Misfit Vapor 2 hands-on: Stylish, fun, & affordably priced

It’s been a little over 6 months now since we reviewed the Misfit Vapor smartwatch, and now, we’re getting our first glimpse at its successor in the Misfit Vapor 2. Having little time in between releases, it makes anyone wonder if there’s going to be enough changes to justify a hasty release.

Right off the bat, there’s no denying that the Vapor 2 follows in the same footsteps as its predecessor with its minimalist design philosophy. The round face style definitely looks good and feels solidly constructed, which is nice knowing that it’s sporting a sticker price of $250. The version we’re checking out is the larger 46mm case, which is accompanied with a 1.4-inch AMOLED display. We do like the fact that it’s a tiny bezel around the display, as well as the crown on the side that offers a decent amount of resistance when rotated. However, the surface of the display sits flush against the bezel – so there’s more of a chance of it scratching against other surfaces.

Two new features differentiate this model over its predecessor, and they include a built-in dedicated GPS for accurate tracking and NFC. Beyond that, we’re a bit bummed to find out that it’s leveraging the Snapdragon Wear 2100 platform – as opposed to the newer 3100 platform that was unveiled a couple of months ago. Despite that, the Vapor 2 seems fairly responsive when interacting with its AMOLED display and running different apps. Since Qualcomm has been touting the battery longevity that its new Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform is capable of achieving, we’re really curious to know how the Vapor 2 will perform using the older chipset.

As for the Wear OS experience here, there’s nothing different about it from other smartwatches running the latest version of the platform. Yes, there’s the Misfit watch face that’s available, sporting a clean and minimalist look to match the smartwatch’s design, but beyond that, it’s the same identical platform used by other smartwatches. This time around, the price of the Vapor 2 has been increased to $250 – versus its predecessor’s cost of $200. The extra sum of money does make us wonder even more if it’s justified in any meaningful way to pick it up, but then again, that’s still relatively affordable when compared to the competition.