Fitbit Versa 4 Review: a no-fuss fitness watch that focuses on the basics

I’ve been using the Fitbit Versa 4 as my daily watch for a few weeks, mainly for workouts, steps, and sleep tracking. I’m not the type who needs a mini smartphone on the wrist, I just want something that tracks my activity reliably, doesn’t die every night, and isn’t a pain to wear. So I went into this more as a fitness band user upgrading to a watch, not as a hardcore smartwatch geek.

Right away, the Versa 4 feels like a watch built around fitness first, smart features second. You get built-in GPS, 24/7 heart rate, 40+ exercise modes, sleep tracking, and the Daily Readiness Score if you use Fitbit Premium. On the smart side, you have notifications, calls on the wrist, Alexa, Google Wallet and Maps, but it’s clearly not trying to compete head-on with an Apple Watch or a high-end Samsung watch.

In daily use, the watch gets the job done: it tracks steps and workouts, the heart rate seems consistent enough for casual fitness, and the battery life is honestly one of the main reasons I kept wearing it. It’s also light enough that I forget it’s on my wrist, which is important if you want to track sleep without being annoyed at night. The app is still the center of the experience, and that’s both good and bad, depending on how much you like looking at graphs on your phone.

It’s not perfect. Some features are locked behind the Premium subscription, which is a bit annoying after the 6‑month trial. There are also small software quirks: you’re dependent on the Fitbit app version, and sometimes syncing or notifications can be hit or miss if the app isn’t updated. But overall, for the price and the target user (someone who actually wants fitness tracking more than fancy apps), it’s a pretty solid option with some compromises you should know about before buying.

From a value perspective, the Versa 4 sits in an interesting spot. It’s usually cheaper than top-tier smartwatches from Apple or Samsung, but more expensive than basic fitness bands or no‑name watches. What you’re really paying for is a mix of reliable fitness tracking, a decent app, and a big enough screen to see your stats easily. If that’s what you care about, the price makes sense, especially when it’s on sale like during Black Friday.

You also get a 6‑month Fitbit Premium trial. That adds guided workouts, deeper analysis, and things like the Daily Readiness Score and Sleep Profile. These features are nice, but the catch is that after the trial, you have to decide if you’re willing to keep paying. If you don’t, the watch still works, but some of the “fancy” insights go away. Personally, I think the watch is still useful on the free tier, but it’s something to consider in the long-term cost.

Compared to cheaper generic brands, the Versa 4 feels more polished: better app, more accurate tracking, NFC payments, and a more reliable screen outdoors. Those budget watches often claim a lot of features but cut corners on accuracy, build quality, or software. On the other hand, some of them offer music and camera control that the Versa 4 doesn’t have, as one Amazon reviewer pointed out. So if you just want the most features per dollar, a random brand might look more tempting, but you sacrifice quality and ecosystem.

Overall, I’d say the Versa 4 is good value for someone who mainly cares about fitness, battery life, and comfort, and doesn’t need a full-blown smartwatch platform. If you want a watch that runs lots of apps, controls everything on your phone, and replaces more of your phone’s functions, then its value drops and you might be better off saving for a different device. But as a focused fitness watch with some smart extras, the price-to-utility ratio is pretty solid.

Design-wise, the Versa 4 goes for a pretty neutral look. The Black/Graphite version I used is basically a black square with rounded corners and a dark metal-looking frame. It doesn’t scream “tech toy,” which I actually like. On my wrist it just looks like a normal, modern watch that doesn’t draw attention in an office or at the gym. If you want something that looks super premium, this is more on the practical side than the fancy side.

The screen is 1.58 inches with a 348 x 442 resolution. In real life, the display is sharp enough to read small text and stats without squinting. Indoors, brightness is fine, and colors look decent. Outside in bright sun, it’s readable but not mind-blowing. You sometimes have to tilt your wrist a bit to cut glare, but it’s not unusable. It’s better than cheap no‑name watches I’ve tried, but not at the level of higher-end AMOLED smartwatches that really pop in direct sunlight.

