Garmin has some new wearables you might actually want to put on your wrist
Wearables are currently a tricky proposition, as some brands fold and get out of the game entirely, while others double down with new releases, hoping to grab a piece of the market that's slated to double by 2021.
Count Garmin in the latter group. The company just announced a diverse new round of releases that could put it in position to challenge industry heavyweights like Apple and Fitbit.
The three new vívo-branded wearables look to cover a wide range of uses, from a fashion-first hybrid to pure fitness and activity tracking. Garmin's going all out with the devices, touting extra-long battery lives and new features to separate them from the rest of the wearable pack.
First up: the vívomove HR, a hybrid smartwatch that actually looks fashionable, which has long been a challenge for smartwatch makers. Garmin doesn't skimp on smart or fitness-tracking features like some hybrid devices, either, giving the vívomove HR a heart rate monitor for high-level fitness tracking, along with advanced notifications, music controls, and other smart functions.
Garmin's touting a ton of battery life along with the sexy new look — five days in "smart mode," or a full two weeks when it's worn like a normal watch. The vívomove HR comes in Sport or Premium options, which will run you between $200 to $300.
The vívoactive 3 smartwatch can't match the aesthetic chops of the vívomove HR — but the gym-first wearable does have GPS tracking for phone-free runs and a new Garmin Pay feature for contactless NFC purchases for Visa and Mastercard cardholders. Those features put the vívoactive 3 on par with the latest offerings from competitors Apple, Fitbit, and Samsung, which all have GPS and on-watch payments so you can hit the gym or running trail without your phone or wallet and still pay for a snack after.
Garmin claims the vívoactive 3 has them all beat when it comes to battery life, hyping a full week's use in smartwatch mode and 13 hours when using GPS. That could be a major perk for anyone sick of charging their smartwatch every single night.
That combo of functionality and battery life won't come cheap. The watch costs from $300 to $330, depending on the configuration, making the lower end model just as expensive as Fitbit's new Ionic and nearly pushing into Apple Watch Series 2 territory.
Finally, the new vívosport is a straightforward fitness tracker with a few features that could set it apart from basic trackers. The wearable looks like an updated version of Garmin's vívosmart 3, which dropped earlier this year, adding an always-on color display to the familiar design profile.
The vívosport has built-in GPS connectivity along with heart rate monitoring and fitness-tracking features, which could give it an edge on other devices like the vívosmart 3 or the Alta HR. The vívosport clocks in at $200, significantly more than the other options mentioned above, which could be too steep for exercisers looking for an alternative to a full-blown smartwatch.
Garmin might not carry the same clout as Apple or Fitbit, but these new wearables look like they could have the stuff to compete with the bigger brands.
Topics Health Smartwatches Gadgets
Brett Williams is a Tech Reporter at Mashable. He writes about tech news, trends and other tangentially related topics with a particular interest in wearables and exercise tech. Prior to Mashable, he wrote for Inked Magazine and Thrillist. Brett's work has also appeared on Fusion and AskMen, to name a few. You can follow Brett on Twitter @bdwilliams910.
