Garmin vivoactive 4, GPS Smartwatch, Features Music, Body Energy Monitoring, Animated Workouts, Pulse Ox Sensors and More, Black

I'm a watch dinosaur - I like automatic movements and the occasional quartz watch. Have avoided the "Smart Watch" fad up til now. But I've been wearing a Garmin VivoSmart fitness band with a regular watch and was looking for something that could carry off both purposes at the same time . . . without looking like I'm wearing a smartphone on my wrist. I'm also an Android phone guy so . . . adios Apple watch. But that's OK. Look, if you're looking for a device like this you have a choice: you can buy a true "smartwatch" with a bright and shiny display, the ability to track your steps (Apple/Samsung), read your emails . . and a crummy battery life. Or you can buy a fitness devise with Smartwatch features . . . like a Garmin. I choose Garmin. I bought the 40mm size because it looks like a regular watch and doesn't look goofy with dressier styles. No, it doesn't have the bright AMOLED display like the Apples and Samsungs, but it does have the "always on" display which is easy to read in any light. In dark areas, you can program it to brighten with a wrist snap or a tap. Again, it's like a regular watch in that way - which for me is a must. And yes, you can customize the face or download others with the Garmin IQ app. Works fine for me. It's the fitness innards where Garmin really shines, and it tracks damn near every bodily function you have. Steps is just the beginning. Lots of pre-programmed workouts along with heart rate and Pulse Ox monitoring. Garmin just buries the competition in the fitness arena, if that's important to you. Yes, you can read texts etc but . . . well, I have a phone for that. No, I don't want to read emails on my watch. The Garmin VA2 looks and acts like a real watch. It's just smarter and the fitness stuff cannot be beat. And the battery life buries the Apples and the Samsungs. I get 2-3 days with just the basics on. If you don't care much about the fitness criteria and want a wrist display to parrot your phone . . . get thee to the Apple store. Just make sure you bring your charger everywhere. If you want a solid smart-ish watch that looks classy and is packed with health and fitness utilities . . . get the Garmin. No regrets here.

I have been a Fitbit user for a few years and it just suddenly died on me so I was in the market for a new fitness watch. I like to take gym fitness classes, I teach yoga, and also do martial arts. After looking at 7 different watches I narrowed it down to the Polar Ignite and the Garmin Vivoactive 4s. I bought both and this is my own review. Polar has a $190 price tag, 4-5 day battery life, GPS, VERY accurate heart rate monitoring (that’s what they are known for), in my experience the sleep monitoring was more accurate than the Garmin, but not as user friendly as the Fitbit. The polar has a very bright and clear screen, but like the Fitbit you have to flip the wrist to see it light up. In contrast, the screen is actually harder to see than the Garmin when out in the sun, (say on a run). Polar will give you suggestions for recovery that go with what you did to workout and I thought that was neat. It also has a nightly recharge score (like Garmin’s “body battery”). Cons: it is slow to wake, like the Fitbit. It would occasionally disconnect from my phone, it does not have music downloadable to the watch so you have to have your phone nearby, and the texts that come through are too big so you only see a portion of it. It also does not have menstrual tracking which I found handy on the Fitbit. I ended up returning the Polar and keeping the Garmin vivoactive 4s and here’s why. Garmin may have a higher price tag ($230), and a duller screen. See picture. But many good qualities that after a few weeks of trial made me choose it. It says the battery life is 7 days, but I got 4-5 days. Has GPS (on par with Polar). Has music you can download to the watch so you don’t have to take your phone with you! I did not have any music when using the Fitbit so I didn’t know this was something I would like so much, but it’s awesome. The watch face is 40mm as compared to the Polar’s 43mm. I like a smaller watch. The heart rate was pretty much the same as polar, or within 5bpm. If you look at the picture I have of a run I did you can see how Fitbit did NOT accurately detect when I went from walking to running and the other 2 watches did. Another plus is that the screen is always on. Also not something I had with Fitbit so I didn’t know what I was missing. When doing an activity and you want to quickly know what your heart rate is, Garmin is hands down the best option. The screen will light up more if you touch it, but you can always see the time and anything else you want on your display (I have time, heart rate, date, weather, messages, battery, and steps all on my watch face). Garmin will track your sleep, but it isn’t as detailed or accurate as the Fitbit or polar, but it does have something cool called Pulse Ox that measures your blood oxygen levels (like those clips with a red light they put on your finger at the doctor’s office). This is good to detect any problems you may have while sleeping or even during the day. Garmin does have menstrual tracking and also Garmin Pay. A con would be that Garmin does not add naps into your sleep for the day. It will only track one sleep for the day, not multiple. The display is by far the best over the 3 watches when outside. It’s almost like a kindle screen when you are in the sun. You can change settings so when you are in a workout you won’t get any messages or notifications so they won’t interrupt you (I am someone that will immediately look at my watch when it buzzes so I turned those off when in the middle of a workout). Now if you have been a Fitbit user like I had and switched to one of these watches, the apps are very confusing. Fitbit has by far the most user friendly app. But with a little time, either app will become familiar to you as well. I am not a runner, never have been, but I have turned into a runner because of the Garmin watch. It has a coach setting where you can plug in a goal and it will coach you to get to that goal. I am very competitive so I make sure I am going to get to that goal (a 5k run). It is very satisfying to see your runs displayed on the app and to rate them on how you felt that day. In conclusion, depending on what you are looking for you might choose a different watch than me, but I love my Garmin Vivoactive 4s now.