The watch is thin and light, and that matters a lot when you wear it 24/7. Compared to bulkier watches, the Versa 4 doesn’t catch on shirt cuffs as much and doesn’t feel like a weight on your wrist when you sleep. There’s a side button that helps with navigation, and the touchscreen is responsive enough — not perfect, but I didn’t find myself raging at it. Swipes and taps usually register on the first try, and the menus are simple enough to learn in a day or two.

Personally, I’d describe the design as "functional and low-profile." It’s not ugly, but it’s not something you buy just for the looks. If you want a watch that blends in and doesn’t shout, this works. If you’re hoping for a watch that looks like a luxury piece of jewelry, this isn’t that. For everyday sports and office wear, though, the design is perfectly fine and does what it needs to do.

Battery life is one of the biggest strengths of the Versa 4. Fitbit claims 6+ days, and in my real use I was getting around 4–6 days depending on how hard I pushed the GPS and how many workouts I logged. On weeks where I did a couple of GPS runs and kept the screen settings moderate, I could stretch it close to the 6‑day mark. If I hammered it with daily GPS workouts and kept the screen brighter, it dropped closer to 4 days, which is still decent.

The nice part is that you don’t feel tied to the charger every night like with some other smartwatches. I could wear it to bed for sleep tracking, wake up, and still have plenty of battery left. That makes the sleep features actually usable, because you’re not constantly deciding between tracking your sleep or charging the watch. A quick top-up while showering or working at your desk is usually enough to keep it going.

Charging itself is straightforward: it uses Fitbit’s proprietary charger, which snaps on magnetically. It’s not my favorite thing to have yet another custom cable, but at least it connects easily. From low battery to around 80–100% doesn’t take forever; you can get a big chunk of charge in under an hour. Still, if you lose the cable, you have to buy another one, so that’s something to keep in mind.

Overall, the battery behavior matches what most normal users want: you can forget about it for several days and just plug it in occasionally. If you’re coming from an Apple Watch that needs almost daily charging, this feels like a relief. If you’re coming from a simple band that lasts 10+ days, it’s a bit worse, but you’re also getting a bigger screen and more features. For the feature set, the battery life feels like a fair trade-off.

For comfort, the Versa 4 is one of the better watches I’ve worn. It’s light, relatively thin, and the included silicone bands (you get both S and L in the box) are soft enough out of the gate. I didn’t have that stiff “new band” feeling that you get with some cheaper watches. I wore it day and night for several days in a row without needing to take it off just to give my wrist a break, which is pretty important if you want accurate sleep tracking.

During workouts, the watch stays in place as long as you wear it snug but not too tight. For runs and strength training, it didn’t slide around much, and the underside sensor didn’t dig into my skin. I’ve had some trackers leave a mark or feel like a hard bump, but here it’s fairly flat. You’ll still want to adjust the tightness before intense exercise to keep heart rate readings stable, but that’s standard with most wrist trackers.

At night, I usually forget it’s there after a few minutes. The weight is low enough that it doesn’t press into the pillow much, and the band doesn’t pinch. The only small annoyance is the screen lighting up if you move your wrist in a certain way, but you can reduce that by tweaking the settings (like enabling do not disturb or adjusting screen wake). Once that was set properly, it bothered me a lot less.

If you have very sensitive skin, you might still want to rotate the wrist it’s on or clean the band regularly, especially if you sweat a lot. But compared to bulkier watches, this one is clearly aimed at being worn 24/7, and in practice it works well for that. Comfort was one of the reasons I kept it instead of going for a heavier, more “smartphone-on-the-wrist” style watch.

On durability, the Versa 4 handles daily life pretty well. The casing and screen don’t feel fragile, even though the watch is light. I’ve bumped it into doors, desks, and gym equipment more times than I’d like to admit, and so far there are only minor marks, nothing that ruined the display. One Amazon reviewer even mentioned the screen taking a hit without issues, which matches my experience: it’s not indestructible, but it’s not made of glass candy either.

Water resistance is rated to 50 meters, and I’ve showered with it and used it around pools without any drama. It’s the kind of watch you forget to take off before washing dishes or going in the shower, and that’s fine. I wouldn’t go deep diving with it, but for swimming, rain, sweat, and everyday splashes, it handles it. The band also dries quickly and doesn’t stay soggy or smelly if you rinse it once in a while.

