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Add to SafariWhen comparing Garmin Vivosmart vs Fitbit Surge, the Slant community recommends Garmin Vivosmart for most people. In the question“What are the best fitness trackers that pair with iPhones?” Garmin Vivosmart is ranked 16th while Fitbit Surge is ranked 18th. The most important reason people chose Garmin Vivosmart is:
Vivosmart is capable of showing smartphone notifications and control music playback.
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 Continuous heart rate tracking eliminates risk of forgetting to activate the feature
The Fitbit Surge fitness tracker has automatic, continuous, wrist based heart rate tracking. Heart rate data is stored at one second intervals during exercise, and at five second intervals during non-exercise activities.
Pro LCD screen that can display multiple stats without the need of using the app
Similar fitness trackers depend on Bluetooth in order to relay info to a smartphone. Fitbit Surge can display information locally on the display which is far more convenient.
Pro Lets users log meals by voice
Users can tell Surge what was eaten, and a database will be used to match the entry with nutritional information.
Pro Does not need to be recharged frequently
The battery lasts 5-7 days which is one of the longer lasting options for rechargeable fitness trackers.
Pro Easy to operate compared to display-less options
While Surge easily syncs with iOS, Android, and Windows phones, it does not depend on them for functionality. The touch screen and physical buttons are a huge step up from display-less models.
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 Might cause skin irritation for some
A number of people are reporting the Surge causes skin irritation. According to the company it's a very small percentage of customers.
Con Screen prone to inadvertent touches
It's really easy to accidentally brush up against the fitness tracker's watch and end up on screens that the user wasn't intending to navigate to. This forces you to swipe back to the correct screen.
Con Fairly big investment
While it's one of the most advanced trackers that Fitbit offers, it comes with a hefty price tag.
