Garmin Vivosmart 5

The Garmin vívosmart 5 is a good but not great gateway to fitness tracking, with plenty of flashy features but a lack of user-friendliness that you’d expect from a “simple” device.

Garmin's dive back into the fitness tracker market is a welcome one, offering a simple yet metric-heavy entry point into its ecosystem. At the same price as a Fitbit Charge 5, though, its lack of GPS, as well as sleep tracking inconsistencies and middling battery life, make it one to approach with caution.

The Vivosmart 5 is Garmin’s latest answer to the Fitbit Luxe and Charge 5. It’s a slim-form-factor band design wearable designed for runners that want a discreet wearable to track their weekly workouts and 5km runs or cycles. While it’s far from the prettiest wearable, it’s by the far the smartest you’ll find at this price offering decent fitness tracking features, a comfortable, swim-ready fit and lengthy battery life. The only downsides are that its small design means that it can be hard to take advantage of its limited notifications functionality and the lack of an in-built GPS means you’ll need to take your phone with you if you want reliable distance tracking.

During runs, I was able to take in the cherry blossoms blooming on my running path because I wasn’t constantly checking my wrist. I wasn’t fiddling with settings for 15 minutes before getting out the door. I could just hit a button and go. I was less distracted by my notifications — partly because the screen limited what I could see to the basics. The Vivosmart 5 just faded into the background of my life until I actually wanted to use it. If that’s the type of experience you’re looking for, this tracker is for you.

The Garmin Vivosmart 5 is a lightweight, lean fitness tracker for anyone who values data above looks. It's not as chic as a Fitbit Luxe or Inspire 2, but packs a whole lot more info and insights at your fingertips, with even more available in the Garmin Connect mobile app (with no subscription fee). The lack of on-board GPS is a shame, but for keeping tabs on your everyday wellbeing and recovery stats, it's excellent.