Garmin Vivofit 2 Review

When the Garmin Vivofit 2 was announced in January, I knew I had to have it. I’m late to the wearable fitness tracker trend, although I’ve been using a Polar watch and heart rate monitor during my workouts for over a year. I’ve seen friends wearing and using their Fitbits, Jawbone Ups, and Misfits, but none of them really stood out to me. And then I learned about the Garmin Vivofit 2, and I knew it had to be mine.

I wanted to pre-order it but eventually decided to just wait until it was available for purchase. I checked the Garmin site religiously, even tweeting the company a few times. Yeah, I was that obsessed.

After months of waiting, Amazon finally had it in stock, so I ordered it, and it was delivered to me last week. After a week of using it and playing around in the Garmin connect app, I decided it was time to give my first impressions and Garmin Vivofit 2 review.

The Pros

• The Garmin Connect app is amazing! It’s incredibly user-friendly and so simple to use. I love how you see an overview of everything on the home screen and then you can go into each section to see more detailed charts.
• I love that you can buy sets of different colored bands. I know I’m a girl in this sense, but Iove being able to match my accessories with my outfits. I also love that even though I bought the white band that I have the option to have a new color in the future. Takes the pressure off buying the “right” color.
• With a lot of fitness trackers, there’s no screen, meaning that you can’t see the time or your step progress throughout the day. This isn’t the case with the Garmin Vivofit 2. This is probably one of my favorite features.
• It can sync with My Fitness Pal to track calories consumed and calories burned during exercise. It may work with other apps as well, but as someone who uses My Fitness Pal, this is perfect for me.
• It has an LED backlight, which is great for when you’re using it at night. This is a new feature from the original Garmin Vivofit.
• The battery lasts for a year, meaning you don’t have to charge it or worrying about it dying.

The Cons

• I had high hopes for the functionality of the Garmin Vivofit 2, and I feel really let down. Other than it being able to sync with My Fitness Pal and track steps, it doesn’t do much else. I was really looking forward to the sleep tracker, but it doesn’t really track your sleep. It just tells you the time between when you put it in sleep mode and take it out of sleep mode as well as your level of movement during that time. I know that it takes me several hours to get to sleep, but the sleep tracker doesn’t show me that. I guess I was hoping for something similar to the Jawbone Up, and this isn’t it.
• It’s bulky. I have somewhat small wrists, and the Vivofit 2 stands out BIG TIME. This is fine if you’re just using it while working out, but it’s too bulky for every day wear.
• The Garmin website says that the Vivofit 2 can sync automatically, but the only way I’ve been able to sync it is to press the sync button on the band while the Garmin Connect app is ope. I did a little bit of research online, and a lot of people seem to be saying the same thing.
• The button is really difficult to find and press. You get the hang of it after awhile, but it’s really frustrating when you’re just starting out.
• For $130 (without a heart rate monitor), I expected it to do more. Don’t get me wrong, it does a lot. But, I don’t feel like it does enough for how much it costs.

The Verdict

I was so excited for the Garmin Vivofit 2, and ultimately, I was let down. So much so, in fact, that I just contacted Amazon to return it. The Vivofit 2 looks like a solid, trustworthy piece of technology that won’t break down, but for $130, it’s just not worth it to me. Once I get my refund for the Vivofit 2, I’m going to purchase the Jawbone Up2. I think it’s more what I’m looking for.