Garmin has announced the Vívosmart HR touchscreen activity tracker that takes your heart rate at your wrist and offers a range of smart notifications. One of the benefits for cyclists is that it’s compatible with Garmin Edge bike computers, so you can use it as a heart rate monitor if you prefer not to wear a heart rate chest strap – albeit an expensive heart rate monitor, unless you’re interested in the other functions.
The Vivosmart HR counts steps, floors climbed and measures your activity intensity throughout the day. When paired with a compatible smartphone, you can use it to receive texts, calls, email, calendar and social media alerts, and control music.
The device has a 50m water rating and Garmin says that it has up to five days’ battery life. You can set your own activity intensity goals, and it automatically syncs with the recently updated Garmin Connect mobile app.
The Vivosmart HR takes your heart rate throughout the day and night using an optical sensor that Garmin calls its Elevate technology. We’ve no idea of its accuracy because we’ve not use it. You can pair it up to a Garmin Edge bike computer or Forerunner running watch and have your heart rate displayed on there as well as on the device itself.
The Vivosmart HR will be available from 1 November in three colors – black, imperial purple and midnight blue – at £119.99.
For more info go to http://sites.garmin.com/en-GB/vivo/vivosmart/
3 thoughts on “Garmin launches Vivosmart HR activity tracker”
Does this use the same
Does this use the same technology as the Garmin heart rate straps ( chest )?
I find the results to both my Garmin 500 and Ant dongle using trainer road very erratic , when measuring HR with the Garmin Chest strap, and have started to loose faith in it.
A riding budy has a Mio wrist device and it seems to give much more consistent readings than my chest strap, some times it will shoot up to 249bpm for no reason what so ever , it even had me thinking I was tachycardic at one point , fortunatley and E.C.G prior to a General Anaesthetic confirmed all is good with the ticker.
Not having to put on a cold
Not having to put on a cold wet HR strap before every ride sound appealing….if it’s accurate.
Why
@Magic
Your chest strap reads really high because it’s dried out… fairly standard problem. the new Vivosmart HR uses an optical sensor (like the fitbit charge does)… and its likely to have similar issues – with different causes.
at anyone else… where’s going to sell them, I’d sure like one.