Gadgets Lifestyle

Fitness Tracker Review: Garmin Vivosmart HR

Written by Ambi

I’ve been thinking about losing weight for quite some time and wanted to get a fitness tracker to help me track my activities. I did my research online, talked to my friends & colleagues and gathered as much information as possible. Finally narrowed down my requirements and decided to buy Garmin Vivosmart HR (I will call it VSHR from now on!)

The local price for VSHR is AED 699, and the shop offered six months warranty on the unit.

Here are my top 5 features that I liked:

  1. Waterproof. I wear this all the time, even during bath or while swimming, and haven’t had any problems till now. During the first few days of wearing this and taking a shower, I was curious to see if the watch shows any signs of issues as the water here is hot and not sure if the unit can take that. To my surprise it had no problem, swiping through the options even during shower was smooth! 🙂 A waterproof device was one of my major requirements when I was looking to choose a fitness tracker.
  2. Long battery life. As advertised by Garmin, the battery life is quite good, just need to charge it once a week which is a plus.
  3. Garmin Connect Mobile App: The mobile app Garmin Connect is a cool app, have some good features though it has potential to improve and add more features. Few of my favorites are:
    1. Insights
      Based on your daily activities, the app will send you notifications and in my case, there was some interesting info! As you can see in the below snapshot, the app suggested me not just to go down using the stairs but also to use the stairs to go up! Was lazy during the first few days 🙂garminvshr-insights
      Another insight snapshot about my steps countgarminvshr-insights2
    2. MyFitnessPal integration
      MyFitnessPal is a free calorie counter app with an extensive library of food which makes it easier to calculate the calorie intake and with the app integration with Garmin Connect; you can easily track the intake and calories burnt if your way of weight loss is using calorie counts. It gives you a better picture and helps you lead a healthier life.
  4. Garmin Web App
    Along with the mobile app, Garmin also provides a web application which has extensive data on the activities which give me an overall view of the details I need including but not limited to sleep patterns, steps counter, reports, heart rate and more. A glance on the available options on the web app:garmin-connect-web
  5. Move bar
    Maybe one of the best feature I like, the “move bar.” Being a full-time desk worker, I had a hard time to remind myself to move or take breaks in between. This lack of breaks or not moving at all could be a major reason for me to gain weight. I wanted to have something in place to remind me to take frequent breaks but never managed to find something that helps me until I started using VSHR. The device has something called the move bar, and when it gets full which is around 1 hour, you get a vibrating nudge from the band to remind you that you need to move. The notification helped me well; I go for a walk and at the same time I tend to drink few glasses of water, takes care of my water intake as well! 🙂

Overall I am satisfied with Vivosmart HR and would be happy to recommend this to anyone who is looking for a decent fitness/activity tracker.  If anyone interested in buying this, you can use the Amazon link below:
Garmin vívosmart HR Activity Tracker Regular Fit – Black

  • Waterproof
  • Ease of use
  • Battery life
  • App features
  • Value for money
4.4

About the author

Ambi