Garmin Vivoactive 3

Competition is competition, and leaving some wiggle room for your most direct competitors means falling one step behind them. So just days after the announcement of Fitbit Ionic and Fitbit Pay, Garmin unveiled the Vivoactive 3, which features a new mobile payment technology called Garmin Pay. The new Garmin Vivoactive 3 looks to be the most premium watch Garmin has ever created and comes with some new features that make it worthy of the sports brand's name.

The Garmin Vivoactive 3 has everything you might expect from a high-end smartwatch. It has all the usual elements, including fitness tracking via GPS, an optical heart rate sensor and basic smart notifications. It also offers the benefit of extreme battery life, guided workouts and mobile payments.

Lighter and thinner design

The Garmin Vivoactive 3 is thinner, lighter and overall a better looking watch than previous models. It's made of metal with a snug, comfortable strap that won't fly off when you're working out.

The body itself has a premium feel. There are two versions of the Vivoactive 3. The more expensive version has a darker gray bezel and a buckle strap. It looks better than the other version, but we're not sure if it's worth all that extra money. The watch is also water resistant, so it can be worn during swimming sessions or in the shower.

Whichever option you choose, the bezel is quite small, leaving plenty of room for the display. The screen might seem a bit dull at first, but it presents a great ease of scrolling through the menus. Certainly intuitive, and it is a responsive touchscreen. The screen is also color, which means you can have a more personalized touch on the different views of the watch and the apps you use.

Connectivity and multisport functions

It is possible to pair the watch with your smartphone, you can receive, and even reply to text messages and also view social media updates, emails. All directly from the wrist. It provides the option to find your phone, access music controls, your friends will get real-time notifications of your workouts. Completed activities will be automatically uploaded to the Garmin Connect online fitness community.

The Garmin Vivoactive 3 incorporates multiple fitness technologies so it can be used for a wide variety of physical activities. It is also suitable for running, as it has built-in GPS, as well as swimming, gym workouts, cycling, golf and more. Even yoga workouts can be performed.

Another plus point is that the interface facilitates and motivates the start of training. Not to mention that the Garmin Vivoactive 3 also brings with it a heart rate monitor from the wrist (optical sensor) to control at all times the heart rate, and thus condition the training to the needs of each athlete. This heart rate monitor appears on the back of the device, and measures the pulse from the wrist.

Garmin Pay, its practical novelty

On the other hand, the Garmin Vivoactive 3 is a pioneering smartwatch, because, for the first time, the American firm includes the innovative Garmin Pay system, which allows mobile payments.

It works in a similar way to Android Pay or Apple Pay, which means you can pay for your purchases from the watch itself by bringing it close to the payment box. Although, at the moment, it is an option that Garmin has to develop further, because not all banks contemplate this possibility.

In addition, and unlike many other devices that call themselves smartwatches, the Vivoactive 3 has a battery life that undoubtedly makes it a leader in its class. In a world where so many watches last less than two days on a charge, the fact that the Garmin Vivoactive 3 lasts seven days is a very important consideration when making a final purchase decision. You can even get 13 hours of GPS usage in a single session, a vast improvement on the kind of figures seen on the Apple Watch and AndroidWear devices.

Garmin Vivoactive 3 technical specifications.

• Non-replaceable lithium-ion battery, battery life of up to 8 days and 13 hours.

• Wrist-based heart rate.

• Activity tracking / sleep monitoring, floors climbed, intensity minutes, personalized daily step goal.

• All-day stress tracking, VO2max / fitness age.

• Alarm, automatic wireless sync.

• Garmin Chroma display with touch function, side swipe interface.

• Smart notifications, vibration alerts, find my phone, find my device.

• VIRB remote action camera, music player controls.

• MoveIQ function, running, golf, cycling, swimming, skiing, rowing, padpaddle built-in, downloadable workouts (running, cycling, strength and cardio).

• Connect IQ support, ANT+ sensor support, BLE sensor support, Garmin Pay payment service.

• Swimming; 5 ATM water rating.

• Dimensions: 17 " x 17" x 05 " (43.4 x 43.4 x 117 mm).

• Weight: 15 oz (43.0 g).