Those of you more interested in fitness first, smartwatch features second, will really enjoy this watch. My Vivoactive HR just died after having it for over 3 years, so I upgraded to the Vivoactive 4. This is a major upgrade in terms of looks and features. Here are all the things I love: 1) Two buttons - I originally bought the Vivoactive 3 Music because it was on sale for $200, but I quickly realized that missing the second button was a major pain point for me. Having the two buttons is so much more convenient for overall navigation. Also when you're in a workout, the second button can be used for setting a lap (instead of the vivoactive 3 where you have to double tap the screen). The second button alone was worth the extra spend. The vivo3 had a 20mm band, where the vivo4 is 22mm. The bigger band makes it look a lot better. The extra 0.1in screen space is well utilized also. It does make a difference. 2) Touch screen - I also tested out the Fenix 5 Plus for a while; now that is a great watch. The only issue I had with the Fenix was that you had to navigate all with buttons. The buttons are great for fitness and water sports, but when you're in the office, it's a little awkward when you're sitting in a meeting pressing buttons to navigate through texts or emails. Fenix was an amazing fitness watch, don't get me wrong, but it didn't work for my professional life expectations. Because it felt weird to have to press 5 buttons on the Fenix at the office, I wanted to go back to the touchscreen. Touchscreen is so much quicker and easier than the buttoned Garmins. It also looks cooler, and makes it truly feel more like a smartwatch. 3) Fitness features - If you're never had a Garmin before, they are amazing tools to help your fitness. The data it collects is leaps and bounds better and more accurate than any other smart watch. This watch has way more than the average athlete would ever need as it pertains to fitness features. There are tons of apps available, and its so easy to navigate and customize to your need. I use it mainly for running, golf and open ocean canoe paddling, using the SUP app. Though it's a touch screen, it still responds decently well when you're using it on the water soaking wet. You just have to kinda dry it off before you try to navigate while on the water. But here's the deal, if you're truly serious about your training, you're probably working too hard to even mess with your watch during the workout anyway, so focus on your training, not tapping away at your watch. I set it to buzz after every mile so I can see each mile pace. It works well for the 5-10+ mile sessions when I'm trying to beat my time. I listen to music when I'm out paddling, and it's a really nice feature. Haven't had any issues connecting to my waterproof earphones, even with all the movement during a workout. I use the Mpow Flame waterproof earphones. Golf app is awesome: front, middle and back of the green yardage. 4) Battery life - this is the biggest reason for me to get a Garmin instead of an Apple, Fossil or Samsung. I didn't want to be glued to my charger every night so instead I got this and get a full week's worth of battery. The always-on display is bright enough to see in daylight and at nighttime, but technology is what helps it save energy instead of the higher end amoled screens. It charges really quickly too so if I forget to charge it, I can just juice it up really quickly. A 10 minute charge gets me about 30% of battery. 5) Smart features - The fact that Garmin has begun to integrate smart features to their watches is amazing. Yes, you can't do everything one would like to do on a watch like talk to siri, look at pictures, or make phone calls. But why are you looking on your watch for all that stuff anyway? Is it really necessary when our phones are so advanced now? I get all my selected phone notifications, I can read texts and preview emails, and that's really all i need. Remember, fitness first, smartwatch second. All in all, this is an amazing fitness watch, and I'd definitely recommend if you're in the market for a new watch. Totally worth the spend, and for my needs I'd say it is a major upgrade from the apple/samsungs.

