Galaxy watch 4 vs Fitbit Versa 3 Reddit

So here's the thing. The Galaxy Watch 4 is sexier than the Versa 3 and can do so much more. But in my view, the Versa 3 is a better watch. I bought one on Black Friday and I was torn between the two of them. Ultimately, I went with the Versa 3. It has everything I "need" in a "watch." I can get notifications and even respond to text messages and Facebook messages with voice to text. I can take calls on my watch. I can control my music (albeit a little clumsy). I've got Fitbit pay (though in Canada, only one of the big five banks is supported, so I had to get a Royal Bank of Canada credit card). I love the Fitbit app and the statistics that I get from it; I love that it auto-recognizes my activity; I love being part of "the community" ( I didn't realize until after I got a Fitbit how many people I know have Fitbits!). I've got a battery that lasts for days. I don't even know how many days because I throw the watch on the charger every day while I'm in the shower, and the watch never goes below 80%. Unless and until a Wear OS watch can go a week between charges (or has a fast charge feature like the Versa 3) I'm just not interested. Bottom line; do you want a toy or do you want a watch? If you want a toy, get the Galaxy Watch. If you want a watch, get the Versa 3.

I had to give back my Fitbit Ionic due to a recall and now I'm looking to get a new smartwatch. Originally I was looking into the Fitbit line only but I recently saw the Samsung Galaxy Watch.

I don't know whether it'd be a nice fit because:

• My phone isn't Samsung so I don't know how hard it'd be to sync.

• I don't want to be "locked" into Samsung's ecosystem.

• It would seem the watch is region-locked? I have seen some people complaining online (like at Amazon's reviews) that they got "a version that won't let me choose my country")

That being said, I've read the reviews and they're great but I just can't find anything about these 2 things that I mention plus, I am unsure whether it'd be a smart buy because from what I can gather wearOS is due for a refresh soon-ish.

Could I please get any input from those who own either watch or have experience with these?

Versa are simple but good, sense are good but limited behind a premium subscription wall, galaxy watch is great if you have a Samsung phone.

All of this are great, but you need to think of the use you will have with the watch, for example sports tracking, smart features, notification, health tracking... What's the most you need it for.

It would be better to do one at a time, so you can ensure that you're wearing each device as recommended, or at most one on each wrist properly worn.

From my experience with Fitbits (Alta, Alta HR, and Inspire) they were pretty good at sleep tracking and were consistently pretty accurate. I didn't have gaps in which there was no data gathered, unlike my Amazfit Band that was extremely inconsistent. The only reason I upgraded to a GW4 was because my Fitbit eventually stopped holding a charge (it's only been about a year or so) and it was affecting the sensors. Fitbit and the Galaxy health app both have similar sleep data graphs and stuff so it shouldn't be too hard to simply compare that data.

My last Fitbit Versa finally died. I say finally but honestly Fitbit devices have awful durability and in ~7 years I've gone through approximately 20 Fitbit devices. So I decided to take the leap to a 44mm Galaxy Watch 4. Here are my thoughts:

The Bad (really just nitpicks)

• I am a Pixel user so I had to do some funky workarounds to get ECG and blood pressure to work.

• I am a Pixel user so I also had to install a bunch of Samsung shit and register Samsung accounts to get full functionality, and personally I get confused about which phone app to look for data. Is it in Samsung Wear? Samsung Health? Samsung Health Monitor?

• No "OK Google" out of the box or easy way to access that function. I'm not even sure how to make it happen in a more hacky way. I will not be using Bixby.

• Has to charge more often than a Fitbit device, every day or every other day for me.

• Full charging takes ~2 hours, which seems excessively long for something you are supposed to be wearing constantly.

• Kind of a pain in the ass to find new decent watch faces.

• Occasionally loses connection with my phone, but I only notice this when I'm trying to do something stupid like search in Maps on the watch, which has no real purpose.

• What the hell is with the Timer app only letting you choose from pre-selected times?

The Good

• The OS is MILES faster and more responsive than either Fitbit OS or the last time I used Android Wear (which was an LG watch years ago).

• All of the sensors seem to be reasonably accurate. Blood pressure, ECG, heart rate, blood oxygen, sleep, steps, compass, body mass. I'm honestly stunned that they can sense all that shit in this watch. I don't have issues with inaccurate sleep tracking.

• Fit and finish is amazing. The matte side panels look great and nothing is fingerprinty.

• The screen is bright, very sharp, and it very responsively turns on when you raise your wrist. I'm used to doing a wrist double take for Fitbit and I don't have to do that often with this one.

• Dramatically better integration with Android apps than a Fitbit. If I start playing music or navigating on my phone, there's always an easy shortcut to access it on my watch.

Overall, very happy with my purchase. This thing rocks. Clunky, sure, but it is exactly what I wanted.