Picture from GarminAU IG
The Garmin Vivosmart HR is the first activity tracker from Garmin that features the “Elevate” wrist based heart rate monitoring technology. It is also an upgrade of the original Vivosmart released about a year back.
The original Vivosmart is a 24/7 smart notifications enabled activity tracker that functions as a capable workout partner when paired with a compatible heart rate monitor. Besides retaining all the functions of the original Vivosmart, the Garmin Elevate equipped Vivosmart HR also receives an always-on sunlight readable display, and barometric altimeter.
Also there’s addition of 2 new tracked stats; floors climbed and intensity minutes. Rather than just rely on an overall step count for the day, the Vivosmart HR is able to track the more intense periods in a day and have it tabulated in number of intense or active minutes.
Picture from GarminFitness IG
List of features:
- 24/7 activity tracker. Measures steps, distance, calories, heart rate, floors climbed, intensity duration
- Always-on sunlight readable display
- Smart notifications
- Vibration enabled for alarms and idle alerts
- Remote control music on connected mobile device, Garmin VIRB cameras
- Find my phone function
- Waterproof to 5 ATM
- Up to 5 days battery life
At only $149.99, the Vivosmart HR appears to be value for money, giving its closest competing products such as the soon to be released Polar A360 and the Fitbit Charge HR a run for their money
It seems Garmin’s brief experiment with optical heart rate sensors have convinced them the market demand is strong resulting in 2 devices with Elevate technology; the Forerunner 235 and the Vivosmart HR. Having said that, the untested Garmin Elevate wrist based heart rate monitoring technology is the elephant in the room that everyone wants to get rid of; is it accurate? I’ll update as soon as I can get a unit to review.
The Garmin Vivosmart HR is available for pre-order exclusively at Bestbuy.com in black, blue and purple at the RRP of $149.99
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