Garmin - vívosmart 5

If you want Garmin stats like body battery and stress you **have** to wear a Garmin, no way around it. Right now Garmin doesn't have anything without a display to do what you want. I think the vívosmart 5 would get you the closest, it is a smallish simple band with a small black and white oled screen. There have been rumors of a screen free band like whoop or a ring from Garmin but nothing solid. So unless Garmin does launch or announces such a product, you will either have to make do with a Garmin that has a screen or go to a competitor like Oura or Whoop like Ski-Mtb said. edit: fixed a letter.

I recently got a Garmin Vivosmart 5 to replace my Fitbit Charge I had for many years. Can’t believe I just made the switch, personally, the Garmin blows the Fitbit out of the water!

I’ve been using a Vivosmart 5 on one arm, and a traditional watch on the other, as the most minimal Body Battery compatible wearable Garmin makes… but I, too, would like something even more minimal, similar in scope to a Whoop where it doesn’t even bother to display data, just record it, so I could get body battery and resting HR and training status data without the need to wear a Garmin watch full time. I’ve submitted a suggestion over the years but not sure what else to do.

It’s… sort of in a middle ground I don’t really love though. As a fitness watch it’s absolutely skeletal - minimal delay, no GPS tracking of its own instead relying on your phone, limited pairing options (can’t connect it to a power meter on my bike for one), limited activity types… and as a wearable. It’s a little, well, TOO - feature heavy; it has a screen, for one, making it too bulky to wear under a buttoned shirt cuff; its band isn’t breathable or that stretchy, etc. I’d rather it have fewer features, just measure HR and HRV and send it to Garmin connect with no other frills. Barring that, I’d rather it be a bit more of a full featured fitness watch. It’s just in this middle ground where it’s not quite either.

Yeah agreed. It’s still the best option I’ve found, but - as a guy who works in an office and occasionally has to suit up - I wish it was smaller.

I have a Vivosmart 5 which has steps, but there's still the issue of having to tell it you are doing yoga to get HR alerts.

I used it for 9 months. Recently upgraded to a Venu 3s because I wanted more functionality for activities. The smart 5 was just what I needed: an activity and sleep tracker which I could wear with my watch. It was very good at detecting stress levels and does everything at a basic level. It has a plastic screen, so scratches are to be expected. Would recommend for entry level.

In yoga mode the HR alert is immediate! It uses battery faster though.

As a long term user of Garmin devices I my suggestion biased towards garmin vivosmart 5. Have used multiple garmin devices over last 15 years and all have been great for activity tracking. Used it so far for steps, cycling, swimming, running, strength training, open water rowing, hiking (My garmin instinct has a 24 day battery life which can do gps tracking for a long 20+ day hike without 2nd charge). Garmin connect is one hub for all my Garmin devices. Tracks activities which in my case currently is gym, steps, swimming, sleep, HR monitoring, O2, body battery (recovery from workouts). Can setup challenges for myself and friends. Have goals and track progress. I don't pay for any premium subscriptions. I would say it can be a bit overwhelming sometimes if you just want a simple health and wellness device. Garmin are built to withstand abuse and for training.

Are you wanting an actual watch? Can you get by with just a fitness band? The Vivosmart 5 will do everything you need.

I have the Vivosmart 5. It’s a perfect no-frills fitness watch.

The vivosmart 5 is pretty basic in that it just uses your phones gps. It will mark your splits and sample your HR but little else.

It’s not going to be more accurate because it’ll be the same source gps, your phones

I wear a Garmin Vivosmart 5 on my right hand, along with other bracelets, so it doesn't look too odd when I also wear my watch on the left hand.

Garmin vivosmart 5. Cheap and good, syncs well with healthy 365, I got it for about $200 on promotion 3 years back, it’s a workhorse with 7 days battery life. Even worked well during high altitude tracking when I was without electricity and power for several days, whereas an Apple Watch would have just died out in a day.

I use garmen Vivosmart 5. It's affordable, cute, small, and does most everything.

