[Closed] New Garmin Watch?

I had a vivoactive hr for a couple of years and it was great but ugly, I'd happily have a new vivoactive 3/music. There's some good deals on the Fenix 3 Hrs now too. Ive got an apple watch now, and I love it most of the time, but I'm still tempted to switch back to Garmin.

Read the fenix series are really bulky. There's so many bloody functions.on these things I can't work.out the differences. What would one of them do extra?

Got a vivoactive 3 a couple of months ago. It’s really good. Simple, effective, so light you don’t notice it. Battery life is amazing. Very pleased.

I've got a vivoactive 3. Better than the TomTom it replaced though I have managed to put scratch the face 🙁

I think the default answer around here is now the Instinct. I like mine.

735xt user here - I researched for ages - principally through dcrainmaker’s amazing review site. I’ve been very happy with it - I’ve even not had too much troibke with Garmin connect 😀 but not sure what specifics you’re after. Happy to answer any questions.

+1 for the Instinct. It is kind of chunky, but quite lightweight, a lot lighter than the Fenix anyway.

Or look at the Forerunner 235. It is similar to the Vivoactive 3, but buttons instead of a touchscreen. So maybe easier to use for running. Though not so good for smart features.

Supposed to be a Forerunner 245 coming soon, including a Forerunner 245 Music.

It's worth giving Garmin a call, not had to do it for a while but even if out of warranty they might still repair or give a good price on a refurbed unit.

Vivoactive 3 music is great though (I've also scratched the screen)  Also use mine in the gym for tracking reps.

You lot must have really weak wrists, I wear a Fenix 5 24x7 and it's fine.

If you have the cash (~£500) then a fenix 5s plus is hard to beat.

If you haven't got the cash, then an instinct (~£200) does all the critical stuff for a lot less cash.

I used to have a fenix 3, now have an instinct, its very good, does everything I need from a GPS watch.

The medium sized Fenix 5 isn't a big watch, granted the older Fenix 3 was chunky, but not massive. I've been running a 5 now for a while & it's fine. In fact it's a great watch.

The Vivoactive's feel like cheap tat in comparison. I think if I was doing it again, as it wasn't available when I got the 5, i'd probably go with the Instinct now, as that's a watered down Fenix, basically.

Got a vivoactive 3 a couple of months ago. It’s really good. Simple, effective, so light you don’t notice it. Battery life is amazing. Very pleased.

Conversely I have a vivoactive 3 and the battery life is shit - may will be the normal shocking garmin QC. If you have the GPS on you get maybe 5 hours out of it, otherwise you're charging it every 3 or max 4 days - it's meant to last like 9 I think! The heart rate monitor is also crap for cycling (tho all wrist based ones are pretty poor if there is vibration involved).

Would I buy another - probably, but only because no one else makes a semi acceptable GPS watch. Maybe Wahoo will one day (my wife had a Lezyene and it was even worse).

Vivoactive 3 music ... with the spotify app is a winner for me.

Good luck

For my vivoactive 3 I get a days use for about 15% of total capacity and if you are using the gps that ups the usage to about 10% an hour, so 5-6 days normal usage. I was using a Samsung gear before that and you needed to charge it every couple of days so the battery life is great in comparison.

Got a 735xt 2 weeks ago. Really happy so far, mind you never had one before. I ride and run, no swimming nonsense. Not fully explored features but have uploaded a route and was easy using third party website. Like how it auto uploads to Strava. I'm surprised how compact and light it is for how much it can do.

Cheers guys. Bought a Vivoactive 3 in the end. Got a good deal at Halfords as they were knocking them out cheap and they did me BC discount. £148... cost swayed it over other options.

Ta