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Garmin Vivoactive 3 GPS Watch

GarminVivoactive 3 GPS Watch(Return to Product Page)

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(8 customer reviews)
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User submitted reviews

Review by TCWriter

A design flaw and warranty problems make me wish I'd bought something else
by TCWriter
Cycling Enthusiast
Northern California
3 of 3 customers found this review helpful.

I bought the Vivoactive 3 to replace my original Vivoactive, which was clunky but worked. The interface on the V3 is nicer and the V3 is skinnier. At first I liked it.

Unfortunately, Garmin put the only button on the watch at the 300 position, so several times while on a ride the velcro fasteners on my cycling gloves have inadvertently paused the watch, which then stops tracking. I don't think a runner would have a problem, but if you look at most of Garmin's other sports activity watches, the buttons are more like 100 and 400.

If this was the only problem I could live with it. You can use the settings on the watch to basically turn the watch upside down (the button is then at the 900 position and pointing away from your gloves), but then you're putting the watchband on backwards all the time.

My Vivoactive 3 is also suffering from some kind of problem with the barometeraltimeter - it under-reported the altitude gain on a recent bike ride by more than 500 feet, and told me I climbed 120 flights of stairs in one day.

Sadly, Garmin's warranty service is not stellar. I have to ship it back at my expense. Once they receive it I wait another 10-14 days to get a watch back. Even worse, they're out of stock on my watch, so I might end up waiting several additional weeks for it to restock. That means I'll be without my almost-new Vivoactive 3 for 3-7 weeks. And this when I'm starting a pretty significant training block.

This isn't a terrible watch, but for cyclists there is an irritating design flaw. Add that to the problems getting my defective watch warrantied in a timely manner and I'm sorry I bought it. I would look hard at Garmin's other watches (with properly placed buttons) or maybe just switch to another brand.

Reviewed 8/23/2018
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Review by Trikpark

Winner winner chicken dinner!
by Trikpark
Competitive Racer
Chardon, Oh

Vivoactive 3 is a great light weight activity tracker that looks like a daily watch but packs in so much more. Controls my Iphone music, monitors daily activity, and can be used as a Running GPS in a pinch. Really like the band. A much softer touch than previous Garmin watches. So comfortable to wear that you almost forget it's there. Haven't used the Garmin Pay feature yet, but I intend to soon.

Reviewed 10/25/2018
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Review by peejayemm

Excellent, but not without its quirks
by peejayemm
Cycling Enthusiast
Harstine Island, WA

My Fitbit died and their customer service was no help at all, so I went looking elsewhere for a replacement. I have an Edge 1000 for my bike, so mostly use this to track dog walks and general exercise.

It is more stingy than the Fitbit in terms of giving me credit especially for converting hills to flights of stairs, but it's consistent and I can't complain about that.

The touch screen is very sensitive so will often be deep into various screens when I wake up from the night, but again not a big deal.

I did replace the band with a metal one that looks better at the office.

Reviewed 7/2/2018
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Review by CE

Excellent Garmin everyday device
by CE
Cycling Enthusiast
Indiana

I wear the Vivoactive 3 247. I use it to record my lap swimming. It uploads to my phone as soon as I walk up to my gym locker. I like that I can use it as a regular watch for everyday use too. The watch face I use is large and easy to read. I still use my Garmin 820 for cycling because I can see the screen easier but the Vivoactive will do fine for recording a cycling activity.

Reviewed 7/2/2018
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Review by Anonymous

Great watch!
by Anonymous
Reno

Has everything I need to track my runs, walk, workouts etc. I bought 2 watches then I talked my mom and a friend to get one too! Love the touchscreen.

Reviewed 6/18/2018
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Review by cgrotz

Excellent activity monitor
by cgrotz
Chino Hills

This is the best activity monitor for the money. There are so many features, it is gps enabled and it supports several activities - bicycling, running, walking, etc. with distance, speedpace heart rate, distance. I primarily use the steps, stairs, heart rate functions, along with a stress measurement function. It also gives a pulse when you need to move, and it pulses for news updates, calendar updates (for meetings, and phone calls text messages. I have a garmin 820 for cycling and a gamin 620 for running, which provide more data, but this is a great device for tracking most activities. I love this device and dont take it off. Battery life is good - I usually get 4 days before charging but is dependent on activity usage which drops to 2-3 days.

Reviewed 2/5/2018
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Review by rcwhome

Great watch. Colors on the face not as vivid as Id prefer.
by rcwhome

Watch connects to everything. Easy to configure and use. Battery lasts for 3 days at least although I dont use GPS function - Im told that uses more battery. Heart rate is ok - usually within 10-15% of my chest strap which is about as good as wrist monitors get.

Reviewed 2/8/2018
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Review by rcwhome

Great watch. Colors on the face not as vivid as Id prefer.
by rcwhome

Watch connects to everything. Easy to configure and use. Battery lasts for 3 days at least although I dont use GPS function - Im told that uses more battery. Heart rate is ok - usually within 10-15% of my chest strap which is about as good as wrist monitors get.

Reviewed 2/9/2018
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