Customer Ratings & Reviews

I had high hopes for this watch but ended up returning it a few days later. The watch kept rebooting itself and losing Bluetooth connectivity. I ended up purchasing a Garmin Forerunner 235 and so far so good. A bit older but will get the job done.

Did about a month of research before purchasing. When the device arrived it took 3 hours to download the updates. After which the device would not connect to Wifi, a very simple tasks now-a-days. The Garmin apps needed to use the watch take up a huge amount of space on your phone and this watch consistently loses connection with phone. I did everything I could think of to fix the issue, factory reset, re-downloaded apps on phone, downloaded software version 5.19 beta, nothing worked. I shouldn't have to do 4 hours of work to start using a device. This is sad and has put me off buying a smartwatch.

I bought this to replace my vivoactive hr when it gave up the ghost. Took it home unboxed and found out that it wouldn’t fit my wrist. The max effective wrist size, if you want to be able to tuck the band under the little sleeve and not have it sticking out and catching everything is about 1 inch less than advertised. I checked the website but no luck! I needed a 91/2 inch band that no one makes!!!! I returned the product

Second time I have an issue with it in less than 12 months. At first, it went dead after a system update. Talked to Customer service and I had to ship it to Kansas. They did send me a new (or refurbished one). Heart sensor of the second watch went extremely inaccurate for 2 months and now is dead. This watch is a fraud! I gave up on it. I just want my money back...

I had the Garmin HR ( loved it)! I decided to step up to the Vivoactive 3 Music—what a disappointment. The first one couldn’t hold a charge, the second, the plastic casing broke and there is no repair for that. The third has intermittent periods of holding a charge/ not holding a charge. Quality has diminished and I hate to see that in a once great company. Apple 5 on order and no Garmin in my future.

Don’t waste your time, you are probably capable of doing more with an old apple watch or samsung watch then this

Garmin jumped the gun on this one I think. It didn't track running correctly, and actually stopped working within a few months of getting it (while in the middle of a 75 day fitness challenge where I was depending on it for tracking workouts). Garmin replaced it, and within a year it broke again... Not recommended.

Returned this item and exchanged for Samsung. Didn't like face of watch. Difficult to read.

Would not buy again. Band kept falling off when i worked out

The watch was comfortable to wear and the apps were good but the battery life only lasted 5 hours. Even after doing everything the manual said to maximize the battery life.

Garmin always the leader in gps not so much on music. Downloaded music into the phone and it locked up the first two times i went for a run.

I bought this watch and was instantly disappointed. The product seems cheaply made and wasn’t user friendly. I returned it.

I have had my watch for about 2 weeks now and really love it. It is has far more features than the prior vivoactive series, it is easy to download music if you follow the instructions. I downloaded several playlists from my Itunes account and the watch pairs easily with my phone and my wireless headset. It is waterproof so you can go swimming in the pool with it. I would check with Garmin before taking it into Ocean water to make sure that the salt water won't short it out or otherwise damage it. I have not worn it in the ocean. I love the wrist heart rate monitor as it means that I don't need to wear an uncomfortable HR monitor around my chest when I run or work out. It also picks up GPS very quickly. Really an excellent watch!

I haven' t had any of the connection problems and whatnot I'm reading people are having with this watch here and on other sites. Hooked up to my iPhone 7 and home wifii on the first try. Was able to set up a Wallet right away and tested that at Walgreens an hour later. It worked like a charm and is a great feature if you don't like fumbling around with your phone at checkout. You just have to fumble a little bit with the watch to enter your PIN before you get to the head of the line. :) I already have a few Garmin devices so hooking it up to the mobile app as well as the Mac version of Garmin Connect was a snap. The only (understandible) annoyance is that any iTunes songs or playlists you want to load onto the watch have to be downloaded locally, so it'll take some planning to get content into the watch. I use a Garmin VivoSport when I'm doing things where the watch is too bulky (icehockey) and I'm used to that, so the customization of the watch face on this watch stands out as a great feature. If I had to complain about anything it is that the headphone connection is a little flakey with my Bose Soundlink headphones. It seems to skip and crackle a little bit for the first few minutes when you start listening to something, but it eventually smooths out. Also, I'm not sure if it's supposed to automatically connect to your headphones when you turn them on, but for me it definitely doesn't do that. I have to go into the music menu, select my headphones, and hit connect. In any case, I'm digging this watch so far and I haven't even gotten into all the apps and whatnot it can run.

