Garmin has long been a fixture in GPS watches, whether for golf, tactical operations, or any other application. As such, it’s no surprise they’re now looking to expand their wearable tech into the fitness tracking space, which they’re doing with the just-announced Garmin Vivosmart.
Combining both fitness trackers and smartwatch features, the wristband will both track your vitals and receive phone notifications, giving it a leg up over other products in the market. While you can’t respond to messages like you could with Android Wear devices, it does make for a great way to stay on top of things without having to keep your phone out the entire time.
For fitness tracking, the Garmin Vivosmart will monitor steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, heart rate, sleep patterns, and other vitals, all while nudging you to keep active throughout the duration of the day (if you’ve been sitting for an entire hour, for instance, it will prompt you to walk for a couple of minutes). It can also display the time like a regular watch, as well as wake you up with a gentle vibration first thing in the morning. A tap on the band will switch on the embedded OLED display, immediately showing you real-time stats of your fitness readings.
For phone notifications, it will automatically display all calls, SMS, and emails on the same OLED panel, with touch support for swiping notifications away when you’ve finished reading them. Other features include 5 ATM water resistance and auto-syncing with the accompanying Garmin Connect app.
The Garmin Vivosmart is available in two band sizes and five colors, priced at $169 without a heart rate monitor and $199 for the full ensemble.