Update! See my in-depth review of the Vivosmart HR – now located just one click away here!
Today Garmin rolled out their latest wearable, the Vivosmart HR. This new wrist-bound device takes the Vivosmart band that they announced slightly over a year ago, and adds in an optical sensor. Along the way it got a fancy new crisp display and a few new features.
The Vivosmart line isn’t new, and actually started last year with the original Vivosmart, which blended the activity tracking features of the Vivofit with many of the smartphone connected features of newer devices, like notifications.
Now it’s important to note the device name and what each one looks like, especially if purchasing. That’s because many retailers used ‘Vivosmart HR’ as the name of the product last year when they included the bundled heart rate (HR) strap. In theory, the official product name then should have been something like “Vivosmart with old-school bundled HR strap”, but alas, it was shortened to ‘Vivosmart HR’ by some retailers. Whereas this year, the Vivosmart HR is truly an optical HR sensor inside the Vivosmart. So, for comparison purposes, here’s the two units side by side:
To the left is the Vivosmart HR, to the right is the old Vivosmart not-HR. If you see anything looking like the right, it’s not the new unit. And for fun, here’s the Vivofit with the Vivosmart HR:
And just for fun, here’s two shots of the front/back as worn on my wrist:
Phew. Let’s get onto the device itself.
What’s new:
Since time’s limited (I’ve got 57 minutes until announcement!), and thankfully the feature-set is pretty similar to last year, we’re going to cook right into bulleted points of what’s new. And then I’ll go through each new item later in the post. Here’s what’s new/different on the Vivosmart HR:
– Internal optical HR sensor
– 24×7 heart rate recording (continual resting HR, and average resting HR)
– Counts stairs (flights of stairs)
– Displays intensity minutes (against a goal of 150min/week)
– Backlit display
– Slightly reduced battery life – 5 days instead of 7 days on original Vivosmart
– Rebroadcasting of your HR over ANT+ (so other devices can pick it up)
– Does NOT connect to ANT+ cycling sensors (like the original Vivosmart did)
– Does NOT connect to external ANT+ HR strap (like the original Vivosmart did)
It still does all the same jazz as last year such as:
– Tracking steps, daily distance walked, calories burned
– Inactivity alerts & Move Bar
– Tracks workouts separately
– Time alarm
– Smartphone Notifications (i.e. e-mail, text, Twitter, etc…)
– Music Controls
– Find your phone option
– Vibration alerts
But did I hear you say you wanted a quick preview video of the device, complete with new and old features? No problem, here’s a rundown of everything in just a few minutes:
Now, just to be super-clear, the Vivosmart HR does NOT have GPS within it. It also can’t pair to your phone for GPS data (sorta a disappointment). So for distance it uses your stride length, which you can tweak if you know it (or use a treadmill to figure it out). This will help increase accuracy. Additionally, for cyclists, it can pair to an ANT+ Speed sensor to get speed/distance while cycling – just like the original Vivosmart. Update…apparently not – that was pulled. As was also the ability to connect to a separate strap.
Of course, the big news is indeed that new optical sensor developed internally by Garmin (not licensed). Which, btw, Garmin is officially branding as ‘Elevate’. So, the Vivosmart HR has Elevate technology in it. Or, to the rest of us, it has an optical sensor. I’ll decide whether or not it earns the name Elevate if it actually works in my forthcoming testing.
In non-workout mode you’ll see a data page on the display when you swipe to the side that shows you your current HR, as well as your average resting HR. In my case, I haven’t quite been wearing it long enough for the average HR to show up. I assume by this afternoon it will, in which case I’ll update the photo below.
The HR tracking is done continuously, 24×7, in addition to HR tracking during a specific workout using the optical sensor. While this is the second Garmin product in a week to include the in-house optical sensor, I don’t expect to see it rolled out to additional products this year, but likely more into new products next year sometime once it’s optimized a bit more.
As for the sensor accuracy? I don’t know yet. I haven’t run with a final production unit yet, though I have run with a prototype unit. As with the FR235 last week, I’m going to withhold judgment on the optical sensor until I’ve had at least a few runs with it. However, given it’s new and unproven, I’m going to say the same as last week: All optical sensors are guilty of sucking until proven otherwise.
To be clear, there are many great optical sensors out there. But those sensors had to prove they were accurate. Garmin will have to do the same – for both workouts and 24×7 HR data.
Note that the 24×7 optical HR data is then recorded to Garmin Connect via the Garmin Connect Mobile app (or to your desktop via Garmin Express). On the mobile app side it uses Bluetooth Smart to connect to the device, on iOS and Android. You can pair that via the settings menu:
As alluded to earlier, this is the first Garmin unit to display stairs climbed. It does this utilizing an internal barometric altimeter. You’ll then see the goal flights of stairs listed, next to how many you’ve actually done:
In addition to stairs, Garmin adds in ‘Intensity Minutes’, which is basically a fancy way of saying ‘Workout Minutes’. Except, it sounds intense. The goal here being to get you to 150 intense minutes per week, with the unit tracking this on a weekly basis rather than a daily basis.
This 150-minute suggestion of course comes from a multitude of health organizations that recommend 30 minutes of exercise 5 times a week. So Garmin totaled it up and called it done.
Initial Thoughts:
At $149USD, it’s actually fairly well priced. It’s roughly in the same ballpark as the Fitbit Charge HR in terms of price and base features, but the Vivosmart HR includes a far better display, far better waterproofing (50m vs none) and way better workout tracking. By almost every metric the Vivosmart HR is more capable than the Charge HR (except perhaps battery life).
The real proof will be in whether or not the optical sensor is accurate. In the case of Fitbit that answer is ‘Sorta…it depends’. So hopefully Garmin’s accuracy will, Elevate, above that bar (yes, I went there).
