Activity tracker: Vivosmart 4 / Vivosport ?

tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

Lietchi wrote: »

I'm wondering how accurate the review is (did they actually pair with a HRM?) since I've read several reviews and threads to the contrary. Apparently the ANT+ connectivity can't be used for external HRM, but is used for 'challenges' between different devices:
https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/healthandwellness/f/vivofit-4/158142/does-the-garmin-heart-rate-monitor-not-connect-to-the-vivofit-4

Perhaps drop Garmin customer support a message, they are quite quick at responding. Maybe they can confirm.

I have only had a Vivoactive HR & Vivoactive 3 Music neither of which would match your requirement for a slimline wearable.

My Vivoactive 3 does pretty much all the technical things on her list (can't speak to VA4):

- a small ‘neutral looking’ activity tracker: I have very small wrists and hands and I don’t want a large/clunky/sporty watch

VA3 is a big watch, but very watch-looking. (I don't think it looks like a Seal Team 6/commando device , nor does it scream "tracker" like some of the petite devices do. Petite devices don't suit me: I have big hands/arms, so they'd look kind of dumb on me IMO.).

- step count

I don't care much about steps, so I haven't tested it, but it seems superficially proportional to changes in walking, to me. I do think it occasionally counts very vigorous arm movements as steps (like whipping cream with a whisk, say).

As an aside, it's pretty terrible - and inconsistent - at counting stairs, for me. It may have something to do with how fast/slow I go up/down them, but I'm not sure. I live in a house where every main living area is up a full flight of stairs, and I have to go up/down to leave the house. I'm usually up/down multiple times a day, but it's not unusual to see it count just 1 or 2 up, and zero down.

- total calories burned

Provides this, but isn't accurate for me, even though it is for others. MFP also estimates me incorrectly, and by about the same amount as Garmin does. Conclusion: Device is fine, I'm weird.

I could adjust its total by a standard percentage or count and have it be close enough to useful, I think, but since I already knew my approximate TDEE from several years' logging, I didn't bother.

- tracks workouts (including heart rate monitoring) (mostly treadmill, rowing machine, strength training)

Yup. I definitely need the chest belt for rowing, water or machine (too much arm movement). I have the Garmin/Ant+ one. It doesn't have a problem with walking exercise and HR, for me, for wrist-based only. (It's usually pretty easy to see drop-outs where the wrist based monitor loses contact for any length of time, IME.)

It tries to do rep counts for strength, but it's bad (in an inconsistent way) about that. I can edit the reps and enter the weight during the rest breaks, which is nice. (I can also edit later in Garmin Connect). Lately I've been doing high rep conditioning sets, and it's estimated 20 reps of the same exercise at anything from 12 to 37, on different days.

It tries to guess the specific strength exercise/move being performed, but it's kind of bad at that: Both barbell shoulder press and bench press register as the same exercise (I forget which one it gets wrong; easy to fix later in Garmin Connect).

I don't have an opinion about the calorie estimates for strength training. It gives me estimates very much in the ballpark with MFP's METS-based estimates (which I think are likely as accurate as anything, for strength workouts), but I'm not sure whether that's because it's smart enough to drop back to METS estimating for strength instead of the not-suitable HR (which would be nice), or because my HR doesn't go up that much during strength training, usually.

- accuracy (no inflated step count/calorie burn… - Fitbit seems to be notorious for this?)

See previous comments.

- preferably syncs (correctly) with MFP

I've seen others say it does; I don't sync mine because it gets my TDEE so very, very wrong (like several hundred calories, maybe 25-30% of TDEE. It would create more trouble than it's worth.

- sleep analysis could be interesting but less essential

From my reading, none of the devices do this very well. Maybe (probably) it's especially problematic for non-average sleep issues, like mine: Both I and the sleep center technician laughed pretty hard at what mine said, compared to what she'd seen when I was all wired up, after a night at the sleep clinic on 12/23/19.

OP, I know you're talking about Vivosmart or Vivosport. I'm answering in detail about VA3 because I think some of the underlying technology (algorithms) will be the same, even though the devices don't have all the same features, and I'm trying to say enough above to let you know whether I'm relying on features you wouldn't have in the devices you mention. Also, you asked about alternate devices, and I'd expect much of what I've observed to be true with the Vivoactive 4.

Again, this is the VA3, predecessor to the VA4. Some things probably have changed. It would be nice to believe that if they've changed, they've improved.

I like my VA3 a lot. Here are some other reasons:

I don't have to carry my phone with me on the water (rowing, in season): The watch records all the workout data (HR, GPS data, etc.) and automatically loads it to the phone next time I'm in Bluetooth range, and from there puts it in the cloud for Garmin Connect access from any of my devices.

I wouldn't have bought it for this or thought of wanting it, but I love the wrist notifications for incoming phone calls/text messages when I'm in Bluetooth range of my phone: I can put my phone in my purse in social situations, even when expecting important messages, which I think is nice.

I'm old and have bad eyes. The big watch face with the ability to select/customize time and displays (the later by sport) is a useful thing, for me.

Good luck finding the right device, for you!

I don't pay any attention to the sleep tracking, but the all say stress is scary good, does a better job at sleep quality than the sleep feature does.

Lietchi wrote: »

tmbg1 wrote: »

I love my Garmin Vivofit 4!

Could you expand a bit on why?

It tracks my sleep. It gives me a little beep if I've been sitting too long. It pairs easily with mfp. It's sleek and not bulky. The companion app gives a detailed breakdown of your day and offers connections with other users and challenges. It's very easy to use, so since it's my first ever fitness tracker, I wanted something uncomplicated. Hope that helps. 😊

Lietchi wrote: »

tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

No Vivosmart 4 won't pair with an external heart rate monitor, the VivoFit 4 will though.

Vivofit 4 definitely does not connect to external HRM

Lietchi wrote: »

I had already forgotten I posted this thread
I ended up buying neither: I bought the Vivoactive 4S and I'm very happy with my choice.

Good choice. Hope you love it.