Garmin vívosmart® 5, Fitness Tracker, Long-Lasting Battery, Simple Design, Black (Renewed)

I've worn this same kind of activity tracker for several years but they're getting harder to find. I was thrilled to find this!! I don't use it to its fullest extent and usually just for time and steps. It's easy to use and quality is good. It holds a charge well and I typically only charge it once a week. I don't shower with it on as I have had issues with previous Garmins getting wet. In my opinion, it's priced right and I don't think you can go wrong with this Garmin!

It comes with a c connector instead of a USB. You have to buy a converter. Not expensive but irritating. The watch is supposed to be activated by raising it up to see the face but it only does that occasionally. I usually have to push the button several times.

I started wearing my mechanical watches again but still wanted a fitness tracker. This is perfect for my needs.

I bought a reconditioned device and am completely dissatisfied. It gives sleep data that doesn't remotely fit my sleep. It measures stress that doesn't remotely fit my energy level. I will not keep it. Why did you pick this product vs others?: This is about the fifth Garmin I have purchased and the first that was unusable.

I am a Physician and have promoted and have used Vivosmart wrist bands for the past 6 years starting with the Vivosmart 3. It was not great so I upgraded to the Vivosmart 4. This was a great device, gave me excellent quality activity and sleep data for over 4 years. I got family members using it, and many of my patients bought the 4 to track their sleep. The plastic wears out and they stopped holding a charge, but they worked so well I ended up buying 3 of them until they were replaced by the Vivosmart 5. It is larger and has a screen which can be seen, so initially i enjoyed the larger screen and it was a useful wristwatch. But i quickly learned they had altered their algorithms to give two derived scores, the 'Body Battery; and the 'Sleep Quality Score". These are not generally used in the professional Sleep reports or serious literature. The results are highly variable and lack validity and utility. I tracked these daily for nearly a year and found they were occasionally appropriate, but bizarrely random. The scores were 83 to 89 for a few days then 49 to 53 every day for a week. The sleep length, architecture, and mix of deep and REM were nearly identical, except their proprietary Sleep Score and Body Battery deviated greatly. Sadly i have concluded their "Sleep Score" is a bogus feature based on a faulty algorithm. There is no way to turn it off and simply view the real sleep data. Their standard "explanation" in their app is "you must have had a very stressful day and did not get a good sleep". Actually i got an excellent sleep but was put off by being told repeatedly "you will be very tired today". I live a very healthy, active and scheduled life. I concluded these inaccurate scores are probably based on Heart Rate Variability which can be measured but the value is debatable. The phenomenon varies widely from 19 to 78 milliseconds and is affected by many medications; practices such as regular meditation; timing of exercise in the day; slight variations in eating; and the overall fitness of the user. Garmin is over-interpreting and engaging in some pseudo-science which is not supported by the fitness and professional sleep literature. After only 3 months my 2nd Vivosmart 5 has died completely. Bricked. Will not accept any charge. The 4 is no longer available and their newer models are poor quality, and give bizarre results. I will continue to use and promote sleep tracking as it is very important for health. I believe that Garmin has advanced the science of wearable tech for personal sleep tracking, however their more recent devices have worse quality, lower reliability, and shorter lifespan than their previous models. And Garmin is engaging in some questionable "voodoo math" with their interpretations of their Fourier Transforms of the interwoven electromechanical signals they can measure with their wearable devices. I am moving on to different brands of wearable tech.

Quality products

Stopped recording sleep and body events. Tried everything to get it to work. Too late to return.

Charges more easily than older models and holds the charge longer. This is my third or fourth Garmin fitness tracker.