Customer Ratings & Reviews

I bought the Vivosmart HR to monitor heart rate while surfing big waves in mean conditions. I am 63 and train in a swimming pool 2000 to 3000 yards per night. So, I am aware of Garmin's swim watches but I thought I might try this first. I read some of the disappointments but knowing Garmin products from heavy duty ocean fishing navigation and so forth, I knew the updates would be coming. This is a brilliant device. I was born when Harry Truman was president and TV stations came on in late afternoon if you were lucky to have a tv station. So in this day and age, a device like this seems like a miracle to me. I'm a tekkie nerd so I understand all of this stuff and it's really a truly remarkable time we live in. Appreciate it and stop complaining. The complaints about this device are really picky and unfortunate. I swam 2000 yards the last two nights with this thing, really only interested in the heart rate function and I am really pleased with the steady lock in on my heart rate during vigorous lap swimming on an activity recording. Yes, it wasn't meant to be a swimming heart monitor, but it works really well at that function. My next test after a few more pool sessions will be in big surf here in Humboldt County California. I use a Suunto Ambit 2s on the other wrist for GPS waypoint navigation while surfing for precise lineup locating and also during pool swims with the vivosmart HR on the other arm. So maybe I'll look at a Garmin watch for that purpose in the future. For now, this thing is really great for the swim heart monitor function which I cannot do with a chest strap. Also, update to firmware 2.90 came out tonight which gave the device a few more functions. Nice job and and also the 72bpm default reading seems to have gone away. I'm sure this thing is going to get dialed in well in the near future. Please Garmin, don't stop working on making this a better device. You are on the right path. I put a picture of the heart rate graph of tonight's 2000 yard swim. I had to reset the activity session after 200 yards because I had the wrong activity selected. Oddly, it records a very close distance when it's in the "run" mode of activity for my swim sessions. I later change the sessions from "running" to "swimming" on Garmin Connect. The 2.90 software update gave us 3 activity selections instead of just the one "run" activity session we had with 2.60. Awesome.

I tried VIVOFIT from GARMIN earlier and didn't like to wear the HR band hence returned and was waiting for GARMIN to come out with this great product. The wait paid off in a better way. I believed in GARMIN products b'cos I am into cycling and GARMIN is the best. This product fits my small wrist and HR monitoring is accurate when I compared to my physician's results and with the GYM equipment. Sleep, Steps, High Intensity monitoring and SYNC with iPhone app works fluently. Battery charge stays for 5 to 6 days without any problem.Notification is awesome and I am able to control music from my iPhone and check weather. All in all this is a very good product and I would recommend those interested to buy it.

I absolutely love the Vivosmart. It has great features-like measuring heart rate (reassuring & close to the doctors), your sleep patterns (didn't know I wanted but my favorite to find my deep & light sleep times) and Waterproof-can be worn while swimming. The flaws- my first watch froze after swimming. It worked 4 or 5 times-then froze. There were other complaints so the frozen screen may have been the program & unrelated to the water. The app crashed lately when syncing but it needed updating. This one is working wonderful. You just have to remember to keep the program updated. I wear it 24-7 and hate to even take it off to charge. I feel more in shape because it reminds you to Move. I have also lost the pounds I put on over the holidays from the exercise. I would not have any other brand. I like the appearance & it gives time, day & date.

Garmin is known for its GPS abilities, but falls extremely short in it display ability. I called Garmin and was told that was a way of them to save on battery life!. The Garmin Fitness Tracker was a BIG BUST and in my opinion, is in need a major overhaul, with the back lighting and graphics. This was a shocking and Major Disappoint in my experience. The wrist strap felt very cheap . Hard plastic that would not mold to my wrist and because of this it irritated and caused a rash on my wrist. This is my own personal experience and if Zero was listed as a choice. I would have chosen that as my option!

After reading many reviews, I found that this was my best option for what I wanted from a tracker along with a quality product at a reasonable price. The step counter is fairly accurate(comparable to other pedometers). The only times I don't see steps is when my wrist isn't moving at all, such as when pushing a grocery cart, etc. It is also fairly accurate on stairs climbed, much to my surprise. The Heart Rate (HR) monitor works well. It is waterproof and holds up to that. I use it all the time in the shower and during heaving activities and sweat or water hasn't effected it in any way. The Garmin Connect app is very easy to use, has lots of features, such as sleep tracking, step tracking/trending, workout logs, etc. This is loaded with additional features, Heart Rate tracking/trending, Calorie burn, Weather updates, Email/Text Alerts, Alarms, Phone Locating, Lap Timer, Media Player controls, and more. I purchased another one for my son, who loves it just as much as I do. He's more interested in the text and messaging notifications to his wrist that he can review without picking up his phone(great feature), but he still likes the other features. My girlfriend already has a Vivofit, but will be upgrading to this when her battery runs out (1.5 years already and still running).

