Hey everyone, I recently switched from the Fitbit Versa 2 to the Versa 4, but honestly, I’m pretty disappointed. The main issue is the sleep tracking – I haven’t had three consistent days where it works. But the one thing keeping me from getting a new watch is the smart alarm. I’ve seen some people on this forum say that it doesn’t work or isn’t accurate, but from my experience with the Versa 2, I know it can work. I need a smart alarm because of my unpredictable work hours. I wake up at all sorts of times, anywhere from 4 AM to 6 AM, and the smart alarm was super helpful. I’m willing to spend whatever I need to avoid using the Versa 4 anymore as long as I get a smart alarm with my new watch. I also need something that tracks sleep properly. I’ve had enough of Fitbit and need something that actually works. I couldn’t find much online, so I’m hoping someone here can help!
I didn’t want to go into too much detail about how bad the Versa 4 is, since my main question is about the smart alarm, but here are some issues I’ve had with it:
- Sleep tracking – It’s terrible. I’ve never had 3 days in a row with accurate sleep tracking, unlike the Versa 2. Sometimes it shows I only slept 3 hours even though I was in bed for 8.
- Torch – Fitbit removed third-party apps from the Versa 4, and it’s a major downgrade. One of my favorite features was the torch, which the Fitbit Ionic had.
- Screen – Notifications are a mess on this watch. If my screen is set to ‘Button only,’ I won’t even see notifications unless I press the button. This worked fine on the Versa 2, but not on the Versa 4. What’s even worse is there’s no option to have the screen flash when you get a notification. The Ionic and Versa 2 did this well.
- Customisation – You can’t really change much on the Versa 4, and even the watch faces are more limited compared to the Versa 2.
- The alarm – It’s way too sensitive. It’s so difficult to move the alarm time by even a minute. Plus, sometimes it just doesn’t go off at all! This is a huge issue, especially when I need to wake up on time. On the Versa 2, the alarm would always go off, and the smart alarm would kick in a little earlier.
- Button – This is a small thing, but the button doesn’t turn the screen off if I accidentally wake it up. If the watch let me customize it like the Versa 2 did, this wouldn’t be a problem.
- Vibrations – If you exercise, you’ll get bombarded with vibrations every time your heart rate changes, or for some other random reason. It took me a while to figure out how to turn these off.
Overall, I’m so frustrated with the Versa 4 and Fitbit, and I’m desperate for any watch that has a smart alarm and tracks sleep properly, even if it’s not perfect.
Smart alarms are pretty overrated, including the ones on Fitbit.
The thing with the Fitbit smart alarm is that it’s not really ‘smart’ in the way you might think. A smart alarm is supposed to wake you during a light sleep stage, not during deep sleep or REM sleep. But watches can’t really tell the difference between light and REM sleep accurately. Fitbit’s solution is to avoid waking you during deep sleep, but if you’re sleeping less than 3 hours, it’s likely you won’t even be in a deep sleep stage, so it’s pretty much the same as using a normal alarm.
There are some watches that still try to do smart alarms, like Withings and maybe Amazfit, but the tech isn’t good enough to do it accurately. Some studies have shown that heart rate variability can help differentiate between sleep stages, but it’s not perfect – watches still can’t do it well.
So, my advice is to skip the smart alarm and focus on a watch that works well for the other things you need.
I get that the tech isn’t perfect, but the smart alarm worked really well for me on the Versa 2. I know there must be some good options out there. The Versa 4 does have a smart alarm, but because of all the other issues with the watch, I just can’t deal with it anymore. I’d honestly buy any watch as long as it has a smart alarm feature. I know it won’t always work perfectly, but it’s still super helpful for my work schedule.
Like I said, the Fitbit smart alarm should work fine if you’ve been asleep for 3 hours or more. You’re unlikely to be in deep sleep at that point, so it’ll wake you during light sleep or REM. But honestly, you could just use any regular alarm and probably get the same result.