Garmin’s new Vivosmart 5 is rammed with health and fitness tracking smarts

Four years since the release of the Vivoactive 4, Garmin has launched its successor, and there’s no prizes for guessing its name.

The new Garmin Vivosmart 5 features a similarly simplistic design to the previous model, with a few key changes. The first of these is a physical button nestled beneath the dinky 88 x 154 pixel OLED display which, while not exactly the sleekest of design solutions, makes for a very practical control method, saving you from fumbling around for tiny dials or tapping miniscule on-screen buttons while you’re out on a run. 

The second big change is the fact that its comfy silicone band is now removable, letting you mix and match whichever colours you feel like donning at any given time. According to the official Garmin store, you can grab the small/medium sized band model in black, white, and cool mint, while the large model is limited to just black.

Appearances aside, you’re getting all the usual activity tracking features you’d expect, including step count, calories burned, in addition to more detailed metrics like heart rate, sleep quality, blood oxygen saturation and more. Wearing the Vivosmart 5 also unlocks Garmin-specific metrics like your estimated fitness age and Body Battery, the latter of which provides estimates of your energy levels so that you know when to rest or push yourself.

Unfortunately there’s no built-in GPS, which means you’ll have to piggy-back on your smartphone’s GPS if you want to track your runs and cycles in detail. Considering the £129 asking price matches that of the now-discounted GPS-toting Fitbit Charge 5, its omission is a shame.

Still, if you’re happy with Garmin’s established and robust ecosystem and want a minimal fitness tracker packed with lots of tasty metrics to sink your teeth into, this could be the non-pricey alternative to a fully-fledged fitness-tracking smartwatch. Snap it up from Garmin now, if you like.

• Read more: 20 best fitness apps for gym-free workouts

Esat Dedezade Contributor

About

Esat has been a gadget fan ever since his tiny four-year-old brain was captivated by a sound-activated dancing sunflower. From there it was a natural progression to a Sega Mega Drive, a brief obsession with hedgehogs, and a love for all things tech. After 7 years as a writer and deputy editor for Stuff, Esat ventured out into the corporate world, spending three years as Editor of Microsoft's European News Centre. Now a freelance writer, his appetite for shiny gadgets has no bounds. Oh, and like all good human beings, he's very fond of cats.