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Customer reviews for Garmin Vivoactive 5 Smart Watch for
Garmin Vivoactive 5 Smart Watch
4.3 out of 5 stars
stars1,535 ratings1,526 reviews
  1. 5 stars64% (977)
  2. 4 stars18% (276)
  3. 3 stars9% (138)
  4. 2 stars4% (67)
  5. 1 star5% (77)

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Showing 821-830 of 1,526 reviews
Sep 25, 2024
Moonbee
5 out of 5 stars review

Great features but....

It sometimes feels like the measurements are off. Obviously, with a wrist watch things won't be 100% accurate all the time so I still give it 5 stars. I wonder if I need to calibrate it to maybe correct it. The battery lasts so much longer than my previous watch so I'm already impressed. The customization is quite extensive as well. I changed clock faces, edited my short cuts and even downloaded another app for my watch. The store seems a little confusing but I just need more time on it to understand it. Tldr: good watch, needs some improvements in the measurements aspect(or mine needs calibration if that's even a thing), battery lasts quite a while, customization is great

Review from Garmin
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Jan 17, 2025
WalkingGolfer
3 out of 5 stars review

Some good, some not so good

I moved to the vivoactive 5, as I was having issues with my older vivoactive 4 (battery life, inaccurate heart rate readings. Battery life in the 5 is much better. However the heart rate monitor is still severely inaccurate. I'm getting credit for "intensity minutes" with high heart rate reading, when in fact my heart rate is quite normal. It's reading 115+ when in fact it's barely in the 70's ( confirmed with my Kardia Care ekg device. Also with the Vivoactive 4, I could get to the stop watch with one swipe. Now it seems I have to scroll to find the stop watch (unless I'm missing something). Waiting to use the golf app in the spring, hoping it is as good, if not better than the vivoactive 4.

Review from Garmin
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Sep 28, 2024
fried rice
5 out of 5 stars review

Love using this watch over the Apple Watch 9

Having 11 days of charge is amazing! I have always hated having to charge my watch every night... plus there is no way to get any sleep metrics if your watch is on the charger! :) The only issue I really have is the ConnectIQ app and installing the watch faces - it would be nice to know, before I download a watch face, if it costs money.

Review from Garmin
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Nov 11, 2024
llwright
5 out of 5 stars review

Love it but still learning

I love the features included on the Vivoactive 5. I had been a longtime user of another brand of smartwatch, but felt that brand had been letting be down over the last several months. I love the quality of the Vivoactive 5; all of the different activities included, the GPS connection, the connection to all my other apps is fantastic. The only thing I’m still trying to figure out is how to accurately calculate the distance walked on an indoor track. I’ve tried both indoor track and indoor walk activities and neither seem to be right. I’m sure I’ll eventually figure it out.

Review from Garmin
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May 22, 2024
DougS
3 out of 5 stars review

Disappointing

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.

Review from Garmin
Helpful?4E8OQ6OX5MLW13866419621
reply from Garmin Fitness

We are sorry to hear about the issue that you are having and would ask that you reach out to our team so that we can get the details from you and offer further assistance. Thank you for posting a review. Please reach out to our team at: product.support@garmin.com Vivoactive 5 Support: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=1057989&tab=topics Battery Tips: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=zzvjpNY00Y5QkQop0QU3L9&productID=1057989&tab=topics&topicTag=region_batterytips

Oct 11, 2024
bluesky782
5 out of 5 stars review

Enjoying this fitness watch

I have been wearing this two weeks now and have not learned many of the advanced features yet, so I will just report on the basics. Five stars due to exceptional battery life, setup ease, comfort and ergonomics, default display readability, sleep report detail, and telling me my "biological age" when it changes. It has a "body battery" feature that seems neat but I have not learned what that really means yet. I also like that it automatically goes quiet during my sleep hours. This is a huge improvement after spending over 10 years with another brand. So far very happy with this product!

Review from Garmin
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Jul 21, 2024
cyberkat
5 out of 5 stars review

Great Features!

I got this a few weeks ago and it is amazing. The information it gives you is great. I love that it can track my sets and reps in the weight room. My husband has a Garmin also and he was getting much more information than my Fitbit, so I decided to switch. We also have the scale and the blood pressure cuff. Great stuff!

Review from Garmin
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Feb 8, 2024
saxydiet
5 out of 5 stars review

Big upgrade from the Vivoactive 3

I really like this upgrade from the vivoactive 3 and well worth the cost. The sensors work a lot better and all the colors make it easier to read. I feel it has a better connection to my phone for alerts than my vivoactive 3. I like the additional feature of O2 level, respirations, and health snapshot.

Review from Garmin
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Mar 1, 2025
Snick
4 out of 5 stars review

Great, but can easily lead a person to injury

This watch is great, health metrics are good, gps is okay (it doesn't really work indoors). The coach plan doesn't seem to be very good, it's more robotic. The heart rate chart on the phone is okay, but doesn't show the zones as well as the watch does. It's an easy fix since they already do it on the watch, but they probably won't. The injury part comes from the coaches plan not telling a person they need to stretch, how to stretch, or that it's even a thing. They have the capacity to show exercises and how to do them with videos but not stretching for some reason. There isn't even an activity for stretching. So you have to make custom ones for each stretch, which if you dont stretch right you could easily hurt yourself. They should definitely change that. Otherwise it might be an issue if someone hurts themselves. Watch is great though, it's just let down by the software around it, and a person can hurt themselves just blindly following the coach plans suggested workouts.

Review from Garmin
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Jul 13, 2024
Beepbopboobop
1 out of 5 stars review

Constantly disconnects from phone

I bought the watch over a month ago and every other day I have to go through the setup process on my phone. It's poor design if it needs to be setup every other day. Don't buy the watch unless this error is fixed. I would worry the software leaks personal data or has other malicious bugs if they cannot get process of setup to work correctly.

Review from Garmin
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