Garmin Vivoactive 3 Review

Expert Reviews described the Garmin Vivoactive 3 as the "best value multi-sport watch" and a "great all-rounder". The battery life is strong and the watch has GPS and 24/7 heart rate monitoring. However, the design is a little ugly. It was also described as being on the expensive side but it has fallen to almost half the price since it was reviewed.

TechRadar in contrast liked the design and tracking capabilities and the addition of a payments system and smartwatch notifications make it a "versatile wearable". There are drawbacks to the smart features though, notably no music and you can't reply yo texts on iOS.

1 reply from Fitness team - 6 months agoSorry to hear about the issue that you are having with the device, I would encourage you to go to our support site and check the software on the device, also from there you can contact our staff for further assistance. vivoactive 3 Software: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=571520&tab=software

I am a pretty active person and when I workout I sweat. The vivoactive 3 fits comfortably without squeezing or sliding on my sweaty arm. The workout options are quick and easy to use. I was concerned about having to use the push button to start/stop activities, but I haven't had an activity prematurely stop yet. I like that can customize the watch face - making it just a little more like me than an out of the box version that lots of people have. Other things I love: GPS, move reminders, how easily it paired with my android phone, easy charging, and tons of little things. Normal daily use (no activities or GPS use) will wear the battery down to the mid eighty percentage. Charging is pretty quick... A daily dose of thirty minutes and it is back to the high nineties if not one hundred percent.

1 reply from Fitness team - 3 months agoWe are sorry that you had an experience like that, and you are correct the device is designed to handle swimming, It looks like you were able to get the device exchanged however if you run into any issues at all with the device please reach out to our team from our support site. vivoactive 3 Support: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=571520&tab=topics

1 reply from Fitness team - 2 months agoSorry to hear about the issue that you are having with the device, I would encourage you to go to our support site and check the software on the device, also from there you can contact our staff for further assistance. vivoactive 3 Software: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=571520&tab=software

1 reply from GarminProductExpert team - 4 months agoIf you're experiencing an issue with your battery life, please go to support.garmin.com and reach out directly to a product support specialist for assistance. Debbie with Garmin

1 reply from Fitness team - 5 months agoSorry to hear about your experience with the device, we would encourage you to go to our support site and use Garmin Express on your computer with the device and ensure that it is up to date with the software. If you have already tried that then please reach out to our team on our site so that we can get more information from you and offer some solutions. Thank you for posting a review. Garmin Express: https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/vivoactive3/EN-US/GUID-3CCB0850-544E-4983-8D61-3CEB91253BCA.html vivoactive 3 Support: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=571520&tab=topics

I was looking for an alternative to the Apple Watch. I liked the features of the Apple Watch but I saw it as an ugly black block sitting on my wrist. This looks sleeker and is really easy to set up and use....plus the app is A+. It provides lots of great information including maps of my runs. I’m a fan.

Being a relatively new product from garmin, it is going through the typical progression of bugs, firmware updates, new bugs, fixes, etc... If you've had a garmin device before and have dealt with the frustrations, then go for it. If not, I would wait a few months for the product to become less "buggy".

Really pleased with this purchase - comfortable to wear and has lots of great functions. Links well and easily with phone and other devices. Data seems pretty accurate - the GPS is v consistent and reliable.

After lots of research I bought this watch which would also enable me to listen to music/podcasts. I thought it was worth the extra money. In hindsight I should have bought the basic version without music. You can only download Spotify which I didn't want to pay to use. I thought I could download BBC podcasts (as a licence payee) and could I? No. So my watch is excellent for tracking every run I do but totally useless in the music department unless you pay for a subscription to Spotify.

This is a really good all round smartwatch that is very fairly priced. Only had the watch a week but: GPS and tracking HR during runs have been excellent Battery lift is great at present Sleep tracker is a little off so probably the only con I haven't tried all of the features yet, for example music - it's a shame it doesn't support Google play music It depends what you're using the watch for but if you're a runner I'd definitely recommend!

Heart rate monitor is not as good as other devices. Great for cycling but not good for the gym or circuit training. Changed to another device

After 7 days I had to return this item. It was quite glitchy and froze twice within the order week in which I had to reboot it. This is no good if you’re about to go for a run and track your excersize. It also wouldn’t connect to the garmin App Store on my phone in order to download apps onto the watch unless I competed deleted the app and redownloaded it each time. The music side and fitness tracking of this watch was good, however the freezing and overall ‘glitchiness’ was not worth it.

How have I gone so long without one of these watches? I have been running for the past 3 years and used my phone to track my running and listen to music... I eventually got fed up with the cable and having to carry a phone around with me, so I bit the bullet and got a Garmin. I was beside myself when I found it tracks many other activities other than running, and so pleased I made the purchase!

Looks cheap,feels cheap. Isn’t accurate at all. Messes up in water. Doesn’t track swimming correctly. Swapped it for an Apple Watch and it’s so much better

Love this watch not only is it on trend but gives you the kick up the bum you need whilst playing music too!

The first one was faulty with a very bad battery drain and sync problems everyday. Second one does everything it was supposed to do. So beware of you have these problems, some do and some don't after some investigation.

Great watch easy to use and great way to track your progress. GPS works well and workout programs are pretty good. Wish I had bought the one down without music as I believe you can’t sync music from iPhone you need to have an app which then you have to pay for Which is not mentioned in the description. It cost an extra £40 for music watch.