Customer Ratings & Reviews

This watch is everything the Fitbit Surge should have been in terms of hardware. It has a replaceable band, user-configurable data screens and is actually able to go just about anywhere. It does a good job of telling you your statistics throughout the day such that you don't have to keep looking at your phone/computer to get a view of your progress. However, this watch has some issues that users should be aware of. Most glaring is that if you have to reset the watch; the data will be out of sync between the software and the watch for the remainder of the week. Additionally the Apple HealthKit integration has a few annoying bugs. Their support staff so far have been rather incompetent and reluctant to pass on bug reports to even get these things fixed. So right now, the watch has a few teething pains which is why it gets 3 stars. But if you're fitness requirements need you to have things like custom alerts or things like configurable heart rate zones (not just one custom zone) or to have custom apps then don't let that dissuade you from this watch. I would recommend this to a friend conditionally.

I purchased this item last week and so far the majority of items are working as I would expect. The step counter is accurate although you can expect extra steps counted just by moving your arms doing normal activity. This is consistent with other activity trackers. I was really hoping to get the benefit of the golf app and it operates ok but the distances are not accurate. Having another garmin device along with a skycaddie the vivoactive is off by a minimum of ten yards and sometimes 15. I switched the units of measure to miles vs kilometers and it is still off relative to two devices i mentioned earlier and yardage markers on the course. I am not sure what to do with this but hopefully it is a software issue and will be addressed in the near future. The golf app is not that important to everyone but it is to me. The device is solid and comfortable to wear so they did get a lot right with it. The next question is whether I would recommend this to someone else. If I finally get the golf app to work properly then I would recommend it but if not then no.

If you are a fitness buff then look no further than this smartwatch. A must watch to track all of your activities!

My wife researched the different fitness trackers and found the Garmin vivoactive smartwatch and got it for me for father's day. It's only been a week and so far not a single complaint! The fit is comfortable, at first I thought it might be too big but the design makes it work, the activity options are amazing! My daughter saw how excited I was and got one for herself! and the fit is comfortable for her smaller wrists too! Very pleased with the purchase

Owned for a week. Pretty happy so far but surprised/disappointed that swimming pool length cannot be customized to my needs. One of the main reasons I purchased is because watch supposedly tracks both swimming and biking. However, my pool is shorter than the minimum customizable length. Trying to decide whether to keep or return.

I upgraded from the Vivosmart HR and it is worth every dollar! I like that it does so many sports. I have not found anything I don't like about this watch!

First off I am new to fitness trackers so this is my first experience. Out of the box the Gamin Vivoactive HR has quite a bit of bells and whistles, I unfortunately do not have a smartphone so a lot of these went unused. For example the weather, notifications, calendar, and music controls were all wasted on me from the start. They are nice to have I guess but I am stuck with a dumb phone so, that's that. One problem I had was, being a large frame guy my wrist size is a bit on the larger side and even at the last notch, this watch band fit only tightly. Also, even if the band was larger, the hinges up top only spread out so much. I couldn't see anyone with a weightlifter physique or football player type frame using this and it being comfortable. The HR monitor showed it was working and did increase and decrease accordingly although I doubt it was very accurate. I am overweight, and currently a smoker trying to get in shape, so I had no doubt my HR would be on the high side, but it would go from 90bpm to 125-130 just getting up to walk to the kitchen and checking the watch. Keep in mind it would go from 90ish to almost 100 if I just turned my wrist to see the face as it got quite tight on my arm. I did wear the watch just above my wrist bone as stated in the instructions, I just think it was still snug. As far as a step counter it was like everyone has described step counters to be, you move your arm to brisk, it's a step, you sit down to hard, it's a step, and so on. Also, right out of the box the hooking up to the computer was not an issue as it registered and was able to interact with Gamin connect right away, but after wearing the watch for 2 days the computer wouldn't see it anymore. I did give it a thorough cleaning and after restarting Garmin express it was able to see it but only after trying to sync it three times. I also kept seeing 3 app updates for watch faces that I knew I already had but they wouldn't go away as already installed. The software update must have been successful as I did now have the ability to make the brightness to 9 instead of 5, which was a subtle difference in unlit areas, but seeing the watch outside was no issue at all since the backlight integrates the ambient lighting to work for it. As far as having a GPS built in, it basically asks you if you want to save the location you are standing on only after you have been there once. I feel this is important to mention because when I was buying it, I thought GPS was kinda like the dashboard version that gives ya directions where you want to go, but it isn't. You may be able to enter latitude and longitude, but I didn't get that far, but it is definitely not a google maps or anything along those lines. All in all the Gamin Vivoactive HR has a lot of good ideas built in to it(activities, steps,calories, last run/ride, ect...) but for $250 price tag you could get all this from a cheaper watch and your smartphone app(that lets face it everyone but me has one lol). If you are a die hard workout guy/gal and like to run,walk,bike,swim(this was a plus as it is waterproof up to 50m and tracks swimming as a workout), golf(yes it has golf and I think courses built in) and sometimes get lost in the woods, then this would be a great watch for you. But if you are an amateur when it comes to exercise, and just want something to start out, there are many many cheaper options out there for you if you have a smartphone, and even if ya don't. Garmin definitely needs to work out a few bugs here though as priced.

