Recently, contactless payments have become the must-have for all fitness wearables worth their weight, and Garmin’s Vivoactive 3 follows suit.
Following in the footsteps of the recently announced Fitbit Ionic and Samsung Gear Sport, Garmin has just announced the Vivosmart 3 fitness smartwatch, which marks the company’s first introduction to offering contactless payments. It’s also mimicking the rather unimaginative naming convention of its competitors, naming the new service “Garmin Pay.”
See also: IFA 2017
Ultimately, the convenience of having contactless payments from your wrist is that you don’t need to bring any form of cash or cards with you to your next workout. Provided you’ve added your payment details to your Garmin Pay wallet that supports Visa or MasterCard, you can pay for anything that accepts contactless payments. This is your post-workout protein shake.
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The Vivoactive 3 packs all the sensors you’d expect from a serious sporty smartwatch, with built-in GPS, a heart-rate monitor, and water resistance. Andrew Silver, Garmin EMEA Product Manager, said at the launch: “The Vivoactive 3 is perfect for anyone on the go who wants to be active, whether it’s running, swimming or going to the gym you can enjoy all your activities and with built-in GPS can be sure everything is being recorded without needing your phone.” You can also expect 15 custom indoor and outdoor sports apps.
Related: What is VO2 Max?
Other recurring features of Garmin’s fitness wearables, such as B. the Vivosmart 3, include VO2 Max estimates courtesy of the FirstBeat algorithm using your heart rate data. This is alongside your fitness age, all-day stress level, and calorie burn.
A new “Side Swipe” interface sounds a lot like Samsung’s rotating bezel from the Gear range, but by the sounds of things this is non-mechanical and purely touch-based. Still, it’s a great way to cover the display with your fingers. In addition to watch faces from the Garmin Connect IQ store, third-party apps are also supported, strengthening the Vivoactive 3’s smartwatch element. While app support isn’t as strong as watchOS or Android Wear, the likes of Uber and AccuWeather are currently available, hopefully more in the future.
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What might really be the differentiator over the Fitbit Ionic, Samsung Gear Sport and Apple Watch 2 is the Garmin Vivoactive 3’s battery life. Garmin claims a staggering 8 days in smartwatch mode with 13 hours of continuous GPS tracking. That’s pretty incredible compared to its competitors. Whether it comes close or not needs a full review. The Vivoactive 3 starts at £279.99 and will be available in Q4 2017.
Garmin Vivosport and Vivomove HR
If you fancy something slimmer and want to ditch contactless payments and traditional watch design, Garmin has also announced the Garmin Vivosport. These include a thin band design, GPS sensor, heart rate monitor, water resistance and 7 days of battery life in smartwatch mode for £169.99.
Then there’s the Garmin Vivomove HR, a successor to the Garmin Vivomove. It has now become a hybrid smartwatch with a touchscreen display. As the name suggests, there is a heart rate monitor but no GPS inside. You can expect a battery life of 2 weeks in watch mode or 5 days in smartwatch mode. There’s a Sport version for £169.99 and a Premium version for £249.99 which comes with a leather strap and steel body.
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