Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I received my Vivofit 2 on March 25, so am writing my review after about 10 days of wearing continuously. First off, I am not an athlete, so my expectations of the Vivofit 2 may differ from some of the previous reviews. I also work on the night shift, so my experiences with the Sleep Timing function may differ as well. What features was I looking for? I've ranked them by importance to me, and added some commentary on how they are working. • The main feature that I wanted was a band that functioned as a watch with the time constantly visible. I did not want an activity band that I had to wear in addition to a watch. Vivofit 2 meets this requirement. You can designate which screen is the "home" screen in the device control panel from the Garmin Connect software/site. You can also set this through the mobile Garmin Connect app (for Android users....I'm sure the IOS versions are similar). • I wanted to be able to see the time and event timer in dim or absent lighting. The backlit screen on Vivofit 2 is great, and although I looked at it I didn’t buy the original Vivofit because there was no backlight. Holding the screen button for 1 second activates the light, which stays lit for about 5 seconds on my band. • I needed the ability to time events easily. As a nurse, I need to count respiratory rates (when no bedside counter is viewable); thus need a second counter. Vivofit 2 lets me enter that screen quickly by pressing and holding the screen button for 2 seconds. It's very quick and easy. • I wanted a band that did not need to be charged. The Vivofit 2 is advertised as having a battery life of one year. I'll need to report back on this, but I know that I would most likely get really tired of daily charging with the other brands of bands, so this was a hugely important feature. • I wanted to track my steps continuously. Vivofit 2 does this quite well, and I love seeing how many steps I've walked during my 12 hour shift! I set my goal manually (also done through the Garmin Express or Garmin Connect interfaces). I like being able to see a chart of my steps for the day, week, or month. Screen 3 (as I have mine set up) shows steps attained, and screen 4 shows the number of steps remaining to meet your goal. Screen 5 shows the miles/kilometers attained for the day. • I wanted a completely waterproof band. I've showered, bathed, and washed dishes with no issue. I have not removed the band since purchase. • While not necessary, the Sleep Timer function is great. As I noted, I am a night shift worker, so am not sleeping during traditional hours. In the Garmin Connect/Garmin Express interfaces, you can set your typical sleep hours. You can manually designate sleep stop and start times via the band or the interfaces. Although it isn’t clear in the device manual, the Vivofit 2 also seems capable of correctly interpreting hours of inactivity and designating them as sleep. I really like the chart that shows movement during the sleep periods….shows me how well I slept! • I also like the ability to import the activity and dietary data from the My Fitness Pal app. • Synchronization…I like the ability to synch my Vivofit 2 manually or automatically. I had no issues pairing my band with my Galaxy S3 phone or my Surface Pro. I manually synch several times a day by holding the screen button for 3 seconds; at which time the band shows “synch.” So far, I’ve only had one short period when my band showed a synch error; and that was an issue with the Garmin site. FYI…there’s a site where you can check to see the status of the Garmin servers. It was good to be able to check to make sue that the issue was not my band. It is: https://connect.garmin.com/en-US/status Things I would like to see implemented: • Volume controls on the “no activity” alert. The audible alert is just not loud enough to hear over daily activities, such as TV volume or even conversation. There is a red alert bar which indicates the activity time interval, but I would also like to have the ability to activate a louder alert. • As someone previously noted, once the alert sounds, there are not more audible alerts. I’d love to see an alert that progressively gets louder. • I’d like to see a screen which, when synched with My Fitness Pal, shows caloric count for the day. This would be great! Hopefully my review gives some perspective for those primarily looking for a watch with activity monitoring capabilities. I will update my review as I use the Vivofit 2 more and also as Garmin updates the device firmware to add additional features. Thanks for reading!