Garmin Vivomove Trend review

The Vivomove sequence is all about serving up Garmin’s core health monitoring and smartwatch options in a extra refined design and with the Vivomove Pattern, that, properly, development continues.

Becoming a member of the Vivomove Sport, Fashion, and Luxe, the Pattern affords an analogue watch look that hides away a digital display screen to provide the better of each timekeeping worlds.

That does additionally imply you might have a watch that’s able to exhibiting off smarts like cellphone notifications, day by day step counts, sleep information and is even match to trace some devoted train time as properly.

The £279.99/$299.99 worth means it’s not the most affordable Vivomove watch on the town, placing it within the pricing territory of full-fat smartwatches just like the Apple Watch SE and fellow hybrids just like the Withings ScanWatch. The massive information is the addition of wi-fi charging, however is that sufficient to make the Vivomove Pattern really feel particular?

Design & construct

• Weighs 43.3g
• 40mm case solely
• 1.01-inch show

Design is the defining cause as to why you’d need the Vivomove Pattern over extra overtly sporty smartwatches which might be on the market and in Garmin’s personal watch assortment. Garmin provides you a good-sized, 40mm polymer case with a chrome steel bezel and your choose of 4 completely different case and strap mixture seems to be.

The peach gold model I examined definitely felt a extra women-focused look, and typically it is a watch that does feels primarily aimed toward ladies, however I had no downside donning it and it was a glance I believe that may work for any gender.

Mike Sawh

Garmin matches up that polymer case and chrome steel bezel with a 20mm, detachable silicone strap with a easy pin mechanism making it good and straightforward to take away and swap in an official or unofficial different.

There are not any bodily buttons in any respect so it’s all about tapping and prodding at a 254 x 346 decision liquid crystal touchscreen show that seems from behind the analogue watch face solely whenever you work together with it. While you faucet and swipe and the watch palms transfer, that display screen usually responds properly, however can on the odd event take one other prod to get it to open up menu or information display screen.

The display screen is simple to view indoors, however it may be a bit tougher to look at it outside in a lot brighter daylight. Fortunately, Garmin does allow you to modify the display screen brightness, although you might be warned going very brilliant does hit the battery tougher.

Across the again is the place you’ll discover Garmin’s proprietary optical sensor setup, which does imply you might have one thing right here to trace coronary heart price and blood oxygen.

Mike Sawh

If you wish to take it for a swim, you are able to do that as Garmin provides it the identical 5ATM waterproof ranking utilized to different Vivomove fashions. That makes it match to be submerged in water as much as 50 metres depth.

Well being and health monitoring

• Each day exercise monitoring together with steps and sleep
• Tracks stress and respiration
• Linked GPS for extra correct out of doors monitoring

Garmin isn’t actually providing something new that you just couldn’t already discover on its different Vivomove watches. So that is actually about packaging those self same options into a unique look.

You’re getting the identical sensors, which embody Garmin’s Elevate coronary heart price monitor, a Pulse Ox blood saturation monitor, and a barometric altimeter. You don’t have the flexibility to pair it to exterior coronary heart price screens and there’s related GPS versus the built-in form, which means a reliance in your cellphone if you wish to get extra dependable information out of your out of doors runs and rides.

Mike Sawh

I’d say that it is a watch that you just’re going to primarily flip to for the type of monitoring options you’d flip to a Fitbit for. It can depend your day by day steps and provide you with a nudge whenever you’re not shifting sufficient. It can robotically modify these day by day step objectives based mostly in your progress and having that altimeter means it would monitor your steps climbed, which is an effective calorie-burning exercise. Utilizing it alongside Apple’s exercise monitoring I discovered that step counts had been properly in line and there weren’t any days the place the full step counts felt wildly off.

It’s one you may take to sleep as properly, providing a breakdown of sleep levels, producing a sleep rating to shortly perceive how good or dangerous your sleep was, and it captures blood oxygen and respiration information for an extra hit of basic wellness information. The accuracy of these sleep monitoring options and the reliability of the generated sleep scores felt good on the entire, and it’s clear Garmin’s sleep monitoring options are bettering on the accuracy entrance.

That being mentioned, I did nonetheless discover it has the odd challenge of monitoring an additional hour of whole sleep time, which has been one thing I’ve skilled with different Garmin watches prior to now.

Past some fairly acquainted health monitoring options it is a watch that can monitor your coronary heart price repeatedly in addition to stress utilizing the identical optical sensor, and it affords some conscious respiratory workout routines that will help you de-stress. There are ladies’s well being monitoring options right here too, letting you monitor menstrual and being pregnant cycles and log signs within the Garmin Join companion app.

Garmin’s watches typically do a great job of repeatedly monitoring coronary heart price and stress and that doesn’t change with the Pattern. I discovered resting coronary heart price information was properly in step with Apple’s coronary heart price monitoring, which affords a number of the most dependable wrist-based coronary heart price monitoring.

Mike Sawh

I wouldn’t essentially rely closely on the Vivomove Pattern being a watch that you just’re going to make use of for any kind of critical coaching. It does provide a bunch of preloaded sports activities monitoring modes, which does embody working (indoors and outside), biking, pool swimming and yoga.

