Garmin Vivosmart HR – advanced fitness band with always-on heart rate monitor
Don’t let the monochrome band put you off, the Vivosmart HR is an advanced, sleek, feature-packed fitness band with touch interface.
Garmin Vivosmart HR
Smart Activity Tracker with Always-on Wrist Based Heart Rate Monitor
One of the biggest failings of the fitness bands and smart watches is the short battery life. Garmin overcomes this by using a monochrome screen but do not let that put you off, if functionality is what you are after, the Garmin Vivosmart HR has everything going for it.
Choosing monochrome screen over bright coloured ones meant the band keeps you going for four to five days before needing to find a wall plug to charge it up and that is with the heart rate sensor enabled. This is miles ahead of its competitors, some lasting only 1 to 1.5 days.
To extend the battery life even further, turn off the always-on function for heart rate sensor and see that the fitness band last for a further two more days, making a total of up to 7 days battery life.
Apart from the touch screen, it has a physical button that lets you easily change the settings on the band. Use this and the touch screen to set alarm, enable Bluetooth, set call volume, check battery level, sync or acesss mobile app with ease.
When enabled the heart rate sensor scans your wrist periodically without the need to trigger it constantly. Should you need to measure your heart rate at any point in time, you can still do this manually and get instant result.
To get an overview of your heart rate, tapping the display panel shows heart rate chart from the last four hours. Use the Garmin Connect mobile app allows you to sync the information and lets you see even more data.
Other parameters displayable on screen include floors climbed, workout intensity, weather and temperature. The intensity minutes tracker show moderate and vigorous activities in the week.
For those new to intensity minutes, the parameter is used by World Health Organisation, which recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity workout per week.
SPECIFICATIONS: Monochrome touchscreen displays daily step count, distance travelled, calorie burn, heart rate, intensity minutes, weather and temperature. Notifications when linked to a smartphone.
OTHER FEATURES: Bluetooth sync, water resistant up to 50m, physical button
DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT: 136-187 x 21 x 12.3mm, 29.6 grams
COLOURS: Midnight Blue, Imperial Purple, Black
PROS:
- Robust heart rate sensor
- Long battery life
- Water resistant
- Touchscreen and physical button
CONS:
- Monochrome screen
- Heart rate sensor protrudes out
