Review on 🖤 Black Garmin Vivosmart 3 - L: A Versatile Fitness Tracker With Sleek Design by Joseph Campbell

PROS: Accurate with step counting. Significantly less sensitive than the Fitbit Charge 2. Wearing a Garmin Vivosmart 3 during a 15 minute car ride resulted in an increase of 5-15 steps, while the Charge 2 registered an additional 50-100 steps on the same ride. While not as robust as Fitbit, the app was packed with useful information and could be tweaked and tweaked to see what you want. The silent alarm is a nice feature, as is the low battery indicator. Fast charging, typically 1 hour to fully charge the battery. CONS: The display is difficult to see in direct sunlight. Build quality, particularly the strap, isn't up to scratch. The app can be finicky at times when it comes to connecting via Bluetooth, requiring multiple connection attempts. The battery life is average. Usually enough for 4 days of 1 hour of exercise per day before needing to recharge. Bought May 2017. I wore them almost every day and only took them off when showering and lifting weights as I didn't want to damage them on the bar. or the need to charge the battery. I have never fallen and do not play full contact sports. I jog, walk, and occasionally lift weights 3-4 times a week. After about 5 months, I noticed that one day when I plugged the tracker into the charger to charge, the wristband became loose and almost completely fell off. I've attached an image to show what I'm talking about. It was at both ends. I started looking online for a replacement strap when I realized that this particular model of Garmin activity tracker didn't have that option. I contacted Garmin directly and they confirmed that the Vivosmart 3's strap is indeed non-interchangeable. My unit was still under warranty and they sent me a replacement quickly after I sent my unit back. I had to pay shipping to send it to them but they sent me a replacement overnight for free as soon as they received my old unit. It has been almost 2 months since the device was replaced and the bracelet is again showing signs of deterioration. Unfortunately Garmin told me that the warranty is only for 1 replacement and there is nothing they can do. I'll try to fix it with glue and hope it holds together. Besides the issues with the strap, I like the tracker. The app is easy to use and the functionality of the device is great. I would have given it 5 stars if it weren't for the belt issues. UPDATE: March 2018, trying to glue didn't last long. The strap continued to wear out and eventually got so bad that I couldn't wear it anymore. I will not buy any more Garmin products in the future.