Customer reviews from Garmin
Garmin - vívomove Style Hybrid Smartwatch 30mm Aluminum - Light Gold
Average customer rating
3.6
(55 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 55 reviews
5 Stars
20
4 Stars
14
3 Stars
6
2 Stars
7
1 Star
8
Customer Reviews for Garmin - vívomove Style Hybrid Smartwatch 30mm Aluminum - Light Gold
Customer Rating
4
Powerful features, stylish look and high quality
on January 19, 2020
Posted by: Len A.
It's been close to a month since I had started wearing and using this watch. I wanted a fitness watch that doesn't look like one. First Beat technology was also a major requirement. The main feature I was after is the real-time stress measurement, constant HR, and so-called "Body Battery" feature that uses constant HRV measurement to give you an idea of your readiness, which could be directly correlated with both physical energy expenditure/recover, as well as the effect of Stress, as a measure of the balance between parasympathetic and sympathetic modes of the nervous system. These features are very unique offerings in one device that looks like a businessman watch. Other nice features are VO2 Max, Steps, Calories, connection to calorie tracking apps, such as MyFitnessPal, sleep measurement, PulseOx, Breathing rate, workouts with GPS tracking. It's a loooong list of things this watch can do, and for something that doesn't look like a RoboCop's gage haha.
I love the alerts of an abnormal HR, high stress that come up and offer you to take it easy, breathe with the watch (hands start moving).
Oh, just like an Apple or Samsung watch, it can pay for your purchases at a store, displays all of the phone notifications, controls your incoming and outgoing calls, texts, whatever you Apple watch does, but doesn't make it look like one.
Garmin Connect is a very nice app that work on your phone. It does sometimes have issues connecting to the watch' BlueTooth (similar issues as any other wearable), needs to be improved. This is why 4 stars, not 5.
Now, how accurate this device is - it's pretty close and amazing for what it is. It's not as precise as a chest-worn EKG sensor, but waaaaay better than Apple or FitBit. Sleep is not as precise as Oura, but way better than Apple, and pretty close to Whoop. There is a room improvement, especially for activity sensing and sleep tracking, and Garmin does a good job updating firm and software.
To summarize - make sure you understand this device and align it with your expectations. For me it's the look, 24/7 stress, HR, HRV (body battery) all in a nice quality made little watch. A keeper for sure!
Response from GarminBy Cecil with Garmin, Fitness, August 26, 2020
Hi Len we are glad to hear that you have been enjoying the device and the features that is offers. If you do ever need assistance please feel free to reach out to our team at support.garmin.com or at 800-800-1020
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
4
Beautiful design
on January 27, 2020
Posted by: clmonteleone
Beautiful watch that is stylish and lightweight. There are just the right amount of tracking features and seems to be accurate on hr, steps, etc. One improvement I would like to see is in the touch screen sensitivity. I sometime have a hard time getting the screen to register my touches. Otherwise a great device and the Garmin connect app is also well designed.
Response from GarminBy Cecil with Garmin, Fitness, August 26, 2020
Thank you for posting a review we appreciate the feed back. Please feel free to contact us at 800-800-1020 or through support.garmin.com so that we can can more details on the touch screen from you.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
2
Quite disapointed
on February 10, 2020
Posted by: Wakki
I was really looking forward to this watch for my birthday - all the things I want are there - Style, activity tracking and notifications from the phone.
BUT why o why does it not allow you to cancel phone alarms??? The alarm interface of Garmin Connect is terrible and so limited. The watch does the vibrating, not the phone so its easy to miss, especially if you chose not to wear the watch at night.
I am quite disappointed. I really would have thought this is a fundamental functionality.
Otherwise it a pretty thing and I would love it to work well.
BUT why o why does it not allow you to cancel phone alarms??? The alarm interface of Garmin Connect is terrible and so limited. The watch does the vibrating, not the phone so its easy to miss, especially if you chose not to wear the watch at night.
I am quite disappointed. I really would have thought this is a fundamental functionality.
Otherwise it a pretty thing and I would love it to work well.
