When it comes to buying a fitness focussed smartwatch, Garmin is one of the go-to brands of choice thanks to its wide range of wrist-based devices at a number of price points for tracking walking, running and swimming, right up to triathlons and ultramarathons.If you’re after a smartwatch that can track your health stats with a concentration on running but also mobility, strength, yoga and Pilates - with a design that’s not as tech heavy as some other Garmins - then you might love the firm’s latest watch, the Garmin Vivoactive 6.The Vivoactive line is an alternative choice in Garmin’s range next to its Forerunner, Instinct, Venu and Fenix watches.The Vivoactive watches go for a more fashion-first approach to design, and I like the look of the Vivoactive 6 compared to some of the more military-esque Garmins out there.The watch comes in Black/Slate, Bone/Lunar Gold, Jasper Green and Pink Dawn colours and will cost £279.99 when it goes on sale on April 4.That price puts it in direct contention with the £289 Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, and I think the Vivoactive 6 could sway you if you were thinking of going for the Galaxy, or even an Apple Watch (the cheapest Apple Watch SE is £219).With built-in GPS it can track the routes of your runs, walks and cycles as well as the step and distance counts that are table stakes for all fitness trackers and smartwatches.
Unlike the Forerunner watches, you can’t send run routes to the Vivoactive 6, but otherwise is as fully featured as most casual runners will expect.It can provide daily suggested workouts for running and walking depending on your goals and includes “crucial running dynamics such as cadence, stride length and ground contact time, in addition to PacePro for grade-adjusted pacing guidance,” according to Garmin, which sounds good enough to me.On top of that there are more than 80 preloaded sports and activities the watch can track, and you can use the Garmin Connect app for iPhone or Android to download detailed workouts for several activities, too.There’s also a dedicated mode for wheelchair users.It’s a shame though that Garmin has not endowed the Vivoactive 6 with its latest Elevate gen-5 sensor array on the back, instead opting for the gen-4 version.This means the Vivoactive 6 cannot take an ECG reading, something the latest Galaxy Watch and Apple Watch models can all do.That doesn’t mean the heart rate sensor is under-utilised though, as the watch can track heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV), which combined enables better sleep and women’s health tracking metrics, as well as sleep coach and Body Battery tools that can let you know if you’ve got enough rest or are recovered enough to drop into today’s HIIT session.Garmin: Users report issues with servers across Europe SUBSCRIBE Invalid emailWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you.
This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding.You can unsubscribe at any time.Read our Privacy PolicyNotably, Garmin says the Vivoactive 6 can survive up to 11 days on a single charge, a stat that, if accurate, wipes the floor with the latest Galaxy Watch and Apple Watch models.
Picking a sports watch that lacks things like a third party app ecosystem often results in wildly better battery life.I often tire of wearing a Galaxy Watch, Apple Watch or Google Pixel Watch when I review them because charging your watch every day is ridiculous.That said, you’ll be able to receive notifications from your apps no matter your phone, and Android users can reply to texts using the watch’s on-screen keyboard.You’ll also be able to pay contactless with Garmin Pay (if your bank is supported) and download songs and playlists direct to the watch to listen without your phone with Bluetooth headphones from Spotify, Amazon Music or Deezer.Garmin is also touting a new feature for the Vivoactive series called smart wake alarm.
The firm describes this as, “a new tool that looks at lighter sleep stages during a pre-selected window of time to gently wake users with a light vibration.Trending “Once awake, the morning report provides an overview of last night’s sleep, recovery insights, Body Battery, daily calendar and more.It also includes heart rate variability (HRV) status, an early indicator of overall wellness and how prepared the body is for the day ahead.
And now, users can customise the report even more with different themes, data and inspirational messages.”