Note that the Vivosmart HR is available in three colors – a black, deep purple, and dark blue. Quite honestly you can’t tell the difference between them from more than a few feet away. However most notable is that the Vivosmart HR will only be available to Best Buy exclusively from November 1st to January 1st. This means that other retailers can’t carry it. On the flip side, it means that in theory it’s available to pickup this Sunday at a Best Buy store near you. Why is that notable? Because it’s going to be interesting to see if the optical sensor is ready for prime-time. That was likely a hard-set date, versus one where Garmin could say push back until ready. Maybe they’re already ready. We’ll see.
With that – thanks for reading, and feel free to drop any questions down below – I’ll try and get them answered.
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Heads up! You can now pre-order the Vivosmart HR from Clever Training. Doing so supports the site, and makes you awesome. Also, you can use your DCR-Clever Training VIP benefits, as described here. Here’s the link:
Garmin Vivosmart HR (all colors & sizes)
Do remember though that Best Buy does have an exclusive 60-day period ending January 1st, 2016. Thus all shipments will occur starting in January.
Thanks for the support, it helps the blog here!
this has almost got me excited. wonder what this means for the vivoactive… HR coming to that soo too? ;)
I’d almost say it’s a matter if when at this point.
Is Vivoactive HR in pipeline? Any idea Ray?
Haha, I was just thinking that. I’d love it, but just bought my vivoactive 6 months ago, and need to upgrade it already?! Man Garmin just keeps sucking the money out of me with all of these new product upgrades/releases!
To explain that a bit more, I had purchased the Vivosmart for xmas 2014. It was great, but didn’t quite have everything I was looking for. Then a month or so later, the Vivoactive was announced then released. I had to have it as I really wanted the GPS functionality and the run/bike/swim features. Plus being a developer, I liked the idea of tinkering with ConnectIQ. I’m extremely happy with this smartwatch but built in HR would be a huge plus so I can scrap that strap!
One question though if I were to upgrade, will the HRM be able to be read by my Garmin Edge 510 or will I have to record my ride on both the Vivoactive & Edge?
The Vivoactive would seem to be the perfect device to get the heart rate upgrade except that it has the swim component. I’m sure Garmin won’t want everyone complaining about the HR not working or working poorly while swimming. And if Garmin has already figured out how to make it work why would they have released the new HR-Tri and HR-Swim straps? That being said, the Vivoactive with HR (that wourked with swimming) and the addition of workouts and maybe simple courses would be the perfect watch for me and I suspect many others!
Could not agree more. I would definitely upgrade the vivosmart to get HR. Especially interested in how my resting HR changes.
I couldn;t agree more. I have a Fitbit Charge HR, and want to upgrade. Was thinking of the Microsoft Band 2 but not waterproof. I think the Vivoactive with OHR would be great. Couple that with HRV that would be awesome.
I want to really like this band because of the HR monitor. But I cant…. The display never turns off. I wear my watch on my other wrist and because the band display never turns off I look like an idiot with 2 “watches” on. I don’t understand why there isnt an option to turn on and off the display to your preference. Very frustrating…I will stay with my Vivo Smart.
Vivoactive with Optical HRM + 1-sec GPS recording would blast any competition out of the water.
If one will own a 235 (for running and cycling) and chooses to switch back and forth between it and the new vivosmart hr (for wear during the rest of the day), would there be any potential of the step count on one device picking up where the other left off? This is a gap I’d love to see disappear at some point.
Josh,
In the Garmin Mobile app (3.0), the Activity Tracker help section says “An activity tracker can only be used by one person at a time, not shared between friends or spouses. Connect will syn with multiple activity trackers and allows you to use the appropriate device for your daily activity. If there is a conflict in merging data, Garmin Connect will use your preferred activity tracker”.
A moderator on the Garmin forums says that this information was a mistake, but it sure looks like Garmin is working on some kind of merge across devices.
Adam, thanks for that super quick reply. I did just order one of these online at bestbuy.com as it would be really interesting to finish off a 15 mile training run, then while the 235 is charging, have the vivosmart pick up where the 235 left off in terms of step count. And Ray thanks for your quick look and work as always.
What I always understood is that when you want to switch devices, sync the current one to update your data and activities. Disconnect that one from your phone, then connect the new one. You can have more than one device registered on Garmin Connect but only one can be “connected” at a time. That would mean if you’re using your computer, you would need to also do the sync but maybe needing to do it later if you’re away. Each device has it’s own data timeline and shouldn’t overlap with a follow up sync anyway. Unless you’re wearing both at the same time…
Joe C, in theory you are 110% correct. Unfortunately the step count on Garmin Connect will not increase with any steps on the new device until you reach that step total.
So if your Vivoactive or Forerunner (that is also a activity tracker) for a run and get 15000 steps then you get home and wear your vivosmart/fit whatever, your daily step total will not increae until you go over 15k with the Vivo.
This seams like such a simple fix for Garmin, not sure why they are dragging there heals with it.
I think it is hardware limitation, Bluetooth low power phone adapter will work with one device only, like one to one connection.
So, if I connect my edge 520 I will be no able to receive notifications on vivo smart and opposite. When connected with vivosmart I will not have live track with edge.
And this hint:
link to twitter.com
It’s a backend limitation, not a BLE one. Technically the app actually supports multiple devices today. It’s that behind the scenes they don’t support multiple accounts of the day’s step tracking.
I just shot over a note to get clarification on when that fix will hit. As Steven noted, it’s been something they’ve been working on since earlier this year. It’s not an easy nut to crack in terms of de-duplication. The edge cases are really more the challenge (and that’s what people beat companies like Garmin over the head when they get wrong).
Shouldn’t really be that hard. You could store both sets of data in your database and make the selection when displaying the data. Then if you need to change the code for improperly handled edge cases, you could modify it as necessary. The only issue then would be aggregation, but actually that could be done on the fly as well. Calculations that were stored for performance reasons in the past are now regularly recalculated (and cached, but not stored in the database).
It will great to have an automatic pickup of right data. Imagine you run with Fenix, but at the same time you still have Vivosmart on your palm. I simply get used to wear activity tracker all the time. As it is now, it will result in counting activity twice.
