Television and films over the years have had some lofty expectations to what the future of tech would hold. From flying cars, to clothes made out of metal, most of the entertainment industry’s prophecy has failed to materialize. However, when it comes to your wrist – we are entering the realm of Dick Tracy and his two -way wrist radio.
I’m talking about the smart watch, of course. A gadget that couldn’t have existed without the rise of the smart phone. You may still be on the fence about wrist mounted technology, but thanks to Garmin there are a number of new options to consider. Starting with the new vívoactive, Garmin has a new touch screen smart watch that will appeal to a wide group of active individuals. Along with the vívoactive, Garmin has also introduced the new Fēnix 3 multisport GPS watch, epix rugged GPS mapping watch, and the new vívofit 2.
Whatever your activity or your style, Garmin has some very interesting options to wear your heart rate on your wrist, among other things…
Constructed with a thin color touchscreen that is sunlight readable, the vívoactive syncs with most Apple and Android phones running 4.3 or higher, so you can receive emails, text, or call notifications as well as Facebook, Twitter and more right on your wrist. The watch can also be used to control your music, your Garmin Virb action camera, find your phone, and allows loved ones to track your activities in real time with Live Track.
When it comes to getting active, the watch has a number of built in apps for different activities including cycling, running, walking, swimming, and even golf using Garmin’s golf course database to act as a range finder. The cycling app is GPS enabled and measure time, distance, speed, and calories and can be used with additional sensors for speed cadence and heart rate monitors. Further apps are available as well as customizable watch faces from the Connect IQ store.
The vívoactive has a battery life of 3 weeks in watch/activity mode or 10 hours in GPS mode and retails for $249.
Features from Garmin’s Website:
- Ultra-thin GPS smartwatch with a sunlight-readable, high-resolution color touchscreen
- Built-in sports apps, including GPS-enabled running, biking and golfing plus swimming and activity tracking, let you view your stats even when away from your phone
- Pairs with your smartphone to gently vibrate and display alerts for incoming calls, texts, emails and calendar items plus notifications from social media and other mobile apps
- Customize with free watch face designs, widgets and apps from our Connect IQ™ store
- Battery charge lasts through all your activities with up to 3 weeks5 in watch/activity tracking mode or up to 10 hours using GPS
If you’re looking for more training watch features and less golf yardage, the Fēnix 3 is one of the best looking multisport watches we’ve seen. Using a 1.2″ color Chroma display that is also sunlight readable, the Fēnix 3 transforms from a classy looking analog watch, to a full featured digital training aide. Aimed more towards the running side of the spectrum, the watch features advanced running dynamics including cadence, vertical oscillation, and ground contact time, plus similar metrics for swimming and ski/snowboarding.
GPS enabled, the Fēnix 3 allows basic GPS breadcrumb navigation and provides an altimeter, barometer, and compass. Also compatible with the Connect IQ platform, Fēnix 3 is ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart compatible.
Waterproof to 100 meters, the Fēnix 3 carries a 50 hour battery life in UltraTrac mode, 16 hours in GPS mode, and up to 3 months in watch mode. Available in three models, the watch will start at $499 for the standard Fēnix 3 with a black band and standard crystal, silver and red, and the premium sapphire model with a stainless steel band and sapphire lens.
Features from Garmin’s Website:
- Stainless Steel EXO™ antenna with GPS + GLONASS support for fast fix and accuracy
- 1.2-inch sunlight readable color Chroma™ display
- Fitness training features like VO2 Max and Recovery Advisor (when used with a heart rate montior¹)
- Outdoor navigation features like 3-axis compass, altimeter and barometer, TracBack and Sight’n Go
- Connect IQ™ compatibility for customized apps, widgets, watch faces and data fields
For those looking for true wrist mounted navigation, Garmin presents the epix. Using a 1.4″ high resolution color display, the watch has a shaded relief basemap for navigation with 8gb of built in memory to load new maps. Think of the epix as one of Garmin’s fitness watches with the additional functionality of visual GPS. Battery life is listed at 50 hours in UltraTrac mode, 24 hours in GPS mode and around 16 weeks in watch mode. Expect the epix to retail for $549.99.
Features from Garmin’s Website:
- TOPO 100K Maps – Map detail includes national, state and local parks and forests, along with terrain contours, elevation information, trails, rivers, lakes and points of interest. Preloaded on some versions.
- BirdsEye Satellite Imagery – Get a true representation of your surroundings with a 1-year subscription (included).
- GPS/GLONASS – Increases signal reception so you can obtain a position approximately 20 percent faster than GPS alone.
- Barometer – Helps you monitor and predict weather by showing you short-term changes in the barometric air pressure.
- Track Navigation – Navigation assistance for loaded or saved tracks.
- Connect IQ™ – Download additional smart apps, widgets and watch faces and applications — or develop your own with our developer kit.
For those more concerned with just tracking their movement and the time, Garmin has updated their activity tracker with the new vívofit 2. With over a year of battery life, the backlit display is always on with a visual move bar to remind you to keep moving. Alerts can be programmed to get off the couch, and it tracks steps, calories, distance, and time of day. To broaden the appeal of the fitness trackers, Garmin offers the new style collection with materials like leather and stainless steel as well as the Jonathan Adler + Garmin collection for the fashionistas out there.
The vívofit 2 starts out at $129.
