Back in July I bought the Garmin Vivoactive smartwatch. I liked the device well enough, but the style was a major drawback. I started referring to it as âMichael Scottâs Plasmaâ because of how ridiculous it looked like on my wrist.
But as silly as it looked, I liked the device for what it was, a first generation smartwatch with a fitness focus. I liked it enough that further bought into the Garmin ecosystem with their smart scale. So when Garmin announced the Vivoactive 3, a smartwatch that actually looks like watch, I was very interested.
Vivoactive 3 vs Vivoactive
The Vivoactive 3 is a huge step up from the Vivoactive style-wise. Itâs still a pretty big device on my 5.5âł wrist, but since itâs round it doesnât look as ridiculous. Thereâs no big Garmin logo, or smartwatch looking buttons. The band the watch ships with is no longer stiff silicone, and is a much more comfortable and more flexible silicone. The watch band no longer uses proprietary screws, but instead uses standard watch pins.
The Vivoactive 3 also adds a heart rate monitor. Itâs flush to the back of the watch which is really nice. Because it has a heart rate monitor, it can monitor your stress throughout the day. I have no idea how this calculates though, and I canât seem to find a pattern to it. There is also a meditation mode to help lower the stress. I never remember to do it though. I wish itâd prompt me to take a moment to relax like it prompts me to move.
One downside to the Vivoactive 3 is the vibration. Itâs not nearly as strong as it was on my Vivoactive. Itâs not strong enough to wake me in the morning, so I canât use it as a silent alarm, which is a big downside for me.
The Vivoactive 3 is also buggy. SMS messages donât always dismiss from the watch when you dismiss them from your phone. If you have a watch face with weather, the GPS doesnât turn off during an indoor activity (leading to battery drain). And for some reason your step goal resets when you get a new device. This isnât unique to the Vivoactive 3 (my husband had the same issue going from a Vivosmart HRÂ to a Vivoactive HR), but itâs a really ridiculous problem.
Vivoactive, Vivoactive HR, and Vivoactive 3
The Garmin Vivoactive 3 on my 5.5âł wrist
 Vivoactive 3 vs Pebble Time Round
Beating the old version of the product is pretty easy. But the big question is how the Vivoactive 3 compares to my old Pebble Time Round. Thatâs the unicorn Iâve been chasing since Pebble was shuttered . And while the Vivoactive 3 is closer, itâs still not there.
The messaging isnât nearly as robust as Pebble. I can respond to SMS messages from my Vivoactive 3, but thatâs it. With my Pebble I could respond to messages from any messaging app. Those SMS responses arenât customizable either. I canât set up my own canned responses to send.
The biggest issue though is the Garmin software just isnât intuitive. It seems every time I want to change a setting I find myself looking at the manual, and still usually having to Google for it. Pebble had a great interface, and thatâs one of the biggest things I miss. That, and the app store. But I canât really fault Garmin for that.
The Vivoactive 3 does have some features the Pebble Time round didnât have. Itâs waterproof, has GPS, and has a heart rate monitor. It has NFC and Iâll eventually be able to use it for payments. The battery life is a huge step up as well.
The Pebble Time Round next to the larger Vivoactive 3.
The devices side by side on my wrist.
The Vivoactive 3 is a huge improvement from my Vivoactive, but for me it still isnât as good as my old Pebble. Itâs still a fitness first device, which isnât exactly what I want. But I also donât want something thatâs like a phone on my wrist. The Vivoactive 3 comes the closest to hitting all my use case criteria at the moment, so Iâm happy with the device. But Iâll still be watching this space going forward.
Disclaimer: Garmin gave me a discount code for the Vivoactive 3, which had no impact on my review. (If I were worried about anything, itâd be that Iâm already in the ecosystem.) All Amazon links are affiliate links.
The Garmin Vivoactive 3 is out. Is it the Pebble replacement I've been looking for? Back in July I bought the Garmin Vivoactive smartwatch. I liked the device well enough, but the style was a major drawback.
