I have used an Apple Watch since 2019, but their inability to produce a new model with a reasonable battery life really got me wanting to try something new. I'd really like to track my sleep and not have to charge my battery sometime in the middle of each day. My fiance is a police officer and loves his Garmin Instinct and it's crazy long battery life, functions for golfing and hiking! After research I went with the Vivoactive 5 for it's fitness tracking and great battery. My daughter also jumped on board and got the same watch. Unfortunately, I had issues from the start. I walk while working at my computer. You cannot set the watch to count steps accurately if you['re typing on your computer and walking. I even tried putting it on an ankle strap. The distance on the treadmill never matched the distance on the watch - yet it was almost spot on with my Apple Watch. I joined a sub-Reddit and tried multiple different things, turning off GPS and heart rate monitor, putting in your pocket and a few other experiments - none worked nor tracked distance accurately! This might not seem like a huge deal for some, but this is mainly what I use mine for so it is for me. The battery is amazing, sleep tracking so insightful! The interface could use some work and is not smooth, it feels very "android" and not like Apple, which unfortunately I've been indoctrinated to love! Old habits die hard I guess, and so I returned my Vivoactive 5 and went back to my Apple Watch which I have to charge in the middle of the day for about an hour if I want to wear it through the night. My daughter really loves hers, and I really wanted it to work for me, but the distance being off so greatly was a hard pass. Sorry Garmin!

I got this as a gift to replace an older Garmin watch. I like a lot about it, the screen, the watch face options, the notifications, it measures steps and many types of exercise well. It does. It measure steps climbed which was a surprise but not a big deal. I have concerns with its stress, variable heart rate, and body battery measurements. They don’t match my experience. It often shows stress while I am asleep. There is a chance this is off because the first two weeks of wearing it were on break from work and so what it took as normal wasn’t but we have been back for two weeks and it hasn’t adjusted yet. I am going to give it a couple more weeks and if they don’t adjust I will just hide all those measurements and ignore them.

I originally had the Vivoactive 3, which I liked. I use it primarily to sync with my outdoor and indoor bike riding to include strength training and yoga. Oddly, I like the many selections for the actual face of the watch. I also like that it syncs with my IPhone and Garmin Connecs. I preferred to go with Fenix series, but they were too pricey. In fact, I waited for this one to go on sale. Overall, a solid watch for what I need.

Bought this after doing a good bit of research as I was in need of once again replacing my Apple Watch so after doing some deep diving I figured the vivoactive 5 would be a great introduction to the Garmin ecosystem. Three weeks in and I’m upset I didn’t do this sooner. Much more in depth then the Apple Watch and I’m still learning all the things Garmin is capable of. Love it so far

Purchased a month ago and still figuring out how to use all the features. Enjoy connecting to my phone's services. Find it keeps me inspired to keep moving. The data for sleep has helped me take my sleep health seriously. I look forward to figuring out more.

I received the Vivoactive5 as a gift. Charging the phone was easy. Getting music downloaded on the phone was a challenge but got all my songs loaded. Downloading the watch face I liked proved challenging also. The watch face disappears around 11 pm and I can not get it back until after 6 am. There is no instructions on how to get it to stay on 24/7. The written instructions are not easy to follow and some instructions do not work at all.

Battery life is not as good as my last one, won't stop disconnecting from phone and the button to turn off alarms takes 7 to 10 times to make it stop. Even though there are buttons almost everything is done on the face which I hate. I have Tremors and it really makes it hard to use. I loved my last Carmen because the battery lasted 10 days and I could use the buttons to get through menus but not with this one. Seriously rethinking garmin.

I’ve had this watch for three weeks now. While it’s not my first smart-watch, it is my first Garmin. I am extremely impressed with the technology and its features, but the watch band has a major design flaw, which makes me not want to wear it. The rubber clasp that is meant to hold the excess band is too big. it does not keep the band tight or in place and causes it to come loose and flop around. This is not what you want while you’re working out, or even just wearing throughout the day. It’s quite annoying to deal with and I will end up returning the watch because of it.

I bot this watch to replace my 2year old venu that died. Really hard to see the full set of features online to compare all the garmin watches. When I received it, I configured it & could not find the stairs activity. After some googling - it's not a feature of the vicoactive :-(. I returned it and bought a new venu. I mostly track steps and stairs. Also running, biking and hiking. Venu is the model for me. Please make it easier for your customers to see all features of all models online. Venu 3 has longest battery life, so I picked that model. Don't really care about music, emails or notifications.

I got this watch a few weeks ago and have really enjoyed the features on it, there are a lot that I haven't used yet that I'm looking forward to using. The only complaint I have is that the second week I had it it randomly turned off and I couldn't get it back on for awhile. I looked online and a lot of people were stating they had this same issue with this model even though it was new for them. I haven't had it happen again so far and I hoping it doesn't happen again but it's definitely a bug. I love it otherwise, it's a great size for my wrist and has all the features of a smartwatch you could want but has a nice simple look so it's not bulky and I feel like it looks good to wear any time/occasion.