Garmin - vívoactive 5

Got it in August no problems so far simple and practical

Exact opposite for me. A vivoactive is a pretty sleek, simple watch. Apple Watches meanwhile look tacky as hell and scream tech bro. But if you care about looks, you really should just wear a normal watch, which is always going to look better than any smart watch. I wear my garmin exclusively during workouts.

Nah I got rid after about 2 months for a 165

It's a no brainer, the Vivoactive is, by far, a much better device than the Amazfit by a long shot, not just accuracy-wise, but in every aspect.

I wouldn't do that. Having used both Apple and Garmin products for swimming, I'd urge you to go for the Garmin. That's not to say there's anything wrong with the Apple, it's just that the Garmin is better and the battery life is a godsend by comparison

I would suggest any Fenix or even any forerunner over any vivoactive or venu of you're serious about training. Sure you can get by with most basic stuff on those watches but if you get serious about training or want better features you'll have wanted at least a forerunner model

Maybe minority but I find the Garmin HRV useful where I tend to dip low the day before I actually get sick. Dips after hard workout days are normal, but if I dip without hard efforts it's a good idea to back off. So as a leading indicator of sickness I think it's more sensitive than my wake up feel for that case. Also bragging rights of 30s male with (Garmin) HRV typically >90 ms 😁

I have vivoactive 5 and love it Covers my running, my workouts, shows me text announcements and calendar reminders I don't need to talk into it I don't need the super advanced running metrics There is a new vivoactive 6 now avail With a few enhancement

Second this. My GF just switched from a Versa (3 maybe?) to a Vivoactive 5. She likes it so far. Although she does kinda wish it had training status/training load etc that my Instinct 2 has. That's more of an advanced feature though. It wasn't a deal breaker for her. The biggest thing was finally having an activity tracker that would record her HR while swimming.

You should try Garmin. My vivoactive 5 lasts a week with almost everything switched on.

Yes. I just tried out the vivoactive 5 and the 6 and both of them allow for custom workout plans. You can design the plan on your phone and upload it to the watch. I decided to go for the vivoactive 6 in the end and one of the reasons is it shows you more when doing these exercises and I like the software and options for what is shown on the screen much more during workouts.

I'm surprised as well but my Venu battery goes down quicker than it did with the Vivo, not sure why. Maybe it's something wrong with the individual devices.

Love my vivoactive. I got it in white. It looks sporty and fashionable. It's so thin and light I don't even know it's on. Wonderful for sleep tracking, spo2 monitoring, workouts, etc. I think it's more about what she would think looks good on her wrist. I saw someone wearing this watch and asked them to let me try it on. Bought one the same day. I'm not a gadget kinda person but love this watch.

I use my Vivoactive 5 for fitness tracking and love it. The GPS is excellent (I do a lot of hiking) and you gets loads of data on your workouts. It was $200 on ebay last fall.

I have this watch, and it's very lightweight, I don't feel it on my wrist. It usually goes for 40% off on every major sale/holiday.

Don't buy any expensive watch if mainly you walk for fitness and mainly care about steps. If you were unhappy with the Apple Watch, I really don't think you will be happy with a Garmin like the Vivioactive etc. I'm a runner and bought a Vivioactive 5 to track heart rate, pace, etc when training and actually running intervals etc. It's not very accurate while you are doing the activity. Later you sync it with Garmin Connect and get a better picture of what you did during that activity. BUT, I still always carry my iPhone with the free Nike Run Club app and I have a cheap arm HR band, so actually my Garmin is only providing sleep metrics, which may or may not be very accurate. Evidently the very high-end Garmin watches are much better at real-time metrics, so if that is important to you, that's what I'd go with.

I recently got into fitness this year and lost about 60 pounds, I got an apple watch to track my activity (I mainly do cardio workouts) but I didn't like how it looked on my wrist and the fact that it wasn't that accurate. Also the battery life was trash, I'd leave my new series 10 in the drawer charged and it'd be dead the next day. I bought a new Venu 3S, it's beautiful, I exchanged a Vivoactive 5 for it and I can say the Venu's appearance is better and feels smoother however Vivo wins in terms of battery life. Venu dies much quicker, and I feel like the software design of Garmin feels a little lackluster however I've grown used to it and I love the comfortability, accuracy, battery life and design of garmin. I wont be going back to Apple, however the new paid subscriptions and having to pay for some watch faces that look decent, and then the watch itself being very pricey feels a bit like a drawback. The strap doesn't really feel that strong and having to buy more is just more costs, not to mention it didn't come with a charging block and it requires a USB port, so I have to use my apple one to charge it. All in all, I love the device for fitness and how much better it looks but there are some downsides imo.

Happy with the vivoactive which gives all the sleep data and on sale now on Amazon

I got one for my GF and i have to say its not big. Galaxy Watch FE feels bigger even if that was listed 40mm and the vivoactive is 42mm. My GF has very small and thin arms but even on her arm there are 3-4 holes left for tightening the strap. Overall, its a small and comfy device. I also try it on sometimes for fun and I'm always surprised how small it is compared to my Instinct. Functions wise, it's a basic smartwatch with Garmin's metrics, so you get Sleep Coach, Body Battery, you also get LiveTrack etc. For the price there are better alternatives I think but if you are aiming for Garmin (we did) it's a great choice for everyday wear/basic fitness. https://preview.redd.it/o75rb1xh0s6g1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=01849cad4a5a97eee3892a4f7b96afbb4849da22

This seems very useful! I just got my vivoactive 5 and I love it, but it's my first watch so I don't have an opinion on the matter

I've had mine for over a year and it's been great. I use it to track my HR, steps, cals, hiking (using the Walk activity, has gps) and cardio workouts and it gives me more than enough data. I don't use it for sleep scores anymore but it seemed more accurate than my prior Fitbit. The only downside is what happens to even the expensive Garmins: in cold weather especially, the HR function gets wacky, e.g. I'll be hiking up a steep hill and my HR is registering as 65. I bought a Coros arm HR monitor that I use with the watch over the winter and problem solved.