What are the chances this has been added or is about to be?
I’m guessing it no longer has a touch screen.
Still a touch screen.
What is that button for then? Looking at the side by side photos, the design is similar to the Vivofit, which I haven’t used. No mention of button function in the post.
Can this rebroadcast HR over ANT+ like the FR235?
It would be cool if you could use it as a daily activity tracker AND a wrist-based replacement for a chest strap to hook up to other devices during activities.
Curious about rebroadcasting HR as well, seems quite a bit bigger than my vivosmart today.
I’ll get clarification on that. May take a few hours.
^^ This! All I want is a device to continually monitor my activity and HR but also re-broadcast my HR (accurately!) to my Edge when I’m riding/racing! This seems to basically be the Holy Grail!!
Also want to know this.
Can this replace heartrate chest strap that is paired with my Edge500.
Hate the chest strap.
According to the Garmin website “You can even use your vívosmart HR as a heart rate strap on your wrist when paired with other compatible Garmin devices”….of course accuracy will be the million dollar question?
AGREED!
“You can even use your vívosmart HR as a heart rate strap on your wrist when paired with other compatible Garmin devices.”
Sounds like it rebroadcasts.
link to buy.garmin.com
This + 50m waterproofing is exciting! If it works while swimming, I’ll be very tempted buy this instead of the new swimming specific HR-straps.
Tried using a mio link in the pool – it was very hit & miss whether it worked or not (and this was just looking at the coloured lights – not expecting it to sync with anything). Water flow definitely interfers with the optical HR – so I wouldn’t get too excited about this….
It would be pretty cool of them to do the store & forward from the Vivosmart HR like the HRM-SWIM.
I’ve used a the mio link with the original vivofit more than a few times. The mio link has to be pretty tight and next to vivofit and have had most succes when first turning the mio link on after entering the water. But in the pool i have had like a 80% success rate in logging heartrate but sometimes i have had dropouts and/our obvious wrong. OW with a wetsuits covering both the vivofit and mio link the succes rate is over 95%
Yes, It can rebroadcast. I just bought one and have confirmed that my Edge 510 picks up the HR. I am questioning it’s accuracy though. It’s giving me an average resting heart rate of 42. I dont think so, Furthermore, when I swipe from clock to HR reading, the indicator shows me that the senor is looking for a reading and displays a very low (like 48) HR reading; then the indicator stops flashing and my HR displays at 62. It’s as though the unit goes to sleep when the HR screen is not active. I’m certain I’m getting artificially low averages and readings. It will be interesting to get this thing out for my first ride to compare the HR reading with Previous averages recorded by my MIO Link (which is perfect – but doesnt have a batery indicator – so I keep draining it. I have a feeling this VivoSmart HR is going to get returned.
Is the Vivosmart HR able to broadcast the HR on ANT+ and/or Bluetooth Smart?
Question above about HR asked at the time i was typing my message, so forget this one.
This looks awesome. Shame about the GPS. Ray, are you thinking of doing a fitness tracker showdown? Really wonder how the new Microsoft Band compares to this.
But Ray! What about the new scale! ;-)
5 Minutes…
Yes, I’m more interested in those than the Vivosmart HR to be honest.
The cynic in me suspects that most of the touted metrics (body fat, muscle mass, bone mass(?!)) will be complete nonsense, but as long as the weight measurement and Wifi connectivity is good they could be useful.
I’ve been looking at the Withings offerings for a while, but having to sync the data from the Withings site → MyFitnessPal → Garmin Connect → Elsewhere seems like a chain of data transfer waiting to be cut off!
I’ve been using the Withings since January (2015) and had flawless, instand data transfer to Garmin, TrainingPeaks, MyFitnessPal, and others. Very good API and no issues at all.
Poor Polar, they were so very nearly out ahead…
I’ve gotta say, even though it costs more, the Polar looks like a nicer device from the pics and I think between looks and availability in brick and mortar shops is where the choice will be made for these devices. The ability to pick it up and look at it in a real shop will make or break it for the…lets call them the yoga-lattes market…as will the device looking nice. Oh, and it has to be cheaper than the Apple watch.
Polar has a device on the way to me. I think it may arrive today, at worst tomorrow. All usually depends on how much customs likes me. If I get it today or tomorrow, I’ll do a short post like this on it as well by the end of the week.
I’d actually forgotten the Polar pics were all marketing ones. It’ll be interesting to see if the screen is as nice in real photos when you get a unit, although admittedly my main interest will be to see the potential for a replacement Polar Tri watch in January. I’m assuming there are no new high end Garmin toys until late 2016 and I want a new toy! Guessing future products is way more fun than going for a run :)
Does it support smart alarms based on a sleep cycle?
No, no Garmin devices do at this time.
Is one of the new products lined up for posting this week, the Microsoft Band 2? I always like to get your reviews on things before I buy them, because everything is so thorough, which is why I held off on the original Band. Now everyone else is bringing out tempting products, and I don’t know what to do!
I ordered one to my US forwarding address, and will need to wait for it to make it’s way over here (I’m not sure if there’s a local place that actually has them in stock in Paris). I think I’ll be forwarding a package set over tomorrow, for arrival by end of the week.
So no advance testing or anything like with the other devices, just a “buy it when it comes out” and then have a look? :-(
I don’t think it’s released until mid November
Yup, correct. It’s supposed to ship Oct 30th, which upon looking at my calendar is actually Friday, so probably will have to wait till next week’s shipment.
UK release is November 19th, US is October 30th – that gives you at least a week to get something up on the site for me ;-P
What about swimming? Can it track HR under water and strokes and distance in pool etc?
No swim mode unfortunately. It may be able to track HR in the pool just as a generic workout, but I haven’t tried that yet.
Can it display HR and stopwatch simultaneously? Thanks DC.
Not on the same screen, you have to swipe to see them (different screens).
Any word on UK availability? If Bestbuy has exclusivity until the new year, I’m assuming we cant buy it over here until then?
