Garmin Vivoactive 3 watch

[satchmo]

This watch looks pretty nice from it's round face and touch sensitive stainless steel bezel.

The dealbreaker is the lack of music storage.

Still, I can't help but see this being a better fitness (not smart), watch than the Apple watch. It's starts at $299 so it's not cheap...but way cheaper than the Fenix line.

Third party companies like Garmin, should be able to update their software to work with notifications with the latest iOS for many years down the road.

My fear with an Apple watch is that it becomes obsolete if your iPhone gets too old to run the latest watch OS.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/571520

 

[spinedoc77]

Looks interesting, but doesn't seem to be android wear, although I couldn't find it on the specs and I might be wrong. I don't want another proprietary watch with limited apps.

 

[satchmo]

It is indeed Garmin's proprietary OS.

I'm not fussed about too many apps if I'm using this primarily as a fitness watch.
Either just use Garmin Connect and I believe it connects to Strava accounts.

 

[nutriousmitten]

I have a Forerunner 935. Same notifications your phone gets. Not actionable, yet, but the notification is enough for me to go check my phone if I want or am able to (ie driving)

Plus a ton more of activities (golf,skiing,workouts), fully customizable as far as each activity, a comprehensive set of data and information on your activity, sleep tracking,recovery, etc ,all displayed on a very good mobile. Support for external sensors such as heart rate chest bands, footpods, power meters for cycling. Fully waterproof. Garmin been doing this a while, and software updates are every few months.

Really two different watches then any smart watch. Oh and 10 day or more battery life. Garmin Pay coming too. Don’t think I’d have much use for any apps on a watch yet that I could ditch a phone for, for running or cycling I carry an old Android or a IPhone 5 for music and Nike Plus (which I’ve had for 10 y now). I’ve tried and AW and an S3 and the neat and cool factor wore off before the return period was up and many of the apps, while cool to test, in the end didn’t defeat the need for a phone or was it was just easier to pull out the phone. Charging was annoying too.

To each their own.

 

[ozaz]

Oh and 10 day or more battery life.

Is this with or without 24/7 continuous heart rate monitoring?

If the former, can you turn off continuous heart rate monitoring to achieve even better battery life?

If the latter, how streamlined is the process of only using heart rate monitoring during workouts?
For example, is it the case that when you start a workout heart rate monitoring automatically switches itself on and then automatically switches itself off at the end of a workout?
Or do you have to delve deep into settings menus to turn on heart rate monitoring and then remember to manually turn it off at the end of the workout if you don't want 24-7 monitoring?

 

[satchmo]

Don’t think I’d have much use for any apps on a watch yet that I could ditch a phone for, for running or cycling I carry an old Android or a IPhone 5 for music and Nike Plus (which I’ve had for 10 y now). I’ve tried and AW and an S3 and the neat and cool factor wore off before the return period was up and many of the apps, while cool to test, in the end didn’t defeat the need for a phone or was it was just easier to pull out the phone. Charging was annoying too.

To each their own.

Music is key for me and I'm not a fan of carrying a heavy phone when I run.

Although I've considered picking up a lighter device like the iPod nano and pairing it to wireless Bluetooth headphones.

So disappointed Garmin hasn't added music features. Otherwise this would have been the perfect runners watch.

 

[nutriousmitten]

Music is key for me and I'm not a fan of carrying a heavy phone when I run.

Although I've considered picking up a lighter device like the iPod nano and pairing it to wireless Bluetooth headphones.

So disappointed Garmin hasn't added music features. Otherwise this would have been the perfect runners watch.

I used a Nano for years. But a smaller Android, or IP5 is fine for me too for music and for GPS before having a dedicated watch when outside. Bluetooth headphones so it just fits in my pocket. The watch can control your phones music playback, but yeah, no storage.

Is this with or without 24/7 continuous heart rate monitoring?

If the former, can you turn off continuous heart rate monitoring to achieve even better battery life?

If the latter, how streamlined is the process of only using heart rate monitoring during workouts?
For example, is it the case that when you start a workout heart rate monitoring automatically switches itself on and then automatically switches itself off at the end of a workout?
Or do you have to delve deep into settings menus to turn on heart rate monitoring and then remember to manually turn it off at the end of the workout if you don't want 24-7 monitoring?

It’s with continuous heart rate monitoring. Yes you can turn it off. Toggle is off or auto. I’d have to check to see if it kicks in when you formally start an activity on the watch if you have it off otherwise.

But, it’s not that deep in the menu to turn off, and you can set hotkeys and combos for commonly used actions so you don’t have to go three menus deep. But the menu system is intuitive.

GPS, unsurprisingly, is the one that takes more battery. It certainly is activated by formally starting an activity. An outdoor walk it will turn on, an indoor treadmill walk it won’t. You can adjust that too, by activity, and it has 5s or 1s monitoring too (I think I have those numbers right). But, two 40 min outdoor runs, and 4 20 min activity walks in a week, and 9 holes of golf with gps, and on the rest of the time for sleep and steps, with notifications on, I was at 8% left after 9 days. Drop a couple gps events and would easily make it to 12days.

 

[satchmo]

I'm having a long hard look at whether the Apple Watch is suitable, given the lack of a podcast app, and disappearance of iTunes library on AW.

Maybe it's the Nano/BT route...and a fitness only watch, like this Garmin.