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I have been using this for about two weeks and have been blown away by its overall quality and ease of use. I have yet to look through any online help or documents in setting up any of the features so it has been an easy experience to get started with almost all of the major features. The GPS and Glonass (Glonass is Russia's satellite system equivalent to GPS) enabled watch is able to pick up my location usually in about one second in downtown Chicago which is a big improvement over my last Garmin Forerunner 410's approximate 30-second connection time. Turning on the GPS feature was as easy as selecting my sport activity (like Run or Bike) and just hitting the green Go button. And the G & G automatically deactivates after the training event is done. The wrist-based heart rate monitor activated the moment I put it on. No chest strap has been needed. The Vivoactive HR easily synchs via Bluetooth to a smartphone after you have installed the Garmin Connect app, which displays metrics of your activities and heart rate. This watch has stayed connected to my phone since setup and I have not had any issues with battery drain because of this connection. Once connected I have evn been receiving phone call notifications on my watch faster than the phone's ringtone and where I used to miss a call because I was in a noisy area, the watch's vibration and notification makes it almost impossible to miss that same call. Garmin's free Connect App will constantly try to synch with the watch and automatically captures the watch's data and displays your sleep behavior by the minute so you know exactly when you fall asleep and wake up, and even if you wake up in the middle of the night. It even attempts to record your sleep quality in three categories of light, deep, and awake. Comparisons with the Apple Watch are favorable as an activity monitor but the Vivoactive HR does not have the same music tools out of the box, though I haven't explored Garmin's App store yet. Nor can I talk on my watch as you can with the Apple Watch but I prefer speaking on my phone anyways. The battery life on the first charge lasted over 10 days with two 30-minute training runs. The second charge is holding well thus far and seems to be on pace to last about as long. I have been raving about this new smartwatch for the past week to my friends and colleagues. It does seem a little blocky and may not appeal to the fashionistas-- but you can categorize its look as modern and definitely metro. This watch seems to be on back order at many online stores because it was just released this month (May, 2016) so good luck finding one to up your training. Its starting MSRP of $250 is a bargain with many of the same features compared to watches at more than twice this price. Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Has many features. Sometimes shuts itself off and you have to wait for it to restart itself cause the control buttons will not work. * reads 'Heart rate & Steps' count when its not on your wrist. ???
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Refurbished
GPS tracking is spot on. HR monitoring is off and the sleep monitor doesn't sense you sleeping, you set the time you go to bed/wake up weekly, which isn't really realistic. Other products, Fitbit, etc sense your sleep, really the main point of the VA HR is to track your runs/cycle, etc. Haven't has to verify if it water proof yet. The band is comfortable for wear. Screen could be brighter but I've gotten used to it and it is plenty bright in sunlight while running. Overall I'm very pleased. The screen locks up after charging sometimes causing me to do a hard reset (holding both buttons down until it shuts off). I have shut it off before charging and that seems to have worked once so we'll see if it works next time. Battery life for me is 7 days average, with daily workout off one hour using the GPS. I'm happy about that. I wish the charging cord was a foot or 2 longer but it's workable. The Garmin app provides a lot of data. The step counter is not accurate tracking your non workout steps IMO. It interfaces with my fitness pal app seamlessly.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Pros - Garmin GPS and HR are reasonably accurate. The watch is fully waterproof. Battery life has been 5-6 days. The display is reflective and backlit so it's readable in bright sunlight and in the dark. And the applications to manage the watch on my phone are easy to use so I can track my activities well. There are several add on widgets that work well. Cons - a bigger screen would be great because the font sizes are a bit small for some functions / widgets. All in all, I have been very pleased with the Vivoactive HR.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
I like having so many more features than the Fit Bit that I was using. It is a little more cumbersome to set up than I expected. Possibly because the Garmin website is so huge. The golf app is somewhat erratic as it does not always rotate to the next hole. (reason for only 4 stars) Repeating myself, I really like all of the available features.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
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