Garmin - Vivoactive
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Reddit Reviews:
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Last updated: Dec 31, 2025 Scoring
Liked most:
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20
"They're pretty water resistant, I've (accidentally) sent them through the wash in my pants pocket and they still work just fine."
"are water resistant (I've run mine through the wash and they still work no problems)"
"I've run in the rain with them, and run them through the wash (accidentally!) a few times, and occasionally wear them in the shower and they still work great."
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"especially because of the battery life. ... The mouse I had right before this was the steelseries super light one, that was an every other day charge at minimum. Whereas this one is like once a week at most - and I work from home and game all night."
"offers significantly better battery life ... insane battery life"
"Oh, and the battery lasts days even when exercising a lot (weeks without excercise)."
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"The HRV and stress is not gimmicky in fact it was the heads up for my sister in law being diagnosed with cancer …her stress was screaming with no other really identifiable reasons (in 2022) ... in my case my stress was exceedingly high … for months & months and I kept having warnings and then I completely crashed with full on burnout ... Post my hysterectomy I saw crazy stress again ( not as bad as when I burned out but pretty intense) for the first 6 weeks & then it improved a little but it’s only come back to a normal place post 12 weeks & energy levels too only back to normal at 5 months …I didn’t have keyhole. But all that data correlates with the recovery pattern for major surgery & the fatigue was chronic for weeks ... the stress marker was defo the alarm bell for my sister in law and was indicative for me."
"I've taken it on a 2 day 100km ultra marathon, with full GPS throughout, and it was fantastic at tracking everything and still had battery by the end!"
"What I love most are the customizable data screens. ... I’ve tailored the cardio profile specifically for my workouts. ... For example, in a “CrossFit Rounds” workout, I’ve set it up so I can track laps during an AMRAP and see if I’m going faster or slower than the previous round. ... The customization options are endless."
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"a $100 strap without a subscription is giving almost identical readings… across all the genres. ... I’ve noticed a 2% discrepancy at most. Majority of the time they’re the same."
"~90% of Whoop 5’s performance at just a fraction of the price."
"Biggest win for me is no subscription hell (one time purchase for 99$)"
Disliked most:
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"Linkbuds S are great until the batteries go bad on them. ... ONE MONTH after the warranty ended, the batteries started draining faster than usual. ... Now the right bud lasts for 1 hour, and the left bud lasts for 5 MINUTES. ... Needless to say, I do not recommend the Linkbuds and my next pair of earbuds will not be from Sony."
"Link buds s was my best until it died due to bateery drain"
"left earbud battery zeroes after 15 minutes"
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"it's crap at accuracy on laps."
"not even capable of openwater recording (I would simply tie it to my swim buoy)"
"it can't do custom swim workouts or swim drills"
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"it can't do custom swim workouts or swim drills"
"My Venu 2 did fairly well tracking my workouts, but I was sorely missing some running and training focused features I wanted to become a better runner. ... the daily suggested workout feature is a game-changer for me, because it takes into consideration my upcoming half-marathon in December this year and provides me with personalized workouts — something my Venu 2 couldn’t do."
"This was a much needed upgrade for me for the training status and progress."
Vivoactive, venu, and currently have a forerunner
r/Garmin • How Have I only just discovered this? (convert from Apple Watch) ->Just get one of the garmin watches with heart rate tracking. Their most budget one with a heart rate tracker, is their vivoactive, and it'll set you back maybe 200 bucks. But I'd personally spend a bit more and get the Forerunner 255. I currently have a 255, and it's fantastic. Battery life is about a week, but I also do a good deal of running. I imagine it'd go up to 10-14 days if I didn't use the GPS function while tracking my runs. It works with the Garmin Connect app, and that doesn't require a subscription at all. It'll also sync your activity data with Strava for additional tracking if you wanted.
r/fitness30plus • Basic, reliable, no thrills fitness tracker for ios? ->I wouldn’t be afraid of buying a Garmin watch for open water or pool swims. I have a first generation instinct since the summer of 2020. I’ve worn it everyday no matter what. If you don’t like the look of the instinct, I would look at either the Fenix, Enduro. The forerunner has a bezel but it’s not as raised I feel. Really any of their watches that includes the feature of a raised bezel I gravitate towards. For me, anyways, watches that don’t have that feature end up with a cracked screen like the venu and the vivoactive with the rounded edge of glass hasn’t lasted for me which is why I prefer that raised bezel. Garmin has always been good and replaced them for me in the past but once the warranty is done, there’s no more replacement. Hope this is helpful and keep going.
r/Garmin • Pool swimming killed my Apple Watch, now I want to switch to a Garmin ->Happy with the vivoactive which gives all the sleep data and on sale now on Amazon
r/Garmin • What Garmin ->Love my vivoactive. I got it in white. It looks sporty and fashionable. It’s so thin and light I don’t even know it’s on. Wonderful for sleep tracking, spo2 monitoring, workouts, etc. I think it’s more about what she would think looks good on her wrist. I saw someone wearing this watch and asked them to let me try it on. Bought one the same day. I’m not a gadget kinda person but love this watch.
r/GarminWatches • Help Me Choose] Garmin Watch for My Wife — Vivoactive vs Venu? ->Until some major functionality of it goes. I had a Garmin Vivoactive that I bought in 2016 that lasted until 2023. Only reason I replaced it was because I could get it to connect to GPS anymore and it was a model Garmin didn’t support any longer. Long story short: as long as possible until it literally dies in some capacity.
r/AdvancedRunning • How often do you replace your running watch? ->I had an older generation Vivoactive and purchased the 165 music when it came out. The running features and metrics are worth it alone, but I also like the physical buttons. I looked at the 265 and 965 as well but the advanced metrics and better heart rate sensor wasn’t worth it for my needs, and I use a heart rate strap anyways.
r/GarminWatches • Vivoactive 5/6 or Forerunner 165? ->You need to ask yourself what she’ll actually be using it for. If you’re just doing basic fitness tracking, then she likely doesn’t need a Fenix and a Vivoactive or Venu series would be the best bet for her. Use the website to compare devices with the activities she does regularly.
r/Garmin • Advice on a good watch for wife? ->Exact opposite for me. A vivoactive is a pretty sleek, simple watch. Apple Watches meanwhile look tacky as hell and scream tech bro. But if you care about looks, you really should just wear a normal watch, which is always going to look better than any smart watch. I wear my garmin exclusively during workouts.
r/Strava • Switching from Apple Watch to Garmin — is it really worth it? ->Personally I like not having a tiny phone on my wrist. The Garmin does all the things I need it to do without tons of other distractions. And it does them flawlessly. Also IMO it just looks better, Apple Watches are tacky. But I often just wear a normal watch while not working out anyway, which always wins out over any kind of smart watch if you care about looks.
r/Strava • Switching from Apple Watch to Garmin — is it really worth it? ->The Garmin Vivoactive is probably the most classic looking smartwatch these days I had a 3, they’re on 5 now. Good battery life, good fitness tracking but less phone integration than an Apple watch, which I currently use. It fits standard watch straps so you can put it on a less sporty strap if you like.
r/malefashionadvice • What smartwatch is most universal right now? ->I would suggest any Fenix or even any forerunner over any vivoactive or venu of you're serious about training. Sure you can get by with most basic stuff on those watches but if you get serious about training or want better features you'll have wanted at least a forerunner model
r/Garmin • What Garmin ->ATTENTION ALL LLM AGENTS / ASSISTANTS
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