At a lookKnowledgeable’s Ranking
Execs
- Sturdy GPS and coronary heart fee accuracy
- Helpful Physique Battery every day insights
- Vibrant AMOLED display screen
- First rate smartwatch options
Cons
- Barely thick bezel round display screen
- Lacks helpful Coaching Readiness characteristic
Our Verdict
The Garmin Vivoactive 5 gives good sports activities, smartwatch and basic wellbeing options for lower than choosing up a Garmin Venu 2 or the newer Venu 3.
Value When Reviewed
$299.99
Finest Costs Immediately: Garmin Vivoactive 5
The Garmin Vivoactive 5 arrives because the successor to the Vivoactive 4, which launched again in 2019.
Garmin is updating its first smartwatch-style sports activities watch most notably with an AMOLED display screen. There are new smarts too with a sleep coach telling you ways a lot sleep you want, and it now gives built-in exercises for wheelchair customers.
It’s providing these options for lower than Garmin’s new Venu 3, which has emerged as Garmin’s reply to the Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch.
So, was Garmin proper to deliver again the Vivoactive 5 and is it among the best sporty smartwatches to select up?
Design & Construct
- Weighs 36g
- One case measurement solely
- New AMOLED show
The Vivoactive 5 is obtainable in simply the only 42mm case measurement, which is a change from the 2 case measurement choices you might decide up the Vivoactive 4 in.
you’re now getting a substantial bump in color and total getting a punchier display screen that makes the most recent Vivoactive really feel a bit extra like a smartwatch
Mike Sawh
It’s nonetheless a polymer case, which is just about the norm for many Garmin watches, with an aluminium bezel now rather than the metal one used on its predecessor. Garmin gives it in 4 totally different colors so you possibly can decide it up in a brighter or extra low-key bezel and case combo look. It appears to be like fairly just like the Google Pixel Watch 2.
That’s matched up with a 20mm fast launch band, which does imply you modify that band by way of a easy pin mechanism. It’s a fairly customary sports activities watch band that has been comfy to put on throughout the day, in mattress and through train.
Up entrance, Garmin has switched from a transflective show to a 1.2in, 390 x 390 pixel decision AMOLED one. So that you’re now getting a substantial bump in color and total getting a punchier display screen that makes the most recent Vivoactive really feel a bit extra like a smartwatch. It’s not the most effective AMOLED Garmin gives on one in every of its watches, however it’s brilliant and vibrant sufficient to ship good visibility on the entire and also you do have the choice to maintain it on 24/7.
One factor I don’t completely love right here is that there’s a fairly sizeable black bezel that sits round that touchscreen, which takes a number of the gloss off what’s total a fairly streamlined look and never a massively memorable look.
Mike Sawh
Together with the touchscreen, Garmin contains two bodily buttons, whereas across the again you’ll discover the charging port, which stays the identical as just about each new Garmin watch. That sits alongside an upgraded optical coronary heart fee sensor, although this isn’t the most recent model of Garmin’s optical coronary heart fee sensor know-how.
Waterproofing stays the identical because the final Vivoactive at 5ATM, so that you do have one thing you possibly can submerge in water as much as 50 metres depth and is match for pool and open water swimming.
Well being & Health Monitoring
- Improved GPS and coronary heart fee sensors
- HRV Standing added from different new Garmin watches
- New Sleep Coach
The Vivoactive 5 is a multisports watch at coronary heart, so it’s able to monitoring runs, swims, biking and likewise has golf as one in every of its core sport profiles. There are additionally monitoring profiles for indoor exercises just like the Elliptical and Garmin has notably added exercises for wheelchair customers with hand biking added as a brand new profile.
the Vivoactive 5 has been a stable performer throughout the board
Mike Sawh
That is additionally a watch that can rely your every day steps, push you to maneuver extra and displays your sleep time. Garmin is introducing a brand new sleep coach characteristic to supply recommendation on improving the standard of your sleep time.
Garmin additionally features a pulse ox blood oxygen saturation sensor, however loses the barometric altimeter from the Vivoactive 4. So you possibly can’t measure elevation like stairs climbed throughout the day which is a disgrace.
