In the ever - expanding pantheon of wearable fitness trackers , Garmin is looking for an open seat , ideally at the Cool Kids ’ Table ( CKT ) . Garmin makes some of the best GPS sports watch out there , so expectations were gamey for the company ’s first tracker . While it adds a prissy trick or two , the holes are just too many .
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What Is It?
The Vivofit is an natural action tracker in the form of a wrist - put on lot , like the Nike Fuelband , Jawbone Up , or Fitbit Force . It number your steps , monitor your combat-ready clock time , and tracks your sleep .
Why Does It Matter?
It matters because there are a lot of Garmin stalwart out there , and the Vivofit integrates into the company ’s exist on-line program , so you could track all of your gymnastic pursuit from a unmarried page ( put on you also use the company ’s sentry , I guess ) . It ’s also one of the first that has the ability to pair with an ANT+ heart charge per unit monitor lizard ( sold separately ) , which should give you a better picture of what ’s happening during your workouts . And , finally , it matters because you do n’t need to worry about bill it .
Design
The Vivofit is a pretty flowing watchstrap . Up top is an always - on , reflective LCD concealment . Just next to it is the one release , which you employ for toggle through the different display screens . The band has a brace of posts that pop through a mates holes to keep it in place . It ’s well-heeled to adjust and low visibility enough that it generally stays out of the way .
The machine is really a small pod that can click in and out of the wristband , should you want to change color ( it also come with a modest and a large circle for dissimilar articulatio radiocarpea sizes ) . It has an ANT+ wireless , so you may pair it with a chest - shoulder strap HRM while you ’re lick out , and it has a Bluetooth 4.0 radio , for send off data to your mobile equipment . If you do n’t have a phone that bear Bluetooth 4.0 , it also comes with an ANT+ USB dongle , so you may sync directly through your figurer .
It ’s being billed as the first tracker you essentially never have to take off . It ’s rainproof up to 50 meters , which means swim with it is no problem ( nor is shower , obviously ) , and it uses a replaceable battery that Garmin claims last over one yr . Obviously , we ’ll have to wait another 49 weeks for a verdict on that , but , essentially , you never have to take it off to tear it , you just replace the ( cheap coin cell ) battery once a twelvemonth .
Using It
For starters , the Vivofit is really pretty easy . I was a little distressed when I saw that the eruption goes straight off on my inner - radiocarpal joint , but it ’s thin enough that it did n’t apply too much force per unit area . It ’s also middling thoroughly - looking while being fairly discreet . It ’s just kind of there . That said , in the few weeks that I wore it there were at least three time when the clasp rub against something , come undone , and the Vivofit fell to the land . I was golden that I noticed immediately every time and did n’t mislay it .
The always - on blind is dainty , especially when you ’re run and you just require to get a quick look at your fondness - charge per unit . “ Am I die ? No ? Okay then , onward ! ” Nice for just getting the sentence of day , too . You ’ll observe that the screen goes longways across the band , though . At first , I was wearing it so that the screen door was oriented like it was facing toward my body , so if I held my arm out straight I could read it commonly . This really leave in uncomfortable tyrannosaurus weaponry . So , foresee - intuitively , I turn over the stripe around , so that it was oriented toward my hand . When I wanted to read it I ’d bend my cubitus and shoulder , lean my head , and basically bear upon my chest with my knuckles . This was well more comfortable ; however , that said , I much opt the standard wrist watch orientation , like you see on the ( currently unavailable)Fitbit Force .
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One of the best things about the Vivofit is that it sets your goals fluidly . If you did n’t walk enough yesterday , your finish will be a little lower today . If you kill it , it ’ll be a little high . It choke in small increment so as not to be overwhelming . Smart . Also , if you ’ve been pose on your arse for a full hour , a red bar will appear on your silver screen , taking up about half the display . Additional segments light up for each extra 15 minutes of lethargy . If you let the bar get all the style full the stria will explode giving you a severe chemical substance sunburn . Just chaff , literally nothing happens . It just stares at you until you at long last walk around a minute . Kind of disappointing , right ?
synchronise with Garmin ’s HRM pectus - strap only too a few arcsecond , but the phones were more problematic . I could n’t for the life of me get it to work with my Nexus 5 . Turns out that Garmin does n’t defend it yet , which seemed weird . You might require to check out which devices it works with before you pull the induction . That enounce , it worked just alright when pairing with an iPhone and the dongle / background package method acting worked , too . In all font , you have to hold down the release on the Vivofit to pioneer a sync . Most other ring do this automatically at regular musical interval , which is more convenient and allows the apps more functionality .
The Garmin Connect website got a recent revamp , and it definitely looks a caboodle safe than it used to . This are more nonrational and there ’s a better flow in general . That say , there are still some yaw holes that need to be patched : Windows with overleap entropy , and page that look like a plain .txt text file . The peregrine apps still require a lot of workplace . away form the Vivofit simply not mold with a band of Android devices , the apps just bet kind of out-of-date . There a stack of meantime within them and they ’re pretty atrocious .
Like
the right way comfortable with an minimise appearance . I like the fact that one screen counts down to your steps goal . in reality , really waterproof is nice , and never consume to worry about charging it is , too . The always - on display is decidedly convenient while running , and pairing it with an HRM is an supply bonus .
No Like
The biggest flaw is a simple mechanical one : The screenland has no light ! This produce it extremely unmanageable to see in dimly - light situations . When you go to bed you ’re supposed to guard down the button for about five seconds to put it into eternal rest mode . But if you only contain it for 3.5 , it goes into sync way or else . Hold it two seconds too long , and you ’re in couple musical mode , but because you ca n’t see the CRT screen in the shadow , you have no feedback to tell you what mode you ’re in . It does n’t claxon , and it does n’t vibrate .
And because it does n’t beep or vibrate , the angry ruddy “ Move Bar ” that light up is essentially useless . You ’d have to commend to depend at it for hump you ’re opine to get up . If it could vibrate , it would be 20x more effective at getting you up and moving , and it could work as a mute alarm , too ( as the Fitbit Force does ) .
No syncing with a fate of Android headphone is disappointing , and the less - than - stellar nomadic experience is n’t so hot either . Because you have to manually sync by holding the button you lose out on your speech sound giving you more insight ( in realtime ) than the banding alone can . Also , the clasp comes washed-up too easily for something that ’s hypothecate to be sports apparel . It also has no altimeter , and step reckoning is more than a little inconsistent .
Should You Buy It?
For $ 130 alone or $ 170 bunch up with the HRM , this is a heavy pass . It ’s got a few undecomposed ideas ( like the Move Bar ) , but they ’re ill integrated . Even the HRM does n’t make a ton of sense here , since you ’re just go to be putting it on for workouts , and this thing is just no good for tracking real workouts . For instance , it think my five mile run yesterday was 7.3 stat mi , which is right smart off , and even then there are tons of stats missing ( maps , altitude , etc ) . A Global Positioning System watch is just so much well .
Yeah , not make to worry about charge is nice , but most of its competitors get over a week of battery life , so it ’s not like you need to bear down that often . Ultimately , it ’s just way too expensive for what it can actually do . You ’d be ripe off with a GPS run watch ( like theGarmin Forerunner 220or theTomTom Run ) and a consecrated activity tracker like theWithings Pulse , theFitbit One , or — when it eventually comes out — Epson ’s Pulsense Band . [ Garmin ]
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Activity trackersFitness TrackersGarminHealth
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