Does the Fitbit Versa Lite track swims?

Fitbit Versa Lite (Image credit: iMore)

Does the Fitbit Versa Lite track swims?

Best answer: Yes, but only in a general way. If you want specific information like the number of laps, you'll need a different tracker, like the Fitbit Versa.Exercise tracker: Fitbit Versa Lite ($160 at Fitbit)Swim tracker: Fitbit Versa ($200 at Fitbit)

You can swim with the Versa Lite

You can certainly swim with your Fitbit Versa Lite. It tracks all kinds of exercise, and swimming is no exception. It's what Fitbit calls "swimproof," meaning it's water resistant up to 50 meters. So you can wear it not only in the shower, but also in the pool, ocean, lake, or your local swimming hole. You may not want to scuba dive with it if you're going deep, but 50 meters is deeper than most scuba divers go anyway.

So, the Fitbit Versa Lite will be great for tracking lap swimming, right? Well, sort of. The Versa Lite will track your lap swimming as a workout, as it tracks just about any kind of exercise, but for specific information about your swim workout, you'd have to upgrade to a different smartwatch such as the Fitbit Versa.

How to get specific swim tracking

Since the Fitbit Versa Lite will only track your swim workouts as general exercise, you might consider the Fitbit Versa if you're a serious swimmer and you want specific information about your pool workout. The Fitbit Versa tracks laps, duration, and calories burned during your swim workouts. As a former swimmer who was always trying to remember how many laps I'd swum in my head (and losing count), I know how great it would be to have my smartwatch count for me. The Fitbit Versa, but not the Versa Lite, will do that.

For the casual swimmer who just wants to burn up some calories and get a nice workout in, the Versa Lite will be fine for tracking that. But if you're a serious swimmer or you just want as much detail about your swims as you can get, the Versa is a better choice.

A little more about the Versa family

It still might be worth it to get the Fitbit Versa Lite even if the swim tracking isn't comprehensive. It's a capable health and fitness smartwatch that can track your exercise, calories burned, sleep, menstrual and fertility cycles, heart rate, and more. It connects with your smartphone via Bluetooth and allows you to get notifications for texts, phone calls, and app alerts of all kinds. You can put apps on your Versa Lite, and you can customize the watch face to your taste.

The Fitbit Versa has all of the features the Versa Lite has. It also has some added features such as swim tracking, stair tracking, on-screen workouts, and music storage and playback.

Exercise tracker

Fitbit Versa Lite

Track swims in a general way

It's water resistant to 50 meters, so it won't be damaged when you swim. It will track your swim workout as any other workout. It won't, however, give you specifics like how many laps you've swum.

Swim tracker

Fitbit Versa

Detailed swim workout info

It is swimproof, just like the Versa Lite. But the Versa goes a step further: it tracks laps, duration, and calories burned during your swim workout.

Karen is a contributor to iMore.com as a writer and co-host of the iMore Show. She’s been writing about Apple since 2010 with a year-long break to work at an Apple Store as a product specialist. She's also a contributor at TechRadar and Tom's Guide. Before joining iMore in 2018, Karen wrote for Macworld, CNET, AppAdvice, and WatchAware. She’s an early adopter who used to wait in long lines on release days before pre-ordering made things much easier. Karen is also a part-time teacher and occasional movie extra. She loves to spend time with her family, travel the world, and is always looking for portable tech and accessories so she can work from anywhere.

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