Garmin’s Vivosmart 5 Arrives With a Price Increase, but That’s Not a Bad Thing

After releasing the Garmin Vivosmart 4 over three years ago, fans have been waiting for a new fitness tracker from the company. However, Garmin is back today with a new Vivosmart 5 offering a host of upgrades for potential buyers.

While the previous Vivosmart 4 had a lot to like, it was plagued with touchscreen issues and wasn’t very easy to see in daylight, something that’s pretty important for a fitness tracker. Thankfully, the Garmin Vivosmart 5, which costs a little more at $149, comes with a bigger and better screen and several notable software upgrades to help it take on Fitbit.

Garmin kept the same overall design for this latest model, but you’ll instantly notice the bigger display with rounded sides and no more metal edges. In addition, this new screen is 66% bigger, brighter, more responsive, and has an embedded yet raised button for easy controls and navigation.

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As we said above, the menu “button” and screen were two of the biggest complaints from the previous model, and Garmin addressed them both. Now the button is easy to click and find, and the company even increased the size of the text on the screen for ease of use. Basically, being able to use the screen while running or working out is vital, so it emphasizes that.

Additionally, Garmin ditched the unibody design and now allows owners to swap the band out for a new one, or different colors, which is a welcomed addition.

Similar to the Vivosmart 4 from previous years, the new 5th generation tracker has heart rate monitoring, SpO2 sensors, paired GPS, body battery scores, stress tracking, and more, and should last seven days on a single charge. But then, Garmin added a new upgraded heart rate sensor that can detect and alert wearers to abnormally high or low heartbeats. This is one of those features many users wanted, and it’s nice to see in a device that’s not as expensive as an Apple Watch, nor requires a premium subscription like Fitbit.

Overall, it looks like a solid upgrade even if the price is a little higher than previous generations. The $149.99 Garmin Vivosmart 5 is available today in cool mint, black, or white. Grab yours from the link below.