Review on 🔧 Refurbished Garmin Vivoactive Black: Enhanced Performance and Value by Matthew Riley

UPDATED 08/29/2016 Refurbished item arrived in good condition. Not 100% perfect new as there is very little wear on the plastic case but it comes with terrain. The glass wasn't scratched. And the clock looked good - I've worn it down more in a week doing some DIY work. This watch does what I wanted: it tracks distance, pace, elevation, and cadence, and gives me notifications from my phone. And he does it all well. In the week I've been wearing it, I've run 5km and the distance was accurate to +/- 0.01 miles. I've also run twice: a 3 mile run and a 4 1/2 mile sprint. Battery life was good. After a week and 3 runs this morning I was down to 30%. I charged it for 45 minutes while getting ready for work and it was 70% charged. So tomorrow morning another charging session is required. The size is great - I have small wrists but they don't look as gaudy as many smartwatches. Its slim profile fits well under shirt cuffs. Looks very good. The only thing I would wish for is interval training for running. It has no such built-in functionality. But there are some apps that come close - some fitness apps let you HIT and keep your pace. However, the data entry does not exist. If it worked in intervals the watch would be perfect. I use this with an Apple Iphone 6. I sync my runs to Endomondo to share with my friends, which it does automatically. And I've been wearing it for a week now: in the shower, while bathing the child, in the rain. In the dust and dirt of my basement. And it's durable, so cosmetically it's still in great shape. And they are definitely waterproof. This is not an Apple Watch - the display is neither bright nor high-resolution. It doesn't do gestures or NFC payments. This is a watch that tracks your runs very well and sends you notifications from your phone. gives you time whenever you look at it (the display is always on), and you only have to worry about charging once a week. It looks and is worn like a normal watch. To me, that's a very good thing - it brings life to me without being bulky or annoying. This should fix the syncing issues with your phone. UPDATE 8/29/2016: I've been wearing it every day since I bought it. It travels well as you can charge it up and be GTG ahead of a week-long trip. Since renovating the house, mine has been subject to some "bullying". And by abuse I mean it bounced off the fieldstone foundation as I held the jigsaw puzzle while cutting 4" x 4" in my basement. The case was pretty shabby and I was surprised that the screen just cracked and broke off. These watches have been beaten up and abused and they still work great. To scratch this display you need hardened steel - in my case it was nails hanging from the stairwell that I pulled out. The jar still works even though I'm actively using it. The mechanical engineers who created this watch have created a very reliable product - I take my hat off to them. I reckon 95% of the user base can't beat those hours like I can. Sometimes a running application crashes when opened and the watch restarts. But it gets fixed after a reboot. 150+ miles and it did what I needed it to do: show the time, track my runs and not be annoying. I'll buy a sequel to it when it finally runs out. An event that actually pulls this off could tear my arm off, so I might not have room to tie it up :) Great technique, Garmin.