While one could argue that there are a lot of options available while picking out an activity tracker, with a plethora of features, sometimes the user wants just a basic fitness monitor. And Garmin’s Vivofit, which has now come to India, is just that.

It’s a no-nonsense, simplistic and user-friendly wrist-worn pedometer, which can be paired with ANT+ heart rate monitors (sold separately) and your smartphones. But is it too simple?

What is it?

As we mentioned before, it’s a wrist worn pedometer that takes in your anatomical parameters such as height and weight and computes the number of steps taken, distance travelled and number of steps left to complete a daily goal. It even shows an approximate amount of calories that you may have burned so far, and helps tracking your sleep.

It’s compatible with any iOS or Android device with Bluetooth 4.0, and uses the Garmin Connect app to sync data. It also syncs with a Mac or a PC using a USB dongle. What we didn’t like about the Garmin Vivofit was that it only syncs with the proprietary Garmin app, and not with third-party fitness apps – the Garmin Connect app seems very deficient in functions and there are connectivity issues.

What we really liked about the Vivofit is that it tells you when you’re being a couch potato. It shows a red bar above the numbers if you’ve been idle for over an hour, and adds a smaller bar for every subsequent 15 minutes. If the red bar is full, it means you’ve been really lazy. The bar disappears once you start moving about.

The design is very simple and easy to use. It’s a rubberized band that goes around your wrist, with a clip to latch on, and there’s just one button for all the functions – like we said, nothing fancy about the device. It’s a no-brainer to figure out the usage, although Bluetooth pairing has small problems at times. The LCD display uses bold and big numbers, and is water resistant.

Verdict

The best part, probably, about the Garmin Vivofit is its battery life – the company says it can go without a year on a single charge. That’s pretty good, considering that you can just wear it and leave it on without having to worry about charging and all. But this means you have to replace the battery physically, once the battery life is over.

And to create this kind of a battery life, there are two very important things missing – vibration and a backlight. The feature that tells you if you’ve been sedentary could have done with a vibration alert. Some of us need reminding that we have to get moving. Otherwise, the Garmin Vivofit, for its price, is the simplest and most hassle-free fitness tracker you can have.

₹9,990

Love – Battery life; easy functionality

Hate – No compatibility with third-party fitness apps

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