I tried the Garmin Vivosmart HR, compare to Fitbit Charge HR

It is a wrist-based heart rate tracking electronic device. It looks more like a bracelet than a wearable electronic device which tracks heart rate to give you calorie burnt information more accurately.

Product Features

Garmin Vivosmart HR Activity Tracker Regular Fit
3.7 out of 5 stars rate
Buy Garmin Vivosmart HR

Size – Regular & X-large
Color – Black, imperial purple & midnight blue
Display – 160 x 68 pixels
Weight – 0.07 pounds
Battery – 1 Lithium polymer battery

Pros

* Looking good in design (in comparison to Fitbit Charge HR).
* Better in battery life (my personal experience 6-7 days on normal use, Fitbit Charge HR battery life is just 3-4 days so good in this feature also).
* Water resistant (i use it during shower & swimming but no issue so no problem regarding that).
* Big display screen.
* Tracker has so many features.
* Providing screen replacement.
* Good blue-tooth connection in fact excellent.
* Accurate heart rate count.
* You can sync your Mapmyfitness account to Garmin Connect (a really good feature for recording data).

Cons

* Notifications are annoying mostly (i shut them off entirely when I use).
* You can’t differentiate b/w purple & black color.
* App not user-friendly (it is based on my personal experience you may find it friendly it depends on person to person).
* Does not count running steps accurately (in fact during sleeping showing 150 steps for your information I have no problem like sleepwalking).
* App does not provide any tips to explain the data ( like my heart rate is too high or low ).
* They provide screen replacement but what about after 2nd time.
* The band is not replaceable (if you are looking to replace it than Garmin charges you $79 repair charge, my band broke after 1 month of use so I have to replace it really a headache).
* No. of stairs climbed not accurate.

Fitbit Charge HR Wireless Activity Wristband
Best seller product4.0 out of 5 stars rate
Get 13% Discount NOWBuy Fitbit Charge HR

Editor’s experience

I use this product for 2 months. When it comes to features I found it better than its competitors in this price range. I found attractive in design even you do not know that it is an electronic device it just looks like a bracelet & screen light is off after usage. Screen size is big so no problem in watching anything. I connected it to my phone & I receive all the notifications on the phone. On my usage steps, functions work well. Some more features on my personal experience are –
Heart rate count : On my case overall data of the heart rate such as the average heart rate or maximum heart rate is pretty accurate, but some people complain to me that in their cases average heart rate data varies 20-25% when comparing to their previous using device but not in my case it is almost same. And it tracks heart rate 24/7 after that data is presented in Gemini’s mobile connect app. I am not particular about 24/7 because I do not strip it tight when I am not engaged in workouts, I suggest you also not to focus 24/7.

Bluetooth connection: In this feature, I really found this product much reliable than Fitbit charge HR. Except for some drop out randomly which you can reconnect easily no problem at all in this feature.
Stairs climbed: In this feature, I didn’t find this feature much reliable. Normally on a weekday, I climb the same number of stairs but the no. of stairs climbed vary much on a day to day basis sometimes lesser other time more.
Water resistant: This is a water resistant heart rate track I myself has to use it during swimming so no problem in this feature.

Whether to buy or not

After going through all the pros & cons and most importantly my personal experience I would like to give this product a rating of 4. In short, it is good in some features like design, battery life & more importantly the accuracy of heart rate count(which is actually the function of this product ) but you may find some features annoying like app connection, stairs climb counting.
But if you want to buy a heart rate tracker in $150 range then it’s best for you so go ahead and purchase it.
Garmin Vivosmart HR