Thinking about getting one. How are they to train and race with? Easy to use? What’s a good price for a new one?
I’ve got the one without HR. I like it as a watch and activity tracker, but I wouldn’t want it to be my only watch for training. You can’t load workouts to it, it only vibrates, and there’s no native tri setting. There is also currently an issue with it not using cadence from the foot pod. I’d get the 920 @ 199 if you can. New the vivoactive I’d running around 150 last I looked.
I really like it for everyday use and for simple/quick workouts.
Love mine. It’s not a full fledged tri watch like a 920, but it’s great for workouts and compact enough that it’s now my everyday watch.
Pros:
Normal size watch
Great quality GPS (it’s Garmin)
Works for all three sports
Easy to pair with Ant+ devices (HRMs, speed/cadence sensors, etc.)
Automatically uploads to my phone as soon as I get in range.
Great battery life (>1week) when not using GPS, recharges really quick.
Cons:
Using GPS, battery life isn’t long enough for an IM (~6-7hrs).
Can only do 1 sport at a time (for races I record the whole event as a run then break it up after). There are some apps that allow you to record a triathlon, but they are clunky.
Now that the Vivoactive HR is out, the Vivoactive retails for $200 and you can it for $150 on Amazon.
Positives- Like the Garmin 910xt it gets distance right (+/- 5% where I live). That’s good enough for recording activities for records, but not good for measuring pace or speed.
The Vivoactive is thus just as wrong as every other Garmin. But at a fraction of the price.
Negatives- the wrist heart rate monitor is not completely wrong. The readings are wrong. But not always wrong, or entirely wrong.
This leaves you wondering and calculating. Trying to deduce how the data might relate to reality.
All in all that’s more annoying than something that doesnt work at all.
I use the original vivoactive every day. I wear it as my every day watch and use it to track/record all of my runs. I’ve had it for almost a year and a half and have had no problems with it. You should be able to find it for under $200.
I like the phone notifications and i also occasionally use the golf mode. Easy to download courses and track your game as well as give decent distance to hole.
I don’t want to upload run courses or workouts so not sure if those even exist here. I also have a Garmin forerunner 220 and much prefer the vivoactive.
It has a touchscreen but during activity you only need to use it if you’re switching screens/data pages, otherwise you use the actual buttons to start, pause and stop the activity. Overall very easy to use for both training and racing. In tri’s i have an Edge that i use on my bike and use the vivo for the run. It’s also waterproof but swim mode doesn’t work in open water. I use it regularly in the pool to track laps and its pretty simple to do.
I run about 4 hours a week plus swim about an hour or so a week in additional to wearing it all day and I charge the battery every 10 days or so.
Overall i am a fan.
I have the non HR version and agree with the other positive comments. I also have the 920 but prefer to wear the vivoactive as a daily watch and fitness monitor.