Versa 2 disappointment

melto1989
melto1989 Posts: 140 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Whats your experience with the versa 2? Ive had it for 4 days and i like everything about it but i bought it to have a more accurate calorie reading to help lose and maintain my weight. All ive heard is how hugely it overestimates total calories. I find it hard to beleive ive burnt 2591 by 6:30pm
So I'm a little disappointed because its so great but if the main reason i got it is wrong than its a big waste. Hoping to hear good reviews

Replies

  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 7,078 Member
    I just got mine last week, it says I've burned
    2300 and I definitely can't eat that much! I like watching my heart rate, especially doing cardio. It doesn't log the stair treadmill correctly (said I'd gone up 30 stairs after 25 flights) so I took it off today and strapped to my calf. Exercise bike I'm doing the same. It racks up steps when I'm on my rocking chair though! I like it overall though there's definitely some shortcomings.
  • Bballnguitarz
    Bballnguitarz Posts: 15 Member
    I've had the Charge HR, Charge HR 2, and now the Versa 2. Overall I like it a lot and it's estimated calories are in line with the other Fitbit trackers I've used. I know that heart monitors aren't always the best for determining how many calories you burn, but from what I've read, Fitbit is still one of the better ones out there. I think it has an error rate of 17% or something like that, depending on your skin tone and what not. But still, it's better than a lot out there.

    For me I like it because it provides me consistency and lets me get an idea of how many calories I can consume before gaining weight. My fitbit estimates my average calorie burn around 3500/day, but I'm taller and I exercise 3 - 5 days a week.

    Your estimated calories burned might not be as far off as you think, depending on your height, age, weight, and fitness level. I say it's still a really good investment.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    melto1989 wrote: »
    Whats your experience with the versa 2? Ive had it for 4 days and i like everything about it but i bought it to have a more accurate calorie reading to help lose and maintain my weight. All ive heard is how hugely it overestimates total calories. I find it hard to beleive ive burnt 2591 by 6:30pm
    So I'm a little disappointed because its so great but if the main reason i got it is wrong than its a big waste. Hoping to hear good reviews

    I had a Charge 2 and found it to be fairly well aligned with my own data in terms of calories burned day to day. That said, I wouldn't personally buy a fitness watch with the main purpose being calorie estimates because that's all it is. My Garmin Instinct seems to be relatively accurate for giving me calorie estimates for purposeful exercise performed, but not at all for my total daily...that doesn't bother me, as that was pretty low on my list of things I wanted out of my watch.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Bballnguitarz wrote: »
    I've had the Charge HR, Charge HR 2, and now the Versa 2. Overall I like it a lot and it's estimated calories are in line with the other Fitbit trackers I've used. I know that heart monitors aren't always the best for determining how many calories you burn, but from what I've read, Fitbit is still one of the better ones out there. I think it has an error rate of 17% or something like that, depending on your skin tone and what not. But still, it's better than a lot out there.

    For me I like it because it provides me consistency and lets me get an idea of how many calories I can consume before gaining weight. My fitbit estimates my average calorie burn around 3500/day, but I'm taller and I exercise 3 - 5 days a week.

    Your estimated calories burned might not be as far off as you think, depending on your height, age, weight, and fitness level. I say it's still a really good investment.

    No. Power meters on bikes, and mass over distance formulas for running and walking are best for determining calorie burn. Heart rate monitors are best for knowing your heart rate.
  • hlr1987
    hlr1987 Posts: 151 Member
    Wear it for a month and compare your average calories consumed over a week, with your calories burnt over a week and see if the rate of loss is consistent? I was surprised when I first got mine, but my average rate of loss just under a kg a week is roughly in line with a 800-1000 cal deficit most days, which leaves me with enough food to not be too hungry! I want to upgrade mine for a modal thats waterproof.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Why do you think 2,500ish calories is off? Depending on your current rate and activity level, I can imagine situations where someone could easily burn 2,500 calories by 6:30 PM. Remember, Fitbit is estimating your total calorie burn, including all the calories your body burns just being alive.

    For me, a 110ish pound woman, I'd burn over 1,000 calories even if I just stayed in bed all day. Once you factor in regular daily activity and intentional exercise, there are days when I'm over 2,000.
  • melto1989
    melto1989 Posts: 140 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Why do you think 2,500ish calories is off? Depending on your current rate and activity level, I can imagine situations where someone could easily burn 2,500 calories by 6:30 PM. Remember, Fitbit is estimating your total calorie burn, including all the calories your body burns just being alive.

    For me, a 110ish pound woman, I'd burn over 1,000 calories even if I just stayed in bed all day. Once you factor in regular daily activity and intentional exercise, there are days when I'm over 2,000.

    Because im a stay at home mother of 4 im not heavy i weigh 64kg nd im 163cm tall (sorry cant convert)
    My average seems to be about 2000 or more when active i can get past 3000 calories on my workout days. 2x a week i do a 500c workout and i occasionally use the exercise bike but not frequently . Sounds too good to be true because ive been eating 1200 calories for so long i could have been eating more than that. I have 4kg to go maybe a little more since the BMI recommends i be between 50-66kg for healthy weight
  • melto1989
    melto1989 Posts: 140 Member
    hlr1987 wrote: »
    Wear it for a month and compare your average calories consumed over a week, with your calories burnt over a week and see if the rate of loss is consistent? I was surprised when I first got mine, but my average rate of loss just under a kg a week is roughly in line with a 800-1000 cal deficit most days, which leaves me with enough food to not be too hungry! I want to upgrade mine for a modal thats waterproof.

    Thats good to hear. It would be fun to compare it to my rate of loss. I think i will give that a go
  • melto1989
    melto1989 Posts: 140 Member
    Bballnguitarz wrote: »
    I've had the Charge HR, Charge HR 2, and now the Versa 2. Overall I like it a lot and it's estimated calories are in line with the other Fitbit trackers I've used. I know that heart monitors aren't always the best for determining how many calories you burn, but from what I've read, Fitbit is still one of the better ones out there. I think it has an error rate of 17% or something like that, depending on your skin tone and what not. But still, it's better than a lot out there.

    For me I like it because it provides me consistency and lets me get an idea of how many calories I can consume before gaining weight. My fitbit estimates my average calorie burn around 3500/day, but I'm taller and I exercise 3 - 5 days a week.

    Your estimated calories burned might not be as far off as you think, depending on your height, age, weight, and fitness level. I say it's still a really good investment.

    I hope its not too crazy off :)
    Still enjoying the fitbit watch regardless but im 141lbs ans 163cm tall. Thanks for sharing your experience/opinions about the watch
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,941 Member
    Those things can be useful if your heartrate falls within the average of a population, whatever was implemented as a population. But considering that about half of all people fall more than 10bpm outside of the dreaded 220-age equation for maxHR, it's likely that these things are not very reliable for a large number of people. As far as I know, no learning algorithms have been implemented that would allow an estimate of what accounts for normal HR and exercising, regardless of what ones HR range is. At least the implementation of a manual maxHR in Fitbit is rather rubbish. I might get fairly accurate results when completely sedentary, but as soon as I do move a bit I get crazy 'burns', just because I have a very high maxHR (around 210. Guess I'm a 10 year old :D ). And if your HR goes up just above average whenever you move then that has an influence on the calories that thing calculates. The same is true for people with a very low maxHR, only then the calculated burns would be much lower.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,941 Member
    edited March 2020
    Interesting observation on my charge 2 for me: MFP and other calculators give me about 1540kcal per day to maintain. With about 4-5000 steps per day I'm fairly sedentary. On one such day I get about 1800kcal per day from my fitbit. Which is rather spot on. But once I move more things get ugly: I might get 200 extra for a normal paced 30 minute walk. And lets not talk about running :D
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    My last Fitbit died, but I specifically had to turn heart rate off because of how much it used to over-estimate for me. I had my data dialed in for a non-heart rate device so I didn't want to gather data again. The way you dial in your data is by basically looking at how your weight is doing over time in relation to your calories to estimate your practical maintenance number and see by how much the device over-estimates, then change your info on Fitbit by making yourself shorter or older until Fitbit's numbers start to roughly align with the number you calculated.
  • ChrissyChickie
    ChrissyChickie Posts: 182 Member
    I like my Versa 2. I just got it and am still getting used to it, but the calories burned take into account regular calories from being alive. I actually thought at my high weight I would burn even more calories than it is showing.

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