The graph lines look extremely similar, showing that it never really loses the plot. After overlaying the two watches’ graphs on top of each other, there’s no obvious reason for this. The Vivosmart 5 reading was almost always the higher of the two. Each time, both watches recorded the exact same maximum heart rate, and each time there was a slight disparity in the average heart rate across the session, by a margin of 1-2 bpm. We’ve undertaken a handful of long workouts with the Vivosmart 5 on one arm and the Garmin Enduro 2 on the other, to see what we’re missing. However, this is not a bad thing when you consider the once top-end Garmin Fenix 6X used similar tech.
The Vivosmart 5 appears to use Garmin’s last-generation tracking hardware - you can tell by a quick look at the shape of the heart rate sensor on the back.
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However, does this excuse the hardware shortcomings? The Fitbit Charge 5 has GPS, plus an ECG sensor and an EDA stress sensor - in our opinion, lots more. Garmin always tries to make its tracking modes really count - it’s one of the best things about the company’s devices, and this particular one. The strength mode has optional reps and sets counters, whereas other smartwatches would make both of these yoga and weight lifting modes entirely generic and basic, recording little more than time and heart rate. For example, in the Yoga mode the Vivosmart 5 lets you record when you switch poses, and measures your breathing rate and stress. Garmin tries, whenever it possibly can, to make these modes distinct. This sounds super stripped back, but there’s actually more worth here than some budget trackers that have several times this number. You add them using the Garmin Connect app on your phone. The Garmin Vivosmart 5 supports 14 modes, and 10 can be present on the band at any one time. The number of exercise tracking modes will sound limited too. The Vivosmart 4 had an altimeter, this band does not - a disappointing downgrade. The other missing piece, an altimeter, is used to count the number of stairs you climb each day, and it’s one of the best add-on tools for passive fitness tracking. The Vivosmart 5 can connect to your phone to get this data, but this tracker is ultimately quite pricey to rely on this technique, known as connected GPS. GPS is what lets a fitness tracker create maps of your walks and runs, and accurately work out distances traveled. There are two key missing features in the Garmin Vivosmart 5 it doesn’t have GPS or an altimeter. This feature, called Pulse Ox, is turned off by default as it’s a battery drainer, but you can set it to record overnight or all day. It monitors your sleep overnight and it can also look at your blood oxygenation. Throughout the day, this fitness tracker records your heart rate, your steps and estimates your stress and breathing rate.
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Page transitions are accompanied by smooth-looking animations, but the software ultimately feels a little stiff as its structure is so rigidly paginated.
A few display your heart rate and step count too. Thankfully, however, several of the Garmin Vivosmart 5’s 12 watch faces show your step count. While made for a casual audience, we think a more hardcore watch like the Garmin Instinct 2 makes it a lot easier to see daily stats like your step count quickly. However, thanks to the watch’s tiny screen, you have to wait almost three seconds for these stats to appear, as the description of what each is scrolls by first. Flick up from the watch face and you get to pages of daily stats, like your step count, calories burned and so on. Garmin has almost tried to replicate the day-to-day experience you’d get with one of its higher-end trackers with the Garmin Vivosmart 5. You swipe on the touchscreen to move between interface pages, while the button below the screen typically takes you back to the watch face or to the menu where you can start a tracked activity. The Garmin Vivosmart 5 is a simple tracker by Garmin standards. (Image credit: Andrew Williams) Garmin Vivosmart 5: Features
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