For pool swimming I preferred the VA 3 simply because the display was more legible for distance and time swam as well as time given at the wall i.e. rest. On the VA 5 when the stop button is pushed the parameters are not legible for me through my goggles and unless it can be changed the VA 5 does not give time at the wall i.e. rest so still need to use a pace clock. Example: the 5 is not helpful for intervals on rest X since it does not give time rested but a message “press top button to save”

Wife got it for me for Christmas and so far I love it. Battery life is excellent and features are great. Previously owned A Viviactive 3 which still works from 2017 purchase. It was difficult to change faces of late. Battery last much longer than Apple Watch and cost less but works just as good.

My Vivoactive 5 was my first Garmin purchase, and it was a little hard deciding which one to get due to all the models they offer. For me, the main features I cared about were swimming, running, golfing, tennis, hiking, and music. I used their web app to help me figure out which one to get, and it recommended the Forerunner 165. But, the Forerunner didn't offer golfing, and you had to pay extra for music... but, I really wanted the altimeter for hiking. I was a bit torn. I ultimately settled on the Vivoactive 5, even though it doesn't have an altimeter. What I discovered after getting the Vivoactive 5 is that while it doesn't report your elevation while you are hiking, it does report it after the fact in the activity report, which is good enough for me. Overall, I'm very satisfied with my Vivoactive 5. It is counting my swim laps for me, providing useful stats on strokes per length, swolf, etc., music integration is a breeze, and it works well for all the other activities I wanted. So, if you're into the same sports I am into, I highly recommend it.

I got my Vivoactive 5 for Father’s Day (less than a month ago), to replace another fitness tracking watch. I find the Sleep Score function questionable, especially after it said my low score overnight was due to, “interrupted sleep as a result of yesterday’s nap.” I didn’t take a nap and see on the Garmin Forum this is obviously a known issue as, “Garmin-Laurie” responded there 7 months ago (!), that engineers are, “still investigating ways to improve” this function. This in spite of suggestions there to allow owners to be able to turn off or on this function. The Sleep information is critical, as it is shared with my cardiologist and internist. If this isn’t corrected quickly, I will return the watch and ask for a full refund.

This is my 5th Garmin watch and all was well until this weekend when a bug in the software (not sure if it's the watch or the Garmin Connect App) meant the only way I could get back in action was too completely wipe all my data. I've lost 3 years of stats. Besides that, the watch is good value for money. Great features, decent battery life and is comfortable.

I have been a long time Vivoactive watch user. I have had a Vivoactive 3 since they were new to the market. It is still working well except that the battery no longer holds a charge for more than a few days. So, I decided to upgrade. I have all of the features I loved from the Vivoactive 3 plus some really nice additions (pulse ox and respiration are a couple that come to mind). I like the way the v5 organizes the apps and allows for quick access to recently used apps. The screen is a lot more vivid than the v3 (which was pretty good too). The Vivoactive watch series are great, light weight, and reasonably priced.

The battery life, look, and feel are great. I like the HR, body battery, and activity tracking features. Sleep could be better though if they allowed you to look at the sleep report without having to choose the wake up feature first. I like to see the report to decide if I need to allow myself to sleep in more to meet my sleep requirements and you can’t do that today. So I have to start a nap and that negatively impacts my body battery score which seems like it shouldn’t. I also wish I could use android or Apple Pay on the watch. The Garmin Pay app and partners look both too clunky and too limited to work for me based on the research I’ve done. If I have to do research to figure out how something works. I’m not going to bother.

Though shipping was far slower than I would have liked, the product is better than what I was using. I had used Fitbits for years, but was becoming disenchanted with the app and the battery life. This Garmin has all the perks that I was used to and then some. I love the vibrating alarm for waking up in the morning, it's a gentle nudge. Also scratch-resistant, which I greatly appreciate. The battery life is wonderful.

This is my first Garmin and it's the best fitness tracker I've owned! Accurate GPS, multiple activities to track and I love the look of the watch and the screen. I still have to learn more about it and all of it's capabilities but I love everything so far! I wish I would've tried it sooner!

I have been using my Vivoactive 5 now for a little less than a month. I had previously purchased various cheap fitness watches to use as a step counter, but they all broke after a few months of wear. My Husband’s colleague suggested this watch, and so we both decided to give it a try. Overall, I would recommend this watch to anyone who is looking to get more from their health and wellbeing. Besides cheap fitness watches, I have not owned a watch to this caliber, so I can’t compare it to other watches of its kind, but here’s my overall thoughts: PROS - This watch does a great job at motivating me to MOVE. I’ve literally put off going to bed to make sure I reach my step count and find that I’m more active than ever before. - Being able to customize your strength training workouts through the watch is a game changer. I love that I don’t need to carry my phone around the gym to track what I’m doing. - I love that it’s waterproof and that I can track my laps while swimming. (See notes regarding swimming under cons, too). - The band is comfortable and isn’t distracting or anything (as opposed to previous watches I’ve had), and the lilac color is nice and not as stand out as a black band. - The body battery and sleep score are a nice touch – we’re constantly asking each other what the others is at. It’s also helped me realize how awful my body reacts and sleeps when I drink. CONS - When swimming, I’ve noticed that the tracking isn’t 100% perfect. If I’m swimming free style at a fast pace, it’s fine, but if I want to casually swim during a cool down it typically counts my meters as farther than I’ve gone. Not a total issue, just not a perfect forecast. Additionally, not being able to customize swim workouts is a bit of a bummer, but again not the end of the world. - As someone who’s not technologically advanced, I feel there could be better tutorials or deep dives into how to use it. I had a really hard time connecting my Spotify account, as well as understanding how to create a workout (once I figured it out it’s super easy, but my Husband and I both put our workouts in incorrectly at first because there isn’t much explanation about how to use it). Opportunity for Improvement - Would love to see an additional work out option for aerial yoga. - The challenges are great. I feel there’s an opportunity to make the weekly challenge for steps against others more competitive/like a game. I’m not sure that would be useful to all, but I feel like it would help incentivize me to walk event more! - Would highly recommend purchasing a screen protector for your watch as well, easy to scratch.