Can confirm, same thing happened to me. FitBit support was unhelpful. FitBit forum moderators were tyrannical. Considering the timing, I think it may have been intentional to boost sales for the Charge 6.
Mine bricked 3 weeks ago. Customer service gave me a 35% off ($159) if I buy it through Google Store. Not sure if I'm going to get it or not. Should I go with something else? I don't want $$$ to be the only determining factor. I want accuracy, reliability and good looks. Hmmmmm...
@@Michael-nr8ur Ah yes, the good ol' break your stuff and tell you to buy a new one trick! Do you not expect FitBit to simply do the same thing again in a years time? Buy something else... I waited about a year before getting a new tracker, and just landed on the Amazfit Band 7 for $45. As my field of work involves advanced statistical analysis, I'm sort of a data nut. The Band 7 seems to have all the data tracking I want, as well as some features I hadn't thought of but really like, such as the PEI score. The numbers seem accurate so far, so it's worth checking out, but I've only had it for like 3 days now so take this with a grain of salt.
Just the review I have been looking for. I want a small unobtrusive tracker that is small enough to wear opposite my normal watch. The size and monochrome screen is ideal for what I need it for - to track basic metrics through out my day. This watch is perfect.
Me is also a watch enthusiast- and I am looking for a easy but good tracking tool, for my CrossFit and powerhouse session. It’s sad that you can’t connect chest sensors etc… but it’s still better then wearing my Fenix ….
@ZeeZee9 hi! Yes, you can disable the Bluetooth and the tracker's connection to your phone. Press the central button to view the menu, then go into settings (gear icon), then select the icon with Phone/Bluetooth symbol. Hope that helps 😄
“Adds to cart” thanks for the video! Ive had a fitbit charge 6 for little less than a year . It stopped working today out of nowhere!!!!! Never buying fitbit again.
Yes, you can control music via the music control widget. Check this out from Garmin: The music control widget allows you to control music on your phone using your vívosmart® 5 watch. The widget controls the currently active or most recently active media player app on your phone. If no media player is active, the widget does not display track information, and you must start playback from your phone. On your phone, start playing a song or playlist. On your vívosmart 5 watch, swipe to view the music control widget. Hope that helps.
Hi! The Vivosmart 5 will use your phone to track your pace. I'm inclined to think it shows live pace on the tracker during a run, however, not 100% sure if it's just average pace or live pace as it's been a while since I tested it. Checkout the Garmin user forums which may have a better answer: forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/healthandwellness/f/vivosmart-5
Very Nicely done 👏👏👏 I can imagine how much effort went into making the video !! Good work, keep it up!! Also I like how you tried to introduce some humor 😊
Ah that's a shame Marilyn. May I ask how your screen cracked on the Charge 5? I agree there are a few issues with the Google integration now like removal of other music apps and stuck with UA-cam Music only! And there are some positves like Google Wallet and Maps. Charge 6 performed really well in the HR accuracy and battery tests which was great, and the materials were better than other trackers now mostly made by budget brands in the sub $100 category. Have you checked out Garmin yet? They make highly durable trackers and watches and NO PAYWALLS 😀
I have a Vivosmart 4 that heartrate sensor has officially given up on me. I bought the Fitbit charge 6 to replace it and I hate it. I cannot find a heartrate graph and it took nearly an hour to set the clock as it would not update. No thanks. I'll get the Garmin 5.
I am trying out the VivoCharge 5 now. I have used FitBit Charge Five for years. I have twice replaced them after battery issues. Fitbit has no interest in fixing their bad firmware or product. So now I will try the Garmin….
