Doesn’t it feel like every day there is a new type of wearable technology on the market?! One ad claims the Apple watch is best, but another says the Fitbit is best! Well, lucky for you — I am going to provide you with an unbiased breakdown of the most popular brands of wearable technology. We will be covering the features they offer, storage, battery life, and so much more! The wearable tech industry can seem overwhelming – so to keep it simple, I will be breaking down four devices: The Apple Watch Series 6, the Apple Watch Series 3, the Fitbit Versa 3, and the Fitbit Charge 4.
First, when entering the market to buy a piece of wearable technology it’s important to determine what you will be using it for. Do you want something that tracks your activity, or do you want a “smart-watch” that can link to your phone and receive texts and calls? After you determine this — the market will become much more manageable. Let’s begin by comparing the Fitbit Versa 3 to both of the Apple Watches, and the Fitbit Charge 4. Let jump on in!
What sets the Versa 3 apart from the Apple Watch? Take a look:
- The battery life for the Versa 3 is 6+ days, depending on how much you use it! This is one advantage that the Versa 3 has over both Apple Watches.
- A quick charge feature — in just 12 minutes you can receive enough power to get the Versa 3 through one whole day!
- The Versa 3 can connect to any phone, not just an iPhone.
- A unique alarm feature called “Smart Wake.” This allows you to set your alarm so that it will only go off when you are in a lighter sleeping stage. Waking up in these sleeping stages can help you feel more awake and refreshed!
Now the Versa 3 does have some drawbacks:
- One of which is its price tag. The Versa 3 starts at $229.95. This is cheaper than the Apple Watch Series 6, but it is still pricey!
- The Versa 3 does not have LTE access like both Apple Watch models do.
- In addition to not having access to LTE, there isn’t as much storage on the Versa 3 — only offering 4 GB of storage.
- The final drawback – a smaller touchscreen coming in at only 1.59 by 1.59 inches.
Overall, the Fitbit Versa 3 is a strong option, but just know that it won’t have all the “Oh’s” and “Ah’s” of the Apple Watch Series 6.
Let’s break down the Fitbit Charge 4. One positive right off the bat is that the Fitbit Charge 4 is the cheapest of all the models! The Fitbit Charge ranges from $129.95 to $149.95 – but the more affordable price does come with some sacrifices.
- The touch screen for the Fitbit charge is very small.
- It also has a limited retina color range that can be displayed. All of the previous options discussed can show a wide range of colors, whereas the Charge 4 model cannot.
- The Charge 4 has a lot of the same fitness capabilities as the Versa 3 and Apple Watch Series 3 such as counting steps, tracking calories burned, sleep and different types of workouts you may engage in.
- The Charge 4 can sync to any phone and receive calls and texts. One drawback is that you can’t accept the call through the Charge 4, you have to have your phone on hand. You can set up quick replies on your Charge 4 to answer texts, but you cannot type out long responses due to restrictions on the device. This could be a drawback if you wanted to use this device as a way to respond to texts.
One positive about the Fitbit Charge 4 is that it has the longest battery life out of any of the devices we have mentioned. The battery life of the Charge 4 is 7+ days, depending on how much you use it. You can also set up Fitbit pay to avoid carrying your wallet around 24/7. I would say that the Fitbit Charge 4 is probably for the consumer who is more likely to track health data versus using the device to communicate.
At the end of the day, it comes down to one question. What do you want out of the watch? Do you want all the bells and whistles or are you okay with the basics? Come back next week for #WellnessWednesday to learn more about Fitbit’s competition – the Apple wearable options. See you then!
Published By: Jeffrey Duvic