In theory for Europe folks it should be available online from today actually, according to the Euro folks I’ve talked to. :)
any idea where… lol? I can only find it listed on Bestbuy :s
not that I’m desperate to buy one – I’m holding onto my vivoactive for now – in the hopes Garmin release a VA2 with HR ;)
Hmm, in theory the Europe sites should show it. Perhaps they’re trying to even out after the Garmin.com UK site soft-launched the FR230/FR630 a month early on accident. ;)
Normally there is a UK partner with exclusivity for a while – the 920XT was only at Wiggle for a while, and I think Cotswold or Snow and Rock for the F3, Sweatshop for one of the running ones a while ago. No idea how you’d find out who got it other than lots of Google-Fu
Runners Need have the launch exclusive on the 630 so maybe they are teachers pet with Garmin at the moment.
Wow…. the price is actually reasonable. I may actually look at this.
From the Garmin website “You can even use your vívosmart HR as a heart rate strap on your wrist when paired with other compatible Garmin devices”….now the million dollar question is, accuracy?
I was thinking about new Polar A360, which gives more battery life, looks slimmer and can utilize Polar Fit rest/load graph to see if not overloading, which not available on GC. Would be nice to compare both devices
The Polar A360 actually looks significantly wider to me than the Vivosmart HR.
However, is the Vivosmart taller than the A360 (meaning rises higher off the wrist)? The Vivosmart HR certainly looks A LOT taller than the original Vivosmart (a concern for me).
The big shortcoming with the Polar A360, of course, is that it doesn’t offer 24/7 HR, and it costs $50 more than the Vivosmart HR. But the A360 has a color screen.
I was sort hoping that Garmin would try to improve the Vivosmart without increasing the device’s size/footprint/weight. While I’m excited about the possibilities around 24/7 HR, and the barometer is definitely welcome, I really liked the original Vivosmart’s form factor.
So Garmin, if you’re listening, the Vivosmart HR is a welcome product but maybe still try to also improve on the original Vivosmart while keeping that same size/form factor. Small and discreet is good!
As I understood Polar offers 24/7 Herat rate monitoring.
It also not clear whether Garmin has color screen or not.
One thing for Garmin- you have everything in Garmin connect , no need to play with both sites, although Garmin could add body strain/overload graphs there.
Garmin does not have a color screen on the Vivosmart HR. Just black/white.
What is the screen made of? Is this glass (i.e. Gorilla Glass) or is it just plastic? Judging by pictures – seems easy to scratch…
It feels like plastic, but maybe I’m mistaken. I’ll get clarification.
I’ve confirmed it’s acrylic (plastic).
Now that Garmin’s doing their own optical HR, any word on their optical sensors doing HRV metrics? Since they use that for the VO2 max estimation and other big selling points of their watches, it would seem a no-brainer.
Well, in the Garmin shop, I can see that they have launched the Vivosmart HR charging cable. Wow, I am so excited!
I know this might be off-topic, but since Garmin now introduces direct HR sensors into their wearables do you think there might be a fenix 4 coming next spring with that feature?
That would follow recent years cycles and seems like an obvious iteration to me.
I doubt that an OHR would be built into a fenix 4. It would most likely need the HRM-Run like the FR630 since that sensor can provide running dynamics that you can’t get otherwise.
So… Let’s say Person X has a Garmin Fenix 2 watch that they use to track runs. How would the Vivosmart HR and the Fenix coexist? Trouble pairing both with the app? Would it duplicate running data? Can heart rate overlay onto run data from Fenix? So many questions…
You can pair multiple Garmin devices to the GCM app. However, if you record on multiple devices it will create duplicate activities (one of which you could delete).
You could instead just pair the Fenix2 to the HR sensor of the Vivosmart HR. I’m going to assume Garmin.com as official enough that the capability exists. I had heard it unofficially, but since it wasn’t clarified in the press release and I forgot to follow-up I didn’t want to state something that wasn’t yet there.
Thanks for the quick look Ray! Good price, hoping the heart rate signal rebroadcasts to other Garmin devices and its accurate.
Hi!
Could you check, does this device support non-ASCII symbols in notifications (Hebrew, Cyrillic etc)?
I have one and yes, it does support them.
Don’t know if you have an idea for this yet, but how long does it take to Charge? I’m trying to figure which I want more, this or the Forerunner 235 and my main kick is that the Forerunner can charge without being taken off. I see the charge ports are at the bottom and that has me thinking that it means I need to take it off to charge and I’m a stickler gathering my data to the point that I don’t want to ever take the watch off. If it charges fairly quick, like an hour or two, then I don’t think it will bug me but 4 or 5 hours will bug me.
Does devices track sleep automatically or do you need to set them to sleep mode? I can’t seem to figure that out.
Both. You can manually set it to sleep, or just let it do it automatically.
Hey Ray, what about sleep cycles, does it measure this like the Jawbone UP3 does?
I’m not sure specifically on the UP3, but it does measure sleep phases.
How do you set this band manually to sleep mode??
Have Garmin removed the ANT+ sensors?
On the Garmin HR product page, there is no mention of being able to use bike speed sensors. This is mentioned on the specs for Vivosmart but not HR.
Apparently they have. I just got confirmation on that. I had wondered the same thing this afternoon, but wasn’t quite sure since sometimes there’s firmware mismatches during the beta process. But yes, no cycling sensors. Also getting some minor conflicting information on the ability to pair the Vivosmart HR to an ANT+ HR strap (apparently removed, but also apparently not, trying to get clarity).
Ok, further confirmation. The final production units will NOT pair to external HR straps. They will broadcast ANT+ HR, but not allow you to connect an existing strap. Sorta a weird decision.
So are you saying that the Vivosmart HR can replace a chest strap and broadcast HR to a Edge device via ANT+? If so we are back to the question of how well that will work in practice.
Yes and yes.
So – by the sounds of it – the device is capable of receiving Ant+ signals but disabled by software – not a hardware limitation?