Golf, running, walking step tracking is all there. Does very well with these activities. There is some difference between it and a waist mounted pedometer. The sleep tracking does no like it when you have an irregular sleep schedule. Shift work is a monster. Would like to see trail activities and heart rate while swimming. All that is available on the Fenix 3 HR. Twice the price.

I loved everything about the Vivoactive HR except for the size. I love all the features, but hated the size. It was just too uncomfortable, so I returned it. If it was the size of the Vivosmart HR or HR+ I would have kept it. Please make it with the same features in a smaller size

I've had this watch for quite some time and I think it's performed pretty well. I don't really have a way to determine whether the heart rate is accurate but it's been great for tracking the distance of my runs and swims. The sleep tracking is also decent as far as I can tell.

I got this one because I was not able to read the vivo HR. This has more features and the face is much easier to read. I like the being able to integrate with my smart phone , notifications, heart rate, steps taken, floors climb, answering calls, weight, calories, and more.

I bought this to replace my Fitbit Surge. I was on my second Surge due to the wristband breaking, and was fed up with it. My requirements were GPS, heartrate monitor, and sleep tracker in addition to watch and step counter. The GPS, Heartrate monitor, and sleep tracker are great! The step count, though is tough. If you get your step goal with the VivoActive, you have EARNED that step count. As near as I can tell, the VivoActive doesn't count a step unless your arm is swinging. But if you are carrying something and your arms aren't swinging, your steps don't count. When I wore both a Surge and my VivoActive, there were several days where the step counts would differ by 2000 steps.

Great device, has a lot of data available if you like lots of data. Connects quickly with iphone and labtop. Nice pc software. Nice iphone software. There are many fantastic things about this health watch, too many to list. It's a keeper for me, I know the garmin name as I've been buying garmin the last 20 years.

Just got this yesterday after excitedly pre-ordering weeks in advance..So very disappointed. Good: Responsive, can see it in the sun, stays on all the time. Bad: This thing is HUGE. I have a smaller frame, but not super tiny. The face is wider than my entire arm. I will have to send it back. The other thing I have noticed is that you can get notification that you have texts, but if you have more than one you cannot bring them up to read them. I may just not know how to do it, but if you cant read them, the feature seems pretty useless. Overall extremely sad I waited months for the release of this just to be disappointed.

Recently purchased the new Garmin Vivoactive HR. Love it. Comfortable and I have a small wrist size. Accurate and fast gps and data. I have noticed the HR is no accurate with driving. No issues thus far. Love the running data .

I bought this tracker as soon as it was released in the US and have been using it ever since. I am so satisfied with it. The wrist heart rate reading is quite accurate, and the activity tracking functions (RHR, sleep, etc.) are also good. I would recommend it to fitness lovers.

Awesome product right out of the box. App on ios is very detailed and lots of functions. Only downside is I have to charge it every 5 days not 8 that was advertised. worth the money.

I did a lot of research before choosing the right fitness tracker. The vivoactive hr fits my needs perfectly. The only issue that I find is when I'm super sweaty, the heart rate monitor sometimes goes wacky. Other than that, it's perfect

Overall not bad, but the sleep tracking is beyond terrible. First the software requires you to enter the times you'll be asleep. Both my wife's fitbit and my old Microsoft Band auto detect sleep and do a pretty good job. Next, if you do wake up to go to the bathro, toss and turn, read a book in bed this thing has no clue. Again the ms band and fitbit know when you're not actually sleeping. Garmin needs to get with the program on sleep tracking, or just pull the feature because their implementation sucks.

I was surprised at how much this watch actually does. It's comfortable and can be worn all the time. Maybe I haven't found it yet but am looking for an easier way to get emergency and personal contact information put into it.