I received the advanced Vivosmart 5 fitness bracelet from Garmin for review a few days after renewing my gym appointment, so it was a great opportunity to test it out in real time, and it certainly lives up to expectations.
The bracelet includes a number of sensors designed to monitor and track the user’s daily activities – whether it is related to sports or not. At the same time, it counts the user’s steps, measures the heart rate, identifies the hours of sleep and provides information about its quality.
I personally liked the Body Battery mode – which is one of the most important ones offered by the Vivosmart 5. As mentioned, the index provides real-time information about the body condition and fatigue, when there are actions that raise the score and those that lower it.
All of this information, along with additional data, is available for viewing in the Garmin Connect app, which can be downloaded from the various app stores. Its home screen contains all the relevant information, and you can change the widgets that appear in it and view the data according to a specific day. The Vivosmart 5 supports 14 sporting modes. However, it does not know how to detect the activity automatically, and the user is required to activate it himself.
Along with this data, the bracelet allows you to receive alerts from a variety of apps on the phone – from WhatsApp and emails, to various calls and news alerts. The size of the screen makes it possible to read the messages comfortably and clearly, and in most cases they appeared almost in full so that not much scrolling was required. It is also equipped with a sensor that dynamically adjusts the screen brightness to environmental conditions.
The battery lasted for five to seven days, all depending on the nature of use, with functions such as regular pulse measurement probably affecting battery life. The device is charged via a USB cable that connects to the back of the bracelet.
The recommended price for the consumer is NIS 629, with a one-year warranty from Runlight, the official importer.