Correct.
I was expecting the Polar one to be 24/7 HRM… i’ve always been a Polar guy but this just might be the one Garmin product i get. Thanks for the early preview!
The line between fitness band and smartwatch is becoming blurred now and I prefer discrete solutions. I have had the original Vivosmart for a few months now and I like the slim, unobtrusive nature of it. The display only comes on when you need it so it looks just like a band. This is much chunkier and too watch-like for me.
My TomTom Spark (which is ace BTW) does activity tracking and will soon have smartphone notifications so I’m more likely to step back and use a simple activity tracker on the days I don’t want to wear a sports watch.
“The line between fitness band and smartwatch is becoming blurred now and I prefer discrete solutions. I have had the original Vivosmart for a few months now and I like the slim, unobtrusive nature of it. The display only comes on when you need it so it looks just like a band. This is much chunkier and too watch-like for me.”
Ditto. Hopefully the Vivosmart HR lets you turn off the display so that it isn’t always on?
I mean, don’t you guys hope that eventually we won’t be able to tell the two apart? Less devices! And by hope, I mean we will, in probably 2 years or less at this rate. Think Apple Watch 3 basically.
Actually I don’t want the two to merge. I like wearing a real watch. I want the smallest least intrusive “band” I can get for my opposite wrist. I would prefer something with no screen. The UP3 is just about perfect design for me but the lack of waterproofing and the questionable accuracy of the heart rate and delay on 24/7 heart rate data threw me. I tried a charge HR but blew it up in less than a week. This has potential but the size increase is a disappointment for me.
Wow, I’m so torn on this right now. I have a vívofit which I love and a fenix 2 that I also love. While the smart is pretty cool I am a huge fan of the fit’s year long battery.
I have to assume a fenix 4 might include a built optical hrm but I think for now I’ll wait and see how accurate this is. I might be willing to sacrifice battery life for hr functions. I’m not sure that I care about my hr outside of training though.
After thinking on this some more I realized why this is a great solution for me. Integrated optical straps aren’t great for triathlon since I’d want the watch off my wrist on a course longer than Olympic and training rides in general. This eliminates the need I’d still have of the chest strap.
Still not sure about the battery life but I’ll think about it at least. Might make a great Hanukkah gift ;)
I’m also interested in rebroadcasting the HR. Generally, I record with my phone using the Wahoo Fitness (WF) app so if it (WF) could pick up the data over Bluetooth, I could push it where ever I want when I’m done the workout. This would be especially nice when commuting to work and don’t want to bother with a strap.
I guess I will ask, since Garmin has branded their own HR as Elevate, will you be putting up a review on how good it is later?
Yup, it’ll be part of my in-depth review. Since the properties of each device will likely impact accuracy, I’ll do it on a case by case basis.
For example, I’d expect that the thinner band on the Vivosmart HR may impact accuracy compared to the FR235, which reduces light coverage.
Ray, I strongly suspect there is huge interest in this and the FR 235 for the Garmin HR solution (Elevate) that this would influence many purchasing choices depending on how accurate the Garmin solution is. So, as I assume you have a production Vivosmart (if not a FR235) could you give us some updates on HR accuracy during running and biking as soon as you get some data – at least whether it works as expected or is a total fail like so many of the optical readers from the non fitness companies. Some idea of whether this might work underwater would be great as well. Thanks for all you do on this btw.
Yup. I suspect I’ll have a Vivosmart HR very shortly (final production model with final production firmware). The unit I had today was a final production unit but not final production software. I suppose for Garmin, hell or high water you’ll be able to walk into a Best Buy on Sunday and get units.
As for the FR235, I’d be really surprised if that’s sooner rather than later, but on a number of factors I’m hearing. But that’s just a guess.
Actually Best Buy is reporting Wednesday delivery as the release day if you go to preorder. Maybe the stores will be different though.
This addresses every issue from the vivosmart without bloating it too badly. Look forward to driving around the DMV on Sunday to find one! My goal is to post a review on Elevate HR on midpackgear.com faster than Ray.
@midpackbiped
Sorry if I missed this above. Is the screen always on? I have a vivosmart and the display is not great. The worst part of it is the screen turning off to conserve battery.
Answered my own question: From Garmin Site – “Sleek band is comfortable to wear all day, and the always-on display shows your stats, even in sunlight”
Yup, always on.
I am new to this. Always-on… like a watch always on, and not a fitbit where you have to press something to turn it on… like the display never turns off?
Hey Ray, any chance you can get a photo of what this looks like on “The Girl’s” wrist?
Eeks, sorry. I gave back the devices already. But I’ll probably have one early next week. The only challenge would have been that there are multiple sizes – so I only had one size (not small).
Has Garmin been able to have Garmin Connect assign TWO devices to activity tracking yet? They didn’t as of a few months ago.
I ask because now with the Garmin FR 235 and Vivosmart HR you could see a scenario where you can wear the 235 for exercise and the VS HR for the rest of the time but would hope the step count, sleep data etc. could be unified somehow across the devices and across to 3rd parties like MyFitnessPal.
Fitbit DOES do this now with devices like Surge and Charge HR.
How long have you been wearing it now?
Can you determine the accuracy of the HR as of yet?
Or is it still too soon?
Will you be updating the article once more data is available and you’ve worn it long enough?
Just super-limited, hence why it’s not a review. As noted I don’t know the accuracy yet since my photography time and running time were on two totally different devices a long ways apart.
My hope is that I’ll get a production device early next week and be able to test it. I don’t know if I’ll do a full in-depth review, or how the update will go. But they’ll be something.
As seen in the first paragraph, Garmin has released a crap-ton of devices. For me in the review side, it’s kinda been a 1 step forward, 2 steps back in keeping up (and there are plenty of other non-Garmin devices that are just as interesting).
But I’m sure I read somewhere that you are superman.
Ray – will they only have one vivosmart unit? Just the HR? Or will there be a non hr model (like the current model)? And if they will maintain a non-hr model, is that going to get updated, too?