Awesome watch!! Use it for running and it does ask that I need.

I've had this watch for just over a month. I'm a recreational runner, mostly 5k distances, who wants a little more than just total running time and distance. It has all the features I'm looking for: total pace, split times & paces, dynamic pace tracking, dynamic heart rate tracking, and elevation changes. I don't use music but that's mostly because I keep forgetting to load music onto it. Also, I haven't set up the emergency contact feature; someday I'll get to these. The GPS takes maybe 30 seconds to acquire a signal, which is fine for me because that's time spent walking to my starting point. The biggest gripe I have is the battery life, if I run every other day I need to charge the watch immediately after my second run because the battery will be <20% and won't survive the night. If I'm lazy and the watch isn't tracking activity then the battery lasts about 5 days.

I bought this as a replacement for my almost 2 year old Vivoactive HR. The HR was pretty good; not as feature rich but light years more reliable than the Microsoft Band 2 it replaced. Heartrate was never nearly as accurate - always a bit spotty, sometimes good, sometimes way off, depending on wrist/forearm placement, battery power left, last reset, etc. I made do, for the most part it did well, especially for running and extended cardio activities. I hoped greatly that the VA 3 Music would improve here. I was disappointed. After numerous adjustment attempts at placement, restarting the watch, ensuring a full charge, etc., I couldn't get a consistent steady heartrate from one workout to the next. Wildly varying results, from generally very good to downright awful with numerous cutouts. It was enough for me to return the thing. Which is a shame, because it's otherwise a huge improvement over the HR. The display is monumentally better in clarity and response, as are notifications and general smartwatch activities. The addition of on-watch music is fantastic, although the BT signal is on the weaker side. As with other users, I had cut-out with the headphone antenna on the right, but swapping to the left (matching the watch) cleared that up, my last 5K was flawless. Loading music from my computer and Deezer went easily enough, if not a bit on the slow side. Maybe I'll try the Forerunner 645 Music at some point, but sad this didn't work out.

The watch was relatively comfortable and I was able to wear it to bed for sleep tracking with no real issue. The silicone band feels sticky on your wrist with any amount of sweat though, which I grew to hate. What is most frustratrating is that the only music service, IHeartRadio (who uses them anymore), would never work. Every time I'd try, the watch would come up with a network error. The issue seems to be with the Wi-Fi functionality of the watch more than the app. A major feature of this watch is the ability to download and play music without needing your phone. Didn't work. The final straw was after opening a case with Garmin support, they took 3 days to get back to me, required that I upload files from the watch to them, and acted like it was something I am doing wrong. "What? Have never heard of this problem..." Forums are filled with it. So, a week later I still haven't heard anything regarding a solution. Gave up and returned the watch. Definitely do not recommend the watch until they get the issues worked out.

AWESOME fitness tracking information. If you have a pile of hours/days of your life to spend dealing with software issues, this is the watch for you! The Garmin Express app that is required to apply updates and add music worked for a week and has since CRASHED CONSISTENTLY; it won't even open at all. I have uninstalled and re-installed, updated windows, tried everything. Online forums indicate that this disservice has been acceptable to Garmin for quite some time and that they respond to service requests within 3 business days. Huh. The watch itself is pretty cool and useful, and much of it can function, so I give it any stars at all. The watch is amazing; the software experience renders it barely acceptable.

Good battery back and quick recharge. Also it's very light weight so good for long runs.