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Best Fitness/Sleep Tracker


jgm8

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All of the Garmin fitness trackers are waterproof.  I went snorkeling in my vivofit a few years ago.  I upgraded to my vivosmart and shower in it everyday (unfortunately haven't been back to the ocean, boo hoo). The vivofit has a year battery life and is great.  The vivosmart is rechargeable and it also does bluetooth smart notifications when you link it to your phone.  

 

I am very partial to Garmin, they are great. I have converted a lot of my friends to Garmin as well.  Many had Fitbits that crapped out on them and their Garmin devices are still going strong.

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All of the Garmin fitness trackers are waterproof.  I went snorkeling in my vivofit a few years ago.  I upgraded to my vivosmart and shower in it everyday (unfortunately haven't been back to the ocean, boo hoo). The vivofit has a year battery life and is great.  The vivosmart is rechargeable and it also does bluetooth smart notifications when you link it to your phone.  

 

I am very partial to Garmin, they are great. I have converted a lot of my friends to Garmin as well.  Many had Fitbits that crapped out on them and their Garmin devices are still going strong.

 

Do you have the Vivofit 2?  DW is interested in that one because of the year long battery life. Do you have the HR tracker with it?  She's also interested in the ability to track sleep patterns, and the Vivofit 2 doesn't really do so out of the box.

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I had the original vivofit before I switched to the vivosmart.  I did love the battery life and not having to charge it - and the vivofit 2 is even better because of the backlight which the original didn't have.  I was able to put the vivofit into sleep mode and then I could go into Garmin Connect and see my sleep patterns.  I don't think the vivofit 2 has lost that functionality and she still should be able to see that.  The vivofit 2 has some great band options which is also pretty sweet!

 

I prefer the devices that have the smart notifications though.  I often go out and practice with my daughter and I can leave my phone over on the sideline - however, my vivosmart will let me know any text messages I get and what they say and also will notify me when I am getting a phone call so if it is someone important (like a kid or my husband) I can run over and answer the phone (I often keep it on silent for work and forget to switch it over).

 

I actually now wear the vivoactive, lol.  I should give full disclosure...... I work for Garmin, lol.  I do love their products though, it just helps that I work there and get a discount. :)

Edited by nikkilugi
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But I didn't answer the heart rate question.... The only Garmin activity tracker that has the wrist based heart rate is the new vivosmart HR - which is only on sale at Best Buy until the new year.  There are new Forerunners that also have the wrist based heart rate as well.

 

You can pair an HRM strap with the devices though if your wife wanted to do that.  I use one with the Forerunners when I was running regularly and as long as you get the premium one it is pretty comfortable.  I wouldn't want to wear it all day though.

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I had the original vivofit before I switched to the vivosmart.  I did love the battery life and not having to charge it - and the vivofit 2 is even better because of the backlight which the original didn't have.  I was able to put the vivofit into sleep mode and then I could go into Garmin Connect and see my sleep patterns.  I don't think the vivofit 2 has lost that functionality and she still should be able to see that.  The vivofit 2 has some great band options which is also pretty sweet!

 

I prefer the devices that have the smart notifications though.  I often go out and practice with my daughter and I can leave my phone over on the sideline - however, my vivosmart will let me know any text messages I get and what they say and also will notify me when I am getting a phone call so if it is someone important (like a kid or my husband) I can run over and answer the phone (I often keep it on silent for work and forget to switch it over).

 

I actually now wear the vivoactive, lol.  I should give full disclosure...... I work for Garmin, lol.  I do love their products though, it just helps that I work there and get a discount. :)

 

I had the original vivofit before I switched to the vivosmart.  I did love the battery life and not having to charge it - and the vivofit 2 is even better because of the backlight which the original didn't have.  I was able to put the vivofit into sleep mode and then I could go into Garmin Connect and see my sleep patterns.  I don't think the vivofit 2 has lost that functionality and she still should be able to see that.  The vivofit 2 has some great band options which is also pretty sweet!

