Garmin is jumping the gun to the start of the Mobile World Congress next week by dropping its two new fitness trackers, the Vivofit 3 and the Vivoactive HR, earlier than everyone else.
By now, however, with the market so oversaturated with wearables from companies of all kinds, Garmin's offerings need to get that early jump to get our attention.
The Vivofit 3, a more fashionable fitness tracker, costs $99, while the Vivoactive HR, a fitness tracker and a smartwatch rolled into one, is priced at $249.
The Vivofit 3 is indeed a more trendy fitness tracker. While most fitness trackers from competitors come with a more utilitarian design that cannot be changed once purchased, Garmin's well-priced product offers different looks. For a price, of course.
After buying the $99 Vivofit 3, customers can also opt to buy fashionable brands from either Garmin's own Style collection or a new series of bands designed by Jonathan Adler. Band designs include everything from a cameo band to a blue Godard-like chevron pattern. These will cost an additional $40.
Besides the looks, the Vivofit 3 is just like any other fitness tracker, but updated with backlit display, waterproofing for up to 50 meters (164 feet), one year of battery life (using coin cell batteries) and auto-tracking of different training regimens such as running, biking, swimming and elliptical training.
The more advanced, bigger brother Vivoactive HR has everything the Vivofit 3 offers and more, thus the higher price tag. The Vivoactive HR is part fitness tracker and part smartwatch. With a full-on display, the wearable can also show incoming calls, text messages, emails and even calendar alerts coming from a smartphone.
Naturally, it also does all the fitness tracking stuff the Vivofit 3 already does, but it is also equipped with GPS so it can also track how many floors the wearer has climbed, along with new activities that include rowing, skiing and even snowboarding.
Both the Vivofit 3 and Vivoactive HR will be on display at the MWC. The videos for the two new Garmin wearables are below.
Here's the Vivofit 3:
Here's the Vivoactive HR:
