Garmin Vivosmart HR

BklynFitGuy
BklynFitGuy Posts: 712 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Anyone have one? Just looking for some opinions as I was thinking of upgrading my Fitbit Flex and have an opportunity to get the Garmin for 50%off.

Replies

  • lisamarieb64mfp
    lisamarieb64mfp Posts: 18 Member
    I have no experience w/the Garmin Vivosmart HR (I have the Fitbit Charge HR. I do have experience w/Garmin (gps running watches and also had the Vivofit) and I'd JUMP on the chance to get a Vivosmart HR for 50% off! Heck I'm thinking about buying one for full price and I already have the Charge HR. :-)
  • jasonshepherd646
    jasonshepherd646 Posts: 14 Member
    edited April 2016
    Just ordered one today so your post caught my eye. First monitor of any description. I'll keep you posted of what I think, but not for a few days. Anyway at 50% off it's virtually a no brainer.
  • BklynFitGuy
    BklynFitGuy Posts: 712 Member
    Thanks for the info. Was just checking it out online and think I'll go for it.
  • VegasFit
    VegasFit Posts: 1,232 Member
    I have one and I really like it. I was torn between the Fitbit HR or the Vivosmart but I really like the option to wear a chest strap, and I already had one for my forerunner so I went with it. I like that I only have to take it off about once a week to charge it. I don't waste the battery life on text messages though. I only use the music function if I'm in the gym. Their customer support is also good.
  • dawn_noelle29
    dawn_noelle29 Posts: 114 Member
    I have one and I love it! I don't usually wear the heart rate monitor unless I'm doing some kind of outdoor activity because my gym has their own HRM system but the vivosmart is a great choice! I love mine, it's comfortable, you sync it with your phone and get your texts through it, and you can also change your music through it too - all in all, I'm really happy - I will say, I've had mine for a little over a year and the display is fading a bit but it's still totally readable.
  • ashpile83
    ashpile83 Posts: 9 Member
    I've not had a fitbit but I have the Garmin and I love it. I love that I can wear it in the water too!
  • Katerbels
    Katerbels Posts: 106 Member
    I got one last night, so far I really love it! I'm still learning how it all works, but it has great reviews and so far it seems pretty accurate (I tested the HR against my phone and the cardio equipment at the gym earlier and they were all about the same).
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    Love my Garmin Vivoactive!!!! If thinking of going Garmin, check it out.
  • thumper44
    thumper44 Posts: 1,464 Member
    I love my garmin Vivosmart HR . From the goals to the reminders, to the garmin connect website and all the information that you can view.
    Graphs of Heart rates during an activity, and during your sleep.
    Also, it's water proof compared to fitbit HR
  • mr_canoe_head
    mr_canoe_head Posts: 21 Member
    I really like my Vivosmart HR, but you might have to readjust your expectations. The heart rate monitor is not suited for high intensity or competitive sports. The distance estimates can be somewhat inaccurate as well. In particular, the stairs climbed is often way off for me.

    A number of months after purchasing the Vivosmart HR, I started regularly taking part in running races. The inaccuracies I mentioned above caused me to purchase an additional GPS watch with a chest strap: in effect, I had outgrown the running tracking abilities of the Vivosmart HR. Garmin must love this: they get two device purchases out of me. ;-)

    Despite this, why do I still really like the Vivosmart HR?

    I wear the Vivosmart HR all the time. I simply put on the GPS watch and chest strap when I go running outdoors and wear both devices at once. Garmin connect copes well with this and gives me a good combined calorie estimate without double counting. I also still use the Vivosmart HR to track gym workouts, indoor treadmill running, etc.

    Other things I like:
    • The feature I use most often is the watch function, displaying the time and date. A software update introduced automatic backlight illumination when you raise your wrist to look at the device. That works great. The always-on display is a great feature too, making it very easy to read the time in normal lighting.
    • The step counter works well.
    • After the latest software update (3.10), the TDEE estimates seem quite accurate or at least realistic for me. Earlier versions of the software had too high estimates of calories burned - at least according to my logging behaviour.
    • The smartphone notifications work really well.
    • The device is comfortable to wear and is waterproof - I far prefer it to a regular watch.
    • Although the stairs climbed function is way off for me - often estimating double or triple the real amount of floors climbed - it still makes me pay attention to this and motivates me to try to include more stairs in my daily routine. Thankfully the over counting does not seem to influence the TDEE calorie estimate made by the device.

    Hope this helps. :-) Cheers.




  • brinkbodin
    brinkbodin Posts: 11 Member
    I have the Vivosmart and it's great but the Garmin Connect app and Myfitnesspal do not play nicely. I always have syncing problems between the two.
  • MonkeyMel21
    MonkeyMel21 Posts: 2,396 Member
    mr_canoe_head wrote: »
    I
    • The feature I use most often is the watch function, displaying the time and date. A software update introduced automatic backlight illumination when you raise your wrist to look at the device. That works great. The always-on display is a great feature too, making it very easy to read the time in normal lighting.
    • The step counter works well.
    • After the latest software update (3.10), the TDEE estimates seem quite accurate or at least realistic for me. Earlier versions of the software had too high estimates of calories burned - at least according to my logging behaviour.
    • The smartphone notifications work really well.
    • The device is comfortable to wear and is waterproof - I far prefer it to a regular watch.
    • Although the stairs climbed function is way off for me - often estimating double or triple the real amount of floors climbed - it still makes me pay attention to this and motivates me to try to include more stairs in my daily routine. Thankfully the over counting does not seem to influence the TDEE calorie estimate made by the device.

    Hope this helps. :-) Cheers.




    All of this! I love mine. And I rarely have syncing issues with mfp.
  • Mdoe20132
    Mdoe20132 Posts: 12 Member
    I have the Vivofit 2 and I can't get it to sync with mfp. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong - I just want the calories burned to sync to mfp and my calories consumed sync to Garmin Connect. Frustrating. I've unconnected and reconnected so many times trying to get it to work.
    MonkeyMel21 wrote: »
    mr_canoe_head wrote: »
    I
    • The feature I use most often is the watch function, displaying the time and date. A software update introduced automatic backlight illumination when you raise your wrist to look at the device. That works great. The always-on display is a great feature too, making it very easy to read the time in normal lighting.
    • The step counter works well.
    • After the latest software update (3.10), the TDEE estimates seem quite accurate or at least realistic for me. Earlier versions of the software had too high estimates of calories burned - at least according to my logging behaviour.
    • The smartphone notifications work really well.
    • The device is comfortable to wear and is waterproof - I far prefer it to a regular watch.
    • Although the stairs climbed function is way off for me - often estimating double or triple the real amount of floors climbed - it still makes me pay attention to this and motivates me to try to include more stairs in my daily routine. Thankfully the over counting does not seem to influence the TDEE calorie estimate made by the device.

    Hope this helps. :-) Cheers.




    All of this! I love mine. And I rarely have syncing issues with mfp.

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