Garmin started out making handheld GPS receivers for the U.S. military in the early 2000s and since then expanded its business into making automotive, aviation, marine, outdoor, and sports equipment. Right now, the company is most famous for making fitness trackers, wearables meant to compete with tech giants like Apple and Fitbit. One of its recent offerings, the Garmin Vivoactive 3, boasts a gamut of features geared toward the wellness-minded and is available at a very reasonable price.
You can get the Vivoactive 3 Music version on Walmart for a huge 22% off. Get active while listening to your favorite tunes for just $220
Garmin’s fitness trackers have almost always been what we call BBWs — big burly watches (like the Fenix 5). That is not the case with the Vivoactive 3. They forwent their usual tendency to go big in favor of something much smaller, more refined, but still capable of delivering the goods.
This understated smartwatch is 1.75 inches in diameter, less than half an inch thick, and weighs 43 grams. It’s nicely slim and lightweight and is comfortable to use, and almost seems like you’re not wearing it. It has a water-resistance rating of 5 ATMS, which means you can take it with you diving in waters up to 50 meters in depth. Its 1.2-inch LCD touchscreen is bright and colorful, protected by a Gorilla Glass 3 lens and a polymer case, and surrounded by a stainless-steel bezel.
Fitness has always been where Garmin shines, and the Vivoactive 3 is no exception. This watch has a built-in GPS and heart rate sensor, both even more accurate now thanks to years and years of development and refinement. Aside from these, it also comes with a barometric altimeter, compass, accelerometer, and thermometer.
This watch can track an array of exercise metrics, including step count, stairs climbed, calories burned, distance traveled, intensity minutes, and sleep time and quality. There’s also a stress meter which measures your heart rate to determine if you’re stressed out. If you are, it suggests a breathing exercise to help you relax. It can also track numerous sports and outdoor activities like walking, running, swimming, cycling, snowboarding, and more.
If connected to your smartphone through Garmin’s Connect Mobile app, this watch receives smart notifications with a vibration alert. Unfortunately, the vibrations are very weak (the weakest we’ve ever encountered actually), so chances are you might miss an important call or text message. Even when set at “high”, you cannot count on this watch to notify you of something.
Since this watch is the Music version, it includes music playback and streaming capabilities. You can listen to your favorite songs through Spotify or other apps. What’s more, this watch has enough internal space to store at least 500 songs.
The Garmin Vivoactive 3 is a well-rounded multisport watch that excels in fitness tracking. Give it a go if you can forgive its feeble vibration alerts.
For more options visit this page for our best fitness trackers. And if you’re looking for more awesome deals, take a look at our curated deals page.
