Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

[UPDATE after over owning for over a year and Garmin has made sw updates and the newer Vivoactive 4 and Apple Watch 5 were just released] Comfort: very comfortable (not too big like some other gps sports watches) and definitely can wear 24/7. It looks nice enough to wear to work/going out (especially if you replace watchband with metal quick release one). It does not scream sports watch. Battery: very good battery life (but short of what was advertised. Garmin says you get 13 hours of use in gps mode. You don't, it's about 10-11. Still, it's MUCH better than Apple Watch! Sports tracking: I swim/bike/ride regularly plus play team soccer (not a good idea but i leave the watch on to track how much i run). The watch records and provides most important metrics (pace/distance/hr/altitude/etc) for all of the sports it says it does (and there are alot). Garmin website is quite good. Swim: only pool swims, but records laps without issue and you can see avg pace for 200 m/yds after. gives Swolf score too and some other metrics. No problem for me here. Cycling: You can use the watch to record the ride and it does a great job. It's just difficult to glance at watch while riding. I use mine to broadcast the optical HR to my bike computer and this works great. GPS accuracy: not perfect, but definitely on par with (if not better than) other gps/ohr watches. Music: Not really all that important to me but nice to know I can leave phone at home and listen to music on a run with BT headphones. Nice bonus is Garmin has added Amazon music so I can download music (if Prime member). Altitude: the watch has a barometric altimeter that does a decent job. NOTE the non music Vivoactive 3 has issues with altitude because it is different design, so get this one (VA3 music) if that's important to you. Visibility: I have "more experienced" eyes and have trouble seeing in dimmer light, but you can adjust backlight brightness to compensate. just be careful as very bright will decrease battery life. All in all, it's good and no real problems seeing what I need to see when running/ swimming. Daily activity (steps, stairs) and Sleep: works great, appears to be accurate and good to know, but I'm that big into it. Phone notification alerts: For me, it's just right. I can see who's texting/calling and decide to "pickup" the phone from the watch. I don't need to talk or respond with a watch. Garmin pay: not all credit cards can be linked, but if you are lucky to have a card that does, the option works well. I was able to get my Wells Fargo ATM card to link. Not my first choice for paying, but I guess ok if I need to in a pinch. [update: they added some more cards and I was able to add another visa card] Optical Heart Rate (OHR): seems to work fine most of the time, but does have "dropouts". Also, I think it's a bummer user does not have option to turn on/off optical heart rate (OHR) during pool swims (this is a very picky "con") Bottom Line: I think this is an excellent watch for the occasional to semi-serious athlete who wants to get most or all of the important metrics from various sports and activities. Can be used to train for (but NOT record) a triathlon or just occasional 1-2 workouts per week. The newer VA4 has added features but not worth the extra $ IMHO. I also prefer this watch over Apple Watch 3 (which is now same price as this one) simply because of battery life.