Pool swimming for example affords far more primary swim information than Garmin’s extra succesful Forerunner watches, whereas utilizing the display screen doesn’t lend itself so properly whenever you’re placing the related GPS to make use of for out of doors exercises and you might want to shortly look over information. It may possibly do a great job of monitoring runs and rides, nevertheless it does really feel prefer it’s pushing the Pattern’s display screen’s potential to match what you’ll see and may soak up on a devoted sports activities watch.

Garmin does make room for its Physique Battery vitality monitor and insights like health age, VO2 Max (for working), and depth minutes, so these sensors and tracked exercises and exercise may give you a greater sense of how match and ready you might be for a strenuous day or exercise. I’d say the vitality monitor, whereas a helpful characteristic on paper, didn’t really feel vastly insightful on day-to-day use.

What is sweet to see is that Garmin has discovered room for its security options like LiveTrack and Incident Detection, which does nonetheless require having your cellphone close by to lift an alarm whenever you get right into a spot of hassle however elevates simply how helpful this watch is to have in your wrist.

Smartwatch options

• View notifications
• Garmin Pay 
• Music playback options however no music participant

While you’re not utilizing the Vivomove Pattern to depend steps or monitor your coronary heart price, it does nonetheless have its makes use of as a smartwatch. That blend of analogue and digital designs means issues work barely in another way than different Garmin watches, however what makes the lower does work fairly properly.

You possibly can view cellphone notifications for native and third celebration apps and the presence of these analogue palms don’t really feel like a nuisance as they dynamically shift to make room for swiping to learn total messages and elements of emails. If you happen to’ve acquired it paired as much as an Android smartphone you even have scope to fireplace out preset responses to texts.

Mike Sawh

There are devoted screens to point out off necessary calendar appointments and the climate so long as it’s related to your cellphone, and there are discover my cellphone and watch modes, that are at all times helpful you probably have a behavior of misplacing your gadgets.

Garmin does additionally embody its contactless cost help, although significantly within the UK, the checklist of supported banks isn’t enormous. I used to be lucky that mine was supported and does add in one other helpful characteristic to have at your disposal, however the help isn’t as slick as one thing like Apple Pay for comparability. 

There are some smartwatch options that don’t make the lower right here that you can find on different Garmin watches. There’s no built-in music participant or help for Garmin’s Join IQ app retailer. They’re not extremely shocking omissions given the extra complicated UI created by the joint analogue and digital shows.

Mike Sawh

Finally, what Garmin does handle to supply on the smartwatch entrance works properly. I used to be pleasantly shocked by the help for displaying notifications and whereas the interface takes some adapting to, it’s one which’s fairly easy to familiarize yourself with as soon as you’re employed out the place issues stay.

Battery life and charging

• As much as 5 days battery life
• 1 extra day in watch mode
• First Garmin watch with wi-fi charging

Not like a Garmin Fenix or certainly one of Garmin’s different sports activities watches, the Vivomove Pattern isn’t designed to final for weeks away from a charger. It guarantees the identical most 5 days as the opposite Vivomove sequence watches, with a possible further day to supply one thing that may nonetheless inform the time earlier than it goes totally useless.

I’d say based mostly on my testing that 5 days is completely correct and that’s with common use of health monitoring, steady coronary heart price monitoring, and smartwatch options in use. What the Pattern has that no different Vivomove or Garmin watch has is the flexibility to cost wirelessly, a extra handy technique to energy it up. You’ll need to have already got a Qi-certified wi-fi charger, as a result of one doesn’t come within the field. I did have a pair to attempt it out with and the Pattern labored on each, so it does seem to be one that ought to hopefully work with most chargers.

Mike Sawh

With out the wi-fi charging, you do nonetheless have a charging cable, which is a unique design to the one bundled with most Garmin watches nowadays. So in the event you thought you could possibly use an previous Garmin charging cable with it, you’re sadly out of luck.

Value

The Garmin Vivomove Pattern prices £279.99/$269.99 direct from Garmin, leaping up barely to £299.99/$299.99 in the event you go for the peach gold or cream gold bezel variations. That worth places it in and across the worth of Garmin’s Vivomove Fashion, which incorporates an OLED show, however prices greater than the Vivomove Sport, which affords a decrease decision display screen in comparison with the Pattern.

That worth additionally places it up towards different hybrid smartwatches just like the Withings ScanWatch however it’s pricier than most of Fossil’s Gen 6 hybrid smartwatch fashions. Try our rating of the very best smartwatches for extra choices, or the very best health trackers for an easier set.

Verdict

The Garmin Vivomove Pattern succeeds in placing a few of Garmin’s greatest options into one other engaging design. If you happen to care extra about steps, sleep, monitoring coronary heart price 24/7, and being motivated to maneuver extra every day, then that’s completely the place the Pattern impresses. It may possibly do extra, however that is the place its strengths as a hybrid smartwatch lie.

Crucially, it delivers these options with an analogue look that not often feels prefer it’s getting in the way in which of that digital show behind it exhibiting off your stats and notifications. 

The issue the Vivomove Pattern has is the way it sits in amongst Garmin’s different Vivomove watches. It’s a extra stylish-looking timepiece in comparison with the cheaper Vivomove Sport, however isn’t far off the value of the Fashion in worth, which will get you a greater AMOLED show.

It definitely rivals equally priced hybrid smartwatches from Withings and Fossil and if you’d like one thing that gives a great steadiness between seems to be and options that you just’ll truly discover helpful, then the Vivomove Pattern affords a lot in these two departments.