As the US Black Friday season approaches, Garmin's popular Vivoactive 5 smartwatch has received a significant price reduction, making it an attractive option for those looking to enter the Garmin ecosystem. The fitness-focused smartwatch, which normally retails for $299.99, is now available for $199.99, representing a substantial $100 discount.
Design and Display
The Garmin Vivoactive 5 features a premium 42mm design with an aluminum bezel and a durable Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The device sports a vibrant 1.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen with a 390 x 390-pixel resolution, ensuring excellent visibility for all your fitness metrics and notifications. The build quality includes 5ATM water resistance, making it suitable for swimming and water-based activities up to 164 feet.
Battery Life and Performance
While Garmin claims an impressive 11-day battery life, real-world testing reveals a more realistic eight-day duration with moderate use, including two to three weekly workouts and GPS activation. This still represents excellent longevity compared to many competitors in the smartwatch market, especially considering the power-hungry AMOLED display.
Fitness and Health Features
The Vivoactive 5 stands out with its comprehensive health tracking capabilities, including blood oxygen monitoring, heart rate tracking, menstruation tracking, and advanced sleep analysis with automatic nap detection. The device offers over 30 preloaded activity modes and unique features like wheelchair mode for specialized tracking. Unlike some competitors who lock premium features behind subscriptions, Garmin provides all features free of charge through their Connect app.
Smart Features and Connectivity
Beyond fitness tracking, the watch offers robust smartwatch functionality including Garmin Pay for contactless payments, music storage for offline listening, and smartphone notifications. While both iOS and Android users can receive notifications, only Android users can reply directly from the watch.
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| A Garmin smartwatch showcasing various smartwatch functionalities including activity suggestions and settings |
Value Proposition
At its discounted price of $199.99, the Vivoactive 5 presents an excellent entry point into Garmin's ecosystem, especially for users seeking a balance between fitness tracking and smartwatch features. While it lacks some specialized features like barometric altimeter and on-screen workout animations found in other Garmin models, its comprehensive feature set and free access to all functions make it a compelling choice for fitness enthusiasts.