Garmin Vivoactive HR
Product ratings
Pros
Cons
51 reviews
Ideal for many outdoor activities
I have used the Garmin Vivoactive HR for cycling, hiking and paragliding (acoustic vario is still missing).
It is worth spending time configuring the Vivoactive to your own needs, activity data fields, widgets and watch designs from Garmin's Connect IQ.
The altitude display is not preconfigured in any activity, so I had to consult the manual.
The Vivoactive can be used as a cycling computer. ANT+ sensors can be connected for a more accurate speed display, including for cadence.Pro
- Price/Performance
- barometric altimeter / GPS / pulse measurement continuously without belt
- Connect external sensors via ANT+
- Individually configurable for many outdoor activities
- Price/Performance
- Can also be used offline without a permanent connection to the smartphone
- Upload to Garmin Connect via smartphone or PC
The VAHR is a top sports watch that I can highly recommend.
After a long and intensive research for a sports watch with smart features, I decided to buy the VAHR and I am very satisfied. I have had the watch for about 2 weeks now and wear it 24/7. I use it for jogging (indoor), mountain biking, hiking and swimming.
I also have a Suunto Ambit 3 with a heart strap. When I compared my heart rate with the two watches, the VAHR did well overall, except for mountain biking when I rode short, steep sections. The values of the VAHR were rather inaccurate there.
The VHAR is criticised by some buyers on other platforms because of the display, especially when it is rather dark and the lighting conditions are not so good. However, I can only partly understand this criticism and am satisfied with the display overall. I also expect that Garmin will correct this point in one of the next software updates, as the display is repeatedly criticised by buyers.Pro
- GPS (certainly one of Garmin's strengths)
- Very many functions
- Good app on my iPhone
- Long battery life, approx. 6 days for me
- Optical HR works well
Contra
- Display when it is dark?
Unfortunately, my expectations were not met. Perhaps with the next Garmin...
I was really looking forward to the Vivoactive HR. After using the Fitbit Surge for 4 months, I wanted to buy the Garmin Vivoactive HR.
According to the data sheet, it should be the perfect watch for me. At least that's what I thought... It is waterproof, has a colour display and the battery has enough endurance.
But when I switched it on for the first time, I was disillusioned. The colour display is... Well... Apart from the fact that it is coloured, there is nothing positive to report about it. Without illumination, it is hardly readable depending on the lighting conditions. It is also quite small compared to the size of the watch. And the resolution could have been a little higher.
Unfortunately, the Vivoactive was quite inaccurate in terms of distance run compared to a Polar and my old Fitbit. This inaccuracy was also the reason why I gave the watch away.
What is extremely positive, however, is the battery performance. Without GPS and with daily tracking of sporting activities, the watch can easily last a week (probably due to the poor display ;)).
The Connect app is not the best either. In my opinion, it is not customisable enough and therefore rather confusing. But that's a matter of taste. In any case, it provides a lot of information and statistics.
Unfortunately, my euphoria turned into disappointment. I have since switched back to the Surge...Pro
- waterproof
- Wristband interchangeable
- Battery
- Apps
Contra
- Seems kind of cheap for the price
- Poorly readable display
- inaccurate with me
Absolutely cool, top
Everything is correct for me. Plus 1-2 deviations from the blood pressure monitor. Synchronisation with Android runs perfectly. Setting data fields and personalisation top. Only with the floor count it doesn't work so well (is also not so important to me). Great for cycling (my main sport). Replaces my bike computer. Let's see how it does in winter when skiing.
I can only recommend it.Pro
- Setting options
- Battery
- Heart rate monitor
- Price-performance
- Synchronisation with APP
- Personalisation Garmin App Shop
Great device to start with!
I've had the Garmin for a good 4 weeks now and still think it's great.
The reasons for buying this device were:
- waterproof
- different programmes
- no 08/15 design
What also surprised me
- very long battery life
- good app which runs under Windows 10, Android and other OSsPro
- waterproof
- no 08/15 design
- Very long battery life
- Good app, which is available for various OS
- various programmes
Contra
- Display not easy to read under strong light
Excellent for now; looking forward to future/ better generations of fitness trackers.
