Garmin v voactive 5 Health and Fitness GPS Smartwatch AMOLED Display Up to 11 Days of Battery Orchid

I'm coming from an Apple Watch Series 5. I had gotten frustrated with the battery life and sleep tracking and wanted to see if a more fitness-focused watch would be a better fit. I'm not a big runner or someone who does a lot of intense exercise, but I do like to track my exercise and sleep and get nudges to move when I've been sitting down for too long. I also like to get notifications on my wrist without needing to pull out my phone. Compared to the Apple Watch, the first major thing I noticed was this is nowhere close in terms of smarts. I had gotten used to Apple's smooth interface, built in microphone and speaker for voice commands, and often useful apps that can be used without needing to get my phone out. That being said, after a few days I can confidently say that I don't need them. I would argue that Garmin knows what this is and what it is not - it's a fitness device first and foremost, and everything else comes second. And on that basis they nailed it - the fitness tracking has been excellent and noticeably better than the Apple Watch especially in sleep tracking. I also much prefer their approach to goals, which tracks exercise over the course of a week rather than focusing specifically on individual days. Whenever I was sick or had a down day I would feel guilty if I didn't close all of my rings on my Apple Watch, but I don't feel that same pressure with the Garmin. I do miss being able to use voice commands with my watch, but I could have gotten a more expensive Garmin if I really wanted that, and I don't think it's worth it for me. The second thing I noticed: not having to charge your watch every day is a game changer. This was easily my biggest frustration with the Apple Watch since it's marketed as a device you wear 24x7 and yet needs to be charged every day. And considering how long it took to charge my Series 5, this was a major annoyance. I couldn't charge it overnight, because I wanted sleep tracking. I couldn't charge it in the morning, because I like to start off my day with exercise and it doesn't charge fast enough to do it after a workout and before work. And if I charged it in the evening, I would often forget to put it on before bed and miss out on the sleep tracking. The Garmin is a breath of fresh air by comparison - I charge it about once a week, and with my relatively light usage it can probably go close to two. I took a multi day trip recently and I didn't once have to worry about charging my watch, which was a pleasant change. Overall I think this watch is a great fit for a more casual user who isn't running marathons but wants to track fitness and sleep and get some extras like smartphone notifications and see the weather at a glance. If you want something with more smart features and better build quality (i.e. more metal and less plastic), then the Venu might be a better fit. Or they have the Forerunner if you do run marathons. Or a bunch of other models for more specific use cases. But I would highly recommend giving this watch a try if you're looking for the same things that I am. Read more

A pretty solid smart watch. After doing some research I decided to get the Garmin Vivoactive 5, I honestly can't complain after a month of use. I find it to be pretty intuitive in use, the display is clear, the health apps track more indepth metrics from what I'm used to. There's also a myriad of different sports tracking, great for motivation, plus I get important notifications. I think it fits my wrist better with adjustable elastic wrist bands (bought separately) compared to the silicone it comes with. Overall I'm satisfied with the quality. Only would be issue is battery life, it says up to 11 days, but that's if you have nothing else running on it. The more you track and add to it, the more battery drain it has. Otherwise it's pretty solid. Read more

Hands down the best activity tracker I’ve found! I did a lot of research on activity trackers before I committed again. I had an Apple Watch that was always dying and I didn’t want one that I had to charge every night. Gamin for sure nailed it with the battery life! These watches have so much functionality and I honestly can believe they aren’t more popular! I’m for sure Garmin for life now! Perfect size, fit, display, features and connects to my iPhone perfectly. Read more

At my age, I don't need all the bells and whistels that the long line of product that Garmin offers. I'm happy with sleep and stop counting that the Vivoactive 5 offers, at a price I can afford. That said I am happy with the other activities offered and will be learning them as I can. The 11 days of power was a game changer. I have owned three different Fitbits that have left me wanting with battery life. My last one used up a charge in1 (one) day! This was at the 2 year point. Enough said. Read more

I was an Apple Watch girl for 4 years before switching to the garmin so this review will be based on my opinion compared to the Apple Watch. I loved my Apple Watch and used it heavily, but my main reason for the switch was because I was training for a triathlon and wanted a watch that could accurately track outdoor swimming (the Apple Watch swim tracking was inconsistent & never accurate). Overall I do prefer the garmin for fitness tracking (strength workouts, runs, swims, etc) but there are some features about the Apple Watch that I liked better. GARMIN PROS: - more accurate distance tracking, especially for swimming - looks nicer (in my opinion) - battery life is amazing; I use it daily and only charge it every 5ish days! - not having the “close your rings” feature has been life changing for me in the best way. I used to be obsessed with hitting all my goals on my Apple Watch and HATED if I ever lost my streak of closing my rings everyday. Not having that with the garmin has been very freeing lol. I like how you can set step goals & “intensity minutes” goals but that’s about it. Much less focus on hitting your goals or how many calories you burn, which is a plus for me. - still has the calls & texts feature that allows your to get notifications, you just can’t respond to texts which isn’t a big deal to me. If you like being able to respond from your watch, you might not like this as much. CONS: - I find it often has a hard time keeping track of my heart rate when I’m weightlifting. It seems like it just needs to be on the perfect spot on your wrist in order to track accurately. This was an issue with my Apple Watch too so it might just be a common problem. - I sometimes have to manually connect it to my phone in my Bluetooth settings. Some days I put it on and it connects automatically, and some days I have to do it myself. I’ve heard this is common with garmins. Not a big deal though - I rarely use it for sleep tracking so this doesn’t matter much to me but if you’re interested in regularly tracking your sleep, this might not be your best option. The couple of times I have worn it to sleep, I’ve noticed that the sleep summary showed that I was asleep at times when I really wasn’t (like when I’d wake up to my baby crying - the summary showed that I was still asleep during that time). I never tried tracking sleep on Apple Watch so idk if it’s better or worse than that. If this is important to you, you could probably find something more accurate. - not as easy to navigate as the Apple Watch. I’m okay with this because the garmin’s primary function is clearly fitness tracking, whereas the Apple Watch is sort of meant to be like a mini iPhone on your wrist. So when i consider what each of their primary functions are supposed to be, I don’t mind that the garmin is not as user friendly. It took me a couple days to get used to it but once I figured out how to do everything I wanted to be able to do, I loved it. Overall, I’m glad I made the switch! It’s just very different than the Apple Watch. Hope this is helpful! Read more