vívoactive 5 GPS Smartwatch, AMOLED Touchscreen

I bought the Garmin Vivoactive 5 because I had been making my own running plans for a while but felt like I had stopped improving. My goal was to eventually run a 10k in under an hour, but I was struggling to make consistent progress. Another reason I bought it was because I hated running with my phone. I needed it for music, running feedback and payments, but I could never find a comfortable way to carry it. After only a couple of weeks with the Vivoactive 5, I can honestly say I am enjoying running more than ever. The biggest improvement for me has been pacing. I always had a habit of starting too fast without realising it, using up too much energy at the beginning and struggling later in the run. This watch has completely changed that. It keeps me at the right pace and warns me if I am going too fast or too slow. I am currently using Garmin Coach for a 10k training plan and it has been excellent. The runs feel realistic and achievable, but they still push me slightly more each time. It gives you a mixture of easier runs and faster sessions like sprints to build endurance and speed. After each run it asks how you felt and how difficult the session was, which makes the training feel more personalised. The running feedback is probably my favourite feature. The watch vibrates on your wrist and also gives audio feedback through my AirPods, so I don’t need to constantly look at the screen while running. The display is beautiful. It looks modern, feels premium and is easy to read. The watch itself is very comfortable and lightweight. The only small issue is that after a sweaty run the strap can become slightly itchy, although I think a different strap would probably solve this. One of the best things is being able to leave my phone at home. I have Spotify directly on the watch, which means I can run without carrying anything else. The only downside is that the music quality is not quite as crisp as using an iPhone, but for running it is still more than good enough. Garmin Pay is also a nice feature. It does not support as many cards as Apple Pay, but I use it with Revolut and it works well. The battery life is amazing. Coming from an Apple Watch, the difference is huge. After a full run the battery barely seems to move. It is so refreshing not having to constantly think about charging. The setup was very easy. Everything connected smoothly with my iPhone, and syncing between the watch and Garmin Connect works really well. You do not need your phone connected during your run, which is a big advantage. I have not explored every health feature yet, but I have tried the sleep tracking and it is a nice extra. The watch has many other features that I have not fully tested yet. There are a few downsides: Spotify only allows you to download playlists, not individual songs or albums. Downloading Spotify playlists seems to use a lot of battery. The sound quality is good enough but not as good as an iPhone. Garmin Pay supports fewer cards than Apple Pay. There are no full maps or live directions. It tracks your route with GPS and you can view where you ran afterwards on your phone, but it does not give turn-by-turn navigation. Overall, I think this is an excellent watch for someone who wants to improve their running. You set your goal, choose how much you want to run and by when, and Garmin creates a realistic training plan for you. If you want a watch that helps you become a better runner, gives you feedback and removes distractions, this is fantastic. The beautiful display and excellent battery life make it even better, especially considering the price. 5 stars from me.

I've had this watch now for 3 days, and so far I am very happy. Look and feel - it is relatively small and comfortable to wear - I've been looking at Garmin watches for a while, but not ordered because I was worried they would be too heavy and bulky (my wrist is 140mm/5.5inch around). It is a little bulky, but very light, and with a smaller strap (not the one included with the watch) it fits my wrist pretty well. I have been able to sleep with it for 3 nights without feeling uncomfortable. It does feel a bit... cheap and plasticky, but I guess that is why it's so light, so I will take that over a heavier stainless steal model. It *IS* also relatively cheap, compared to the heavier models. Battery time is great - I've used it for 2.5 days / 60 hours since last charge, and it is down to 67%. This has been pretty heavy use (setting up, chancing screen layouts, learning how to use the watch, a couple of workouts etc, with all sensors and features switched on), so I expect it to last even longer with "normal" use. Gesture to see time works well - I wear the watch face on the inside of the wrist, and I've had problems in the past with smart watches not understanding the gesture when I turn my wrist to see the time - I had to manually press a button for the watch face to light up or use the always on feature. Responsiveness - I find the screen a little less responsive than other smart watches. There is a small delay between button/screen press and screen update. It's not too laggy, so I can live with it. But when I just want to see the time and the screen comes on automatically, there is that small delay that makes me almost go for the button before it comes on. Still better than actually having to press the button, like I did on other watches. Easy to set up - it was very easy and quick to set up and connect it to my phone and wifi. Connectivity to phone - the app doesn't seem to sync/update until you open it, which is a little bit annoying for me as I use the step count to connect to many other apps, but at the same time I guess it preserves phone battery, so I'm ok with having to open the app to update step count. Watch interface and app is well documented - I do not find the watch or the app very intuitive/easy to use, but so far I have managed to find everything I wanted quickly by searching it or asking AI. Very customisable - I've been able to make my own watch face the way it suits me, and change many settings to what works for me. More customisable than other brand smart watches I've had in the past. Screen size - the screen is quite small, and there is a wide, black frame around what is ACTUALLY the screen. This is not noticeable until you change the background to something other than black. I guess the smaller screen is what you trade in return for battery life and weight. Brightness of the screen - I've had no problems seeing the screen outdoors, and at night there is a red light mode to make it less bright. I don't think that comes on automatically - you have to switch it on manually. Waterproof - this is the one feature I really wanted, and I haven't tested it yet. My previous 3 smart watches (FitBit Versa 2, 3 & 4) were NOT waterproof even though they claimed to be, so I am really hoping to actually be able to swim with this one. I will update in April, once I've been swimming in the sea. App/subscription - the app is FREE, and you don't have to pay for any of the features (you can buy watch faces if you want). Overall - so far this is the winner out of the 3 brands of smart watches I've tried.