Actually not all Garmin's have built in GPS which is quite shocking actually, the Lily does not unless you look at the Lily Active 2. The Vivomove watches and the Vivosmart 4 and 5 also do not have built in GPS.

My vivosmart 5 only lasts 2 days, I’m looking to upgrade any recommendations? I’m looking for all the same features and maybe more but I’d like to be able to swim with it and would greatly appreciate a longer battery life

Aye, I'd go with a Vivosmart but it doesn't do a lot of things mine does. Don't get me started on body battery being different across devices. Mental that we can't switch watches and have body battery actually be accurate.

The Vivosmart 5 does, looks like the only thing I'd be missing would be floors climbed, and my current 265 is terrible at that anyway so probably not missing much. I'm thinking my whole post was for nothing at this point 😂

It doesn't sync body battery to other watches (currently none do) so it's not the seamless transition I'm after. But yes, something like the Vivosmart with full seamless syncing would be exactly what I'm after..

I wanted something very basic so I got the Garmin Vivosmart 5 fitness band (paid about $160). I liked almost everything about it -- except I didn't realize it didn't have GPS, which is a feature I did want. So I then ordered the Forerunner 55, which also has pretty much all the basic functions with a simpler screen/interface than the fancier Garmin watches. I like this one too but I feel like the sleep tracking isn't as accurate, and it doesn't provide a sleep score. I also sleep on my stomach at least part of the night and don't like the feeling of this watch jammed under my wrist, but may not be a problem for you. No reason not to use Garmin to track these things. The battery life is really good. It's worth comparing other options, but these basics work for me and I enjoy them. Some of the watches have a lot more features than that but it's up to you!

After I got a Fitbit Charge 5, I handed down my Garmin Vivosmart 4 to my daughter (her Fitbit Luxe had died), and now I kinda regret it. I recently managed to find a new-in-box Vivosmart 4 on eBay, but if I hadn't I'd probably have switched to the Vivosmart 5. (I had tried the Vivosmart 5 right when it was released, and strongly preferred the VS4, but if I hadn't already had a VS4 I'd probably have been content with the VS5.)

It's been 2.5 years, but I wrote a review on another website, so I was able to go back and see what I was thinking then. form factor - VS4 smaller than VS5 altimeter - VS4 has it, VS5 does not (uses phone GPS for elevation change estimates) button - I liked the haptic button on VS4, and I did not like the stiffness of the physical button on the VS5 (I had to press hard enough that I was pressing the unit against my wrist every time) breathing exercise - I preferred the simple look of it on VS4; it looked different and fit more awkwardly on VS5 screen screen brightness - VS4 significantly brighter than VS5 auto-detect - always reliable for my hikes and walks with VS4, but didn't work well on VS5 manually-started walk - on VS5 the distance walked was oddly low, despite correct stride length, while VS4 was always fine for me during activity - on VS5, I couldn't navigate to audio control features once I had started an activity (VS4 does not have audio controls, and that was the main reason I wanted to switch); also, HR would not display during activity, which by itself was a dealbreaker for me (hopefully that was just a bug?!?) Maybe some of these things have been resolved with updates, and maybe the VS5 button would have loosened up with enough use. Notably, the VS4 does not have a replaceable band, which could mean I'll need to upgrade a lot sooner.

You are not vastly overweight, but smart to get in shape Re: recommendation- so many options between $120 (vivosmart 5 on Amazon sometimes) and $1200+. See the Garmin website. Without knowing what your aesthetic is, I would guess either Venu 4 or Instinct E. You get a lot of value from an Instinct E, if you like the looks. Venu has a different style and also suggested daily workouts for walking. Tracking the ‘training status’ on that and higher end watches is motivating too. Warning- Garmin does not make it easy to use incline % with treadmill workouts. Not sure about Apple https://www.reddit.com/r/Garmin/comments/p1oux5/is_there_a_way_to_log_treadmill_inclines/ If you are someone who is good at charging a watch every day, an Apple Watch might be better for you- Garmin is not as good for weightlifting or swimming, in my experience. Might be close call for sleep (debatable). Among iPhone users, Garmin is better for (1) people who insist on decent battery life (me) (2) training for running, biking, triathlon. Also golfers. Better GPS if you are wanting that for hiking. If you like to walk outside it is probably a wash. (3) Apple fitness might be really great in your situation, which (obvi) is way better with an Apple Watch than a Garmin

