The new Vivosport Activity tracker was recently announced by Garmin with delivery into Australia expected in October 2017. We are going to take a look at what's new and exciting about the Vivosport.
We have to say from the outset we haven't seen one yet so we are basing this review on the information provided by Garmin. Having said that the new features look pretty good.
Activity Tracker meets Sportswatch
You get the best of an activity tracker and sports watch packed into a slim lightweight design with the Vivosport. At its core, it includes 24/7 optical heart rate, activity tracking, various sports profiles and GPS for outdoor activities. It's ideal for anyone who not only wants to monitor daily activity but also enjoys walking, running, cycling or going to the gym. They are all catered for in the Vivosport.
The Vivosport is an upgraded combination of the Vivosmart 3 and the Vivosmart HR+ from last year with a bunch of new functions.
Starting from the outside the Vivosport is a slimmer unit than the Vivosmart HR+ that also had GPS and the display has been substantially improved with an always-on touch colour display. Navigation is through a series of taps and swipes on the touchscreen. You can also choose from a few different watch faces to suit your personal style and the screen is more readable in different light conditions. In terms of weight, it's very similar to previous models and it comes in 2 sizes small/medium and large. The smaller size comes in black/slate or black/fuchsia and large in black/slate or black/lime.
On the inside, there have been a number of improvements.
- The 24/7 heart rate function has been upgraded to the equivalent of Garmin's higher end watches with far more frequent HR measurements at 1-second intervals
- Your stress levels will be monitored and scored out 100 assessing your stress level as low, medium or high
- A Four-Fold Breath relaxation timer helps you balance your stress and rest as it guides you through a stress relief exercise
- Daily fitness monitoring has been added using the 24/7 heart rate to estimate your VO2 Max and Fitness Age
- You can take it to the Gym with the new Strength Training and Cardio modes. The strength training mode includes automatic rep counting
- There is an autostart function for a walk or run activity and auto pause is used in sport modes
- New sports profiles include outdoor run, walk, cardio (great for a Crossfit or HIIT session) and bike as well as the gym profiles
- Live track has been added, a feature that allows others, by invitation, to track your activity and location in real time
- A stopwatch and timer has also been included which is an often asked about feature
Bringing it all together here is what you get with the new Vivosport:
GPS Tracking
Take your Vivosport for a run, walk or ride and allow the GPS to track your pace and distance in real time and then map it out in the Garmin Connect App. If you use Strava or other third party apps you can also sync it to your account from Garmin Connect.
24/7 Heart Rate
No chest strap required making it so convenient to measure your heart rate during the day or during a designated fitness activity. Heart rate measurement contributes to your stress and fitness scores as well as providing you with other information like calories burnt. You can see your actual heart rate or as a % of your max heart rate 24/7. You can also set heart rate alerts so you don't overdo or under-do it.
Activity Tracking
The Vivosport will count your steps, floors climbed, distance travelled, calories burned, intensity minutes, remind you to move and monitor your sleep patterns.
Sports Profiles
You can use your Vivosport indoors and out with sports profiles for outdoor walking/running, cycling and indoor running, cardio workout and weights session.
Health and Wellbeing
Receive feedback and monitor your stress and fitness levels with your personalised stress score, VO2max and Fitness age. Track your longer-term trends via the Connect app to help identify stress patterns and consider making lifestyle changes to avoid or better cope with stress-inducing situations.
Always connected
You can set your Vivosport to receive vibration alerts for SMS, calls, email, calendar reminders and social media when it's paired to a compatible smartphone. You can also send an alert to locate your missing smartphone or vice versa, which will be a well-used feature in our household.
Swimming
The Vivosport is safe for swimming and showering.
Battery
The battery life is estimated by Garmin to be 7 days in watch mode and 8 hours in GPS mode.
Summary
Overall the Vivosport combines the best of previous activity trackers and adds some sports watch features into the mix packaged into a lightweight fitness band. It's ideal for indoor and outdoor activities and keeping track of your overall health and wellbeing.
Sports Watches Australia is currently taking pre-orders for the bands with expected delivery in October 2017. if you would like more information or order a Vivosport Click Here.
If you have any questions or would like to know more comment below, email or give us a call.