Review after <1 week of use. For background, my fitness routine is currently weights training around 1 hour 2 times per week and occasionally a 1-2 hour casual walk at the weekend. I wanted a smart watch that could track my overall health, fitness and my workouts, but not something with crazy accurate GPS and gate analysis etc for runners. For my use, it’s perfect so far. Mostly easy to setup using the Garmin Connect app, and found a good watch face that matched the info I wanted displayed using the Garmin Connect IQ app which is a separate app that you can use to customise the watch and the data it displays. Slightly annoying there’s a second app for this but not the end of the world for something that once you set up you may not change for a while. One barrier to updating the watch face is that the watch needed a firmware update as most tech does, but to do this update I had to connect to my laptop and download the Garmin Express software, there were a few updates to run but all was easy. The charging cable is USB C, so consider if you need an adaptor. The end that attaches to the watch is secure. Extremely secure. It fit so well that when I unplug it I’m worried that I’m going to cause damage because of how hard I have to pull it. I guess I’d rather it was tight than loose and didn’t charge well. I’ve turned off the always on display and turned off gestures so that the watch doesnt light up when I turn my wrist in order to preserve battery longer. I just have to tap the screen or press a button the activate the screen. On full charge it said on screen the battery would last 12d, that seems to be tracking accurately 4 days later. One small annoyance I have is the “play” in the side buttons. You can press them in but not enough to actually activate the click which is frustrating. I’m used to it now and just have to be more firm, but it would be nice to have more responsive buttons. The watch tracks your calories burned during the day and during activity, this needs to be calibrated by tracking a 10-15 minute walk or run which is easy to do. The Garmin Connect app can link to apps like MyFitnessPal so when I’ve done activity it’ll update my calories in MyFitnessPal so I can see my deficit easily. The watch sleep tracking I’m not convinced on accuracy yet, last night for instance it thought I fell asleep an hour after I actually did. Overall great watch I’d highly recommend, it has many inbuilt workout routines & sports tracking I’ll never use but it doesn’t feel I’m missing out of functionality. It does exactly what I’m asking of it brilliantly

I’ve been using the Garmin Vivoactive 5 for around 4 months now and have really enjoyed it. I previously had an Apple Watch, and the biggest difference for me is the battery life. The Garmin easily lasts around 4–5 days for me, even with frequent use of the workout features and regular syncing. I do think it would last even longer if syncing was done less often. In comparison, my Apple Watch battery would rarely last overnight and sometimes needed charging by early evening if I’d used it a lot during the day. The improved battery life on the Garmin has made a big difference to my daily routine. The Vivoactive is also a more simplified version of the Garmin range, with fewer advanced workout options than some of the higher-end models. However, it still has everything I personally need. I’m not an athlete, I just like going to the gym, so I mainly use it for tracking workouts, steps, and sleep. One feature I really love is the Body Battery function, which has been especially useful postpartum. It uses sleep, stress, and activity data to estimate your energy levels and recovery needs, which has helped me better understand when I should push myself or take it easier. The main downside is that you can’t reply to messages or answer calls directly from the watch like you can with an Apple Watch. However, I see the Garmin more as a dedicated health and fitness watch, whereas the Apple Watch is more of an all-round smart device. Overall, I’ve really enjoyed using the Vivoactive 5 for fitness tracking, and the long battery life and recovery insights make it far more convenient for everyday use.

