Fitbit Versa Is it time for a smartwatch? Just maybe Google Pixel Buds Make your ears wireless for sound

Simpler times

Fitbit’s Ionic smartwatch (see our review, Issue 519) is one of the best rivals to the Apple Watch, but its styling makes it feel like you’re strapping on a chunk of Soviet-era space hardware. The Versa is about the same size, but slimmer, lighter and more rounded. It’s still a bit nerdy, but in a retro 1980s digital-watch kind of way, and comes in grey, rose gold or plain black, with a silicone strap that can be replaced with leather or mesh options.

The smaller battery lasts nearly as long, (about four days), but that’s achieved by keeping the screen turned off until you flick your wrist. It ignored our flicks about half the time, leaving us to press a button to tell the time – a less welcome reminder of the earliest LED watches.

When it does come on, the 300x300-pixel colour screen is sharp and clear. The case is waterproof, so swimming is among the activities you can track. On dry land, an optical sensor monitors your heart rate, as well as the number of steps you take and distance covered. A few dozen third-party apps can be added – far less choice than with the Apple Watch, but most of these are useful nonetheless.

You can download music to the Versa to play through Bluetooth headphones, but unlike the Ionic it lacks built-in GPS, so you’ll need your phone to measure distance accurately or see where you went. That’s reflected in an £80 lower price, but the Ionic is commonly discounted by over £40, closing the gap.

No, this isn’t one of those unsolicited emails offering assistance to gentlemen of a certain age. We’re talking about processing power. It’s important in a desktop PC, because that’s basically what you’re paying for. But in a phone?

The Nokia 2 shows why you shouldn’t overlook it, because it visibly struggles with simple tasks. Tap an app icon and, well, very little happens, for quite a long time. Once it does open, you’ll probably open another, because you use your phone for everything from Facebook Messenger to iplayer, with a spot of web browsing in between.

But when we tried to flick between tasks as we habitually would, the Nokia 2 didn’t feel so much like it was multitasking as tendering its resignation, getting its P45 and sending off its CV for the next job. Even the cheaper Vodafone Smart N8 is faster, and the Nokia 3, just £19 more, is faster still. There’s slow, and then there’s too slow.