Customer Ratings & Reviews

I bought this based on the great reviews on here and that of some of my friends. I've had it less than a week and it won't sync with my phone. I know, I know first world problems. But I bought a smart watch to go with my smart phone. The second day it wouldn't sync with the app. Deleted the app and rebooted. That seemed to fix that issue. The fifth day it won't keep track of anything and won't sync with my phone. I'm taking it back. Looked on some forums and this seems to be an issue with the Vivoactive HR

Owned the watch for about a year and a half. I run, bike, hike, and walk mostly. My wife and I were on vacation last month and I went for a swim in the pool. When I got out I noticed the watch display was malfunctioning. It is basically dead now. Called support. Nothing they could do since it was out of warranty. Estimate was $150 to fix. No thank you!! I'm a Garmin fan and want to replace the watch, but just not sure... Sorry Garmin

I have been a Garmin user and enthusiast for a number of years. I am on my second Garmin GPS device and my second fitness watch (a Vivoactive HR). However, I am no longer a fan, due to customer support issues. One day, without any bumping or dropping, I noticed that the crystal on my watch was badly cracked. A few days later another crack appeared. I finally figured out that it was due to pressing it into the charging cable clip (which requires some force), which cracked the crystal. I was shocked that it broke that easily (I'm not THAT strong!) on a watch that cost me $250. and even more shocked when customer support informed me that a new crystal would cost me $120 (I just saw a new watch online for $150) to get it replaced and such damage is not covered by the warranty. I very carefully checked the (very small) fine print on the booklet it came with and there is no mention of the risks of snapping the watch into the charging clip. So, my family will no longer buy a product that is moderately expensive, with a clearly inadequate crystal for normal use, and for which there is no prior informed consent. If you do, caveat emptor.

I bought this watch in November of 2016 and it just completely died on me in the swimming pool. Before it died, it would regularly lose its bluetooth connection with my iPhone and I would have to turn it off and on to get it reconnected. When it worked, it was a great watch for a runner who also wants the smart features. But unfortunately I am now in the market for a new running/smartwatch.

There are many great features on the device targeted to multi sport participants, but many do not function well on mine. I cannot sync with cardio equipment, I have frequent issues syncing with the app, and most problematic are the problems with accurate HR monitoring. If generally takes 12-18 minutes to track my elevated rate, and it's completely ineffective for intervals. Love the features. Just wish it worked.

This VA-HR caused a skin rash. I have had other trackers that did not do this. They acknowledged the problem and offered to buy back the unit. Unfortunately, there is quite a backlog of checks to write according to the representative that I spoke with when checking on the status of the check. As of today, the buy back checks are taking 12-15 weeks to issue. This is just poor customer service in my opinion.

Super bummed. I wanted to like this watch but after using it for a week I will be returning it. Besides the obvious (which I read in many reviews) the back light is super dim (even on it's highest settings.) It is difficult at times to even read what time it is. But I bought the watch (or rather asked for it for Mother's Day) to have an all in one smart watch with heart rate monitoring. The heart rate monitoring is a joke. Comparing data from my scosche heart rate monitor + garmin vivofit2, the vivoactive HR watch is off (on average) 150-200 calories burned during an activity. Also, the graphs show HUGE and prolonged dips in my HR (says my HR is 65-80 when it is actually 140-160). This inaccuracy makes this watch junk for me. Sure the bells and whistles are nice (reading your texts and emails from your watch and checking the weather or advancing a song) but I bought the watch for the HR monitoring and I am greatly disappointed. Back to the store it goes and back to my Scosche and Garmin Vivofit2 I go...

This device has some great features, but it didn't last long enough to try them all out.. Here's the good: The heart rate, sleep monitor, and pedometer seem to be very accurate. The bad: the display is really dim even on the brightest setting (this was supposed to be improved with this version), reading messages is useless (print is tiny tiny), case is big and bulky. Here was the real kicker....at 5:45 AM on a Saturday, the device kept buzzing and rebooting. It was buzzing so loud it even woke my wife up. It would not reset, so I'm returning it. Very disappointed with Garmin.

I read the reviews on this smart watch and decided this is what I needed. Well to begin with I had a very hard time to get it to Par with my phone. I called Garmin Customer Service for help and they were great. They told me to take it to the Geek Squad and they would par it. Well it took them 15 minutes to get it to par. Well that par lasted for 3 days then went blank. I then was able to get to par. The watch operates off the GPS and the GPS stopped working now so all it did was count my daily steps. I ride bike inside and outside and so I am Sol on that.. Now today it isn't even counting steps. So tomorrow I am going to return this watch it is useless to me. I am 69 years old and I do love to exercise.

I purchased the VIVOActive HR in December 2017, I found the design to be poorly thought out and not user-friendly. A month after buying the heart rate monitor stopped working. Four months in the casing that holds the band in place broke off. I contacted customer service to get it replaced, they offered to replace it with a refurbished (used) one. They never shipped it been waiting a month. I going to write it off. Save yourself the aggravation go with another brand. Keep in mind that if you get a defective product and it's under warranty they try to replace it with someone else's broken Garmin device. I

This watch started out great... but about 6 months after using it stopped syncing with my phone and was such a pain having to re-sync after every exercise use. After wearing it to a my job (health care professional) I came home one day and the screen was cracked. I even had an IQ shield on it and through normal activity it was ruined. The touchscreen obviously doesn't work anymore and now trying to get it fixed I'm almost better off just buying a new one.... The quality is much to be desired.

I read many reviews before buying this. I loved the features. However when using the backlight it is much brighter in bottom left corner of screen than anywhere else. I talked with garmin support they are aware of this issue. Person I talked to said he was wearing one that had the same problem. I exchanged it and tried another one before I left Best Buy and it had the same issue so I got a refund. Garmin said this was a very common issue on this item. If this was a 100.00 item it would not have been a big deal, however when you pay almost 300.00 for a product you do not expect this type quality issue.

I bought this device on Jun 22 and on Aug 19th it stopped tracking steps. Every day it shows that I've reached my goal (same number every day), but it never resets my steps and never increases my steps either. Other functions still seem to work, but now the battery dies every 2-3 days instead of every week. I really liked the features, and especially the integration with my phone, but I am very disappointed its longevity. I'm not sure where I go from here, but I'm really reluctant to purchase another at this point.

Bought this for daughter who is in spinning class. Display is awful -- can barely see it even on brightest setting. Also will not stay in HR mode -- Really?! She has contacted Garmin and they said these are the two biggest complaints with the watch. I guess if you do multitude of activities it's good, but I don't see how it has gotten such a high rating. She will be returning it.

Face cracked in the first 5 days of having the watch and I wasn't even doing anything or even hit anything with the watch. The watch has to reboot multiple times a day. Does not keep accurate records. Will go back to my fitbit, which is much more reliable and the Fitbit company listened. Talked to Best Buy and they didn't seem to care, so will take my business elsewhere.

I have just had my 3rd vivoactive hr fail and each time it has been after going swimming. One of the main reasons I bought this over other brands was because of the claims that this is waterproof which it clearly is not. I question if will ever buy another garmin fitness watch. If this is a deciding factor for you, dont believe the claims.

the screen is completely dark no brightness at all

Had many problems with this watch. I would keep resetting its self. I did not have any apps added to it. Now this week when going to a hick it stopped working, and will no longer turn on. This watch only lasted one year.