For weights none of them are great, you should not spend more money expecting better results. If you think you might get a little more serious about running in the future, get the FR165 (or even the 255/265 if you find a good deal). If not, Vivoactive is a good choice.

Personally I like not having a tiny phone on my wrist. The Garmin does all the things I need it to do without tons of other distractions. And it does them flawlessly. Also IMO it just looks better, Apple Watches are tacky. But I often just wear a normal watch while not working out anyway, which always wins out over any kind of smart watch if you care about looks.

If you really end up getting into running, I would not suggest Vivioactive 5. The pace shown on the watch is NOT the pace you are running. You won't see your actual pace until after you run and sync to the app. I've learned a way to know "appropriately" what pace I'm running by setting up the watch with .25 mile laps so it will show me the .25 average. Also, I start a separate run activity for both slower warmup and another one for the slower cool down. For weight workouts in the gym, I just use the cardio activity but it's really just to see approximately how much time and calories I'm supposed earning. Pool workouts are decent for counting laps, just one lap off. Maybe the low-level Forerunner would have been a better option for my running. I've only had mine a few months but it's durable. I've worn it doing lots of hiking, over rocks etc. But I'm also a little bit careful.

I've got super tiny wrists too. Previously owned a vivoactive 5 which fit great with child sized bands. Currently own a FR965 which unfortunately does not seem to be compatible with any child sized bands that I can find. The stock band works alright. While I think that it may look giant on my wee little wrist, I think the features I'm looking for (turn by turn directions, advanced running stats, etc) are not available on smaller watches. I say rock the giant watch and you'll eventually get used to it! https://preview.redd.it/qw0hkefmjrrf1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8d4277d92f47b12ed4f2167e1721341997c9106c

Agree, Vivo 5 seems very accurate. From sleeping rate to high activity, all good

I have a Garmin Vivoactive 5. I bought it for about $220 USD. I use it for the same reasons you list and I'm okay with not having all the other Apple Watch features. VA5 is the lower end so you won't get the most accurate readings but it works perfectly and I have zero issues with it. 100% recommend for your needs.

I have FR 570 (Gen 5 sensor) and Vivoactive 5 (Gen 4) and I don't find 570 is better when it comes to HR tracking. I found Apple watch is more accurate than both but I prefer Garmin.

As a woman of a certain age I keep forgetting to put my Apple Watch on esp if I'm WFH then going to the gym. Also my watch is an original SE so no longer supported I do body pump and spin along with some running both treadmill and outside. I walk and occasionally hike but looking to increase this I thought that an Oura ring may be the solution as always on and could just use the watch for mapping walks/hikes but don't think the other fitness tracking would work for me I bought a garmin vivoactive 5 due to increased battery life but have sent it back as lack of mapping and I've discovered that if you have text/what's app notifications with preview disabled then you can't receive any notifications on the garmin, only calls. I don't really want to change my phone set up just to support this and wondered if anyone had a workaround or had the previews disabled but does get notifications? I am now looking at forerunner 265S or Venu 4 Thanks in advance Garmin Crew!

I'm using Garmin Vivoactive 5. Love it. Up to 11 days battery life. Can't text nor voice chat but I don't need that. Pretty much recommend Garmin if you don't wanna be charging your watch every day.

I've had some issues with my vivoactive 5 and my Fenix 7 now. Often it'll track an extra lap or 2, usually if I do 1500m I'll end up with the watch saying 1525m or 1550m. That said, this week I swam 1500m by my lap count and the watch ended up tracking 1600m. I think it also has to do with the fact that I was in a crowded swimming lane and had to stop/change strokes halfway through laps to avoid running into people.

I just use a Garmin Vivoactive. It does everything I need at a fraction of the cost of fancier watches.

I have the Garmin vivoactive and I love it for everyday wear and running. It is also a lot smaller than the Forerunner and it looks good on my small wrist.

The Garmin Vivoactive is probably the most classic looking smartwatch these days I had a 3, they're on 5 now. Good battery life, good fitness tracking but less phone integration than an Apple watch, which I currently use. It fits standard watch straps so you can put it on a less sporty strap if you like.

Had the same issue after the last update. I bought it 2 weeks ago. The charge that it shipped with lasted 7 days but then the update... dropped 30% overnight. I hard reset it back to factory and seems to be back on track for a 7 day battery. We will see if it happens again.

Honestly? Not worth it. It uses the gps of your phone, and then you're better off using your phone with a cheap Bluetooth chest strap heart rate monitor. I do recommend you to slightly stretch your budget for a Vivoactive 5, Forerunner 165 or 255. They're a bit more expensive, but still under $300. Maybe you can find a good deal secondhand. I'm still using my Forerunner 245 after 4 years and it's still a solid watch for my running (5-10km).