I have had my watch about a month, I love it. I did some research since I was coming from a different big brand. Due to my battery depleting quicker I decided to look at the new ones, they had poor battery reviews. I knew of the Garmin watches and started to look around. They boasted good battery life and were packed with the features I was already utilizing. It wasn't a hard decision, it is a great watch.

I bought the VivoActive 5 about a month ago after wearing a VivoActive 3 for several years. The brighter, sharper display is amazing. I also like the much longer battery life. I don’t use for cycling since I have a Garmin bike computer. I will use for kayaking but the local lakes have about a foot of ice at the moment. For us northerners, it would be nice to have a snow shoveling activity but I suppose I could use hike. I use the “Glance” watch face which shows all the numbers I am interested in.

I love my vivoactive 5 so far. I previously had the Forerunner 245 and I love it too, but you can't beat the AMOLED display for its vivid colors and easy readability. I also wanted the open water swim feature, and I'm looking forward to trying it out this spring/summer. The vivoactive 5 is a great multipurpose watch at an excellent price point.

Sadly had to return this watch because the Bluetooth was weak. I walked barely a foot away from my phone and the watch would instantly disconnect. I trouble shooted multiple times and made sure watch and phone were updated. The training feature with a coach never loaded, again trouble shooted multiple times. This was super disappointing because this was the feature I was most excited about.

Great for outdoor activity tracking so I'd recommend it if that's your primary use. It's terrible for weightlifting (like all Garmins) and not as convenient for daily wear/non-exercise usage as Apple Watches. The touch screen and side buttons are hit or miss - sometimes they are too sensitive and sometimes you have to press multiple times. But overall, I love it for running and Garmin Coach.

I got this watch Christmas 2024. I had a Garmin Vivo 3. It has been a great watch but after 5 years the battery was starting to get weak and would fail quickly. I decided to get the Vivo 5 as an upgrade to replace it. This Vivo 5 didn't live up to the job. It seemed to track a exercise fairly well but the intensity minutes came to easy, it delivered my stress level extremely high, seemed to always be disconnected from Bluetooth and you had to touch the watch face to see what time it was. The Vivo 3 had a sunlight visible face. Just didn't live up to my expectations.

Coming from a VivoActive 3, the 5 tends to disappoint. The battery does not seem comparable. I get about the same battery life on my new 5 as I got on my 5 year old 3. To maintain a second hand on the screen at all times is now not possible with the face I like (it wasn't a problem or a battery drain on the 3). The updated menus seem to take longer to get to and get through. The physical markers around the watch face are now at 10 second intervals instead of 5. The lighting at night is not intuitive. The brightness apparently isn't capable of going to lowest brightness when on Auto. Sometimes it detects sleep and goes into sleep mode (turning the watch face off which then requires touch to see the watch vs just motion on the 3. Sometimes it doesn't detect sleep, so the watch face stays on. I understand these things are small and nitpicky, but they are quality of life features I really came to love on my 3. I am considering returning the 5 and going back to the 3 with hopes of the battery lasting a few more years.

It took a little getting used to but all in all I like it. I like that it keeps better track of my sleep and my steps. It's nice to be able to go swimming with it and it also tracks my movement there. The only thing I can't figure out is how to get my steps information to transfer accurately to my iphone, the step count never matches.

I've been using the Garmin Vivoactive watch for a few weeks now, and it's a mix of hits and misses. On the positive side, the design is sleek and comfortable for everyday wear, and the battery life is decent, lasting several days with moderate use. The GPS functionality is spot-on for tracking runs or bike rides, and I appreciate the built-in sports apps that cater to various activities. However, there are some drawbacks. The touchscreen can sometimes be unresponsive, which is frustrating during workouts. Also, syncing with my smartphone for notifications has been hit or miss, often requiring restarts to function properly. What I'd really love is to become a product tester or reviewer for Garmin. I'm passionate about fitness tech and believe I could provide valuable feedback to enhance product development. As someone who enjoys diving deep into the features and performance of gadgets, I could offer insights on user experience, software usability, and hardware reliability. Testing products like the Vivoactive would allow me to help shape future iterations by pinpointing what works well and what could be improved, all while sharing my findings with a broader audience eager to make informed buying decisions.

I bought the watch because I wanted the extended battery charge. My wife and daughter have Apple watches. They charge them every night. My Vivoactive 5 holds a charge for more than a week with normal use. It has all the features I would want in any smart watch.