

NorthCascades

Garmin VivoActive 4 or Venue.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/09/garmins-vivoactive-4-series-everything-you-need-to-know.html

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/12/garmin-venu-smartwatch-sports-review.html

I know this isn't the answer you were looking for, but hopefully useful. Garmin makes great watches, they tend to work well and last years. A lot of people think they got the smart watch functionally just right; enough to let you set your phone down and leave it, not so much that the watch is cumbersome to use. The exercise features are great, and so are the background and health tracking features, the stress tracking is scary accurate. If you use it as a steep tracker the battery lasts about a week with the screen always on. They're waterproof, have a swim mode, and can show you your texts in the shower.

Plus they look good.