Hello, thanks for watching! Sadly, the clock faces on the Home Screen are quite restrictive which was one the annoying things for me.. But you can easily see the Notifications or number of messages/calls in the Controls Menu by swiping right from the Home Screen. Check out this page of the manual to configure the Notifications to be displayed in the Controls Menu when you swipe right: www.manualslib.com/manual/2569589/Garmin-Vivosmart-5.html?page=26#manual Hope that helps 😀
Hello, thanks for watching! Both are good for sleep tracking. But there are major differences in the type of the devices. It depends on what you value more: just fitness tracking with good battery or if you want fitness tracking with colour screen and smart features. The Vivosmart 5 does all the basic fitness tracking with great battery, but doesn't have a large colour touch screen and not much smart capabilities. Its just a plain fitness band. A "smartwatch" like Galaxy Watch 4 which has a large colour screen, does all the fitness and sleep tracking, lot of smart features but very poor battery life. You could get a fitness band that still has a colour touch screen, amazing fitness and sleep tracking, great battery and has smart capabilities (Without being categorised as a smartwatch). Check this video out to learn about it: ua-cam.com/video/iu1zCqELahk/v-deo.htmlsi=AewbGKpxOz8GdlDG
Hello. İ have both devices. Yes galaxy is beautiful, but everyday charging is disaster. Vivo is excellent in sleep tracking. Very good bracelet and perfect tracking. İt takes 6 days for usual use. Galaxy 4 i bought myself, and vivo was a present. İ would prefer gt 4. İt is beautiful and with good battery. Because every day charging is annoying.
@@tonyali7355 Actualy Vivo is terrible at sleep tracking which has been scientificaly proven (watch it on his channel). Its the function that works the WORST in this band.
You've let me back in a circle to the watch/fitness tracker I already have, the amazefit bip 5. But I wasn't convinced the HRM was very accurate. But maybe I just have a high resting heartrate... I dunno. Still wondering if another one would work better. Maybe I should keep giving it a go. I've really only just started wanting to track my heart rate.
Hi. HRM on the Bip 5 is fine when doing activities - but there's an option to increase the frequency of measurement to make it more accurate. For resting HR, we are relying on the algorithm to smooth out errant HR readings, which in some budget watches like Bip 5 is not that great. Garmins are much better at keeping track of resting HR (and activity/exercise HRs). I have used Garmin Venu 2, Vivosmart 5 and now Forerunner 165 and they are all consistently showing my resting HR in the same range which is a positive indicator of their algorithm being consistently applied across the board. Hope that helps.
I use a charge 6 at the moment but have just bought an epix. So why watch this review? Because I just know I'll destroy the epix at work so was wanting something similar to my fitbit to track and sync data to the epix, via the connect app I'm guessing this will work like that?!
Hello! Not a bad idea! If you use 2 Garmins together or even separately (Epix + Vivosmart for example), both devices will sync to Garmin Connect but you need to select 1 primary device in the Garmin Connect app and the app will show stats for that primary device (for example Vivosmart 5 data if you pick that as primary device in the app). What won't happen is say if you do 10,000 steps on Vivosmart 5 during the day (not using Epix), the Garmin Connect App wont sync the 10,000 steps onto the Epix - but your profile on Garmin Connect will show the 10,000 for you as a user, regardless of what Garmin you use. I did this when I had Garmin Venu 2 one 1 hand and Vivosmart 5 on another, and at the end of day I think what was important to me was that my user profile on the app was up-to-date regardless of which Garmin was syncing to it. Hope that helps 😀
Hello 👋🏻 Just an update for you. I'm currently testing the Garmin Forerunner 165 for my next review and the I've noticed that the latest version of Garmin Connect (version 5.0) released a couple of weeks ago seems to sync activites, sleep, steps, etc, that I recorded on my Garmin Venu 2 straight onto the Forerunner 165 when it is selected as a primary device and synced! So you could still use one Garmin during the day, then let Garmin Connect sync the activities to your other wearable (Epix for example) later on in the evening when it all syncs together. Hope that helps 😀
Review fitbit inspire 3, and. Correlation with respect to polar , Sleep and heart rate at different activities. Also Heart rate variability in inspire 3.
This was a great review, thank you! Everyone seems to want to gloss over the blood oxygen level features and whether it can be included in sleep tracking or if it's just an on-demand thing. Thank you so much for addressing that here. One thing I will say is that I went to the Google play store to look at the app reviews, and ALL the most recent reviews are 1's because of a recent update. Like they're all saying what happened, why'd you ruin it, it was fine, now it's harder to read, sucks to use and seems less accurate, etc. So much can change in just a few days! grrrrrr edit: I see now that you did a review of the update. I'm a little less apprehensive about it now. I imagine it's something that would annoy current users who were used to the old way more than new users.
Hey thanks for watching. Yes the new Garmin Connect app update is a bit divisive for existing users but if you're new to the Garmin world then not a big issue.
100% agree. It's an archaic looking item in 2024. Garmin need to stick a colour OLED screen on the Vivosmart series. But some folk like a discrete-looking band so this one fits the bill.
Which fitness tracker are you using currently? I'm curious to know your experience! Let me know in the comments below 👇🏻
Vivosmart 5 garmin
Nice 👍🏻
I have a Fitbit charge 5 and a update they did bricked it. All of the forums are saying the same thing. I do not recommend Fitbits!!!!
Thanks for letting others in the comments section know Kimberley!
Can confirm, same thing happened to me. FitBit support was unhelpful. FitBit forum moderators were tyrannical. Considering the timing, I think it may have been intentional to boost sales for the Charge 6.
Oh wow really? That's not great, especially if a software update is causing this 😕
Mine bricked 3 weeks ago. Customer service gave me a 35% off ($159) if I buy it through Google Store. Not sure if I'm going to get it or not. Should I go with something else? I don't want $$$ to be the only determining factor. I want accuracy, reliability and good looks. Hmmmmm...
@@Michael-nr8ur Ah yes, the good ol' break your stuff and tell you to buy a new one trick! Do you not expect FitBit to simply do the same thing again in a years time? Buy something else...
I waited about a year before getting a new tracker, and just landed on the Amazfit Band 7 for $45. As my field of work involves advanced statistical analysis, I'm sort of a data nut. The Band 7 seems to have all the data tracking I want, as well as some features I hadn't thought of but really like, such as the PEI score. The numbers seem accurate so far, so it's worth checking out, but I've only had it for like 3 days now so take this with a grain of salt.
Just the review I have been looking for. I want a small unobtrusive tracker that is small enough to wear opposite my normal watch. The size and monochrome screen is ideal for what I need it for - to track basic metrics through out my day. This watch is perfect.
Hi, glad the video helped 😀
Me is also a watch enthusiast- and I am looking for a easy but good tracking tool, for my CrossFit and powerhouse session. It’s sad that you can’t connect chest sensors etc… but it’s still better then wearing my Fenix ….
Hi! Yeah agreed a Fenix might be a bit bulky for CrossFit, still useable though. Vivosmart 5 much lighter and less obtrusive overall.
the problem with the fitbit charge 6 is the bluetooth permanently ON, no off mode
Hi. Yes that unfortunately Fitbit doesn't have that setting. It needs the app connected to the Charge 6 all the time so the app is synced 24x7.
@@thewearableistHello, does the Bluetooth have an off switch on the vivosmart 5?
@ZeeZee9 hi! Yes, you can disable the Bluetooth and the tracker's connection to your phone.
Press the central button to view the menu, then go into settings (gear icon), then select the icon with Phone/Bluetooth symbol.
Hope that helps 😄
@@thewearableist Wonderful. Thank you!
@@ZeeZee9 no worries 🙂
Being very allergic to subscription based products and apps I've narrowed it down to this model. Seems to cover all the basic needs.
Hi! Haha yes I don't like subscriptions and paywalls too 😅
“Adds to cart” thanks for the video! Ive had a fitbit charge 6 for little less than a year . It stopped working today out of nowhere!!!!! Never buying fitbit again.
Hi! A lot of people have complained about Fitbit.
Glad the video helped 😀
Are there music controls on this device?
Yes, you can control music via the music control widget. Check this out from Garmin:
The music control widget allows you to control music on your phone using your vívosmart® 5 watch. The widget controls the currently active or most recently active media player app on your phone. If no media player is active, the widget does not display track information, and you must start playback from your phone.
On your phone, start playing a song or playlist.
On your vívosmart 5 watch, swipe to view the music control widget.
Hope that helps.
Thanks for the review. Did i get correctly that this device show your pace in real time while running if i connect it to strava?
Hi! The Vivosmart 5 will use your phone to track your pace. I'm inclined to think it shows live pace on the tracker during a run, however, not 100% sure if it's just average pace or live pace as it's been a while since I tested it.
Checkout the Garmin user forums which may have a better answer: forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/healthandwellness/f/vivosmart-5
Hey, thanks for the video. Do I need to subscribe to any plan to track my sleep?
Glad you found the video helpful!
No paywalls or subscriptions in the Garmin Connect app, all free to all users 😀
@ thank you!😇
Garmin with rectangle shape! YESSSSSSSSSSS
Very Nicely done 👏👏👏 I can imagine how much effort went into making the video !! Good work, keep it up!! Also I like how you tried to introduce some humor 😊
Glad you enjoyed and thanks for the feedback 😀
Currently have a Charge5, just cracked the screen. My hesitation with another Fitbit is the move toward Google.
Ah that's a shame Marilyn. May I ask how your screen cracked on the Charge 5?
I agree there are a few issues with the Google integration now like removal of other music apps and stuck with UA-cam Music only! And there are some positves like Google Wallet and Maps. Charge 6 performed really well in the HR accuracy and battery tests which was great, and the materials were better than other trackers now mostly made by budget brands in the sub $100 category.
Have you checked out Garmin yet? They make highly durable trackers and watches and NO PAYWALLS 😀
Is it possible to connect the Garmin Vivosmart 5 to an HRM Pro Plus strap? If so, how? :D
Hi thanks for watching. No, the Vivosmart 5 unfortunately can't be paired to a chest strap...
I have a Vivosmart 4 that heartrate sensor has officially given up on me. I bought the Fitbit charge 6 to replace it and I hate it. I cannot find a heartrate graph and it took nearly an hour to set the clock as it would not update. No thanks. I'll get the Garmin 5.
Hi! A lot of people have complained about Fitbit Charge 6.
Glad the video helped 😀
Good review,thanks for your time....
It,s possible to connect to a chest band??
Thank you
Hi thanks for watching. No, the Vivosmart 5 unfortunately can't be paired to a chest strap...
What? That’s dumb :/
Yep, unfortunately can't on the Vivosmart 5 😞
I am trying out the VivoCharge 5 now. I have used FitBit
Charge Five for years. I have twice replaced them after
battery issues. Fitbit has no interest in fixing their bad
firmware or product. So now I will try the Garmin….
Garmin will hopefully work out better.
Hello, Thanks for the good review.
I have a question. Can the main menu (Home screen) be customized to show the number of messages/calls?
Hello, thanks for watching!
Sadly, the clock faces on the Home Screen are quite restrictive which was one the annoying things for me..
But you can easily see the Notifications or number of messages/calls in the Controls Menu by swiping right from the Home Screen.
Check out this page of the manual to configure the Notifications to be displayed in the Controls Menu when you swipe right: www.manualslib.com/manual/2569589/Garmin-Vivosmart-5.html?page=26#manual
Hope that helps 😀
Thanks a lot, very helpful@@thewearableist
Thanks for the info. It was very helpful. @@thewearableist
Is it good to buy this in 2024? or shoud i go for samsung galaxy watch 4 classic?which one is worth for sleep tracking?
Hello, thanks for watching!
Both are good for sleep tracking. But there are major differences in the type of the devices.
It depends on what you value more: just fitness tracking with good battery or if you want fitness tracking with colour screen and smart features.
The Vivosmart 5 does all the basic fitness tracking with great battery, but doesn't have a large colour touch screen and not much smart capabilities. Its just a plain fitness band.
A "smartwatch" like Galaxy Watch 4 which has a large colour screen, does all the fitness and sleep tracking, lot of smart features but very poor battery life.
You could get a fitness band that still has a colour touch screen, amazing fitness and sleep tracking, great battery and has smart capabilities (Without being categorised as a smartwatch). Check this video out to learn about it: ua-cam.com/video/iu1zCqELahk/v-deo.htmlsi=AewbGKpxOz8GdlDG
Hello. İ have both devices. Yes galaxy is beautiful, but everyday charging is disaster. Vivo is excellent in sleep tracking. Very good bracelet and perfect tracking. İt takes 6 days for usual use. Galaxy 4 i bought myself, and vivo was a present. İ would prefer gt 4. İt is beautiful and with good battery. Because every day charging is annoying.
@tonyali7355 Thanks for the info on your experience! I'm currently testing the new Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, review will be out shortly 😀
@@tonyali7355 Actualy Vivo is terrible at sleep tracking which has been scientificaly proven (watch it on his channel). Its the function that works the WORST in this band.
You've let me back in a circle to the watch/fitness tracker I already have, the amazefit bip 5. But I wasn't convinced the HRM was very accurate. But maybe I just have a high resting heartrate... I dunno. Still wondering if another one would work better. Maybe I should keep giving it a go. I've really only just started wanting to track my heart rate.
Hi. HRM on the Bip 5 is fine when doing activities - but there's an option to increase the frequency of measurement to make it more accurate. For resting HR, we are relying on the algorithm to smooth out errant HR readings, which in some budget watches like Bip 5 is not that great. Garmins are much better at keeping track of resting HR (and activity/exercise HRs). I have used Garmin Venu 2, Vivosmart 5 and now Forerunner 165 and they are all consistently showing my resting HR in the same range which is a positive indicator of their algorithm being consistently applied across the board.
Hope that helps.
I use a charge 6 at the moment but have just bought an epix. So why watch this review? Because I just know I'll destroy the epix at work so was wanting something similar to my fitbit to track and sync data to the epix, via the connect app I'm guessing this will work like that?!
Hello! Not a bad idea! If you use 2 Garmins together or even separately (Epix + Vivosmart for example), both devices will sync to Garmin Connect but you need to select 1 primary device in the Garmin Connect app and the app will show stats for that primary device (for example Vivosmart 5 data if you pick that as primary device in the app).
What won't happen is say if you do 10,000 steps on Vivosmart 5 during the day (not using Epix), the Garmin Connect App wont sync the 10,000 steps onto the Epix - but your profile on Garmin Connect will show the 10,000 for you as a user, regardless of what Garmin you use.
I did this when I had Garmin Venu 2 one 1 hand and Vivosmart 5 on another, and at the end of day I think what was important to me was that my user profile on the app was up-to-date regardless of which Garmin was syncing to it.
Hope that helps 😀
@@thewearableist that's a great help, thank you!
Hello 👋🏻
Just an update for you.
I'm currently testing the Garmin Forerunner 165 for my next review and the I've noticed that the latest version of Garmin Connect (version 5.0) released a couple of weeks ago seems to sync activites, sleep, steps, etc, that I recorded on my Garmin Venu 2 straight onto the Forerunner 165 when it is selected as a primary device and synced! So you could still use one Garmin during the day, then let Garmin Connect sync the activities to your other wearable (Epix for example) later on in the evening when it all syncs together.
Hope that helps 😀
@@thewearableist that's interesting, I'll keep an eye out for the video...
This video answered my question straightaway! Thanks🎉
Glad you found it helpful 😀
Review fitbit inspire 3, and. Correlation with respect to polar , Sleep and heart rate at different activities. Also Heart rate variability in inspire 3.
Hi! Thanks for the comment - I hadn't thought about the Inspire 3 but now I'm very curious to review it 😀
Thanks. ❤
Great video and thanks for all the efforts love from india❤
Thanks for watching!
what a great review! thank you for putting this all together!
Hi! Glad you found it helpful 🙂
Great video
Thanks!
Why can’t Garmin make a Whoop type band.
I want to wear a mechanical watch and dont want a massive screen on my other hand…
That's a very interesting suggestion 🤔
This was a great review, thank you! Everyone seems to want to gloss over the blood oxygen level features and whether it can be included in sleep tracking or if it's just an on-demand thing. Thank you so much for addressing that here. One thing I will say is that I went to the Google play store to look at the app reviews, and ALL the most recent reviews are 1's because of a recent update. Like they're all saying what happened, why'd you ruin it, it was fine, now it's harder to read, sucks to use and seems less accurate, etc. So much can change in just a few days! grrrrrr
edit: I see now that you did a review of the update. I'm a little less apprehensive about it now. I imagine it's something that would annoy current users who were used to the old way more than new users.
Hey thanks for watching. Yes the new Garmin Connect app update is a bit divisive for existing users but if you're new to the Garmin world then not a big issue.
not a good looking item tho
100% agree. It's an archaic looking item in 2024. Garmin need to stick a colour OLED screen on the Vivosmart series. But some folk like a discrete-looking band so this one fits the bill.
I kinda prefer it,
I wanted one that just looks like a wrist band not a watch
That's good to hear! Yes, agreed some folk like a discrete-looking fitness tracker 😀
Too big, i prefere smaller size.
Checkout the Fitbit Charge 6: ua-cam.com/video/iu1zCqELahk/v-deo.html