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Add to SafariWhen comparing Garmin Vivosmart vs Polar M400, the Slant community recommends Polar M400 for most people. In the question“What are the best fitness trackers that pair with iPhones?” Polar M400 is ranked 2nd while Garmin Vivosmart is ranked 16th. The most important reason people chose Polar M400 is:
The "Sport Profile" feature allows you to customize what stats you want to see for each type of exercise. For example, you may want the GPS on for running but not for a circuit workout. These preset profiles save you from having to set up the device each time you exercise.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Smartwatch-like functionality
Vivosmart is capable of showing smartphone notifications and control music playback.
Pro Logs exercise
Pro Week's battery life
Pro Some customization options
Pro Displays time
Pro Good step counter
Pro Gives you a lot of options for customizing different types of workouts
The "Sport Profile" feature allows you to customize what stats you want to see for each type of exercise. For example, you may want the GPS on for running but not for a circuit workout. These preset profiles save you from having to set up the device each time you exercise.
Pro Gives you custom activity goals suitable for your level
The daily activity goal is a good way to find out how active you really are in your everyday life. Here you can choose your typical activity level from three options and see how active you need to be to reach your daily activity goal.
The time you need to complete your daily activity goal depends on the level you have chosen and the intensity of your activities. Age and gender also affect the intensity you need to reach your daily activity goal.
Pro Detailed reports
The fitness tracker offers excellent reporting including distance, speed, cadence, heart rate (if paired with monitor), ascent, decent, calories, recovery status, and more.
Pro Ability to add training notes
The app allows you to add additional notes to your workouts for better tracking.
Cons
Con Companion app is difficult to use
The way the information is presented is confusing and incoherent and there's no logical way to find necessary information.
Con No activity autodetection
Vivosmart does not automatically detect when you start to walk or run, you have to start and stop activity manually.
Con Reps counting feature does not work for some exercises
Reps counting feature is not reliable, sometimes it misses few reps and with some exercises it can count 1 rap, even if you did 10 reps for example. And it can't detect when you start the exercise, so you have to start and stop the counter manually. In practice I frequently forget to start and to stop the counter so after some time I simply sopped using this feature.
Con Difficult to check current time because display most of the time is turned off
In order to turn on the display, for example to see current time, you need to raise you hand and after some delay display some times turns on, sometimes not.
Other option is to double tap the display, which requires both hands.
If you frequently checking current time, it is really annoying.
Con App requires you to provide personal data in order to work
You have to register in the app providing information about your age, gender and weight.
Con App does not work without internet connectivity
It is not possible for example to enter your weight if you are not connected to the internet.
Con No GPS data is collected
Con Sleep tracking lacks detail and accuracy
If you are awake for an extended period of time in the middle of the night and then fall back asleep, the fitness tracker may not see the additional hours as part of your sleep.
Con Unattractive and bulky design
The tracker is quite wide and hard to miss, it's not something that can blend in with what you're wearing outside of sport/exercise type settings.
Con Short battery life when using the GPS
With the GPS turned on, battery life goes from around 24 days to 9 hours.
This is likely fine for people who will always have opportunities to charge it after their run. However for anyone hoping to use the GPS for longer activities, such as hiking, that may not be long enough to be useful.