My understanding is only the one model. I think they look at the Vivofit2 as filling the gap at the lower end (to compete with the Fitbit Charge non-HR).
Wow, I was on the fence for a dual ANT+/BTLE optical HR sensor but this seems like a good alternative (via ANT+ rebroadcast). Lots of extra features for a reasonable price compared to a bare sensor. Will wait and see… (underwater HR? HR “buffer” à la garmin swim strap? practical use with a 920xt and/or edge520, etc…)
Ray thanks for all the work, looking forward to the full report, must say it looks interesting
Quick question: Will it keep a log of the 24/7 HR data like Fitbit does or will it only store your resting HR? I personally like the Charge HR, it is fantastic in terms of sleep tracking and HR tracking for the day but this device seems to be a step above it with notifications.
I thought the Polar A360 was going to be a great device with built in optical but with the additional option to connect a strap. But when I learned that tit does not do 24/7 HR tracking it kind of bummed me out about it so this one from Garmin is a welcome unit if it indeed does do optical as well as HR strap for intense workouts. My Fitbit Charge HR really sucks when it comes to HR recording during hockey games but overall it does well everywhere else with the occasional misreading of my running cadence for my HR. Oh, and my Fitbit Charge HR never lasted me 7 days, it goes dead within 5 and I have constant BLE and notifications turned off. It’ll be interesting how long this unit actually lasts on a charge. I’m thinkinig about picking one up for my kid this weekend.
It’ll store/upload 24×7 HR.
But RizKnows posted that you can’t actually pair the VS HR to another HRM strap, ANT+ or otherwise. Is this true?
That’s correct. But while it can’t connect to another HR strap, it can transmits as a HR strap for other devices.
Such a shame it can’t rebroadcast over Bluetooth so you can record gps and HR from your smartphone
The newer high end samsung phones, S5 and S6, have ant+
but i have an iphone and don’t intend on switching to android :(
Are the calories burned based on the 24×7 hr? This would be great to give someone a better idea of what their calorie expenditure is (knowing full well you cannot get 100% accuracy).
I am wondering what is the width of the strap. The current Vivosmart is approx. .9″W, which is a great size for a women’s wrist. This one looks wider. I had an issue with how wide the Fitbit Charge HR is and ended up returning it for the Vivosmart. Can you post the width? The Garmin website only has the display dimensions.
Also interested in this, as well as the height of the Vivosmart HR.
The Vivosmart HR looks a lot taller than the Fitbit HR, Polar A360, and original Vivosmart too, which is a concern because it will affect how shirt cuffs interact with it.
Hi Ray,
How come it could broadcast the HR in ANT for 5 days 24/7 whereas the other devices (like the Mio Fuse I have) bearly broadcast during 5-7hours? (and that’s the reason I don’t use it anymore…).
And what would be the distance it would broadcast in ANT+? (With the Mio Fuse I have to wear the 920xt at the same wrist, and doesn’t work fine with the edge500 due to the distance between them).
Cheers
Philip
Remains to be seen on broadcast distance (or actually, how it will broadcast in terms of 24×7 or only when enabled).
But, to the core of the question, it really comes down to different optical sensors with different design properties. One might also want to keep in mind that the sensors that have done 24×7 activity tracking have historically sucked (using that broadly) when it comes to Fitness. So some of it’s power drain profiles, and also the type of components used.
Anything new in the works on the Forerunner or Fenix line going to be announced soon/ released this year?
There were three new Forerunner watches announced last week. The Fenix3 was also just this year, so I wouldn’t expect anything this year either there.
hiiiiii
Hi.
Hi
Can I use this like a Mio Velo or Mio / Fuse with my Edge 1000 instead of a chest strap?
Say it is Ant+
Will data stay in my edge?
Thanks
Yes
Hi Ray – Great review as always, and very timely. I’ve really been considering a HR fitness band to compliment my Garmin watch. I had been considering the Polar A360, but am happy Garmin has introduced this today (even if the Polar has a better display.
Question – on the Garmin site, it shows the Heart Rate screen in vertical mode. Can all of the screens be vertically oriented, or only HR? Is this a setting or does it automatically orient itself? Thanks!
Hello Ray. I’ve enjoyed your reviews and your backstory. I’m probably a little bit different demographic from many on this forum. Mid-40’s, three kids, still playing soccer in an adult league, not a triathlete (skill set or interest). Bought the original Vivosmart last Spring. Paired it with the Scosche optical HR monitor and have enjoyed incorporating into workouts and soccer games. Thought I’d move to the 235 until the Vivosmart HR announcement today. Hard to tell from your pics, but the protrusion of the optical sensor mechanism of the Vivosmart HR looks slightly more pronouned than the Fitbit in your photo. That might be the ultimate response to the limited surface area of the backside compared to wider fitness bands. I’ll be picking one up at Best Buy on Sunday if they are in stock and will compare with my current setup. Appreciate your time and detail in evaluating these new releases. My wife is a really gifted personal trainer. Would love to recommend your recommendations to her and in turn to her clients who are wanting to make life-altering changes to their health habits.
Thanks Mark, I appreciate it!
On the protrusion, it’s smaller than it looks. Only because one is in front of the other. Here’s a photo of the other way around (I didn’t use this one because it wasn’t as sharp).
People need to keep in mind the protrusion is actually intended to limit light. You either get a rubber ring a la 225 or you get something like this which will effectively dig into your wrist. This is likely why Garmin went to this type of strap also so you could put it on tight enough to dig into your wrist. I wish they would have left left the HRM strap up to us who have come to love Scorsche Rhythm +. It’s by far the best HRM and could have easily been paired with a new and improved VS2. We didn’t need this feature, in all likelihood it will disappoint because it will only work with the device worn uncomfortably tight.
Hi DC, thanks for this update. now the Polar’s and Garmin’s have their own optical HR sensors it gets really interesting. Do you think there will be place for chestbelt HR measurement in 5 years, perhaps it is more reliable in measurement?
