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merchantmarine
merchantmarine Posts: 70 Member
in Social Groups
Any thoughts on the Garmin vivofit? Pros / cons ?

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  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,643 Member
    edited August 2015
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    I have had the 1st version since Christmas last year. Here is a summary of my thoughts:-
    Pros-
    Battery life, not having to worry about taking it off during showers or swimming or in the hot tub :)
    Customization of walking/running length, other HR zone stats
    Good automatic tracking of running distance (over 10 mins) [ Ran with a someone who had a GPS and distance was relatively the same]
    Connects to HR strap for hear rate monitoring
    Syncing to MFP/Garmin Connect (When it works)
    Access to lots of statistics on the Garmin Connect page
    Red bar tells you to move
    Sleep tracking
    Weekly leaderboards for motivation

    Cons-
    I may need to upgrade to the 2nd version in order to stop/start activities
    Synching can be problematic every once in a while although it has been much better lately
    Inability to start your own challenges with your own friends

    I have considered over and over upgrading to other models GPS, Fitbit HR etc but I haven't been able to justify making a move as yet. Any move I make is more a want rather than a need.
  • LoveIshie
    LoveIshie Posts: 94 Member
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    I agree with everything you said regarding the pros/cons for Garmin vivofit. My wife bought mine for me as a father's day gift this year. It seems to be working fine at first until I began to notice that even when I sync the device with Garmin Connect (connected to MFP), sometimes it registers my data and sometimes it doesn't. So I bypass and manually enter my data to MFP (MyFitnesspal). Secondly, I don't like the fact the screen doesn't light up when you press button to change modes. When I am getting ready for bed at night, I have to make sure the lamp is on for me to see the device screen in order to change mode. Also, recently I began having issues with the device not syncing with my Garmin Connect app on my phone. When I press button on device to change mode to sync, it will show/indicate "SYNC" text, but nothing is happening with Garmin Connect app on my phone. So my workaround has been to deactivate and re-activate my phone Bluetooth for both application to sync with each other. My phone Bluetooth works well with other devices. Not sure if anyone else is having this problem. I will be interested in a better solution for the sync to work better. In the main time, I am going to stick with Garmin vivofit until probably a year to see how things workout before I decide to jump ship if necessary. Garmin better do something soon to fix these issues.
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,643 Member
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    It seems to be working fine at first until I began to notice that even when I sync the device with Garmin Connect (connected to MFP), sometimes it registers my data and sometimes it doesn't. So I bypass and manually enter my data to MFP (MyFitnesspal).

    I mostly do my manual entry in MFP for anything not picked up by the vivofit and have it sync to Garmin so I don't experience this much anymore. However, I go to the garmin connect site and manually sync from there things seem to work out. An additional step sometimes, but I learned to live with it. I never have to do this for walking or running

    I don't like the fact the screen doesn't light up when you press button to change modes. When I am getting ready for bed at night, I have to make sure the lamp is on for me to see the device screen in order to change mode.

    Yes, this bothered me at first but I am accustomed now. They fixed it in the 2nd version.

    recently I began having issues with the device not syncing with my Garmin Connect app on my phone. When I press button on device to change mode to sync, it will show/indicate "SYNC" text, but nothing is happening with Garmin Connect app on my phone

    Sorry, I never had to take this step. Although lately I have been having problems with my computer sync. I noticed that I usually sync when my ipad is nearby and I am not sure if that cause a problem, but I mostly sync with my ipad.
  • tarahughes24
    tarahughes24 Posts: 30 Member
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    I've got a vivosmart. Had it a couple of weeks and I like it. The battery still hasn't run down (but I don't keep it connected to my phone all the time as the bluetooth on the phone reduces my phone battery). I can swim with it but haven't yet, and I like the sleep logging.

    I think the sync probs are to do with the garmin connect app (read somewhere it can be a pain).

    Overall I really like it, it keeps me moving and I'd recommend it to a friend.

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