Shelby Elmore

GARMIN VIVOFIT FITNESS BAND REVIEW: WHAT TO EXPECT

The fitness band trend has taken full force — almost as much as wearing runners as casual shoes! With so activity devices out there, it can be hard to choose which one is best for you. Here’s my take on the Garmin Vivofit of what to expect, what works, and what doesn’t.

WHAT WORKS:

Pedometer

The Garmin VivoFit fitness band is basically a waterproof pedometer; therefore it counts your steps and miles. My favorite part about this feature is that I can set a daily goal, and it will not only tell me how many steps I have taken, but how many more I need to go before reaching my goal.

App

One of my newfound favorite daily routines is getting home from work at night, syncing up my Garmin to the app, and seeing if I have won any new badges or how I am doing in the various competitions you can enter to compete with fellow Garmin-ers. The app also allows you to set weekly and monthly goals, manually input other activities, check out weight loss/gain, and track your sleep habits.

Motivation

Garmin is one of the only fitness bands on the market designed to alert you to get off your bum! If you go one hour without movement, a red line starts to appear on the LCD screen. Every 15 minutes following, the red line grows little by little. The only way to get this red line to go away is to get up, and move a little. If you work in an office, it’s a great reminder to step away from the computer for a minute!

Battery Life

The Garmin VivoFit is the one and only fitness band on the market with a one year battery life. If you’re like me and feel like your phone is always near battery death due to lack of remembering to charge it, this feature is enough on its own to buy Garmin over competitors!

Waterproof

I love that I don’t have to worry about taking it off in the shower or when I’m relaxing my muscles in the hot tub.

Calorie Counter

For me, this is just another fun feature. Garmin uses your age, weight, and height to calculate how many calories you are burning during the amount of steps you are taking.

WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED:

Clasp

The actual band is made from a plastic-rubber and has notches to adjust size. I have abnormally small wrists, so in theory this works well. But over time, the notch holes have stretched out from taking it off and putting it back on to sync. So sometimes I have problems with it falling off.

No Battery Charger

Although the battery is designed to last a full year, once it dies, you will have to completely replace the battery. This is a tossup for me. I can’t decide if I would rather charge it daily, or pay to replace the battery. I guess I will decide at my one-year mark!

BOTTOM LINE:

If you want a sleek watch that tracks your steps, miles, calories burned, and reminds you to start moving after your body is still for too long, then introduce your wrist to its new BF.