The strap mechanism is standard Fitbit quick-release. Over time, these plastic connectors can wear out on some models, but I haven’t had any issues yet. If the included band wears out, third-party bands are easy to find and usually cheap. The watch body itself feels more solid than the bands, which is what you’d expect: bands are the consumable part here.

Long term, the bigger question with Fitbit products is usually less about physical durability and more about software support and battery aging. Since this model has been out since 2022, there’s already a track record. Batteries will slowly degrade like any device, but there’s nothing specific about the Versa 4 that screams “fragile.” For normal users — gym, office, occasional swim — it feels sturdy enough to last several years if you don’t absolutely abuse it.

In terms of performance, the Versa 4 does best at what it’s primarily built for: everyday fitness tracking. Steps and general activity tracking are consistent with what I’ve seen on other Fitbits and even compared to my phone’s step count. There are small differences, but nothing crazy. The 24/7 heart rate readings seem stable, and during workouts, the curves in the app make sense: higher effort shows higher heart rate, rest periods show drops. It’s not medical-grade, but good enough for normal training.

The GPS performance is decent. It locks on in a reasonable time outdoors (not instant, but usually under a minute for me), and the distance for runs and walks lines up fairly closely with what I get from my phone or other GPS watches. If you’re a serious runner obsessed with exact pace per second, you might find it a bit basic. But for casual running, walking, hiking, and cycling, it tracks routes and distances well enough to be useful. The workout intensity map in the app is a nice touch: you can see where you pushed harder on your route.

On the smart side, it’s a bit more mixed. Notifications generally come through, but they depend heavily on the Fitbit app staying alive in the background on your phone. If your app is outdated or your phone is aggressive with battery saving, you can run into sync issues or delayed alerts, like one of the Amazon reviewers mentioned. Once I updated the app and made sure it wasn’t being put to sleep, things improved a lot. Alexa works, but there’s sometimes a slight delay if the connection isn’t perfect. Phone calls on the wrist are usable: you can hear people and they can hear you, but I wouldn’t hold long conversations that way.

The main thing to understand is that this is not a full smartwatch platform with tons of apps and controls. You don’t get music control, camera shutter, or the ability to make calls directly (only answer). If you’re okay with that and just want solid fitness data, basic notifications, and the occasional quick call, performance is fine. If you want a feature-packed smartwatch, you might feel limited.

On paper, the Versa 4 is loaded: built-in GPS, 24/7 heart rate, 40+ exercise modes, sleep tracking, stress score, SpO2, skin temperature trends, menstrual tracking, water resistance up to 50m, and a claimed battery life of 6+ days. You also get Bluetooth calls, text notifications, Alexa built-in, Google Wallet, and Google Maps navigation. It looks like a lot, but in practice you’ll probably use a smaller subset of these features regularly.

In my case, the core things I actually use are: step tracking, heart rate, GPS for runs/walks, timers, alarms, sleep tracking, and phone notifications. The Daily Readiness Score and Sleep Score are nice extras, but I treat them as suggestions, not gospel. The health metrics dashboard (SpO2, skin temp, breathing rate, etc.) is more of a background thing — it’s interesting to check from time to time, but it hasn’t changed my behavior much.

The watch works tightly with the Fitbit app. Most of the detailed data, charts, and trends are in the app, not on the watch. So if you hate using your phone to dig into stats, this might bother you. On the flip side, the app is fairly clear: activities are easy to review, sleep is broken down into stages, and you can see weekly/monthly trends without much effort. Premium adds more guided programs, workouts, and deeper analysis, but if you’re just casually tracking, the free version still covers the basics.

Overall, as a "fitness first, smart second" device, it’s positioned between a basic tracker (like a Charge) and a full-blown smartwatch. If you expect app stores, music control, camera control, and tons of on-watch features, you’ll feel limited. If you mainly want reliable fitness tracking and basic smartwatch functions, it lines up reasonably well with what it promises.