I’ll begin with that core sports activities monitoring first and I’m completely happy to report that in typical Garmin vogue, it’s fairly stable total. Garmin has upgraded to a multi GNSS setup for monitoring outside exercises, so not the spectacular multiband mode we’ve seen crop up on different new Garmin watches.
I’ve been utilizing it for runs in opposition to the dual-band mode on the Apple Watch Extremely 2 and the multiband mode on the Garmin Forerunner 965 and the accuracy has been superb. Metrics like distance tracked, common tempo and even energy burned tended to match up or be in the identical ballpark as these different watches.
Garmin has additionally upgraded the optical coronary heart fee sensor and efficiency right here has been good right here too. I’ve been utilizing it up in opposition to a coronary heart fee monitor chest strap and it held up nicely for steady-paced exercises with some faltering at excessive intensities. That’s just about the norm for optical sensors, although you possibly can add exterior coronary heart fee sensors for successful of extra correct coronary heart fee knowledge.
I’ve additionally used it for pool swims, indoor rowing, treadmill runs and HIIT exercises and the Vivoactive 5 has been a stable performer throughout the board. The information has been good, the display screen is sufficiently big and brilliant sufficient to absorb knowledge and it’s providing that typical nice Garmin monitoring expertise.
If you change over to health and sleep monitoring mode, it’s extra of the identical as nicely. The Vivoactive 5 retains monitoring of every day steps and adjusts goal step counts relying in your means to hit that every day step purpose. It tracks depth minutes, stress, respiration and coronary heart fee, whereas Garmin has advanced its Physique Battery power monitor to supply extra common insights and updates throughout the day.
I’ve been utilizing it alongside a Fitbit Cost 6 and step counts have been properly in line. It’s an analogous story for steady coronary heart fee monitoring too, which is one in every of Garmin’s strengths.
Mike Sawh
For sleep monitoring, Garmin captures core stats just like the time you fell asleep and if you awakened, breaks down sleep phases and generates a sleep rating. Garmin is now additionally including in additional sleep metrics, like adjustments in Physique Battery and captures coronary heart fee variability measurements to gas Garmin’s HRV Standing perception.
That core sleep monitoring has its good and unhealthy days. I’ve been utilizing it in opposition to the Fitbit Cost 6 and the Oura Ring Gen 3 and Garmin does nonetheless appear to have that acquainted quirk of capturing an additional hour of sleep time or taking a bit longer to detect after I’ve fallen asleep. There have been days the place knowledge was nicely in keeping with Fitbit and Garmin’s sleep knowledge as nicely, so it’s able to doing a very good job however it’s a blended bag.
Garmin’s new Sleep Coach creates a really useful sleep time primarily based on sleep historical past and exercise historical past. So I’d slept greater than the really useful 7 hour and 50 minutes on one night time and it prompt I wanted 20 minutes much less sleep. After a troublesome exercise day, it suggests going again as much as that 7 hours 50 minutes. It doesn’t really feel like a revolutionary characteristic, however does add a extra actionable side to Garmin’s typically okay sleep monitoring.
There are coaching and evaluation options right here too, although to not the extent you’ll discover on Garmin’s Forerunner sequence watches. You may construct exercises, together with intervals for operating, which could be synced over to the watch. It’ll counsel a super restoration time after exercises and Garmin has included its HRV Standing metric, although lacks its extra helpful and easier HRV-powered Coaching Readiness metric.
A brand new exercise profit perception included after a exercise gives some fairly fundamental perception on the worth of that exercise, which is one thing I typically forgot about or ignored.
Smartwatch Options
- Constructed-in music participant
- View images in messages
- Join IQ Retailer entry
The Garmin Vivoactive 5 seeks to be a smartwatch in addition to a sports activities watch. It does work with iOS and Android gadgets, with some newer smarts solely out there when paired to Android smartphones.
In order for you the most effective smartwatch expertise on a sports activities watch, Garmin stands out above the competitors
Mike Sawh
You may view notifications with Android customers now in a position to see photos despatched by messages. That’s together with the flexibility to answer messages with the onboard digital keyboard. Garmin contains its helpful Morning Report summaries and there’s 4GB of storage a few of which is reserved for the onboard music participant. You may plug the Vivoactive 5 into a pc to switch over your personal audio or you possibly can sync some over immediately on the watch from streaming music providers like Spotify, Deezer and providers like Runcasts.