Well-rounded fitness tracker. I had it now for a few months, very happy with it.
Coupled with some competitions (Garmin challenge, GCC, Strava or so on) it can become a powerful motivator to be more active.Pro
- Includes most functions of top models (heart rate, sleep monitor, gps, barometer, water-resistant)
- OK battery (lasts a week, if you don't use the GPS a lot)
- Screen always on, legible outdoors
- Covers many sports and offers a lot of statistics
Contra
- Design/ bulkiness (although only in size, otherwise weight is similar to a normal watch)
- Accuracy of sensors, while very good for the category, is still far from ideal
Didn't know it was a second hand watch, my fault for not looking carefully.
Switched off after 9 weeks during a running training session and could never be restarted, no longer responds to charging. Complained but seller refused any liability as 2 months had already passed :(
A big disappointment, will NEVER buy anything used again (ALWAYS check if it is new or used).Reliable endurance racer
I have been jogging and cycling with this watch for 8 years now (bought in 2016). It measures and synchronises reliably, has a cool website and a good app for the iPhone. Leaves nothing to be desired for me and just: runs and runs and runs ...
Pro
- reliable
- easy to use
- lasts forever
Contra
- Pay attention to battery life (no problem if you don't forget)
Does everything as expected and better!
Pro
- Battery life 1 week
- Enough compact
- 1 million customisations
- Heart rate measurement
- Sleep analysis
- Waterproof
- Reliable
- Super App
Contra
- None found
Service miserable, better hands off the product!!!
Very bad service. I bought a Vivoactive from Digitec Galaxus and after a while the display came off. It was replaced by Garmin Switzerland. With the second one, the touch display stopped working after an extremely short time. Garmin Germany (which is now responsible) promised me by phone that they would replace it free of charge. As agreed, I sent the watch in with the form that was sent to me for the return and then I seriously received an invoice with the package by cash on delivery. I did not accept the package and called. I was then told that I had to pay for the watch because I had entered into a purchase contract by returning the form, which I should have seen because it was on the form. But it also said on the form that if there was a warranty claim, the amount would be waived. Since I had been promised the whole thing by phone beforehand, I assumed that this was the case. I tried to explain this several times to the tedious and incredulous salesman from the German hotline. This is a swindle!!! Absolutely stay away from it! I can't wait to see what this miserable company has in store for me!
Pro
- No pros after the debacle
Contra
- Service miserable therefore product not advisable
Tip top
Very happy with this purchase
Great smartwatch with a good price/performance ratio
The Garmin Vivoactive is very good value for money. Very easy to read with sufficient battery life. My girlfriend uses the watch for triathlon training and is very satisfied.
The only two negative points are:
- A bit big for a petite wrist.
- When the training timer is running, the time is not displayed. This can be impractical for longer training sessions.Pro
- Price/performance ratio
- Battery life
Contra
- A little big for a petite wrist
- When the training timer is running, the time is not displayed.
Very good sports watch and not that expensive
Very good watch for athletes that can also be used simply as a watch. In contrast to the smaller models from Garmin, the operation here is very simple. Has many functions. Even more downloadable on the internet from Garmin. So you can configure it very well. Display very easy to read when it is bright (even in full sun), when it is darker the illumination is used which is not so bright. Various alarms can be programmed that appear as vibrations. GPS can be switched on and off, position can be saved somewhere, and then you can go to the position (display direction and distance), very practical.
Pro
- Long runtime, without GPS 1 week
- Very many functions
- not overly large
- Very well configurable
- Good display especially when bright
- Good price compared to others
- good bracelet
Contra
- Plastic housing
I would do it again immediately
Very good part, encourages to move, which is a pity that the cross trainer (stepper) is not or not yet supported in the fitness, and therefore the performance does not correspond to what you have really achieved.