Excellent watch, I was in two minds to getting this watch as I have had my Apple Watch for some years. The battery life is amazing, I only have to charge my watch once every two weeks and that’s going to the gym on a daily basis and walking around 16000 steps a day. I was fed up of charging my Apple Watch daily. The amount of exercise tracking apps is unreal and the watch face is easily customised. I can confidently say I will never go back to an Apple Watch. The watch is very comfortable and the strap is nice. I would highly recommend this watch

I had been looking to switch from Fitbit for a while and did quite a bit of research. I finally settled on the Garmin Vivoactive 5 and I am really happy with my purchase. I've been using it for about 4 weeks now so I think it is a good time to review. I chose lilac (it was the prime day sale option haha) but I really like it. The watch is lightweight and the strap comfortable. It's long so should fit most wrists. I have had skin irritation from other watches in the past - so far so good with this one. I will confess I haven't detached the straps yet so no idea if this is faff free or not. The watch itself is easy to use - although I would definitely recommend googling and looking up the manual online! Made life a lot easier, particularly for strength workouts as you need to input each exercise as you do it. A bit of a faff at the time but I am used to it now and it's worth it to get the detailed information at the end. You can easily access your steps, active minutes, sleep data and body battery from the home screen. Watch battery seems to be good - although I do tend to charge most mornings when I get ready. It's now lunchtime and the battery level has dropped 2%. As a guess I reckon I would get 4-5 days without charging including tracking workouts every day. The Garmin Connect app provides such detailed information - I was actually quite surprised given what you get with Fitbit (unless you sign up to premium). The body battery is great and really useful, as well as the training hours for recovery. You also get in depth sleep analysis as well as the usual heart rate, HRV etc. This data is all standard with Garmin and one of the main drivers for me finally ditching my Fitbit. You can also edit workouts, so for example on a strength workout you track your sets as you do them, but then you can go in the app after and put in the actual exercises. You can also input distance for indoor cycling and get your avg speed etc. Very helpful. Overall I think this watch is excellent value for what you get from it. To really get the most out of it you need to input the extra data but if you're happy to do that it's a no brainer.

I purchased this watch from a different supplier and had to return it as the battery life was shocking. Wouldn't even last 24 hours. I liked it so much I decided to give it another try and am so far pleasantly surprised. Happy camper

Had the vivo active 3 and went for this one for my upgrade, disappointed to find the altimeter for stair count isn’t in this one but overall a great watch, has many features the other brands do, comfortable to wear and have been swimming a lot with it on and it works perfectly, from tracking swims to heart rate monitoring. If you want an all round physical activity/day to day watch without paying a fortune, I would definitely recommend! Would have been 5* if not for the removal of the stair count tracker.

Opinie piszę po około 3 tygodniach od zakupu, więc zdążyłem już dobrze zapoznać się z zegarkiem. Produkt jest rewelacyjny i spełnia moje wszystkie oczekiwania, a nawet więcej. Świetne wykonanie, zegarek jest lekki, a pasek bardzo miękki, dzięki czemu praktycznie nie czuć go na ręce. Rewelacyjny wyświetlacz, na którym wszystko idealnie widać nawet w pełnym słońcu. Przy ciągłym pomiarze tętna, włączonych powiadomieniach ze smartfona, rejestracji kilku aktywności i dokonywaniu nim kilku płatności dziennie, zegarek wytrzymuje na jednym ładowaniu 7 pełnych dób i zazwyczaj jeszcze jest około 20-30% baterii. Jak dla mnie wynik rewelacyjny. Świetne modyfikowalne tarcze, które możemy za darmo pobrać ze sklepu Connect IQ. Zegarek sprawdzi się w przypadku osoby która chce mieć nieduży i lekki zegarek z płatnościami zbliżeniowymi, z ciągłym monitorowaniem stanu zdrowia i rejestrowaniem aktywności. Oczywiście dla wyczynowych sportowców Garmin ma lepsze urządzenia, jednak dla amatorów jest to bardzo dobry wybór.

I’ve been using the watch for a while now. It’s amazing and well worth the price. Highly recommend

So far good. Size just nice not too big or too small. comfortable to wear all day in and out. For health enthusiasts. Sufficient data work as it is. Not too many unwanted features which could confuse and hard to navigate around. My second simply watch for health tracking purposes

Good product.

Beautiful, lightweight and comfortable. Battery lasts up to a week if not using it for phone calls and text messages. We got it for our Mom and she loves it. Highly recommended.