Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

When I was researching activity tracker/ smartwatches online, I was confused by the lukewarm reviews of the Vivoactive 3 - very few people seemed to really love the watch, but it offered good functionality at a low price and didn't seem to have anything particularly wrong with it (at least compared to the also-new Fitbit Ionic). After owning one for 10 days now, I still like it, but I kind of share the lukewarm sentiment I encountered in other reviews, so hopefully I can now explain why. I previously had a Fitbit Charge HR, which was cheaper and did a reasonable job of tracking sleep and heart rate, but didn't offer much beyond the basics, and besides, it looked kind of clunky and was starting to fall apart. What I was hoping to find was a GPS HR tracker that looked good enough to wear with a suit, that offered better running metrics and offered a bit more in the way of smartwatch features without being too pricey. In these respects, the Vivoactive 3 does fit the bill. It looks great (most people don't even notice that it's digital, much less that it's a running watch), it tracks my runs and other activities well and - as far as I can tell - it offers all the functionality of the more expensive Forerunner 235 and most of the features of the still-more expensive Fenix 5. Plus new features like stress measurement and GaminPay! Well... that's all more or less true. But. For one thing GarminPay isn't set up yet and even when it is, it won't work with every bank and at every retailer. I don't think I'd actually use it much even if it was functioning, but given that it isn't, it can't really be viewed as an improvement, and if it's important to you to be able to pay with your watch, the Fitbit Ionic or Apple watch are probably safer choices. Other options in the same price range mostly offer built-in music storage which the Vivoactive does not. Also, the battery life is advertised as being 7 days - this may be true if bluetooth is off and you don't use the watch at all, but as far as the real world is concerned, 7 days is kind of a fiction. If you don't switch bluetooth off, it will last about 24 hours. If you do, you need to go in and switch it on every time you want to sync the watch (not actually a big task, but still irritating). At the moment I'm getting about 4 days out of each charge with moderate use. And stress measurement? Some reviews have claimed that this is subjectively accurate, but that hasn't been my experience. Every time I get up to make a cup of tea, the resulting increase in heart rate is listed as 'med' or 'high' stress. And I'm British, so that's quite a lot of the day. If I'm sitting down and writing a difficult e-mail or giving a presentation, it generally shows low stress. Perhaps it needs to learn a bit more (it has now managed to cut out any walking of more than a few minutes), but so far it's been pretty wildly off. There are other irritations - sleep tracking has failed on 4 of the 10 days, the side swipe button (which be useful in winter with gloves but otherwise isn't much use) can be triggered by loose clothing and start skipping through menus and actually reset the time once, the 'move' reminders can be irritating. Even features I expected to be top notch have struggled at times - for example I did a run yesterday starting up 6th avenue in midtown New York, and the GPS showed me going along 6 1/2th avenue (yes, that is a real thing). Sure, I was weaving around tourists, but the difference is about 200ft and it really is supposed to be more accurate than that. To be fair, it was on target the rest of the way and has been close enough on my other runs. As mentioned above, some of its competitors seem to offer more functions for the non-runner. An Apple watch, Samsung or Fitbit will offer more apps, built-in music storage and in some cases personal coaching sessions which are lacking from the Vivoactive 3 (although you can create workout plans on Garmin Connect and put them on the watch). Personally, I use a phone for most apps, don't have wireless headphones and don't need in-watch coaching. Similarly, the more expensive garmin products offer more advanced metrics, more accurate GPS, open swimming tracking, etc and so offer more for the more serious athlete. Having said all of that, this is still a good watch and some of its flaws will be fixed in time as patches are released, more apps become available on Connect IQ, etc. It is easy to use as a regular watch, it's light and comfortable and looks great. It offers most of the features of the Fenix 5 at half the cost, and all the fitness features you'd find on anything cheaper. You can reply to text notification while out jogging (although only with a standard reply) and might one day be able to buy your post-run rehydration with Garmin Pay. I can't resist using it to check the weather at every opportunity, and I've always wanted a watch with an in-built compass. It is leagues ahead of the Fitbit I used to own, although Fitbits have moved on in that time too. So in conclusion, it is a good watch that has its flaws and is surrounded by competitors with potentially superior features. If you are a serious runnner/ cyclist/ triathlete, etc you probably need a greater range of metrics and activity apps (although the Vivoactive 3 can be paired with accessories quite easily to cover some of this data). If you are into fitness more generally and want something to track gym/ cardio sessions, the new Fitbit probably has you covered and offers a little bit more for the same price. But if you exercise outdoors at a casual to intermediate level and want a watch that covers all your fitness needs while looking great in the office and future-proofing you with smartwatch capabilities, the Vivoactive 3 is the watch for you.