Response from GarminBy Cecil with Garmin, Fitness, March 4, 2020
We are sorry to hear that you are having issues with the alarm function. When the alarm activates on the device it is possible to tap on the screen and cancel it out. If you are experiencing something else we would encourage you to reach out to our team through our support site so that we can get more details from you and work on a solution.
vivomove Style Support:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=662825&tab=topics
Alarms and alerts:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=662825&searchQuery=phone%20alarms&tab=topics
vivomove Style Support:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=662825&tab=topics
Alarms and alerts:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=662825&searchQuery=phone%20alarms&tab=topics
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
3
Beautiful hybrid watch, sadly causes allergies
on February 27, 2020
Posted by: F-mx
Bought the black, 42mm model recently and love it. Nothing compares to the Connect app, and the watch is light, functional and looks very good.
Unfortunately it seems to contain Nickel or some other metal that caused me some large rashes on both wrists. The rashes seem to be caused by the back of the watch rather than the metal buckle on the band as suggested on the Garmin Support Center. A terrible shame as looks and performance make this the best hybrid watch I've tested.
Unfortunately it seems to contain Nickel or some other metal that caused me some large rashes on both wrists. The rashes seem to be caused by the back of the watch rather than the metal buckle on the band as suggested on the Garmin Support Center. A terrible shame as looks and performance make this the best hybrid watch I've tested.
Response from GarminBy Cecil with Garmin, Fitness, March 4, 2020
We are sorry to hear that you are having an issue like this. We would encourage you to go to our support site in order to reach out to our team for assistance. We can then get more details from you and work on a solution.
vivomove Style Support:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=662825&tab=topics
vivomove Style Support:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=662825&tab=topics
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
1
Disappointing vivomove style
on March 22, 2020
Posted by: michaela
I was really disappointed with this product. It is not sensitive with tracking sleep. When exercising the heart rate is not always correct and the touch screen is temperamental, especially when running. In swimming mode the laps are almost out by 800m after a 1.5km swim and when the watch gets to low battery it doesn't always record workouts.
Response from GarminBy Cecil with Garmin, Fitness, April 13, 2020
Hi Michaela, we are sorry that you are having issues with the device. We would encourage you to first check the device using Garmin Express on your computer to ensure that it is running on the latest software. If you find that the device is already up to date or that an updates does not help with the issues that you are having then please reach out to our team for further assistance.
Vivomove Style Support:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=662825&tab=topics
Garmin Express:
https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/vivomove_style_luxe/EN-US/GUID-3CCB0850-544E-4983-8D61-3CEB91253BCA.html
Vivomove Style Support:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=662825&tab=topics
Garmin Express:
https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/vivomove_style_luxe/EN-US/GUID-3CCB0850-544E-4983-8D61-3CEB91253BCA.html
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
1
Most UK Major Banks don't support Garmin pay
on April 7, 2020
Posted by: Amos60
I have just received my vivomove style. The only reason I bought the watch was because of the Garmin Pay which I thought would be extremely useful when out and about, According to Garmin, Garmin Pay will work with "many credit and debit cards from major banks," as well as "many major credit and debit cards, including Visa and MasterCard." Unfortunately you won't be able to use them unless its supported by your bank. If it isn't you can't connect!! There is only one High Street Bank Santander (not my bank) in the UK that accepts VISA the card I use!! I thought I was buying a really nice watch which it is, but with it not being compatible with most UK high street banks then unfortunately I can get the same information on a watch at a fraction of the price that I have paid for
this watch
this watch
Response from GarminBy Cecil with Garmin, Fitness, May 15, 2020
We are sorry to hear about your experience, we do have an updated list for the available banks, on our site and we are adding more all of the time. We would encourage you to reach out to our team so that we can get more information from you as well. We would also recommend contacting your bank tool so you can ask them for more assistance as well.