I use a Garmin vivosmart 5. To me, it is a watch that tracks my activities. Especially swimming. I made sure nothing connects (calendar, text, emails...) I kept it bare. Management is ok.

I’ve thought (way) too much about this. I cycle/row/erg, and all my stuff is in the Garmin ecosystem. When I’m working out, I generally wear a fenix on my right wrist (I’m right-handed) and nothing on my left. When I’m not, I’ll wear a vivosmart 5 tracker to track steps/heart rate on my right and my watch on my left. It works for me - I’ve learned that two watches (one on each wrist) is a step too far for me, but I wouldn’t judge someone who does it

Try the Garmin Vivosmart. The more recent 5 is a bit bigger than the recently discontinued 4, but you can still get the 4 on Amazon. I use mine (a 4) when I want to keep the stats going but fancy wearing a mechanical watch on the other wrist.

I wear it when I wear a mechanical watch as it’s the only Garmin offering suitable for that. For sports, outdoor activities and even sleep/health metrics I would go for a higher tier Garmin (I use the Instinct 2X Solar) as the Vivosmart does lack a lot. It’s mostly a step tracker, otherwise it’s very basic. It does not provide all the sleep metrics of the Instinct 2X if I recall correctly. Oh and don’t pay that price. Das Teil kannst du deutlich günstiger kriegen ;)

Fitbit is dying after been merged with google. I am a fitbit addict since 2017, so it's 8 years of tracking. I am a big fan, as it helped me a lot with weight control. I had Fitbit Charge HR from 2017 to 2020, Fitbit Inspire HR from 2020 to 2023 and Fitbit Inspire 3 from 2023 till now. Inspire 3 is a perfect device from the Hardware PoV. Sensors are accurate, it has a lot of sensors for the size (SpO2, Skin Temperature, HR) and the ios app was always good. BUT the device firmware is crap. They messed up with the interface and since 3 years they don't offer a heavy stat screen. So you can't see distance, steps and pulses at the same screen. They only make it worst, as now with the newest firmware, you have another stupid thing hiding part of the screen when you want to see something that shows that is not connected to the phone or something. As I am for long battery life and simple tracking (I can't have a tracker that needs charging every day like the smart watches), I am considering moving to Vivosmart 5. Hardwarewise is a downgrade (has similar specs to inspire 2 with half the battery life) but I am kind of fed with having a tracker which misses the obvious: stat screen! The concern is raised by users on their forum since 2022 and they just don't care.

As of right now your best choice would be a Vivosmart 5. That is the least conspicuous for wear with a normal watch.Everything syncs for the most part besides body battery. That will be separate between the two but it will give it its best guess.

I have the v5. Took my v3 diving and snorkelling and was fine. Just make sure washed well after. You can get some rubber covers that go over the charging port on them. V5 is good for basic fitness. I’ve had mine about a year. No issues with it when running or in gym.

What do you want it for? I wanted a fitness tracker and a discreet way to check messages/peep who was calling so I've been using the Garmin Vivosmart 4 and now the 5. Pretty much just lives on one wrist and I still can wear my more fashionable mechanical watches on the other.

Apple watch is the best smartwatch, Garmin is the best sportwatch. If your runs are under xhours, than go for the AW; if you are going to train seriously, Garmin all the way

I have used AW, Garmin, Polar and Suunto and AW is by far the worst sportwatch. After switching back to Polar after AW the quality of life improved immediately by not having to charge the thing more than once a week.

