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Add to SafariWhen comparing Garmin Vivosmart vs Fitbit Charge 2, the Slant community recommends Fitbit Charge 2 for most people. In the question“What are the best fitness trackers that pair with iPhones?” Fitbit Charge 2 is ranked 1st while Garmin Vivosmart is ranked 16th. The most important reason people chose Fitbit Charge 2 is:
It gives you a lot of stats on your activities thanks to the GPS, altimeter, and heart rate monitor. It can track your sleep, show you alerts directly on the display, and offers a variety of helpful features such as reminders to move and a breathing function that helps you relax.
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 features for the price
It gives you a lot of stats on your activities thanks to the GPS, altimeter, and heart rate monitor. It can track your sleep, show you alerts directly on the display, and offers a variety of helpful features such as reminders to move and a breathing function that helps you relax.
Pro Reminds you to move throughout the day
The fitness tracker will give you hourly reminders to get up and move for a few minutes, so you're not spending your whole day hunched over a desk.
Pro Great choice of replacement bands
Including regular vinyl bands, leather, metal, luxury, etc.
Pro The large display is easy to read
The Charge 2 has a very clear black and white display that's easy to read in both light and dark settings. It gives you a lot of activity stats directly on the display, which keeps you from needing to frequently check the smartphone app.
Pro Only needs to be charged every 4-5 days
Compared to other fitness trackers with large display screens, and Charge 2 has an impressive battery life. It can go 4-5 days without needing to be recharged, so there is minimal interruption to your tracking.
Pro Great ecosystem
Lots of users, nice apps (Win10 UWP app as well), etc.
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 Weak vibration causes alerts to easily go missed
The Charge 2 has a very weak vibration that is easy to miss, especially when you're active. As a result, it's easy to miss silent alarms or reminders to get up and move.
Con No smart alarm
Although the feature has been requested by the community since 2014.
Con No actionable notifications / call and text only
You can only see call and text notifications, no Facebook, Twitter, email, etc. And you can only see them, you cannot reply, delete, dismiss, etc.
Con App is not intuitive and terrible on Android
It is clunky and annoying, but works part time. There's a report on another Android that it just doesn't work. No alerts for 250 steps per hour. Not accurate. Clunky non intuitive functionality.
Con No water resistance
It is not water proof or even water-resistant. The watch will still function if you get a little splash of water on it, but you definitely can’t take it if you go swimming,
Con Lower quality screen that scratches easily
Rather than gorilla glass which is commonly used in the more expensive trackers, the Charge 2 fitness tracker uses a thick plastic display screen. It makes the device appear lower quality and scratches very easily.
Con Lavender band turns blue after a short period of wear
The specific color of band can start to turn blue after only the first day of wear. It very quickly looks stained and dirty.
