Garmin Vivosmart 5: All you need to know about the new budget wearable

Garmin has just launched a new fitness tracker for a low price, and here’s the full lowdown on its features and functions.

The Vivosmart 5 is the latest entry into Garmin’s line of affordable fitness trackers and fitness trackers, succeeding the older Garmin Vivosmart 4 which launched all the way back in 2018. Here’s what you need to know about it.

Price and Availability

The Garmin Vivosmart 5 is aimed at the affordable end of the fitness tracking market. It has a suggested retail price of £129.99 (~$170/€157), and is currently available on Garmin.com. Alternative retailers have yet to be announced at this stage, but we will update this page as further availability information is released.

Different colour bands are available for the watch, with options including Slate Grey, Black, White, and Cool Mint.

Design

The Garmin Vivosmart 5 is housed in a rounded band, which is said to be “built for comfort”, and it is swim- and shower-proof. The display is brighter and 66% larger than its predecessor, with a touchscreen and button interface and a battery life of up to 7 days.

It looks somewhat similar in style to the FitBit Charge 5, though Garmin’s offering notably lacks a colour display.

Health and Fitness Features

The Vivosmart 5 offers 24/7 heart rate tracking, and can give alerts when the pulse is abnormally low or high just in case of medical emergency. There is also a sleep tracking feature that assigns a sleep score based on the user’s time spent in sleep stages, amount of movement, and stress levels.

On top of that, the wearable also has a Pulse Oximeter than can be put into action at night, all day, or on-demand, there’s a Body Battery measurement to estimate how fatigued or energetic you are, along with all-day stress tracking and women’s health tracking for insight into your wellbeing.

There’s no on-board GPS here so you’ll have to connect it to a smartphone in order to get location tracking added to your exercise routine; once this is done, you’ll be able to track a variety of different disciplines including for walking, running, and cycling. If you experience a medical emergency, you can press the button for a few second in order to trigger an assistance alert that sends a text message with the user’s location to designated emergency contacts.

Smart Connectivity

Compatible with Android and Apple smartphones, you’ll be able to view text messages, calendar notifications, news alerts, and social media updates on the watch face. The Morning Report feature provides you with a round-up of personalised information to start the day, including your sleep score, step goals, upcoming appointments, weather forecast, and a special message when it’s your birthday.