I was waiting for this to come out and I'm glad I did. My requirements - waterproof, HeartRate without strap, good battery life, easy to use, back-light, vibrate-alarm, phone notifications, and accurate. What blew me away was how it tracked stairs climbed when I was hiking through hilly terrain. I really like the notification feature - I look at my watch to see who called.

Bought this in January after a lot of research, have been wearing it everyday since. Pros - wrist based heart rate, water proof, smart notifications, form factor, sleep tracking, integration with Mapmyrun and mapmyfitness Cons - accuracy of pedometer (when calculating distance run), battery life, no GPS, limited workout tracker (natively), proprietary charger Garmin makes a solid product, They've pushed a few firm ware updates that have improved the overall accuracy of the always on heart rate monitor (proprietary sensor) which was the driving reason for my purchase. Overall, I recommend. I'll be upgrading to the Vivoactice HR smartwatche with GPS engine once it's in-stock (it was announced after the Vivosmart HR launched).

I really like this product. I bought this as a bridge for eventually getting something along the lines of some of the wareables out there. But it seems there are flaws in all of those as well, and features that still need to be improved upon. I was almost going to trade this in, and get something that made use of apps, but honestly, because I still have my phone, I haven't felt the need. As long as I'm in range, I get the notifications whether a call, email or texts, and that's fine. Someday, and when I want to spend the extra money, I will get a watch that I can actually take a call, or dictate a text I don't know exactly how accurate various functions are like exercise calculation, steps, stairs are, and sleep for that matter. But all that is just a ball park guide for me. It's not crucial to have it precise, and it has helped me so far in my quest for better fitness. I do buy into the reviews that give the HR reading credibility and while not perfect, it is close enough. I like being able to put a clock on my workouts, being able to sync the Vivosmart with my android phone, but also sync it with the My Fitness App. I haven't tested it yet, but if is great to know that if I ever forget to take it off before I shower or jump in the pool, it won't care. I wasn't sure, at first if I liked the look, but most of the Smartwatches, I'm not jazzed about either. I've gotten complements on this device and I've also enjoyed how light and unobtrusive this is to wear. Unlike the Smartwatches, I don't have to make it a point to charge it every night. Because it's just a fit band with none of the graphics a smartwatch would have I gone a few days before thinking abut charging it. I've spent this time somewhat comparing this to Smartwatches, but the real comparison is to fit bands. To me this wins hands down, and I would absolutely recommend this to anyone.

Here is my opinion as to the pros and cons. Pros: 1. Charges fast, less than 30 mins=full charge 2. Battery lasts 5 days for me 3. Heart rate monitor I find to be accurate, unlike other users online I have to wear it a bit loose to get good readings. 4. I was able to customize the steps to match my stride for better readings. 5. When using My Fitness Pal, my steps were not giving me calories back. Come to find out the setting I had chosen had a predetermined amount of steps calculated into my day. Would never have known without Garmin. Cons: 1. It is either all notifications or none, I would like only text messages but can't do that. I don't really hold this against the band as that is more a feature of a smart watch, just want others to know. 2. The intensity minutes don't always register; you have to have your heart rate above a certain level for 10 mins before they start to register. That means one bad reading and you don't get your mins logged. 3. In My Fitness Pal, my exercise walks always post as 5mph runs, I called Garmin about this. The calories are correctly calculating but to track under their "exercise" module it labels it as a run. Overall I have enjoyed my Vivosmart HR and think the price is right.

I had the Fitbit Charge and after the button fell off one and the strap came apart on the replacement I decided to try something else. I wore both on the same wrist to compare accuracy - at the end of the day they were only 7 steps apart. I like the look of this better than the Charge and it has better notifications that you can read without having to open them on the phone, I have stopped wearing my big ugly Sony Smartwatch 3 as this does everything I want. You can set solid goals for steps etc. but this has feature where it adjusts the step goal depending on how close you come. I decided to see what would happen if I left it at the 7,500 goal it begins with - low for me. It adjusts by various amounts depending on how close you get, under or over. I like this because it helps to not de-motivate you if you are under (like my husband), but gives you something realistic to strive for. The app needs some work and is nowhere near as good as the Fitbit app. It gives all the same information but if you want to go back and see previous days, you can only see one stat at a time. The calories shown are only your active calories. To see the total you have to click on it where you will now see the total broken down into active and inactive. I would prefer to be able to change the defaults and see the total. No good way to see the battery level - It needs to be clearly shown on the app. Heart rate seems to be accurate when compared with the rate shown on a piece of gym equipment during a work out.. I have had this a couple of months now and am very happy with it.

