Garmin Vivosport vs Vivosmart HR+ Comparison of 2023
As recent health studies are progressing, they are linking good health with more physical activity.
Hence, people are gradually moving towards a lifestyle that involves cleaner diets and integrates fitness.
Since each body is slightly different so it’s useful to have our daily analytics, and here is where these sports activity trackers come in.
Activity trackers are widely used in offices, and we’re pretty sure you’ve seen people around you wearing them, and it is because they are genuinely useful.
For today’s article, we will be having a Garmin Vivosport and Vivosmart HR+ comparison.
Both of the products that we’ll be discussing today are budget-friendly and are simple all in all. So without further ado, let’s delve right into the details.
Garmin Vivosport vs Vivosmart HR+ Comparison in 2023
Garmin Vivosport
If you are looking for a fitness tracker that is quite slim and light enough that you’ll barely feel it on your wrist, we think you will like this product very much.
Maintaining a good standard, this tracker also has a colored always-on display, which is visible in broad daylight.
The design is very slim, and to be precise, it’s only about 11mm in thickness, which makes it so comfortable to wear.
Now, the display is a bit small and can be a bit difficult to use, hence, we do wish that it came with a few buttons for control because navigating through the tiny screen can be fiddly.
It is made entirely out of rubber and has a nice grip to it, and you can also choose from an array of colors.
The Vivosport may not look like much, but it does pack a bunch of useful sensors, the biggest one being the heart-rate sensor that blends in perfectly with the tracker’s design.
A new feature of this device is that it can get analytics of your stress levels by using the heart-rate sensor, which can be useful sometimes.
You will be able to track running, walking, and cycling with this device with not much fuss besides the hassling navigation process to start the run, thanks to the tiny screen.
Sleep cycle tracking is also a feature made available in this watch, and although it may not be completely accurate, you can’t really complain about it at this price point.
The great thing is that this fitness tracker is water-resistant like a lot of others, so you can leave it on your wrist without having to stress about it getting broken.
However, quite disappointingly to some, the Vivosport does not track swimming, which we think should have been added by the manufacturers.
One advantage of the tiny screen is that you get a very impressive battery life with this watch, and by that, we mean over a week of battery!
We must also add that this product has a barometric altimeter that makes the analytics more accurate by adapting to the surrounding.
And it also connects to smartphones really easily with the famous Garmin connect app and shows you all the data of your VO2 max, heart-rate and much more.
Last but not the least, the Vivosport also has a GPS, which is quite surprisingly accurate for the device, but hey, we’re not complaining.
PROS
CONS
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Vivosmart HR+
The Garmin Vivosmart HR+ is a fitness tracker in the market that has arguably one of the strongest specifications, and today we’ll be discussing all that.
When it comes to the design, we must say that this tracker is a bit on the chunkier side, so if you’re looking to wear this on a daily basis, this might not be your favorite feature, especially for women.
Besides the chunky body, the screen isn’t all that big, as a matter of fact, it is a 160 x 68 pixels monochrome touch capacitive display, but the slightly low resolution isn’t really a deal-breaker.
However, it is easy to navigate through the tracker to get to know all your daily activities’ analytics.
The waterproofing up to 50m is a great addition in this device, but unfortunately, it does not have a swim mode.
Your daily activities tracking will be done marvelously with this device, and we can verify that.
The step tracking is insanely accurate, and so is the 24/7 heart-rate monitoring, thanks to its excellent heart-rate sensor.
Paired with the Garmin Connect app, you will get wonderful colored analytics using graphs and so many other statistical models to show your progress.
The GPS of this thing also works well, and the sleep cycle tracking is also decent with the help of the great heart-rate sensor.
For more intense sports, you have only 3 modes, which are the running, cardio, and others. That shows the lack of versatility here.
You’ll obviously get data when you’re in the gym or cycling, but they won’t be all that precise.
Another issue is that when your activities get very intense and your heart-rate really spikes, the analytics will start to become more imprecise.
This tracker works well on a daily basis by giving you all your notifications, and it doesn’t have any delay or anything, and you can also read entire messages by tapping ok the notification.
The engineers at Garmin have done a decent job with this battery here, making this device last up to 6 days.
PROS
CONS
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Garmin Vivosport or Vivosmart HR+?
Let’s compare both Vivosport products to find out the winner among them.
Design
Both of these fitness trackers sport a tiny display that has touch capacity, but the display of the Vivosmart HR+ is a tad bit larger and is easier to swipe through.
On the other hand, the Vivosport has a much slimmer and sleek design that the Vivosport HR+ fails to provide.
Activities Tracking
In this category, both the products are quite similar because they both do not have swim modes or support of external sensors.
However, the daily activity tracking of the Vivosmart HR+ is slightly more accurate, but it does have fewer modes than the Vivosport.
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Daily Use and Battery
For the slimmer design, a lot of people may prefer Vivosport because it is also lighter.
You should keep in mind that the Vivosmart HR+ is better at handling notifications, and it won’t let you down.
When it comes to battery life, they both are quite similar, but here the Vivosport has up to a week’s worth of battery compared to the slightly lower 6-days battery life of the other product.
Price
These two devices aren’t all that high priced in the first place, but it is worth mentioning that the Vivosmart HR+ is more expensive by an almost 50 USD margin.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the thickness if the Vivosmart HR+?
It is about 15mm thick.
Are the rubber bands replaceable?
No, they are not.
Do both these watches have different viewing orientations?
Yes, they have 8 different vertical and horizontal orientations.
When does the GPS work in these watches?
GPS only turns on when you choose the activity mode.
What do these watches use to connect with a phone?
Both of these watches connect with your smartphone using Bluetooth and Garmin connect.
Conclusion
I hope, this guide was detailed enough for you to get a good idea of both the products.
If it were up to us, we would say if the smaller fiddly screen is not an absolute deal-breaker for you, Vivosport is the better value for money, and if you want a bit bigger screen go for the Vivosmart HR+.