No, I think 5 years from now it’s going to be a hard press for HR-only via chest strap. Instead, I think we’ll see additional metrics that may be more difficult to measure in the wrist that end up in a chest strap or something like it.
Someone needs to make a peel and stick chest strap. I can’t believe they don’t do this already. There was a kickstarter company doing it and after blowing away their funding goal they actually dropped the product because they were bought out by a medical company. The reason the current chest straps are hated so much is because of the strap. Eliminate that and the crowds will come back.
Thanks for the (p)review.
Can the strap be replaced when it tears? (the strap of my vivosmart is torn at the moment and I think it can’t be replaced separately from the display/unit)
Very interested. Upgraded the wife from Vivofit to Fitbit Charge HR and the screen takes too long to come on to display the time. She is a teacher and needs time to be available in an instant, this would do that and so much more.
Any word on international release? More specifically Australia?
Does anyone have a good method for measuring 24/7 HR right now with a traditional Bluetooth or ANT HR strap ?
I would be keen to measure and upload to Garmin Connect.
You can’t. It’s handled via a different process. If you just attached a strap it’d end up just being a long activity.
Easy question: can the HR monitoring be turned off? In this case, does the battery life improve compared to previous Vivosmart?
Yes, you can turn it off.
the garmin webpage shows the ant+ symbol at the bottom – confusing? is it or isnt it ant+ enabled
It does ANT+ transmission (of the optical HR symbol). Just not picking up of other ANT+ sensors.
Wait a minute! I thought you said it broadcasts the optical HR via ANT+ and you also said that it will connect to bicycle speed sensors AND chest straps. Sounds like it both transmits and receives ANT+.
Unfortunately, I updated the post (and somewhere up in the comments too) that it doesn’t connect to ANT+ sensors after all.
Apparently that was a change that was in the almost-production unit I had, but not in the production unit (for the HR sensor). Really too bad, and honestly an odd change. :(
But yes, it does broadcast ANT+, just can’t connect to ANT+ sensors.
Actually that makes it a total deal breaker for me. It’s a real shame. I thought it was going to be the ideal unit to record 24/7 HR via optical and still record accurate HR data for workouts with a strap but that is not the case. Like I said, the Fitbit Charge HR does an OK job with cycling and running but it fails miserably when it comes to ice hockey. I still might pick one up just to have all my data tied into the Garmin conglomerate but I really like Fitbit’s measurements too.
On an unrelated subject, the comment notifications don’t work.
This was the response I was looking for and now I’m cancelling my pre-order. You can notify Garmin that this was a very stupid thing to do.
Using vivosmart HR with edge 810 for cycling. I can only get my HR to rebroadcast for about 3 seconds before my 810 drops the broadcast. Should my 810 be able to receive the ant+ broadcast? How do I get it to work? What is the setup?
Hi Ray,
Would be interested to hear your thoughts on where the Garmin sleep offering is now, and how you see it comparing with what else is out there, particularly the Fitbit/withings/jawbones of this world. Will they use the HR as a way of improving it?
Would love to see sleep devices as a section of winter recommendations even? I appreciate love is quite a strong word there….
Great work as ever, and as soon as you have a European partner site, I’ll order everything through that!
Cheers,
Pete
I don’t know if the Vivosmart HR will leverage the HR during sleep (or rather, to optimize data about it). I’ll find out.
Thanks Ray!
Hey Ray,
Did they get back to you on this? (I guess by tomorrow we’ll start to hear first hand feedback from people anyway)
Thanks
PS, congrats on your new “career move” :)
I haven’t heard back on that piece yet, one of the folks I chat with was travelling Thurs/Fri, so probably a bit backlogged along with launch/etc…
Nice preview, Ray, any word on how rugged it is?
I’d love to pair it with the edge for my mtbiking efforts but I’m worried a watch might be too exposed for the trail/downhill riding I do.
It seems more rugged than it looks. Having the plastic should help. Ultimately I’d suspect if you took a blow to your wrist hard enough to damage the unit, your wrist is probably in a bad spot as well.
I have tried optical hrm on Mio Fuse for mtb and my experience is pretty bad, during impacts on downhill sections it was moving down to my wrist and accuracy was very bad then. I have tried to use it on inside of my forearm, but also without success. Probably because I have skinny arms, mostly just bones and skin. Maybe with bigger watch like garmin 235 situation will be different and it will be more stable with better accuracy but for now I’m just using chest strap. Ray any comments from you regarding MTB and optical HRM on a watch, do you think it will ever work?
Yeah, it’s likely more to do with the skinniness of arms than not. I have actually done mountain biking with an optical sensor with pretty good success.
Still, like any technology we’ll see improvements. Optical is an area that we’ll see lots of improvements very quickly. We’re going through a phase right now where there’s a lot of options on the market ranging from horrible to great. I think if we fast forward 2 years, it’ll really be more a case of dial-tone. It’ll be a commodity and the baseline will just work.
I can also confirm that optical HRM works for mountain biking, very well actually (in my case). In fact I am using a Mio Fuse since its launch date (december 2014) and have done many MTB rides with it, without glitches. The Fuse does need to be tightened well for this (but still comfortable) as otherwise it will indeed slide down the wrist upon impacts. Since I wear the Fuse all day every day in a more loose way when not working out, I do notice the device sliding down my wrist when riding my bike (vigorously) around town over cobble stones. Again here, tightening the wristband completely solves this, even with high impacts.
The same can not be said for swimming for example. Even when tightening the wristband of the Fuse to less comfortable levels, the HR measurements mostly seem out of whack. The problem with swimming is not the movement of the device but seems to be a film of water interfering with a proper measurement of the sensor.
I have also had other troubles with the Fuse, related to the touchscreen buttons becoming unresponsive. Luckily the Mio customer service is very responsive, I am waiting for a warranty replacement after sending in my device.
