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Garmin Fenix 7 vs Garmin Vivoactive 3

Garmin Fenix 7

39 reviews

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Garmin Vivoactive 3

Garmin Vivoactive 3

186 reviews

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Best Overall GPS Watch

OutdoorGearLab · Best GPS Watch of 2022

#14 most mentioned

Reddit · r/trailrunning

Best Backcountry-Ready Sports Watch

Switchback Travel · Best Sports Watches of 2022

#7 most mentioned

Reddit · r/garmin

#24 most mentioned

Reddit · r/smartwatch

Great tracking capabilities

Transflective screen looks like a normal watch indoors

Impressive battery life

Customizable watch faces

Supports Asian languages

Great battery life

Attractive and durable design

Accurate heart rate monitoring

Versatile and customizable for tracking fitness and daily activities

Not easy to start and stop activities

Maps cannot be zoomed in on

Navigating the device can be unintuitive

Not as user-friendly as some other smartwatches

Display could be better

Some users have reported issues with water sensitivity

Verdict

The Garmin Fenix 7 is a great watch with excellent tracking capabilities and a transflective screen that looks like a normal watch indoors. It has an impressive battery life, customizable watch faces, and supports Asian languages. However, it can be difficult to start and stop activities, the maps cannot be zoomed in on, and navigating the device can be unintuitive.

Verdict

The Garmin Vivoactive 3 is a highly recommended wearable device that strikes a balance between fitness tracker and smartwatch functionality. It has a durable and attractive design, accurate heart rate monitoring, and good battery life. However, some users have reported issues with the display, user-friendliness, and water sensitivity. It is a good option for those who want a versatile and customizable device for tracking their fitness and daily activities.

Reviews by Topic

Our analysis shows how reviewers feel about different topics. Please note these are not full reviews.

Software Updates

Amazing watch with nothing missed from older models

Before with the F6x, it would take a few steps to lock out in the open. Out of the box, my F7x was on the 7.20 firmware. Earlier this week while sitting at my desk, I received a vibrate alert and the message onscreen said it was upgrading to new 7

+8 Days Battery Life, Good Resting and Running HR

- If you turn the gesture on, sometimes it activates the backlight randomly even tough you don't gesture. I think it needs an software update to fix it.

Battery Life

Perfect, except the music player

Battery life is great, tracking is excellent, and I'm really impressed by everything it does and how well. Also a huge fan of the transflective screen vs AMOLED. Indoors, it looks like a normal watch and not my phone. In bed, I can check it without being blinded

Had enough of the Fitbit issues. Time to try Garmin.

I haven’t found a simpler and efficient (and clean) watch face thats good on battery life as this one.

Positive

reddit.com/r/Garmin

Activity Tracking

Probably Deserves 5, But...

I really want to give this 5 stars. THE ONLY ISSUE is the fitness tracker/recommendations. I have been working out A TON ever since I got this, which was sort of the point. This watch wants me to slow down and do more "low aerobic" activities

youtube

VivoActive 3 Review - Activities (EP3) Running, Cycling, Strength, Gym and more!

The V boxer 3 was actually shockingly accurate, but I did find it interesting that the Phoenix 5 X and vivoactive 3 calculated calories a little bit d...

Positive

Fit

Fenix 7 vs Fenix 6 To be honest, there's not much of difference between two generations other than 1. 7 has touch screen and 6 doesn't 2. 7 supports most languages and 6 doesn't 3. 7 has a bit more solar charging area than 6 So, if you don't need other language support and don't use map often, go ahead and grab a Fenix 6 instead

Running watches for the recreational runner - are they needed?

Mostly I like having a pedometer...just taking more steps in a day has been good for my health

Positive

reddit.com/r/running

Connectivity

I have a Sony phone now, so I guess I will have to look elsewhere for a decend smart watch to pair it with.

Can not track basic data

You have to compromise your security by fully entering your credit card number, only to get a response saying the issuer isn't participating. The issuer of the credit card I tried is one of the largest in the US. If they're not participating, it's a good bet that not many are at all. I am unhappy that I had to share my full payment information in an app, in order to find this out

Price

very overpriced for the quality

it does a lot of things but...$800 are really not worth it, especially when a lot of those things are done at half the price from other smartwatches - even from the same manufacturer! after a few days I have returned it

Running watch - Game Changer?

I wasn't sure how much I would personally benefit from one, so I didn't want to invest a lot but wanted a strong feature set. I went with the Garmin Vivoactive 3, and you can buy them for $130 but sometimes get them on sale for as low as $100-110. It's a great value for that price, and I would recommend it if you are unsure and want to try one and see if it is for you.

Positive

reddit.com/r/running

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