People who are into fitness don’t necessarily have to invest too much money on equipment. After all, with the advent of YouTube and countless DIY videos, you can turn everyday objects into apparatus for training. However, if you are serious in your athletic pursuit, it’s best to get yourself a fitness tracker. The best ones not only give you in-depth information on your progress but also provide smart notifications so you can leave your phone in your bag. The Apple Watch is still arguably the finest health-centric wearable that you can buy (actually, it’s overall the best and most well-rounded smartwatch out there, full stop) but when it comes to superb fitness tracking, Fitbit remains one of our absolute favorites. Right now, you can save up to $65 when you get the Fitbit Versa and Ionic on Walmart.
REFURBISHED FITBIT VERSA – $95
The Fitbit Versa looks almost exactly like an Apple Watch. It is square with chamfered edges and has a 1.3-inch LCD screen. The watch’s size is just right and won’t look either humongous on women or diminutive on men. Its anodized aluminum watch body is thin and compact, and it comes with a silicone strap that’s breathable so it won’t smother your skin while you work out.
Fitbit has always been laser-focused on activity tracking, and the Versa certainly delivers in that department. At a glance, the dashboard provides you with your daily stats which are tabulated into charts on a weekly basis for comparison purposes. You can keep track of more than 15 different types of exercises, as well as your sleep quality and progress. This watch is also water-resistant to depths of up to 50 meters, so you can still monitor your vitals in the pool and even while scuba diving. The heart monitor is impressively precise, women can identify recurring irregularities in their menstrual cycle through the Female Health app, and GPS and a gyroscope are built in to track your running, cycling, or climbing pace and direction. You can even receive motivational messages every morning. Don’t worry, you have the option to turn these off if you find them saccharine.
The Versa is powered by Fitbit’s proprietary operating system, Fitbit OS, and is assisted by 4GB of storage. The interface is fairly responsive, though it can experience stuttering when you’re going through lots of notifications. Tap on the screen or flick your wrist to awaken the display so that you can navigate the interface.
Of the 4GB of internal storage, 2.5GB is dedicated to music. You can choose to manually upload songs, or stream music through Pandora or Deezer, both of which have a free one-month trial period. You can also use Spotify on this watch. Unfortunately, you cannot download songs on it even if you have a premium subscription. Transferring songs from your phone to this watch is also a very tedious process. The Versa can receive the usual smart notifications like text, call, email, app alert, and more, and if you’re an Android phone user you’re in luck as you can send out quick replies. Lastly, this watch’s battery life can last roughly three and a half days with normal usage, so you won’t need to charge this every night, unlike an Apple Watch.
The Fitbit Versa normally costs $160 but right now you can get a refurbished unit of it on Walmart for just $95. That’s $65 of savings.
FITBIT IONIC – $270
If you’re not a fitness nut, the Fitbit Ionic might just turn you into one. This smartwatch not only boasts extraordinary fitness tracking and days-long battery life but also looks incredibly stylish and is extremely comfortable. Out of the box, it reminded us of the Fitbit Blaze, although its frame is square instead of octagonal. It even offers a similar experience — despite the fact that Fitbit developed an entirely new operating system for it dubbed Fitbit OS. However, after just a few minutes of use, it becomes apparent that the Ionic’s interface is much smoother and cleaner than the Blaze’s. Navigating it is super fast and easy and only requires light taps and swipes. Just like most wearables, you can wake up the screen by lifting your wrist or by pressing the small button on the left. This watch’s band is made with elastomer, a lightweight and breathable material that doesn’t feel obtrusive. Even when you work up a sweat, you’ll hardly notice that you’re wearing the Ionic on your wrist.
As far as fitness tracking goes, the Ionic has the most basic features covered plus several more. As expected, it tracks a wearer’s daily steps, heart rate, burned calories, sleep patterns, and flights of stairs climbed. In addition to this tracking data, the Ionic also offers personalized exercise routines, guided breathing sessions, sleep tracking, and sends friendly, hourly reminders to keep moving. What’s more, the Ionic has a built-in GPS with GLONASS that can simultaneously display and record your stats like pace, distance, and split times. It’s also equipped with multisport modes for specific workout tracking and the SmartTrack for automatic exercise recording. You can even start dynamic personal coaching if you want on-screen guidance on workouts or activities. And just like the Fitbit Versa, the Ionic is water-resistant to depths of up to 50 meters for tracking swim workouts.
App support is quite extensive (although not as broad as Apple’s), including giants like Strava, Pandora, and Starbucks. Strava is particularly wonderful as it’s essentially a social network for runners and bikers. Pandora is also great for those who don’t want to shell out $10 every month for a Spotify subscription. What’s more, you not only get to remotely control and stream your music, you also have enough space to store roughly 300 songs on the Ionic.
The Fitbit Ionic is normally worth $299, but right not it’s available on Walmart for $270.
Admittedly, the Fitbit Versa and Ionic aren’t that much different when it comes to features. Both host a healthy number of fitness functions and other smart functions, although for what it’s worth, we think the Ionic is the better-looking device that would look good both in and out of the gym.
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