Ciao from the lovely Amalfi Coast, where we drink copious amounts of Moldovan wine and watch the sunset everyday while listening to Umberto Tozzi.

This is a Garmin Vivoactive 5 Review, But before we start, hold onto your Cannoli as we give you the

Garmin Vivoactive 5 Pros:
- Attractive display with vibrant colors
- Extensive health and fitness features
- Competitive price point compared to higher-end models
- Essential functionalities like NFC for contactless payments and built-in speakers for calls
- Customizable watch faces for personalization

Garmin Vivoactive 5 Cons:
- No barometric altimeter
- No on-screen animations
- Only one size option - 42 MM
- No wireless charging option

Who Would Benefit Most

The Garmin Vivoactive 5 is best suited for individuals:
- Interested in comprehensive health and fitness tracking, especially heart rate tracking
- Seeking a versatile wearable that is a cross between a fitness tracker and a smartwatch
- Preferring a balance between essential smartwatch features and affordability

Design and Build Quality

The Garmin Vivoactive 5 is a smartwatch with a focus on health and fitness tracking. It features a 1.2-inch AMOLED touch screen with a resolution of 390 x 390 pixels, providing vibrant and clear visuals.

It features a touchscreen and two physical buttons for navigation and is made of fiber-reinforced polymer with an anodized aluminum bezel, offering a balance between sporty and sleek design. Garmin Vivoactive 5 is available in four different color options, namely

Slate Aluminum Bezel with Black Case and Silicone Band

Metallic Orchid Aluminum Bezel with Orchid Case and Silicone Band

Cream Gold Aluminum Bezel with Ivory Case and Silicone Band

Metallic Navy Aluminum Bezel with Navy Case and Silicone Band

Display

The Garmin Vivoactive 5 Display is 1.2-inch AMOLED with a resolution of 390 x 390 pixels, providing vibrant colors and clear images. The screen offers good visibility in various lighting conditions and is responsive to touch input.

User Experience and Interface

The Garmin Vivoactive 5 offers a user-friendly experience with a straightforward setup process and an intuitive interface. Customizability options are plentiful, allowing users to personalize watch faces and settings to their preferences.

The touch screen seamlessly responds to input, and users can choose between having the screen always on or illuminating automatically when they raise their wrist, although the latter feature varies in accuracy.

Performance and Software

The app ecosystem, accessible through the Garmin Connect IQ store, boasts a wide variety of watch faces, data fields, and apps catering to diverse fitness and lifestyle needs. Compatibility extends to both Android and iOS devices.

Upon using Vivoactive 5, I realised the Body Battery Metric is an estimation from the software and not meticulously measured. I found that it never goes below 5%, which it should have after my all nighter in Catania!

Additionally, women's health tracking provides a dedicated space for logging cycles and symptoms.

Battery Life

The manufacturer claims that the Vivoactive Battery life is up to 11 days in smartwatch mode, 5 days with the always-on display, and up to 21 hours with GPS use.

Health and Fitness Tracking

This Garmin Smartwatch excels in health and fitness tracking with its array of features and accuracy.

Users benefit from precise activity tracking for steps, distance, and calories burned, ensuring a comprehensive overview of their daily movements.

The Smartwatch offers sleep coaching features that provide users with personalized guidance on improving their sleep quality. This includes a sleep score and coaching based on individual sleep needs, as well as tracking of different sleep stages. Overall, I found the Garmin Vivoactive 5 Sleep Tracking and Coaching to be far superior to that of Fitbit.

Connectivity and Compatibility

The Vivoactive 5 Garmin offers robust connectivity and compatibility features.

It supports Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi connectivity for seamless pairing with smartphones and other devices, enabling functions like call notifications, music control, heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking.

Price and Value for Money

The Garmin Vivoactive 5 price is USD 299 currently on discount for USD 249, offering a budget-friendly alternative to higher-end models like the Venu 3. In comparison to similar smartwatches in the market, the Vivoactive 5 stands out for its attractive display, extensive health and fitness features, and competitive price point.

VIDEO CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:15 Garmin Vivoactive 5 Pros
0:36 Garmin Vivoactive 5 Cons
1:16 What's in the box
1:35 Design and Build Quality
3:07 Display
3:57 User Experience and Interface
4:49 Performance and Software
6:10 Battery Life
7:18 Health and Fitness Tracking
9:03 Connectivity and Compatibility
9:58 Price and value for money