Garmin Vívofit 4 Activity Tracker, 010-01847-00

I bought this for my mother who didn’t need or want a smart watch that can do everything her cell phone does. This watch is perfect. Ez to use, only 1 button. EZ to setup. EZ to sync. No charging EVER. That’s golden. Who wants one more thing to charge. And when you charge u lose the fitness or sleep data during that time. This device lasts about a year with it’s replaceable battery. You can wear it while in water swimming or bathing. The size and weight is great for anyone. You can get any color or type of strap imaginable. Gives u step, activity , and sleep data. For the price and what it does and simplicity it’s perfect way to get someone working on a fitness journey or become more conscious of health and fitness and awareness of lack of movement as well as help them set some walking goals. I’m a Garmin fanatic. I have the Garmin tactix watch and our child wears a Garmin bounce. I use their Garmin biking gear. I support and endorse their products and vision .

I have had a Garmin Vivofit 4 for several years prior to this and, while it was still working well, the metal button you push to change functions, no longer worked. I bought THIS particular version, despite it being more expensive and having fewer functions than Vivofit 7, because I am familiar with how it works and monitors what I want monitored. I LOVE this device!! It is battery operated and the battery lasts 1+ year. (I got replacement battery at Batteries Plus where I paid for lifetime battery replacement for just $25.) The size of the face of the watch is smaller than Apple watch. (People often comment how nice the size is.) The bracelet is perfect for my small wrist. Again, easy to use/maintain. If wanting more functions, you can get Vivofit 7 for cheaper price. Either way, you’ll love this device!!

I can’t say enough about this little watch. I’m a bit “old school” and prefer simple and easy-to-use items rather than ones with all of the bells and whistles. I also don’t like getting stuck with subscriptions. The app for this is free. The watch is lightweight so you can wear it all day and night without really noticing it. I just wanted to know my overall levels which is what it does, plus it allows for manual entry on things you want to add.

Revised review: The VivoFit4 started losing time (up to 10 minutes a day) after I’d owned it for just five months. I replaced the batteries (which are supposed to last a year), and the watch was back to working well. A couple of months later, it started losing time again. Per postings on the Garmin website, I removed the batteries, cleaned/gently-scraped all of the metal contact points to the batteries, and added a thin layer of petroleum jelly to them. Everything worked fine for another few months, although I needed to replace the band, which started to fall apart. Then, the watch began losing time again, only this time, it was resetting my steps to zero mid-day and losing hours at a time. I repeated all steps above to no avail. So,13 months into ownership, I’ve spent about $35 in repairs on a non-working watch, including the last set of batteries from a reputable local shop to guarantee they weren’t counterfeits.

The good news: I went to their warranty site, and Garmin is sending me a replacement unit despite being a month out of warranty. The customer service was helpful and competent, but there wasn’t an apology for the time/$ costs noted above. They are sending me a replacement core unit (i.e., minus new band), and it should arrive within a few days.

I still love having a watch that tracks pretty accurately my steps and sustained activity with a unit that doesn’t require frequent charging, but if the replacement doesn’t go at least a year, I probably won’t purchase another one of these.

Original review: This is my third vivofit. The other two (models 1 and 2) each lasted for almost five years despite around the clock wear, abuse, and frequent water immersion. I have found that the watch bands are durable for a couple of years and then quickly disintegrate; offbrand, quality replacements are inexpensive on Amazon. The huge plus over other options remains the vivofit’s once-a-year-or-so battery change. I like that the vivofit4 is smaller/thinner than previous models (more like a band than a watch, despite having a watch whose look can be configured in a bunch of different ways with the app). Also, it seems to more reliably sync on its own with the Connect app on my phone, and I like that the newer models detect intensity exercise and automatically sync this activity. For my work’s health plan, which uses the Virgin Pulse app, I need to do nothing to automatically log activity. Earning my monthly insurance reduction thus requires nothing other than wearing the watch. My only complaint about the vivo4 fit is that when I am out for a walk or run and the intensity workout timer starts (after 10 minutes or so), I can’t see what time it is while that timer is running [Update: to this last point: It is possible to change what information is displayed in what order when the watch is in activity mode–this is done within the Connect app on my phone].