I’m thinking of picking up a Vivoactive 3 Music on cybermonday. With store credits, I can get one for around $140. At present, I’m using a 910xt. Given the season, I’m really only using the 910xt for outdoor runs and pool swims. Otherwise, it’s treadmill and kickr season. I like the idea of having music (and potentially Spotify) on the watch, as well as the much easier syncing process. I also continually have problems with my 910xt syncing properly.
So - is it convenient to use while running? Particularity during track or interval workouts? And how about during swim workouts? The lack of a lap function during swimming is concerning.
My wife has a vivoactive and the data screens and lap functions have a lot to be desired. The single button is kind of awkward to use during workouts and the touch screen is worse. It’s a fantastic watch for your casual runner but for workouts it kind of falls short. I used her watch a few times and I preferred my old 910 compared to it. It’s especially terrible in the rain or snow or with gloves on. I never tried it in the pool.
I’d suggest either the new fenix with music if music is important to you or just go with a 935/735. I’ll usually take my phone with me with wireless headphones but that’s only for the odd workout.
The vivoactive also doesn’t do true multisport. You’ll need to end an activity and load up a new one if you plan on using it in a race. It also won’t do open water swims (although you could just record it as a run and change the activity later). If you only want to spend $140…it’s a good deal, but you’re probably going to say things like, “dammit, my old watch was so much better at this” for a lot of things. Other things, like auto-sync and all day HR/activity tracking, are a real bonus.
As jarret mentioned the single button and touch screen are less than ideal for workouts.
If you’re interested in the styling of the vivo 3, consider the 645m. Great watch with similar styling and actual buttons. No outdoor swim or multisport mode though if you need that. I don’t so it works great for me.
I have the V3 Music and it’s okay. I also bought one for my wife. With that said, we use it basically for the music function as we have both sweated through a couple of I-pod Nano’s, which are about 150$ apiece. I mostly use mine for ez runs or perhaps long runs when the only metric I care about is mileage and perhaps see what pace I’m at. I take the HR data for what’s its worth, since I don’t really train according to it.
We both also have the Garmin 910 and will use that watch for intervals, tempo runs, etc… but will wear the V3 for the music function. It’s a light and slim profile watch so not really a big deal having it on the other wrist. The music sounds pretty good and we have ours synced up to a pair of cheaper wireless earphones.