Garmin vivoactive 5 review

There’s not much I don’t like about the Garmin Vivoactive 5. I bought one to replace a Google Pixel 3, which worked well for about a year. Then, Google stopped supporting important FitBit features, just after I paid for a year of premium, and the watch started randomly going into Do Not Disturb mode. It also frequently mislabeled my workouts. I’d hit the Strength workout button and FitBit would log it as a Walk, and it would also track stats as if you were walking. Google also stopped supporting Fit after it screwed up FitBit, so there was no suitable alternative.

I need more of a fitness watch than smartwatch, and the Vivoactive 5 is a better fit for me, long term. It provides enhanced tracking and seems to have a more accurate heart rate monitor (at least the readings are consistently closer to what the ascent trainer I use at Planet Fitness, so maybe both of them are consistently wrong). I like the Connect app better than FitBit because the information is arranged in a way that is more intuitive.

My primary gripes with it is that for some reason it logs my Walks as Union Walking and there’s no good explanation. I also had to turn off the auto-notification for laps because as soon as I’d hit a mile walking, the thing would start shouting my pace. I walk quickly, so it’s nothing to be ashamed about even though practically no one else knows that a 14-minute mile is fast.

It also missed that I took a nap this afternoon, which would make me angrier if I weren’t so well rested.