My wife wears a ~~Lily 2~~ (me bad, she wears a) Vivomove Trend on office days, not when she takes activities. Which may explain the lack of reviews. There isn't much to review on this watch. It's capabilities are like a Vivossport 4 or 5 band (which I wear when I want to wear a normal watch), you only use them for activities when you have somehow left behind your real Garmin. My wife's Vivomove does have actual watch hands, which is cool. And the features make it double as a fitness band in a pinch. In reality, it's an expensive step counter that displays phone notifications.

I'm in the same boat as you. I wish Garmin had a ring or band or something like that. Vivosmart or vivofit are as close as it gets. I actually just ordered a vivosmart yesterday that I'm going to change the band on to something that won't grab the cuff of my dress shirts like silicone. I'm tired of my Fenix ruining the cuffs of my dress shirts and also having a nice watch sitting at home unworn.

This is what I do. I have a Garmin Fenix as my sports watch and switch to the Vivosmart when I am wearing my Speedy.

I use the garmin vivosmart to track my resting HR. I can't imagine paying a subscription for that data.

Outside the floors counting, my Vivosmart does it all. It has a screen but you can turn it off unless you press the button, so it stays off

What about the vivosmart? Basic tracking, notifications, she won't even remember she has it on, has a good charge too I think cuz it's more basic? Two different sizes as well if she's smaller, and a couple colours I believe. Anything more fancy than that will just be a waste it sounds like.

If you only need HR and you prioretize size get the vivosmart If you also want SmartWatch features get the venu sq

I have a non-fancy Garmin vivosmart, it was like $100. I got it to track steps and be able to look at the time instead of pulling out my phone. I have a toddler and walk a lot, just wanted to know how much fatigue was coming from that vs. working out. The one unexpected benefit is that it tracks my strength workouts far better than my Wahoo Rival, actually counts reps really well. It tracks sleep, but not well. I don't think Whoop or any of the fancier ones are worth it. It just seems like a lot of data for data's sake.

The Whoop would be a good solution, if it weren’t a subscription based product. So, my approach is to wear a Garmin Vivosmart on my other wrist. It’s small and fairly unobtrusive, and can be configured so that the screen never turns on except when the button is pressed. Plus, Garmin’s SW is really pretty good for basic tracking, and the use of it in a local to your phone mode is free. So, this gives a good, basic set of fitness tracking capabilities in a minimally intrusive way.

Garmin used Vivosmart. Garmin all day every day as far as smart/fitness watches go.

Anyone have the small Garmin? Vivosmart. I don’t love the look of a big watch & only need it to track heart rate, calories burned if that’s a thing & step count. Currently using Apple health for steps but that’s highly inaccurate

Before anything else: All of them still allow you to hit run and simply go. Forerunner (200/500 and 900 series) - they are still what you expect. Midrange watches with up to 99.999999% of the features available compared to the premium watches, have everything you will actually use for running already in the 200/500 series. For models ending with 55 and older, you can choose to have music in the watch or not (e.g. 255 music, but since the 265 they all have it). Consider 900 series for triathlons for the extra battery. Fenix, Enduro, Marq.. - These are premium watches which will add almost nothing to running itself, but have some other niceties like Diving mode, golf feature, solar panels for even longer battery life, etc. Construction and materials are the real difference here. Venu, Lily - Garmin's shot at the smartwatch market. Lily is women-specific. Vivosmart - we're getting at the lower end of the spectrum for runners, since this starts to get in the fitness tracker realm. They are the top of that category for Garmin and enough for the most casual runners that only need to track their runs and little else. They are enough if you're not training for anything specific.

What do they want to measure? I'd start there and then work out what fits that. My dad just wanted steps, sleep, and heart rate so the vivosmart is more than enough.

The Garmin vivo line is really nice and light. After wearing an AW all the time for 10+ years, I’m really liking just having a watch that tracks my fitness when I want it to but it still just looks like a watch. Mine is more for cardio workouts and distance trail walks so don’t know how it compares for timed runs, laps, etc.