Equipment Review - Garmin Vivofit

The Vivofit's single button will scroll you through six core metrics: Time, date, steps taken, steps remaining to goal, calories burned, and total distance (KM). You can eliminate some of these in the device settings in the companion app or website (which requires you to plug the included ANT stick into the computer) if you want to make scrolling faster. You've also got the option of pairing the Garmin Vivofit with an ANT+ heart rate monitor, which adds another possible display (I am still to work this out).

A red bar will occasionally appear along the top of the display, gradually growing from left to right. This is a measurement of your inactivity - when you get up and go for a walk, it'll start to shrink and eventually disappear. The Vivofit won't start singing or dancing to tell you to move about. Instead the red bar of guilt will linger, a measurement of how bad you should feel about yourself at that very moment. This is the wonderful era of fitness gamification, ladies and gentlemen, and it works.

General movement is tracked through the accelerometer, giving you a reading of the number of steps you've taken so far in your day, and how many are left to go. There's no GPS here but that's not a criticism. What's perhaps best about the pedometer feature is how it's able to manage your personal goals. Turn on Auto Goals and the Vivofit kicks off with a 5,000 target. Smash that and the goal will slightly increase the next day; miss your target and tomorrow's will be lowered. This dynamic goal system is a neat touch, but if you'd rather set your goals manually then the option to do so is there.

This dynamic goal system is a neat touch, but if you'd rather set your goals manually then the option to do so is there.
That's all well and good, but how's the accuracy? The fact the Vivofit relies solely on an accelerometer should be your first clue that it's not the most precise device on the market. Walking around and comparing the steps taken on the Vivofit with my other GPS devises, the Vivofit tended to be out of sync by a step or two - but at least it was consistent. It therfore makes more sense to compare the readings of the fitness tracker against itself for the sake of personal improvement. The fact it can be worn in the shower and doesn't need to be charged means it'll be tracking some movement that other fitness bands miss out on.

Overal Verdict

Very good to motivate people with their new years resolutions and help keep you on track with some online competition via Garmin Connect. It does not at this moment connect with Training Peaks and has already been superseeded with new models but when it comes free with other Garmin products on Wiggle.co.uk you can not complain about the price.

As a techophobe I am struggling to change some of the features and link it to a heart rate monitor. The new Vivofit 2 also comes in a variety of colours and has many more features the best of which is the inactivity audible alarm.