Update: I have now also tested this against the Fitbit Versa 4, and the Garmin wins by a landslide. While the Versa does have much better sleep tracking and I like that you can count distance instead of steps, the UI is terrible and the touch-screen isn’t very responsive. Also, only a very short list of iPhone apps integrate, so I couldn’t get WhatsApp and a few other frequently used apps’ notifications to the Versa. On top of all that, it was unnecessarily bulky. My main beef with Garmin remains the sleep tracking. I also wish you could track distance vs steps and that you could still see the time of day when you’re tracking a workout. I still absolutely love the UI surrounding the timers. I use them multipe times a day while cooking or doing chores, and it’s so simple to just swipe and type in a number. I also love how you can make the timer repeat so easily if you’re doing intervals (although I do wish you could set alternating intervals). It’s truly amazing how something so simple can affect your life. I don’t think I’ll ever switch to another watch. Original review: I’ve had four fitness trackers in my life: a Fitbit Flex 2, an Apple Watch, and a Fitbit Charge 4. My main needs are step counting, sleep tracking, timers, and phone alerts. Here is what I’ll say about the Vivoactive 4s. Step counting is pretty accurate, but I don’t know of any watches that do this poorly. I do wish that you could add steps manually. I have a treadmill desk, and the watch won’t count those steps or track the treadmill workout - I think the watch can’t register my motions because my wrists aren’t moving. Not a big deal because my treadmill counts steps, but I wish I could merge them with my Garmin data. That’s my only beef with the app interface and movement tracking. The GPS works great, and it’s fun to see your little map on the watch face itself. My husband also has a Garmin, but it doesn’t have that feature. One weird thing about the GPS is that there is a screen within the GPS interface that has a whole mess of little icons. I assume those are meant to be plotted on a map, but I can’t figure out how or where to do this. The manual doesn’t address it. I will say the sleep tracking leaves something to be desired, and the quality is poor enough to knock a full star off the overall rating. It’s a huge step down from Fitbit, which is by far the best at sleep tracking - it will even track naps. The Vivoactive’s tracking is wildly inaccurate. It rarely records my sleep times correctly and sometimes thinks I’m asleep when I’m just watching tv or reading at night. This is the only way in which the watch lets me down, and it is a significant disappointment. It’s not as bad as the Apple watch, though. At least you don’t have to remember to turn on a completely separate app when you go to sleep. The O2 sensor isn’t important to me, but it does drain your battery in a big way. I don’t think it’s very accurate, either, so I turned it off. I do like the interface. It’s way more customizable than the Fitbit and Apple watches, and you can rearrange your menus and also hide things you don’t care about. You can also turn off the light entirely. I have my right-swipe shortcut set to the facelight dimmer, so I turn it all the way down at bedtime. I really like the Find My Phone button, although if you press it accidentally while you’re holding your phone, you get a bit of a jolt! I think you can do voice calling with this watch, but I don’t have an Android. The call/text/other notifications work fine with my iPhone. One of my main beefs with the Charge 4 was that it vibrated. Like constantly vibrated anytime you scrolled through a menu or touched it at all, and you couldn’t turn it off entirely. The Vivoactive has customizable vibration intensity, and it only vibrates for notifications and confirmations. The timer on this watch is by far my favorite. I cook often, and having a timer on my wrist is super convenient. I love that you type in the time instead of scrolling. Such a simple feature, but it’s completely painless. All in all, I would 100% recommend this watch. If you don’t take into account sleep tracking, I give it five stars.

Love this watch so much. This is definitely a nice mid-range smartwatch that contains many features without breaking the bank. GPS is slow at times, but very accurate once it gets locked on. Sometimes the charging can be a bit finicky, but I'm not sure how much of that is the watch or the charger. The Garmin app store contains lots of customizations for the watch and has many useful apps.