Ray I think an interesting number I’d like to find out is how long the Vivosmart is capable of running as a HRM connected to another device. I think this could be an interesting option for triathletes like me who prefer to wear a fitness band (I refuse to give up wearing my nice watches for a smartwatch) but this would need to be able to have a continual ANT+ connection for about 14 hours for me to feel like it could last me through an Ironman. Any chance of getting Garmin to comment on the battery life in that scenario?
Can it broadcast HR signal through Bluetooth, or just ANT+?
If it can receive GPS from a phone, maybe the phone can get HR from the band (for a phone with BLE but not ANT+ support).
* can’t receive GPS from a phone *
No, just broadcast through ANT+.
It can’t unfortunately receive GPS from the phone.
Is there any option to show seconds on the time screen? Need this for work.
Looking at Garmin’s web site, it seems that they might be selling the charging cord separately. The “In the Box” tab on their site includes a “Charging/data clip”, but the “Charging Cable” is shown as a $24.99 “compatible product”. Sure hope Garmin just forgot to list the cable in the “In the Box” tab.
Remember now…what’s the first rule of the Garmin.com Specs Club?
That’s Rule Number 2, right?
With what frequency is the 24/7 HR data stored? Once a minute?
The main thing for me will be integration with HealthKit on iOS. I’ve downloaded Garmin connect and there is no toggle to share sleep data and heart rate info. Can you confirm that this will only be available inside the Garmin app and not shared?
Thanks for all your work on the site.
I don’t see any healthkit options whatsoever?
I sent over a note last night asking about Sleep/Resting HR data to Apple Health.
It does send over data today for: “Active Energy”, Steps, Walking + Running Distance
I’m probably being dumb, but I can’t see any way to add Garmin as a source to HealthKit anywhere in the connect app. I only have the edge 1000 so maybe that’s why?
Garmin just answered me on Twitter link to twitter.com no go at the moment. Shame. No sale here.
HealthKit in the app is in Settings / 3rd Party
I have the Mio Velo and a Vivoactive at the moment for HR and pretty satisfied with it so can not see me changing. However if the Vivosmart HR is just £120 for a day to day with continual HR tracking this could swing it for me.
interesting. I have the vivosmart original and would upgrade if the HRM is comparable (not a fan of the straps – especially when slapping the ground on a burpee and it digging into my ribs lol – I’m not that graceful!)
dying to see a comparison. Had they used the Mio sensor I would already had one on pre-order. However am yet to be convinced on the in house solution.
I’m ready to shift back to Garmin from Polar as soon as I can. This one looks promising and I’ve had the Vivofit & Vivosmart in the past and liked them. I’m tired of Polar overpromising and under-delivering with their ‘coming soon’ software updates that never materialize or are multiple months behind as they release new gadgets (& lower priced ones) with past promised features incorporated.
On Garmin’s site they show two sizes, L and XL. Was the unit you had the XL?
I believe it was the large, but since it was a non-final unit, it wasn’t written on there.
Does garmin deal with optical data differently than chest strap data? In other words, are they viewable in garmin connect as separate fields? It seems to me that this would be the most accurate way to manage this as pulse rate is not exactly the same as ekg rate. However I can imagine a situation where this would be ignored in terms of simplicity of display. On the other hand I know that I have frequently seen bad data from chest straps and so potentially having 2 data sources being recorded at once could give a user a better chance of recording an accurate heart rate in the event that 1 sensor suffering from artifact interference.
Hi Ray,
I own a Forerunner 920XT. If I would buy a vivoactive HR, do the steps accumulate of both devices in GCM and is the accumulation synchronized back to both watches?
Further question: do you see a chance of getting smart alarms during sleep cycle? I love this feature on my cheap Mi band…
No, not today. Going forward they’ll be enabling the ability to utilize two devices and have it consolidate step counts, but that’s not here today and they haven’t released a timeframe for it. And even once that happens, it’s not clear if it’ll ‘backport’ the steps from one device to another (versus just online).
As for sleep cycles, I think it’s a natural evolution. They did a bunch of good sleep enhancements over the last 4-6 months. But that was web-focused display stuff of sleep.
Doing it on existing devices means they’d have to draw a line in the sand on which devices to add that functionality, since it would require a firmware update. There’s a ton of Garmin devices that support sleep now (dozens), so it would be unclear where they’d draw the line. I’d take a guess that’d be something they’d just rollout in whatever new device they decide to add it to.
We are really looking forward to the in-depth review, especially as it pertains to accuracy for HR, vertical gained but mostly sleep data! Please share as much comparison as possible on the sleep metrics as compared to Fitbit Charge HR. Thank you for the amazing work you do Ray!
I hope they enable the “backporting” of both steps and calories burned. Also keep the goals in sync. Fitbit has been doing this for years, and honestly in this age of cloud/connected devices it just makes sense.
The sleep tracking on this device is horrible, every single morning I have to correct the data. I’m on my third band so clearly this is a software issue.
Hi Ray,
Thanks for all of your fast and in depth (p)reviews.
I’m wondering if the Vivosmart HR will provide any extra functionality compared to be wearing a FR235 24/7?
I don’t believe the FR235 has the baro altimeter for getting stairs data, whereas the Vivosmart HR has it.
Hi Ray,
I appreciate you haven’t had much time with device yet but I wondered if you have any thoughts on how this will handle cycling. I have the Edge 1000 which I use to record my rides and I also wear the Fitbit Charge HR. The Fitbit is not clever enough to know that I’m on a bike and not to record steps\stairs, even though i sync Strava to Fitbit so that my activities and calories are on there. Its very frustrating and as i commute on a bike, it makes the step tracking pointless! Do you know if Garmin will handle this scenario better?
P.S. Thanks for all your great reviews!
Cycling is definitely one of the key scenarios I’ll be spending time on. It’s also one of the toughest for optical sensors (worn on the wrist) to get right. But given Garmin is aiming (and touted in the press release) the pairing to the Edge specifically, it’s something I’m going to cover as part of my in-depth review.
Hopefully I’ll have a final production unit next week to start that evaluation.