Pro
- looks good
- Battery lasts a week
Contra
- No cross trainer in the selection for training
A watch that is ultimately unusable due to its total lack of reliability and very large errors
Nice watch, but totally unreliable! After several weeks of use, the data was always wrong. Each time between 3 and 4 kilometres of errors on a 10 kilometre course. Very slow to find the bpm. Very slow to find the position.
A nice looking watch (this is personal), but what's the point of offering so many functions if nothing is reliable. A very low end product. A disaster compared to other products of the same kind.Pro
- Design
Contra
- Totally inaccurate
- Not reliable at all
- Slow to acquire information
I would not buy the watch again because of its short lifespan. maybe it was just bad luck.
I bought the watch in may 2016 and spent a year travelling in south east asia in 2017. Now the watch is unfortunately broken, probably due to water damage... I am a little disappointed because I paid a very high price for the watch...
Pro
- functionality
- good battery life
Contra
- design
- very short service life
Excellent fitness tracker for the casual sportler
I bought two of these, for my partner and for myself. It’s an amazing piece of activity tracker and really stimulates one to get up and move. It has many features and through the app you get a thorough overview of your performance. Although it is supposed to be waterproof I keep it away from water since there are complaints about mal functioning after using it for swimming. The gps is very accurate. The heart rate monitor does a decent job. The watch itself is not your most fancy but the large touch screen makes it easy to navigate around the different functions. At first it’s not the most comfortable watch to wear but one gets accustomed to it. Now I use it almost 24 hrs a day. The battery life is long; I get at least 5 days with regular training and gps. Charging goes very fast.
I can recommend this tracker for the casual sportler. For hardcore training it feels too fragile.Pro
- Amazing variety of preprogrammed activities
- Very accurate GPS
- Long battery life
- Fast charging
- Excellent free app (android and IOS)
- Bright screen during the day. At night back light is needed
Contra
- May be a bit uncomfortable for some people
- Feels somewhat fragile. Careful when doing extreme sports. I don’t trust it being really waterproof
Affordable all-rounder
The watch is a nice activity tracker in advance. Steps, sleep and pulse are recorded throughout the day. For the sake of battery life, the pulse is only measured pulse by pulse. If you want, you can have things like an activity alarm set, but it gets on your nerves pretty quickly. The watch automatically recognises activities such as cycling, walking and running.
On the Garmin website you can then have a wonderful look at your daily history. I find that quite interesting, especially when it comes to sleep.
In the Garmin Store you can download great "Watch Faces", i.e. what the watch displays throughout the day. These watch faces are often configurable. Some of them also include graphics, such as heart rate history or steps taken last week. Everyone will find what they want: from a large time display to stylish knick-knacks and lots of information fields.
The built-in apps are not very suitable for recording sports activities, as they only display pages with 3 fields, i.e. only 3 pieces of information at a time (e.g. Speed, Dist, Time). If you want to, you can download custom apps from the store (but the good ones cost a tiny amount). In return, however, you have many freely configurable data fields that you can see all at once. There are so many fields that you can select. You can then track your activity on the Garmin page, including the map. Great for cycling, jogging and hiking.
The watch offers everything else you would expect. From timer to alarm via backlight and compass etc pp blabla. It is waterproof. That's right, not just waterproof.
The accuracy of the GPS is very good. Sometimes it's just 10m off in the forest, that's the case with every GPS... But it doesn't matter, speed and so on are correct. The accuracy of the heart rate monitor is sufficient. If you are a professional athlete and need it to be very precise, you can connect a chest strap. The pedometer is very accurate for me, especially when my hand is in my host's pocket or somewhere else.Pro
- Battery
- Scope of functions
- Price performance
- Individualisability
Contra
- Data protection not guaranteed. Everything immediately ends up on the Garmin server.
- No map material on watch
- Touchscreen does not work in wet conditions
- For non-tech-natives familiarisation with the device complicated
Already used similar gadgets. This purchase has now paid off. An affordable piece of equipment that measures pulse and calculates altitude. The connection to the iPhone app worked straight away.
a brilliant piece
Pro
- Display
- Altimeter
- Heart rate monitor
- Apps
Price/performance is right. Recommended for hobby athletes and beginners. I can imagine that if you have more ambitions, you would be better off with a more expensive device (Fenix etc).
super watch that can do more than I need :-) have been using it now for 3W.
