“It’s a candy mint. It’s a breath mint. It’s two, two, two mints in one.” Garmin’s Vivosmart 3 isn’t a mint. It can, however, be viewed in the same light as Certs mints in the late 60s television ads. We generally don’t cover fitness wearables on this site. We leave fitness devices to our sister site Wearable Tech Insider, while we focus more narrowly on Health Tech. Garmin‘s new Vivosmart 3 crosses the line. Garmin bills the wristband wearable as both a fitness and wellness device.
In its highest and best use, the Vivosmart 3 tracks your activity and your wellness. Because it’s not inconceivable that users might pick just one of the wristband’s functions and ignore the other, we decided it fit on this site. We’ll focus on Vivosmart 3’s wellness functions, but know that it if you’d like, it will count your steps, floors climbed, and calories burned, and measure your intensity workout intervals. The wristband’s OLED display disappears from view when not in use, so no one else can see your numbers and the OLED won’t mar your style.
The Vivosmart 3’s sensor lineup include Garmin’s own Elevate wrist heart rate monitor, a barometric altimeter, an accelerometer, and an ambient light sensor. The heart rate monitor uses light shining through the skin to measure heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV). Chest strap monitors are generally considered more accurate than wrist-based HRVs, but Garmin worked with technology developed by Mio Global to use the best light-based reader available, according to the company. The Vivosmart 3 uses HRV to calculate stress level, displaying the result on the device. Depending on your stress score, the wristband can also help you calm down. Vivosmart 3 has a relaxation-based breathing timer with 1 to 5-minute exercises using the Fourfold breathing technique, a popular meditative breathing method.
We have been saying for some time that the path to future success for fitness wearables will be adding more health functions, and this product is a good example of this strategy. It even tells you the time. The Vivosmart 3 is a solution for people who don’t want to wear a smartwatch but are interested in both fitness and health.
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