Garmin vívosmart® 5, Fitness Tracker, Long-Lasting Battery, Simple Design, Black Import To Shop ×Product customization

Great tracker, but connection to computer needs workMy old Vivosmart HR finally gave up so I decided to upgrade to the newest version. I perform all of my synching and charging through a PC, so I was disappointed to find that getting an initial connection to Garmin Express was difficult. Several rounds of resetting the watch were required to get the initial synch. Also, in order to perform the initial setup of the display the Garmin Connect smartphone app is required. This is not documented in any location that I have found, so I removed a star. That should be disclosed to customers up front. Okay, so I installed the app, set up my watch and then immediately deleted the app.Since then, the watch has been great. It has a bright screen that is easy to read in all lighting conditions. The LEDs under the wrist strap are kinda bright at night, but that is something I have gotten used to with my previous watch. After the initial connection issues synching via PC has been completely trouble-free.

Came with no instructionsWhile we have grown used to devices not having manuals anymore this did not have even a Quick Start in the ziplock bag it was delivered in (which in onsense is good, this had the least packaging of anything ive ever bought) Having previously owned a Vivo smart HR I thought it would setup easily, but 6 years have gone by and the manufacturer’s expectations about what the customer needs to do have increased as with everything else (who doesn’t have to drag their giant garbage can out to the curb). I ramble on because I’m an old geezer who still works in a tech field who has become more and more disillusioned about the benefits of tech vs. the constant aggravation that comes with it. I updated Garmin Express and plugged it in and synched it up. “Hello” is all I got followed by “Go to the app to add your device” I thought that’s what I just did. Now I have to go to Garmin Connect, next thing you know it’ll be telling me to go to the app store on my phone. Yup, gonna have take a nap. But at least it tells the time and shows battery capacity, though that is displayed more prominently than the time. Still, this has not been the worst experience of my life, night night.

Good if you’re already in the Garmin ecosystemI have a Garmin watch that I love. So I went with a Garmin fitness tracker to keep everything in the same app. This one uses the same charger as my watch too which is really nice. The Vivoactive 4 had a different plug.For features I’m just using basic stuff so it’s good enough for me. I think other reviews have pointed out if you’re just looking for a fitness tracker alone, other brands have more features at lower prices.So I’d recommend it to people already committed to the Garmin ecosystem. It’s definitely better than the Vivoactive 4 with a smoother interface, more responsive buttons, and more activity tracker options. But if you’re not beholden to Garmin I think you can get a cheaper and better tracker elsewhere.

Most of the data is completely wrong, with the sleep data being the worstMy doctor wanted me to be tracking my heart rate during the day, and I bought this because it had additional data such as sleep tracking. I have worn it for three nights so far, and it counts the entire time I was lying down as “sleep”, usually “light” but sometimes even other stages during periods that I know I was awake. Even the time spent reading other reviews on this very page before getting out of bed this morning continued to be counted as “sleep” while time spent napping during the day where i know that I slept aren’t counted at all, so multiple hours of nighttime wakefulness is reported as one minute awake and an “excellent” sleep score, which is beyond unhelpful.The blood oximeter seems to turn off on its own in the middle of the night, so I am unable to fully track blood oxygen levels, which can be dangerous when trying to track the effectiveness of sleep apnea treatment.The “body battery” only seems loosely related to my fatigue levels, and the calorie count is so inaccurate as to be comedic. My ME/CFS symptoms are severe enough to leave me with little mobility, and I am near average weight for my height, but the Vivosmart still somehow records nearly 3000 calories burnt on a typical day, even though I am gaining weight on a diet of 1500-2000 calories, due to fatigue and quality-of-life issues that limit my mobility.The heart rate data is at least in the ballpark of a dedicated finger pulse oximeter that I own, but still frequently off by 10bpm+, so while inaccurate, is at least sufficient to capture the spikes that my doctor wants me to avoid. However, the high heart rate threshold only triggers an alert if it stays above a threshold for 10+ minutes while inactive, which is less useful when my doctor wants me to avoid exceeding the threshold at any time, so I have to manually monitor it at times that I suspect I may be exceeding the threshold, and even the “long” screen timeout is still fairly short.

Blows others away.This band is amazing. Beyond recording it alerts you to events for the day, weather and forecast, phone calls and too much more to elaborate about. If you want a great tracker at a reasonable price without being a full blown timepiece, this hits the spot.