Pro
- Simple installation, commissioning
- Fast, uncomplicated to "sport mode
- more comfortable than it looks
- Battery lasts 1 week with HR measurement, quickly recharged (approx. 4h)
- easy to read
- super evaluations with Garmin-Connect (registration)
- SMS, Whatsapp, Calendar Reminders come to the watch with Vibra
- Extremely many sports to choose from
Contra
- Charging cable VERY short! approx. 20cm
- No routes (also indicated on the product description)
- Glass very exposed - bought another protector.
Good sports watch for runners and other sports,, fast GPS
Functional, simple operation, I am satisfied
Pro
- Pulse, fast GPS contact
Contra
- Sleep phase evaluation Not very meaningful
All good
Rather a little too big for women
Pro
- Easy handling
The ideal hiking watch, but unfortunately much too big on my arm
very good evaluations while walking and hiking
Pro
- Evaluation
- Operation
Contra
- Size
there are now other products in the bracelet version that are just as effective but smaller
Cool but a bit big. Fragile glass. Lots of useless features such as wallpaper customisation
Pro
- Associated Garmin app is very good
Contra
- The glass broke after a few months
Best smartwatch in the last 5 years, that I have owned.
I have had android wear watch but this one is way better. More information as it is focused with fitness information. Amazing battery life. Accurate GPS data and lots if useful apps to select and install on the watch without sacrificing the performance of it.
Pro
- Battery is amazing, it lasts for 10 days
- It has a ot of apps you can choose to install on the watch.
- removable straps and wide range of straps to choose from.
- 24/7 tracking without sacrifying battery.
Contra
- nothing really just It's a bith thick but not a problem for me.
A beautiful design, but problems with HF and synchronisation
I bought the sports watch a year ago. After only 2 months, the HF meter failed. It was repaired under warranty - everything was reset and had to be set again. After another month, the HR meter failed again, first wild numbers and then a crash. The device was sent in again for repair. Again 2 weeks wait and again a reset needed. This time the repair centre "gave" me an extra chest strap.... Absolutely necessary for spinning, because the heart rate monitor reacts too slowly to changes in heart rate. After another 10 months, the heart rate monitor failed again. Now I don't want the device anymore!
Beautiful design, attractive functions, partly problems with synchronisation with unknown cause!Great sports watch / tracker that makes a great impression on the wrist. Super functional!
Great and functional watch that is packed with various technical refinements. The manual sleep selection is a bit of a pity. However, you can set everything via the software. I use it for MTB and hiking. I used it at the weekend while riding my motorbike. Top. Running time approx. 5 days without GPS. The info exchange does not always seem to work immediately. What is annoying is the constant request to run ;-) You have to get to grips with the software but then everything runs great.
Pro
- long service life
- great design (for my taste)
Contra
- Sleep mode not automatic
- Clock does not go into standby
Flawed screen design leading to cracking
Please don't waste your money, the design of this device is flawed, only had it 2 month's and my screen has cracked, I have looked after it well and it hasn't been impacted.
I researched the purchase for a few weeks and only found good reviews, however since my screen cracked I have been trying to find out how to get it replaced and discovered multiple sites/threads with similar complaints suggesting that this is a common fault, so CHF 215-00 wasted for me as cracked screens are classed as misuse.
On the plus side all functions are good and the battery life is excellent, although it is quite bulky and finding a comfortable strap position takes some time.Pro
- Excellent battery life, easily 10 days on a full charge
- Good array of functions, inc. GPS and built in heart rate
Contra
- Flawed design/poor quality components in the screen technology
- Can be uncomfortable to use/difficult to position
just great
The clock works great and flawlessly, I can only recommend it.
Pro
- Heart rate measurement
- Accuracy
30 out of 51 reviews
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