I connect it to Garmin Heart rate monitor during my strength training, and I am very happy with the results I get, which by the way only costs $20. Heart rate: I like the fact that it can connect to external ANT+ chest strap for accurate heart rate monitoring during exercises in which wrist heart rate monitors are not that reliable. Three things I want to mention on accuracy though. If you want to varify its accuracy, there are plenty of you tube videos, and based on all reputable sources data you get is fairly accurate. It reminds you when the red bar of inactivity reaches halfway and then again when it reaches all the way. I like the way I can look at it and tell how long I have been inactive.

You get usual matrices like daily steps count, active and inactive calories, floors count, heart rate data and then some extras like weekly intensity minutes, VO2 Max, Fitness age, Stress level etc. It does everything fitbit and other smart watches do and lot more. My most favorite part of all is being able to see what heart rate zone I am training in during my exercise. The amount of detailed data you get on your workouts is well worth it. When it comes to fitness, I like everything about Vivoactive 3. Now I will get to more important part of the watch, and that is fitness. The only issue I have found is with phone call notifications, where notification persists even after I pickup or decline a call directly on my phone, but other than that it works perfectly fine. Just to clarify I have connected it to my Pixel 2 XL, and I have no connection issues. I only keep text and phone call notifications on, and may be couple other important apps to avoid constant vibrations on my wrist. It notifies me for the applications I have selected in Garmin connect app on my phone. It does what it supposed to do as a smart watch. Let's get less important things out of the way first, and that is its smart features. I like it even better than other high resolution displays for its positive impact on battery life. On paper its display is inferior to Apple watch, Fitbit Ionic and other wear os watches (formerly Android Wear) in Pixel density and colors, but don't let it stop you from buying Vivoactive 3 as its diplay is perfectly fine and always on display more than makes up for its other shortcomings. Outdoor visibility of its display is great and definitely better than other OLED displays due to its specific display technology. Its always on display is a huge positive compared to Fitbit and apple watch. Display has good enough clarify for a watch. Garmin Vivoactive 3 is exactly what I am looking for in a smart watch/fitness watch, and more importantly it looks and feels stylish in its classic circular form and light weight design.īefore I talk about its smart and fitness features, I will briefly talk about its display.

Garmin vivoactive