Garmin Pay:
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/garminpay/banks/
Vivomove Style Support:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=662825&tab=topics
Garmin Pay:
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/garminpay/banks/
Vivomove Style Support:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=662825&tab=topics
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
2
Stylish watch, but that’s pretty much it...
on May 13, 2020
Posted by: Judith P
The Vivomove luxe rose gold is so beautiful and stylish! I just received mine and was anxious to wear it...However, it lacks many features my former Vivoactive 3 model had...I can’t page my phone, see incoming texts directly as they get in, or even see time at night, and notifications are very dim (in auto mode, to maximize battery), and touch screen is terrible!! really disappointed...
I wish you’d offer the Vivoactive features, in the Vivomove format and style, as this watch is soooo cute! I’ll return mine, and get the new vivoactive instead...
I wish you’d offer the Vivoactive features, in the Vivomove format and style, as this watch is soooo cute! I’ll return mine, and get the new vivoactive instead...
Response from GarminBy Cecil with Garmin, Fitness, May 14, 2020
We are sorry to hear that you had an experience like that, with the device. The Vivomove Syle does have a Find My Phone feature (Menu > Phone > Find My Phone). As for notifications they should be appearing on the device and can be read by tapping on the top area of the screen. As for the screen brightness we would encourage you to reach out to our team for assistance to determine if that specific device has an issue. Also we would ask for you to use Garmin Express to check the software on the device as well to ensure that it is up to date.
Garmin Express:
https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/vivomove_style_luxe/EN-US/GUID-3CCB0850-544E-4983-8D61-3CEB91253BCA.html
Vivomove Style Support:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=662825&tab=topics
Garmin Express:
https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/vivomove_style_luxe/EN-US/GUID-3CCB0850-544E-4983-8D61-3CEB91253BCA.html
Vivomove Style Support:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=662825&tab=topics
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
2
Great idea, horrible execution, esp. for the price
on August 8, 2020
Posted by: TheBoy
I've had this for a month, and here are are my thoughts.
Pros:
- Battery life if very good. I get four full days & nights, 96 hours, before requiring a charge with about 10% left. I think it takes about 90 mins to charge.
- Looks and feels great. The silicone strap is quite comfortable.
- The daily health tracking (like steps, sleep, body battery, stress, floors, calories, etc.) are kind of neat. I have nothing to validate their results with, but they all seem anecdotally consistent.
- Battery life if very good. I get four full days & nights, 96 hours, before requiring a charge with about 10% left. I think it takes about 90 mins to charge.
- Looks and feels great. The silicone strap is quite comfortable.
- The daily health tracking (like steps, sleep, body battery, stress, floors, calories, etc.) are kind of neat. I have nothing to validate their results with, but they all seem anecdotally consistent.
Cons:
- Of all the cons I'm going to mention, this one is by far the biggest problem, and the primary reason for a rating of 2 instead of 3: the touchscreen is absolutely pathetic. Touchscreens from 20 years ago were more accurate and responsive than this. You need to double-tap to wake the screen, start an activity, pause an activity, and perform a number of other functions; I constantly find myself having to double-tap upwards of 5 times before it registers. I probably average 30-40% success rate for double-taps. It's kind of embarrassing, especially when I'm trying to demonstrate the watch to a friend or something. There are two zones on the watch face that accept taps, and both are equally bad. Single-taps often register as a swipe, and swipes as a single-tap. For both single-taps and swipes, I probably experience 70-80% success rate. For a watch this expensive, this kind of performance is unacceptable. I would recommend against buying this watch solely because it is so frustrating to use. How can a device with such a high price tag aimed at a high-end market have such poor performance and be approved for release? Boggles my mind.
- The "lift hand to wake screen" option is pretty poor. I get maybe 20-30% success at waking by just looking at the watch and not touching it.
- The watch does not have magnetic induction charging, but a proprietary plug on the back. And the cord is only 18 inches long. My watch dangles in the air from the outlet I use.
- Activity tracking is very limited relative to other fitness trackers. This watch has fitness tracking as an afterthought, not a primary design function. Don't expect versatility, flexibility, customizability, or pinpoint accuracy from activities. I have the "Move IQ" setting turned on, which is supposed to automatically recognize when you're doing an active and record it. But it's worked 0 out of 5 times for me that I forgot to start my walk activity.
