Why You Can Trust CNET Fitbit Sense, Versa 3 and Inspire 2: How to decide which wrist wearable to buy
Here's how the Fitbit Sense, Versa 3 and Inspire 2 stack up against each other.
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The Sense is a brand new smartwatch from Fitbit.
Fitbit announced three of its latest wrist wearables during a virtual launch in August, in which the company highlighted its focus on health and wellness monitoring in the coronavirus pandemic. The three fitness-focused devices, the Sense, Versa 3 and Inspire 2, are available at a discount at the time of this writing.
The Fitbit Sense is an entirely new smartwatch brand from Fitbit, marking its first major watch update since the Fitbit Versa in 2018. The Sense is the most expensive new device but it's also the most advanced smartwatch from Fitbit, featuring an array of new sensors. It has an ECG, similar to the Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, that can detect abnormal changes in heart rate. It also has stress sensing and temperature sensing, which measures variations at night and compares it to your baselines.
In addition to its more advanced features, the Sense also includes more common fitness-tracking options such as calorie burn, steps count and blood oxygen tracking (SpO2).
Read more: Fitbit Sense: 3 new sensors for temperature, ECG and stress
The Versa 3 is the latest generation of the Fitbit's popular smartwatch, which marked one of the company's early forays into this category. Like the Sense, the Versa 3 has a curved square face with metal and glass finishing. But it doesn't have as many sensors. The Versa 3 doesn't have stress sensing or heart-health monitoring, but it does get access to SpO2 levels at night. It also now has onboard GPS (so you don't need bring your phone on outdoor workouts) and it supports Alexa and Google Assistant. Just like the Sense, its battery life is said to last six days and both devices use the same magnetic charger that promises to charge a full day's worth of juice in 12 minutes.
Fitbit's Inspire 2 comes in three colors.
The Inspire 2 is a follow-up to the Inspire and Inspire HR fitness trackers. Like its predecessors, it has a slim and clean design with a monochrome display, allowing for battery longevity. Fitbit puts battery life of the Inspire 2 at 10 days -- making it the longest across its entire product portfolio, according to the company. This fitness tracker still has sleep tracking and heart-rate monitoring around the clock.
For more detailed specs, take a look at our chart below.
Fitbit Sense vs. Versa 3 vs. Inspire 2
| Fitbit Sense | Fitbit Versa 3 | Fitbit Inspire 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shape | Square | Square | Rectangle |
| Materials | Aluminum and stainless steel | Aluminum | Silicone |
| Display size, resolution | AMOLED | AMOLED | OLED |
| Always On | Yes | Yes | No |
| Interchangeable bands | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| GPS | Yes | Yes | Connected GPS |
| Automatic workout detection | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Water resistance | Yes, up to 50m | Yes, up to 50m | Yes, up to 50m |
| Calls | Yes | Yes | No |
| Notifications | Text replies (Android) | Text replies (Android) | Yes, but without text replies |
| Microphone | Yes | Yes | N/A |
| Speaker | Yes | Yes | N/A |
| Voice assistant | Alexa and Google Assistant | Alexa and Google Assistant | No |
| Music | Onboard (Deezer, Pandora), playback control (Spotify) | Onboard (Deezer, Pandora), playback control (Spotify) | N/A |
| Mobile Payments | Fitbit Pay | Fitbit Pay | N/A |
| Sleep tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Period tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Special features | Stress tracking and SpO2, ECG and skin temperature | SpO2 and skin temperature | 10 day battery life |
| Emergency features | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Compatibility | Android and iOS | Android and iOS | Android and iOS |
| Battery life | 6 days | 6 days | 10 days |
| Price (USD) at launch | $329 | $229 | $100 |
| Price (GBP) at launch | £300 | £200 | £90 |
| Price (AUD) at launch | $500 | $400 | $180 |
All about health and wellness, the Fitbit sense is a smartwatch with all the bells and whistles needed to track your health. There's an ECG sensor that tracks abnormal changes in heart rate, stress sensor and a temperature sensor that measures at your health at night.
This Fitbit smartwatch is the latest generation. It doesn't have as many sensors as the Sense, like heart monitoring, but it does have onboard GPS, which allows for a more streamline workout without your phone.
The Fitbit Inspire 2 is slimmer and has a monochrome display that allows for a longer battery life. While there is no speaker or microphone on this smartwatch, it can still do a lot of necessary tasks like sleep tracking.