From the moment I saw this device I knew it was for me. Even though it is very similar to its predecessor in appearances, it kicks ass in ability. It is one of the most well-rounded fitness trackers on the market currently for its price. I ordered this item from the USA so I would get it sooner and I’ve had it for a few weeks now so I’ll share my impressions with you.
All the good...
Battery: The battery on this device is phenomenal. For all it can do, over a year of battery is amazing. Even with the always-on display. This means no charging at all. That is a huge downfall for many other watches but Garmin definitely dominates here. That is a huge plus.
App: The layout of the new and updated Garmin app is great. It looks and feels nice to use. It has good functionality compared to many other apps such as TomTom and Fitbit. I probably wouldn’t rank it the highest out of all companies but it is definitely up there. You will not be disappointed with all its functionality though there might be too much information (as Garmin are known for).
Widgets: There are many widgets included on the watch such as the weather and changing songs from your phone. These can be very useful and really boost this activity tracker in the ranks compared to other top-dogs. Most other activity trackers in this price range won’t have these type of features.
Move IQ: The new Garmin auto-detect activity is brilliant. When you get an activity tracker, at first, you will be really eager to track every single activity (even sleeping!) but then as time goes on it becomes harder and harder to motivate yourself to track activities as it can become boring. This was the case for me. That it why having it track your workouts without having to start it yourself is a huge bonus.
Extras: Always-on colour display is great and on top of that the battery doesn’t even suffer. It is very easy to see out side and in lightly lit places. All the usual stuff like step-counting and sleep monitoring is included but that is taken for granted at this point for watches like this.
And the bad...
Always-on display: I mentioned that it was super-easy to read out side but not that it is impossible to read inside. They have made it in such a way that you need very good light to be able to see it.
Vibration alarms: Probably due to the amazing battery life, they frustratingly decided not to include vibration alarms on the Vivofit 4. It does a very bad job at wakening you for this reason. You won’t be able to rely on the activity tracker to wake you as the sound from the alarm will probably be too quiet to wake you unless you sleep very light.
Texts/calls: One big thing missing is the ability to read calls and texts from this activity tracker. In 2018, it is rare to not have this included. It is quite odd and annoying but you learn to deal with it. It is not the biggest bummer ever.
To sum it up, I would recommend this watch to anyone who wants a good value fitness tracker with a fair amount of features. I’m sure the amazing battery will appeal to most and will probably be one of the main deciding factor for many as well as the auto-tacking feature. The price is great and water-proofing is brilliant to have also.
I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone who wants in-depth fitness tracking features. For that I would recommend the Fenix range of Garmin or even another company such as Suunto or Fitbit. It will not be for everyone but most will appreciate everything it can do.
OVERALL: 9/10
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