I purchased the Vivofit 2 with heart rate monitor strap not too long ago and my husband saw that this was coming out soon. Looked online for reviews for the new Vivosmart HR, but could not find much. I did find out that the heart rate monitor is integrated on the tracker which was something I originally wanted. So far the tracker is great. It's not as accurate for tracking your heart rate for intense work outs. I find that the heart rate strap is better for that. A plus is that you can pair the strap with the watch. I feel the fit of the tracker is a bit more comfortable than the Vivofit 2. You do have to charge the tracker which with the Vivofit 2 you didn't have to. I am having issues when syncing the tracker with the app. Sometimes I'll have to try and sync a few times before the app pulls up my most recent activity. I never had that issue with the Vivofit 2. It reads the time/date. I don't have the notifications turned on. I don't feel like I need that option. Overall I like this tracker.

I have been using Fitness monitors for the last 7 years - several Body Media Body Buggs, a couple of Fitbit Flexes and a Vivosmart. This Vivosmart HR is the best of the lot that I've experienced. The main advantages vs. other leading bands (e.g., Fitbit) are: 1) HR rate reading without a chest strap - this ensures a more accurate caloric burn report relative to bands that only record steps; 2) Water resistance - I shower in the device all the time with no problems; 3) Big easy to read display - numbers and letters are easy to read at a glance and the display is persistent (doesn't go off) No product is perfect. The challenges with the device include: 1) Dim display - not a problem in daylight or a well lit room, but a problem in darker areas. The display has a back-light, but you have to touch it. 2) The Garmin App does not have the same following as Fitbit or Jawbone, so fewer people to compete with Battery life is decent - I typically go about a week on a charge. I don't leave my bluetooth on all the time - only when I need to sync the data with my phone. The Heart Rate Monitor seems reasonably accurate - I try to measure it against the gym's Elliptical machine reader when I am working out on the machine and they both report about the same heart rate. However, to get an accurate reading, one has to have the device is tight on the wrist (like leave marks when you take it off tight).

Really love this activity tracker watch. Was having a hard time deciding which one to go with, but finally chose this one. Love how it tracks my sleep schedule, bc I have insomnia! Learning to use more of the other features as well. Got this one bc I like that I can get the notifications from my phone when I get calls, texts, emails, etc. Wish it was just a little less bulky and that you could change out the bands like you can on the others. But I do like that it does have an actual watch band clasp on the back so it won't just catch on something and fall off. Also it can be slightly dim in certain lighting. Other than those things I'd give it 5. Garmin has done a great job with their trackers & their app you sync to your phone/tablet to see your progress from the day, week, and so on.

I had bought a competing product which was very similar in form, had color display, nifty features etc but the app didn't really impress me. It felt "Old" if that makes sense, like last years wonder. I returned it and got the Vivosmart VR. Though the band display is not color, the app is a bit more polished which is where the data is processed anyway. I mostly use sleep tracking, steps and the daily heart rate monitor. I also joined the online community. I typically take it off to shower and wash dishes but haven't had any issues the times I forget. Water resistance was a really, really BIG deal since I swim during the summer months and though i will normally take it off, it is nice to know it is rated to survive it (unlike any other band in the price range). This was the ultimate reason I returned my previous band and chose this model. I could easily see myself jumping in the pool with the other band then noticing a bit later after it was ruined and most likely with a voided warranty. I cant quite go 5 stars, I would especially like to see a color Display added and a GPS would be great. Hopefully as bands progress and get more competitive it will eventually make it into the slim models. But, otherwise, I honestly have nothing bad to say about this band so far.

Returned a Fitbit charge hr for this and I'm enjoying it so far (I've had it for about 5 days). The hardware itself is fantastic, doing much more than the Fitbit like all phone notifications, weather updates, music control (turned it off), move reminders, and waterproofing for the same price. Though subjective, I find it much more comfortable on my wrist. I do miss the Fitbit software platform as I had 25+ friends constantly using it and competing with them. So far social features are nil for me on the Garmin which is a bummer. The app definitely has some issues but it's worked great the last two days for me. They did just overhaul the entire UI so hopefully they will fix any bugs as time moves on. Overall, I'd recommend it if you're not heavily invested in Fitbits social platform. P.S. I was reading a review down below about screen orientation being a pain in horizontal. I posted a pic to show that you can change the settings in the app so the screen is oriented in the vertical plane for easier viewing on your wrist (works perfect - except smartphone notification screen is still stuck on horizontal, hopefully changed in future updates)

My fitbit died after 7 months of use, as did my husbands. I needed a tracker that was more durable and water resistant, but that was still easy to use and reliable. I find the garmin vivosmart HR easy to use and very accurate in everything except stair counter. It does miss alot of stairs, which is disappointing since I always make a point of using stairs! That being said, the distance measurement, steps, heart rate, and sleep all seem quite reliable. The interface with the software is easy to use.