- There are very limited watch face options. It's good that you can select the desired colour, but there's only one face option that lets you have multiple pieces of info displayed when the watch face awakes. The rest only show one thing, which isn't great because it takes forever to navigate the watch to find specific stats.
- You can't see the time in the dark. The face doesn't light up enough to see the hands, and they don't glow in the dark. To see the time, you have to wake up the screen, and navigate to the time widget.
- The connectivity to your phone for messages doesn't actually let you see all your messages, only unread notifications. As soon as you dismiss/read it, either on your watch or phone, you can't see it ever again from the watch. At least the app gives you the option to customize which apps can send notifications to your watch, so it's not buzzing for things you don't care about.
- There is no microphone or speaker on the watch. Garmin says you can use the watch to answer a call, but it really just means it's the equivalent of pressing the answer button in your phone. You still have to lift the phone to your face, or push a button to put it on speaker, so there is absolutely no value to "answer the call" from your watch.
- Notifications cannot display pictures or videos, only text.
- Of all the cons I'm going to mention, this one is by far the biggest problem, and the primary reason for a rating of 2 instead of 3: the touchscreen is absolutely pathetic. Touchscreens from 20 years ago were more accurate and responsive than this. You need to double-tap to wake the screen, start an activity, pause an activity, and perform a number of other functions; I constantly find myself having to double-tap upwards of 5 times before it registers. I probably average 30-40% success rate for double-taps. It's kind of embarrassing, especially when I'm trying to demonstrate the watch to a friend or something. There are two zones on the watch face that accept taps, and both are equally bad. Single-taps often register as a swipe, and swipes as a single-tap. For both single-taps and swipes, I probably experience 70-80% success rate. For a watch this expensive, this kind of performance is unacceptable. I would recommend against buying this watch solely because it is so frustrating to use. How can a device with such a high price tag aimed at a high-end market have such poor performance and be approved for release? Boggles my mind.
- The "lift hand to wake screen" option is pretty poor. I get maybe 20-30% success at waking by just looking at the watch and not touching it.
- The watch does not have magnetic induction charging, but a proprietary plug on the back. And the cord is only 18 inches long. My watch dangles in the air from the outlet I use.
- Activity tracking is very limited relative to other fitness trackers. This watch has fitness tracking as an afterthought, not a primary design function. Don't expect versatility, flexibility, customizability, or pinpoint accuracy from activities. I have the "Move IQ" setting turned on, which is supposed to automatically recognize when you're doing an active and record it. But it's worked 0 out of 5 times for me that I forgot to start my walk activity.
- There are very limited watch face options. It's good that you can select the desired colour, but there's only one face option that lets you have multiple pieces of info displayed when the watch face awakes. The rest only show one thing, which isn't great because it takes forever to navigate the watch to find specific stats.
- You can't see the time in the dark. The face doesn't light up enough to see the hands, and they don't glow in the dark. To see the time, you have to wake up the screen, and navigate to the time widget.
- The connectivity to your phone for messages doesn't actually let you see all your messages, only unread notifications. As soon as you dismiss/read it, either on your watch or phone, you can't see it ever again from the watch. At least the app gives you the option to customize which apps can send notifications to your watch, so it's not buzzing for things you don't care about.
- There is no microphone or speaker on the watch. Garmin says you can use the watch to answer a call, but it really just means it's the equivalent of pressing the answer button in your phone. You still have to lift the phone to your face, or push a button to put it on speaker, so there is absolutely no value to "answer the call" from your watch.
- Notifications cannot display pictures or videos, only text.
In summary, if you want to overpay for a decent looking watch that's comfortable, and has embarassingly entry-level smart features, then this baby is for you.
Response from GarminBy Cecil at Garmin, Fitness, September 3, 2020
Thank you for posting a review. We like hearing from our customers to offer assistance. We would ask that you reach out to our team so that we can get more details from you and to offer some assistance to you as well. We are sorry to hear that you are having issues with the device. Reach out to us at support.garmin.com or you can also contact us by phone at 800-800-1020 for help.
Vivomove Style support:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=662825&tab=topics
Vivomove Style support:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=662825&tab=topics
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin