When we reviewed Garmin’s original Vívofit fitness tracker, we were impressed with everything it did. We loved that way it automatically adjusted the daily step goals to encourage us to be more successful, and liked the way the “move bar” kept track of how long we’d been sitting, and let us know it us to get up and move. The only complaints we had were about what it didn’t do: It didn’t vibrate to cue us to move or wake us up in the morning, and the display didn’t light up for viewing our stats at night.
Today, Garmin announced a newer, smarter version of its popular Vívofit fitness tracker that solves both of those problems and then some. The new fitness band, called the Vívosmart, does everything the first-generation Vívofit did and more. In addition to displaying the time and date, steps taken, distance traveled, and calories burned, the Vívosmart can receive and display smart notifications when paired with a compatible smartphone. Wearers can be alerted to incoming phone calls, text and email messages, and upcoming calendar events all on the wrist. More importantly, Garmin also added a vibration alarm and used an OLED touchscreen display that can be viewed anytime of the day or night. It also resists water to 5 atms, or about 50 meters.
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Like the original Vívofit, the Vívosmart will automatically sync with the Garmin Connect Mobile app and track heart rate when paired with a heart-rate monitor. It also tracks sleep and displays how long and how well a wearer rested. But from there the Vívosmart leaves the old sibling far behind. For cyclists, the Vívosmart can display bike speed when paired with the proper sensor. It also offers control over the music player on the connected smartphone. And for users who also own one of Garmin’s Virb action cams, the Vívosmart can act as a remote control to start and stop video recording or to capture a still image. Which could come in pretty handy if the camera is mounted on the top of a helmet, or in some other hard-to-reach spot. The Vívosmart can even help with finding a misplaced smartphone. With a simply tap on the phone icon the Vívosmart will send a message to the phone and make it vibrate and ring to give up the phone’s location.
We’re hoping to review the Vívosmart soon, but from what we’ve seen it looks like Garmin has listened to user feedback and taken steps to make a good fitness-tracking band great.
The Garmin Vívosmart, which ships later this month come in two sizes and three colors (berry, blue, and black) will retail for $170, or $200 bundled with a heart rate monitor.
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