Before I begin this review, I want to state plain and simple that I’m not the sportiest of women.
Sure, I like to keep moving, eat as healthily as 4pm snack breaks will allow, and place a lot of importance on a good night’s sleep, but I don’t track and measure these elements of my life. In fact, I’ve always found the concept of step-counts rather guilt-inducing. But, in order to review this latest launch, I am pushing aside all preconcieved notions to find out if I’m a smartwatch convert after all.
Garmin are no strangers to the world of sports watches. The Vivomove Trend, which I have been putting through its paces over the last week, is one of eight other watches within the Vivomove collection, and will set you back almost £300 of your hard earned pounds.
The Vivomove collection itself, specialising in chic and stylish hybrid watches, is just one of well over 20 other design collections that the US smart tech savant has to offer. The options are expansive to say the least - so where do you start?
The Vivomove Trend is an introductory wrist adornment - and so makes the optimal starting point for a smartwatch novice like myself. With its classic analogue style disguising the hi-tech touchscreen and the basic, essential features such as heart rate tracking, sleep monitoring, instant pay and text notifications – where could you possibly go wrong?
Thus, as an utter newbie to the world of sports watches, I embarked on a smartwatch revolution with this sleek and stylish timepiece. See what I thought below.
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Design
On first impressions, this watch looks good. It certainly does not resemble your average smart watch, forgoing the obvious hi-technicality for a more subtle touchscreen experience.
The watch face is a decent sized so as not to feel cumbersome on your wrist, while the rose gold detailing is subtle and attractive. My favourite design feature, however, is the way that the watch hands move vertically or horizontally so they don’t interfere with the interface.
You can choose between an array of different watch face styles when it comes to displaying your stats. I’m afraid I made the – elegant and attractive – analogue design obsolete by opting to display the automatic time at the bottom right-hand corner. I’m sorry, but it’s just so much easier.
If, unlike me, you’d like to maintain the delicate discreetness of this smartwatch - you can choose to show the date, or your daily step count.
User friendliness
Perhaps the most important section for a novice reviewer. Sadly, this is where the Vivomove Trend starts to go downhill for me.
Let’s start with the watch itself. The touchscreen interface is not very sensitive. Though some may class this as a positive attribute as it prevents the screen from accidental taps, I found that I’m often left frustratedly whacking the device just to get the screen to light up.
Moving on to the app. Let’s just say it’s a whole lot of… nothing. Though I found the process of setting up the watch via the app intuitive and simple, the way in which the app displays your daily statistics feels overwhelming and difficult to distinguish.
You’re immediately blasted with an array of numbers displaying your current heart rate, sleep score, intensity minutes, calories burned, and respiration – the latter so far has remained blank for me, though I’m currently breathing last I checked. These numbers have little explanation, with no other information on just how the stats were determined. This leads us into…
Tracking ability
While testing this watch, I engaged in two very different workouts. The first was a 45-minute power yoga session, and the second was a 20-minute Peloton ride. Both activities appeared in the Garmin app as ‘running’ under sporadic timestamps. I think that says it all.
Battery life
The battery life, at least, is rather impressive. The Garmin website suggests it will have a five-day battery life for the Vivomove Trend, which is less than the more high-end sports watches – but solid in my eyes. Since taking my watch out of the box and charging it on arrival, I haven’t yet seen the battery level drop below 30 per cent.
Verdict
The attractive hybrid smart watch by Garmin is ultimately fit for purpose. It’s a smartwatch with a sporty feel that’s marketed towards those who want the basic tech features – like text and email blasts – without the fuss. Though the watch attempts to be a two-in-one stylish sports watch, this just isn’t the Garmin model you should purchase if you’re a true fitness king or queen.
