Unfortunately no. I got my vivoactive last year thinking that it would work in open water swims, but doesn't. Still waiting to see if an app to support open water or power would come out. There's not many developers on Garmins App Store, but the watch still looks great for everyday use.

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Drown, Spin, Run

Bought one for my son for Christmas; went through the manual with him to get it set up, didn't see any field for power.

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Brian

Gonna buy a fast car, put on my lead boots, take a long, long drive
I may end up spending all my money, but I'll still be alive

I have one myself, does fine for most everything I need it for.

For OWS, what would happen if you started it as a run or walk, then after you're done edit the activity in Connect to make it a swim?

I would describe the Vivoactive as a good running watch with the added benefit you don't look like an idiot wearing it. It is not good however as a bike computer. There is no way to resize the data screens or get more than 3 metrics on a screen at the same time. On the bike you don't want to be swapping between screens or struggling to see the basics and in this respect I have found the 310xt much better.

All that said I have recently been wearing both the vivoactive and 310xt on my bike so that I can see incoming calls while keeping the phone in the back pocket. Not ideal but it gets the job done.

Using run or walk in OWS doesn't work. The distance gets all messed up, usually records longer distance. When the watch goes under water, the GPS signal gets dropped. Most OWS watches either uses an algorithm to account for the dropped signals and/or stroke length. The vivoactive is well capable of OWS in my opinion, but no one has developed an app for it yet.

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Drown, Spin, Run

There are "apps" in the IQ store that allow it to read power. A watch on the wrist is really not a great substitute for a bike computer though.

For those asking about open water, I have had really good luck with "run" and then switching it over to a swim in Connect. The GPS track was as good as any of the tri specific watches I compared it to at a couple events. The auto-pause must have turned on several times though because the moving time and elapsed time don't line up. The distance was spot on though. I tried using "walk" for the swim at IM last September and the GPS track was perfect, the moving time was perfect, but the distance reading was 20% high.

The Vivoactive has been an awesome watch, but it absolutely does not replace a bike computer if you use your bike computer for feedback during the ride. You can also wear it all day, every day without screaming, "Look at me, I'm a dork!"

 
Just buy a Fenix 3 instead. Looks better and does everything.

I just put the watch in my swim cap with the triathlon app in the app store. You need it because in a swim cap with run or walk mode enables the touchscreen which will not work well in a swim cap.

Does cost quite a bit more though.

I have a Fenix 3 and as you as it does everything. My mate has a vivoactive and for the money it is terrific. I'm sure the missing features could easily be implemented by Garmin, but would stop people buying the Fenix 3/920xt.

What apps would this be? Just contemplating this instead of just a plain watch.

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http://www.clperformancetraining.com
http://www.pillasport.ca

You will have to keep an eye on Garmin Connect IQ. I have only seen one that displays power, but doesn't record it. If you need a device to display and record power while on the bike, the Vivoactive is not your device.

I currently have a 920 and am thinking about downgrading to the Vivoactive. I'm not a "hard core" triathlete by any means but do enjoy training and competing in 4-5 events per season.

Is it a huge downgrade going from the 920 to the VA? I've read Ray's site about all the functionality and capabilities (or lack thereof), but didn't know if anyone has experience moving between the two watches? I like the idea of saving a good chunk of change by selling the 920 for a VA.

Thanks!

The 920 has twice the battery life if that matters. I'm not a good one to ask as I never owned a 920. I went back and forth between the Fenix 3 and Vivoactive for a long time before going with the Vivoactive. It hasn't let me down at all since I have a 510 that I use for the bike.

I really wouldn't be surprised to see a HR version of the Vivoactive shortly.

My understanding is that Connect IQ does not allow to store data and this is the reason apps can't do it.
There is supposedly an update coming out that will allow app vendors to store.
To be seen if anyone stores power but I think the stryd and moxy guys need it.

Thanks for the info. IQ has been a bit of a letdown so far.

Is the VA no good for the bike? I know there's only the 3 data fields on the VA, but other than that is there a drawback to the cycle functionality of the VA?

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"Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday."

I just feel watches in general are no good for the bike unless you take them off and put them somewhere where you can see them. It records rides/stats just fine. You can customize the data fields, I just don't want to lift my hand and turn my wrist every time I want to get feedback from the screen. If you aren't using power, there probably isn't much reason to be looking at the screen very often.

this

the vivo activy is ok running watch with some swim functionabilities; if u want the right bike info then u better off with an Edge.

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

I like my vivoactive just fine. It does have some limitations, but the cost and size (wear ever day/all day) have sold me. I think I can crudely use it during a race even as I don't care about recording transitions or power. The one draw back that I've had is the wrist band tends to come lose from the holder thing and catches water, no big deal I just make sure to adjust the holder every so often in the pool.

Probably 98% of my bike riding is done indoors, so I generally have my 920 set up so I can see it at any time. I guess the 3 data fields might be an issue in deciding which metric to drop vs the 920.

I mainly just don't want to end up wishing I'd kept the 920 instead of saving $100 for what I'd get selling the used 920 and getting new VA.

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"Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday."