At EFTM we check out the latest watches, fitness gadgets and smart watches. Generally, all three look exactly like the category they fit in. A normal watch is simply that, a fitness gadget is an odd shaped band that might have some flashy lights and the smart watch is an ugly screen on strapped on your wrist distracting you in every moment of your life. With that said… this next product doesn’t look obvious.
The Garmin Vivomove is made my a company known for navigation units and fitness gadgets. They do well in both areas. The Vivomove though, looks nothing like either of those categories. It’s an elegant looking watch. You could wear it to work and no one would think you care about how many steps you do. What most wont notice at a glance though is that the Garmin Vivomove is paying attention to your steps and your rest periods.
The Garmin Vivomove has bluetooth, so it pairs with your smartphone. It has a small meter on on the left to provide a percentage indicator of your target steps and a meter on the right showing you when it’s time to get up and go. If you like to shower and track steps or tell the time, go for it, it’s water proof to 5 metres deep. It doesn’t stop there, unlike most fitness gadgets or smartwatches – the Vivomove doesn’t need to be charged everyday, or every week… or even every month. It has a one year battery life. It’ll track your steps, tell the time, look good and not need to be charged for a year.
It all sounds like rainbows and candy, it’s perfect. Well, almost. The app that the Vivomove uses isn’t on par with the other fitness apps such as the one from FitBit. It works but it isn’t as polished or easy to use as the product itself appears. It would be nice if the Vivomove also had a vibrate alert for when you hit your target or for when you’ve been idle for too long. The obvious reason to leave it out though is to conserve that one year battery life, so we understand. The Vivomove is priced higher than most fitness trackers. At $249 AUD it is twice the price of most, including the FitBit Alta. What this means is that when it comes to fitness trackers you need to make a clear distinction between how it looks and how it acts. The Vivomove is a great combination of the two however it comes at a premium. What we know for sure is that wearing a FitBit with a suit might not be your best style choice.
