There is one main player in the activity tracker market that all others are chasing, Fitbit. While Fitbit are the most well-known brand, Garmin are certainly making inroads through the release of some top notch products. Following on from the Vivosmart HR+, Garmin have announced it’s successor, the vívosmart 3 and hope it will help them continue to challenge Fitbit for the best activity trackers on the market.
The vívosmart 3 is an activity tracker with a slim footprint (wrist print?) and a display that only turns on when you need it. It brings some new fitness monitoring tools to the market including VO2 max and fitness age. The vívosmart 3 also has wellness monitoring in the form of stress and sleep tracking. Also included are the usual 24/7 heart rate monitoring, step, floors climbed, calories burned, intensity minutes.
The vívosmart 3 includes a new Strength Training activity that somehow tracks the exercise form and counts the reps, sets and rest times. Data is then sent to the Garmin Connect app where it can be reviewed later in greater detail. Sounds like the holy grail to me so I am looking forward to testing that function out for sure.
The stress tracking involves the tracker tracking your heart rate variability which is then used to calculate and measure your stress level which is displayed on the watch. The vívosmart 3 then an provide a breathing exercise to encourage relaxation and hopefully lower stress levels.
Just like the new Fitbit Alta HR (that sits on my wrist being reviewed as I type this), the vívosmart 3 is a slim profile as many consumers trend towards an inconspicuous activity tracker. The display on the vívosmart 3 is also only visible when activated by gestures, alerts or notifications (yes it does notifications). The vívosmart 3 is also waterproof and can thus be used when showering or swimming.
Available in black (small/medium and large) and purple (small/medium), the vívosmart 3 will be available from late April with a recommended retail price of AU$229. Look to the Garmin website or your usual fitness tracker stores (such as Rebel Sport) to purchase one. Hopefully we will have a review unit on our wrists soon to let you all know what we think of Garmin’s new entry to the activity tracker market.