 

I prefer the devices that have the smart notifications though.  I often go out and practice with my daughter and I can leave my phone over on the sideline - however, my vivosmart will let me know any text messages I get and what they say and also will notify me when I am getting a phone call so if it is someone important (like a kid or my husband) I can run over and answer the phone (I often keep it on silent for work and forget to switch it over).

 

I actually now wear the vivoactive, lol.  I should give full disclosure...... I work for Garmin, lol.  I do love their products though, it just helps that I work there and get a discount. :)

Haha!  I figured there had to be some catch after you mentioned that you have used EVERY activity tracker ever released by Garmin.  I, too, am in support of Garmin, but nowhere near your dedication ;) 

 

But I didn't answer the heart rate question.... The only Garmin activity tracker that has the wrist based heart rate is the new vivosmart HR - which is only on sale at Best Buy until the new year.  There are new Forerunners that also have the wrist based heart rate as well.

 

You can pair an HRM strap with the devices though if your wife wanted to do that.  I use one with the Forerunners when I was running regularly and as long as you get the premium one it is pretty comfortable.  I wouldn't want to wear it all day though.

 

She has said she would never use the smart features on the vivosmart, but I do think if it were there, she would.  I saw that you can pair HR with the vivofit 2 and she'd consider doing that for workouts (not all day).  The only downfall of the vivosmart is that you do actually have to take it off and charge it.  I think that would be a pain to remember to take it off when you actually have the opportunity every 3-4 days...  I'm still torn and want to make the right decision on this.  Both have good deals on BF, too.

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Thank you for the info on the vivosmart hr Nikki! I do have a few more questions if you don't mind.... As for the water proof aspect, you mentioned snorkeling with it, does that mean I can wear it in the pool while swimming? Are there different sizes? My wrist is about 7 1/2 inches and I am not sure it that is considered large or not  :). My job requires me to sit for extended periods of time. Is there an option to turn off the alert that there has been no activity?

 

Thanks again!

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Haha!  I figured there had to be some catch after you mentioned that you have used EVERY activity tracker ever released by Garmin.  I, too, am in support of Garmin, but nowhere near your dedication ;)

 

 

She has said she would never use the smart features on the vivosmart, but I do think if it were there, she would.  I saw that you can pair HR with the vivofit 2 and she'd consider doing that for workouts (not all day).  The only downfall of the vivosmart is that you do actually have to take it off and charge it.  I think that would be a pain to remember to take it off when you actually have the opportunity every 3-4 days...  I'm still torn and want to make the right decision on this.  Both have good deals on BF, too.

There have been times it has died on me - not gonna lie, because I would just forget to take it off and charge it.  However, I would usually do one of two things, either take it off while at my desk at work and charge it for a couple of hours, or take it off at night and charge it overnight and then put it back on in the morning.  I didn't think the smart features would matter too much either, but then when I had them I realized that I really love them.  I am not super tied to my phone since I can see everything on my wrist.

 

 

Thank you for the info on the vivosmart hr Nikki! I do have a few more questions if you don't mind.... As for the water proof aspect, you mentioned snorkeling with it, does that mean I can wear it in the pool while swimming? Are there different sizes? My wrist is about 7 1/2 inches and I am not sure it that is considered large or not  :). My job requires me to sit for extended periods of time. Is there an option to turn off the alert that there has been no activity?

 

Thanks again!

 

Yes you can wear it while swimming - no problem.

 

There are different sizes - there is a small and a large.  I, personally, like my watches a little loose so I went with the large.  The small would have fit me but it would have been on like the last hole and I just didn't like that I wouldn't be able to loosen it up more if I wanted to.  The large still has the different holes to adjust the fit and it works great for me.  

 

I don't think you can turn off the alert, however, it is not audible it is a vibration alert and once it goes off it won't just keep going off.  But it will know how long you were inactive and once you do start moving you will have to move a little more to clear that bar.

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I am looking for a recahrgable fitness tracker that can be used while swimming... I am also hoping to find one that tracks sleeping habits.

 

Thanks in Advance for any advise!

 

Jenna

 

Maybe not for you, but Wife v1.0 does a great job.  Recharges while I am at work, Waterproof (as far as I can tell).  Tracks AND manages sleeping habits.  Pretty expensive, though...

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