I bought a Vivoactive 4S as the Amazon price seemed good at $199.99. However, I did return it after buying a Vivoactive 4, for $10 less from a well-known competitor! The 4S strap was short for me. . I have a 7.25-inch wrist and the 4S strap was right near the end of its adjustment. Looking online the watch is actually designed for a 6.8-inch wrist maximum, though it did fit me, but I needed my wife to help put it on! . The 40mm case diameter was well-proportioned on my arm and the display notifications were legible. The TFT screen is superb in bright light as the light is actually reflected off the colored pixels in the reflective display, unlike an AMOLED screen. The colors are not as bright and saturated as an AMOLED display but they are quite acceptable. In low light, the display looks a little dull and washed out, even with the screen illuminated. Still acceptable though and given the resulting excellent battery life. At 20% brightness, short duration illumination and low gesture sensitivity, with one GPS tracking event per day, I achieved 4.5 to 5 days of battery life. A couple hours to recharge. . The Garmin Connect app is feature-packed and the reason why I went with Garmin. The watch performed perfectly during a 2.5-hour hike. The only problem I had was with the ‘Auto Pause’ function for the walk activity. It kept pausing intermittently, even though I was walking. I thought it was due to loss of the GPS signal while in dense woodland. However, after disabling the Auto Pause, the watch worked perfectly. It seems that if my arm was not swinging enough, the watch thought I’d stopped walking. Activity ‘Auto Start’ isn’t as reliable as I’d like either. I don’t use those functions anymore! . When the Vivoactive 4 deal came to my attention, I expected only the strap to really make a difference and that’s why I bought it. I can put it on all by myself! It is designed for an 8-inch wrist maximum (see photos for comparison). However, the extra 5mm of case diameter also makes a surprising difference. The screen is noticeably bigger on the arm and the display even more legible. So, if you are torn between a Vivoactive 4S and 4, consider the strap length and the fit on your arm, but know that the notifications are also easier to read on the 4. Otherwise, both are identical in function. . I am very pleased with the Garmin Vivoactive. The watch, with its app, helps with keeping a tally of my activities, including sleep, and actually gets me more active. The notifications from my phone are complete and not just short subject headings. I wear the watch 24/7 and don’t take it off. It’s very comfortable and doesn’t look so much like a smartwatch. The always-on display is what I really like about the watch. It seems to be very durable under extreme activities too.

The Garmin vivoactive 4 is a remarkable fitness tracker that has impressed me as a former Fitbit user of over 10 years. Reluctant to switch brands initially, I found the Garmin to be a superior product, offering not only similar features but also a greater level of durability. This goes above and beyond as a fitness tracker, providing an extensive range of features that enhance both my workout routines and daily life. It boasts an accurate GPS tracking system, enabling me to monitor my outdoor activities with precision. Whether I'm running, cycling, or hiking, the vivoactive 4 consistently delivers reliable data regarding distance, pace, and elevation. Furthermore, this device seamlessly integrates with my smartphone, allowing me to receive notifications for calls, texts, and other important alerts. The ability to stay connected without the need to constantly check my phone has proven to be incredibly convenient, especially during workouts when I don't want to be distracted. One aspect that truly sets this apart from other fitness trackers is its exceptional durability. Having used Fitbit devices in the past, I noticed a significant difference in the build quality of the Garmin. The vivoactive 4 is designed to withstand the rigors of an active lifestyle, making it an ideal companion for fitness enthusiasts and adventure seekers alike. Its robust construction ensures it can handle various environments, including harsh weather conditions and accidental bumps. It features a user-friendly interface that is intuitive and easy to navigate. The touchscreen display is responsive and provides clear visibility, even in bright sunlight. The menu layout is well-organized, allowing quick access to various features and settings. I appreciate the simplicity of adjusting settings, creating personalized workout profiles, and tracking my progress effortlessly. Another notable aspect I love is its impressive battery life. With regular usage, I found that the device can easily last up to 7 days on a single charge. This extended battery life ensures that I can rely on it for extended periods without worrying about constant recharging. While the Garmin vivoactive 4 excels in many aspects, one feature that is noticeably absent is the smart wake alarm. Fitbit devices offered this convenient feature that gradually wakes you up with gentle vibrations, when you are in light sleep. Although the Vivoactive 4 lacks this specific capability, its overall performance and durability more than compensate for this minor drawback. The Garmin Vivoactive 4 surpasses my expectations as a fitness tracker, proving to be a worthy replacement for my Fitbit Charge 5 device. With its extensive range of features, durable design, user-friendly interface, and impressive battery life, the Vivoactive 4 has undoubtedly elevated my fitness journey. While the absence of a smart wake alarm is a minor inconvenience, it does not diminish the overall excellence of this top-tier product. I highly recommend the Garmin Vivoactive 4 to anyone seeking a reliable and durable fitness tracker that goes the extra mile.