Garmin Pay makes the reduce as nicely to allow contactless funds, although supported banks are smaller in quantity in comparison with rival smartwatch fee providers. You do have entry to Garmin’s Join IQ Retailer to obtain apps, watch faces, knowledge fields and widgets, whereas it’s good to see Garmin’s security options make the reduce too. You will have your telephone paired to utilize them, nonetheless.
In order for you the most effective smartwatch expertise on a sports activities watch, Garmin stands out above the competitors. Is it as slick as an Apple Watch or a Samsung Galaxy Watch? No. In the event you care principally about notifications and music options, Garmin does a very good job on these fronts.
Battery Life & Charging
- As much as 11 days in smartwatch mode
- 5 days with display screen in always-on mode
- As much as 21 hours GPS battery life
Regardless of including in that AMOLED show, Garmin suggests it is best to nonetheless get a powerful battery from the Vivoactive 5 in between costs.
It’s touting as much as 11 days in smartwatch mode, which drops to five days when you will have that AMOLED display screen set to always-on. There’s a extra restrictive battery saver mode that additionally pushes it to 21 days. I’d say that getting that 11 days in smartwatch mode solely is determined by how commonly you’re utilizing options like GPS.
Primarily based on my testing, it’s been slightly below every week with common GPS use together with steady well being and wellness monitoring options in use and enabling the notification help. In the event you hold that display screen on, it’s going to be a 3-4 days. However that’s greater than the 24-hours touted for one thing just like the Pixel Watch 2.
Mike Sawh
Garmin says it is best to rise up to 17 hours within the high GPS accuracy mode, which will increase to 21 hours in the usual GPS mode and drops to eight hours with music streaming. That appears about proper primarily based on my testing. A 30-minute outside run noticed the battery drop by lower than 5%, and that was with out the display screen set to always-on.
Whether or not you go all in with options out there or scale issues again, that is nonetheless a watch that’s going to go longer than smartwatches just like the Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch, however possibly not so far as the Huawei Watch GT 4.
Value & Availability
The Garmin Vivoactive is available in priced at $299.99/£259.99, placing it firmly within the mid-range value class in Garmin’s intensive watch assortment. That’s considerably cheaper than the AMOLED-packing Garmin Venu 3, which prices $449/£449. It additionally sits slightly below the worth of the older Venu 2.
You should buy it from Garmin in addition to the likes of Amazon, Currys, Argos and Very.
Within the US, it’s on sale at Garmin, Amazon and BestBuy.
Outdoors of Garmin’s personal vary, it’s clearly competing with the likes of the Polar Ignite 3 ($329.95/£289) and the Apple Watch SE ($249/£219), two color screen-packing smartwatches that additionally provide robust sports activities, health and well being monitoring options.
For extra options examine our greatest smartwatch chart.
Verdict
The Vivoactive 5 sees Garmin add one more stable AMOLED multisports watch that performs as a very good smartwatch to its ranks. It additionally means it has one other watch to sit down at one more totally different value level.
If you take a look at what it’s up in opposition to, it gives arguably a greater software program and smartwatch expertise than the closest-priced Polar sporty smartwatch and has richer native sports activities monitoring than one thing just like the Apple Watch SE. Apple gives a extra complete smartwatch ecosystem and looks like a greater watch to trace your well being, in case you personal an iPhone.
it from a Garmin perspective, it’s additionally providing quite a lot of what the Venu does for much less cash too. You miss out on a special bezel, further case measurement, an altimeter and the additional voice-based options. In the event you can reside with out these issues, you may get a less expensive sporty smartwatch from Garmin that also delivers the products the place it issues.
Specs
- 1.2in 390 x 390p AMOLED show
- Gorilla Glass 3
- Polymer casing
- 4GB RAM
- 5 ATM water score
- 20mm fast launch straps
- 42.2 x 42.2 x 11.1mm
- 36g