I wanted a waterproof fitness tracker with heart rate monitor, this one for the bill. Pros: Price, waterproof, step counter, sleep tracker, heart rate monitor is accurate Cons: not the best looking & large for my small wrist. Does not have GPS, so mileage is inaccurate. Counts fewer steps than the health app on iPhone. I was also told that the extended warranty included trading for upgrade. Was later told this is untrue, unless it is not working properly. I'll get the Apple Watch 2, since it's waterproof.

I purchased this device specifically because it received good reviews as a sleep tracker, a heart rate monitor and for being able to display texts. I have found it to be very effective in these areas. Sleep tracker: It definitely seems to sense when I fall asleep and I feel like the amount of deep sleep the device records corresponds to how I feel the next day. I'm looking forward to using the sleep monitoring to try to find ways to improve my sleep quality. Heart Rate Monitor: I am currently making a conscientious effort to get back in shape right now, and I wanted continuous heart rate monitoring. That said, I don't feel like it actually continuously monitors heart rate during normal activity (which is fine because that conserves battery life), but I have found the continuous monitoring to be very accurate during exercise. Text Alerts: While the screen is too small to easily read incoming texts, it is nice to know when new texts come in, especially since I'm not always great at keeping my phone near me at all times. As long as my phone is in the same house as I am, the device can pick up my texts. I hope at some point to more thoroughly explore all the features, but I have been satisfied so far, and I certainly feel like the Garmin is as good as anything else out there right now!

I previously owned and used a Nike+ Fuel Band to track some of my physical activity. This product was one of the first wrist worn fitness trackers available. Needless to say, it is pretty far behind on the current technology, and I wanted to find a replacement. After doing pretty extensive research, the garmin vivosmart HR seemed to fit my needs and wants. Pros 1. Always on, time - Being a teacher, I need to keep an eye on the time for numerous reasons. 2. Weather - It is nice to see the current temperature. This plays a big role on if we are going to be able to take our classes outside for some of their activities. 3. Notifications - We are constantly getting emails from Administration and other teachers throughout the day. The Garmin allows me to have a quick glance at who the email is from, and the subject. If you have the time it will even allow you to open and read the email, which is not the easiest with the small screen, but at least is an option. 4. Heart rate monitor - I like to be active with my classes. This allows me to do the planned activities with the students, and see what my own heart rate gets up to. If I cant do the activity, then I shouldnt expect any of the middle schoolers to be able to. 5. Music Control - I have found this feature to be one of the greatest for myself. I use music everyday in my classes. Having the capability to start/pause, next/previous track on my wrist is very helpful. I connect my phone to our stereo system via bluetooth, then can leave my phone in my bag, and still control my playlist via the Garmin. Cons 1. Heart rate monitor accuracy. After doing a physical activity with my class, I would look down at the Garmin, and it didnt seem to be picking up my elevated heart rate. After reading another review, and it makes sense, I had to tighten up the strap so the monitor was more securely pressed against my wrist. Now I will keep it a little more loose when just wearing around, and then tighten it down when I am going to track my heart rate. 2. Notifications - One small complaint, since this is still also a Pro overall. It might just be my phone, LG G4, but I cant read full text messages that are more than 2 lines long. I have had this for almost a week and am really enjoying it. I would highly recommend this product. Is it perfect, NO, but it does a great job and gives you a lot of information for the price. There were 2 youtube channels that helped me make the decision to buy this product. They both did great reviews if anyone is interested. 1. RizKnows - https://youtu.be/IJE-P7IdU0o 2. JimsReviewRoom - https://youtu.be/MKWlfott86o Both of the above reviewers seem to very active individuals, and review a lot of different fitness related products.

Monitors heart rate; sets fitness goals automatically. Syncs with smartphone to track activity. Also shows when you have an incoming call, email or text message. Controls music player and shows you the weather forecast and temperature. Shows stairs climbed, steps taken, miles covered and calories burned. Prompts you to move if you've been inactive for an hour or more. Also has an alarm feature that can be set from smartphone, among other features. Rechargeable battery that lasts about 3 or 4 days before needing new charge.