When I purchased this watch, as I was researching it, I was very excited about it. I wanted to move from my Apple Watch to something that was less "phone on my wrist" and more "watch with fitnesses focused capabilities. I thought that this watch was that. To some extent it is, however the fitness tracking is the ONLY part of the watch that works as advertised. Let's start with the Spotify feature that allows you to download music and play directly from the watch. Yeah, that doesn't work. It was one of the most anticipated features for me. I took the watch out of the box, connected to wifi, and went to set up my Spotify. AS SOON as I got logged in (which was a tedious process in and of itself), the watch shut off, was disconnected from wifi when it came back on, and to this day will not connect to another wifi network. I got a dud right? Wrong. This has been an issue going back for over a year for most Garmin watches that offer this "music from the watch" feature. For $300, if I buy a watch, there should be no issue with one of the main features with which the watch is marketed. Furthermore, if there are issues, these issues should be resolved. The only resolution to this problem in more than one year of Garmin knowing about it is an ineffective software patch. Next, we have general connectivity. This has honestly been among the things I have been most disappointed in. My phone REGULARLY disconnects from the watch, therefore rendering the fitness tracking essentially useless, as it has to sync to the Garmin Connect app to be easily viewed. I will go in to the Bluetooth setting on my phone, it says connected. I go to the setting in the watch, it says connected. I go to the Garmin connect app, it says connected. But it still isn't connected, as my data does not sync, and notifications are not received on the watch. Along with the pervasive connection issues, the general navigation throughout both the watch and the *multiple* applications that are required to access all features is confusing, annoying, and overall just more difficult that a watch of this supposed caliber should be. Now, on to battery life. The watch is advertised as having a battery life of about a week. I was particularly excited for this as well, being as I hated having to take my Apple Watch off every night and charge it. THE BATTERY LASTS NOWHERE NEAR THIS LONG. I have had the watch for a little bit over a month now, and the battery has never lasted for more than 2-3 days. It does charge relatively quickly, which is nice, but the charging port is already worn out, causing room for the charger to wiggle around and create connectivity issues, meaning that at any given time the watch may or may not be charging. I was so, so, so excited for this watch, thinking that it would be a sure-fire upgrade from that pesky ole' Apple Watch. It wasn't. If you have an Apple Watch, or any other watch for that matter, keep it. This watch has been a disappointment from the time I took it out of the box, and at every corner has continued to find new ways to disappoint. This watch isn't worth $50, much less $300. If you are looking to invest that much money in a watch, I highly recommend investing that money elsewhere. I kept this watch thinking "Maybe its just kinks that will work themselves out." Nope. But hey, the golf app is kinda cool if you play golf a lot. And the band is comfortable.

Compañero excelente para ejercitarte, GPS rápido y trabaja, informes en línea de varios parámetros muy adecuados y precisos, se enlaza muy bien con apps de ejercicios, la pila dura bastante (excepto si dejas pulsioximetría 24hs), la tienda garmin ofrece muchos accesorios, muchos sin costo, y otros a precios razonables, lo volveria a comprar sin dudarlo

Garmin rarely disappoints. Love it so much its always on me other than to shower and charge. Im quite paranoid with my battery life since I'm pretty active with my various workouts and steps, so i do give it a short quick charge when i shower in the morning. So far, battery drop by 30-40% for a 24-hour cycle. But i do use it for a lot of activity tracking.

Muy buen diseño, tamaño, correo evita que se caiga, buena duración de batería pero el GPS la consume muy rapido como ellos mismos advierten así que todo bien, en segunda mano como nuevo es muy muy buena opcion.

I received the watch with sealed box, but the watch is totally not working. Defective