Garmin Vivoactive 6 review: Still my favorite fitness watch

Garmin has released a new entry in its Vivoactive series. Imaginatively titled the Vivoactive 6, this fitness tracker straddles the line between fitness watch and full-blown smartwatch, not by offering more smart features than its sportier counsins, but instead by simply looking an awful lot more everyday. With a sleek and minimalist approach to design, Garmin likely hopes the Vivoactive 6 will be the fitness watch of choice for boardroom bandits, casual runners, and enthusiasts alike.

I’ll be honest, I love a Vivoactive, and had experience reviewing the previous model, the Garmin Vivoactive 5, which was a solid affair. But by trying to be for everyone, has Garmin reached too far? Can the Vivoactive 6 live up to its pedigree, and hold up Garmin’s good name? Can its smart features hold up against full-blooded smartwatches like the Apple Watch Series 10, Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, and OnePlus Watch 3? I took the watch for a spin for a few weeks to find out.

Garmin Vivoactive 6: specs

Garmin Vivoactive 6: design and comfort

The Garmin Vivoactive 6 is one of the most comfortable watches I’ve had the pleasure of testing. I put it on, and quite simply, it disappears.

Obviously it’s still there, but ask me if I’m still wearing it and I’ll have to look to check. In my few weeks wearing it, I’ve forgotten I was wearing it multiple times, including forgetting to alert security staff before walking through a metal detector. Safe to say, the guard was not particularly receptive to my enthusiastic review of its comfort.

I came from wearing the OnePlus Watch 3, which isn’t an uncomfortable watch to wear by any means, and scores high in terms of wearability — but compare it to Garmin’s watch and I might as well have tied a radiator to my wrist. Key is the relative weights between the devices. At just 36 grams with the strap attached, the Vivoactive 6 is under half the OnePlus Watch 3’s 81 gram weight. And that makes a big difference. Speaking of the strap, the comfort extends to that too. I’ve noticed the strap is too tight multiple times, but not because I felt it tight against my wrist, only because I tried to move it, and realised it wouldn’t budge. If comfort is king for you, then this is your fitness watch.

It shares this with other Garmin watches I’ve worn, including the Vivoactive 5 and Forerunner 165, which is probably because they, er, are quite similar. Garmin hasn’t changed up what is a very good design, and the Vivoactive 6 is largely the same as the Vivoactive 5. Some of the buttons have changed shape, and the proprietary charging port is along the bottom of the device’s rear, not to one side, but at a glance, you’d think they were the same watch.

That’s not a criticism by any means. I enjoy how Garmin puts little touches on each of its watches to show their specific niches within the roster. The Forerunner has a very clear sports-focus in its design, and one look at a Fenix and you know that rugged son-of-a-gun is built for adventures. The slimline and sleek Vivoactive 6 is Garmin’s casual watch, and the design reflects that with a subtle and gently curved body, with an aluminum bezel around the 1.2-inch AMOLED display. It’s meant to do its job without drawing undue attention to itself, and the design reflects that.

I’m not a huge fan of the white variant I was sent, though. The color is fine, but it definitely shows dirt more than the blue Vivoactive 5 did, and the strap is obviously physically dirty — and try as I might, I can’t seem to clean it. If you do more with your watch than just wear it to the gym and back, then I would consider another colorway or replacing the strap when it gets mucky.

If you’re looking for a statement watch, this isn’t that. It’s also not the smartest-looking smartwatch. It’s relatively small and subtle, and does its work without screaming about it.

Garmin Vivoactive 6: display and controls

The 1.2-inch AMOLED display is smaller than most other smartwatches I’ve used recently, but don’t let that put you off — as with the Vivoactive 5, the display here is gorgeous. The AMOLED tech means it’s every bit the equal of options you can buy from Apple or Samsung, with bright colors that pop off the screen, and deep inky blacks. At night, the watchface shifts into a red display, which dramatically improves the always-on display in the dark. It’s still usable, but without blinding you like other watches tend to. It’s a real bonus, and I’m surprised I haven’t seen it on other smartwatches.

Durability-wise, I’m less impressed. I’ve had the Vivoactive 6 for a couple of week now, and it’s picked up a few scratches on the display. I haven’t been rock climbing or any sort of particularly extreme sport, so it’s safe to say this has happened during normal everyday life. It’s a bit of a shame, but on the plus side, they’re only really found around the edges of the display, so the chunky bezels hide them well, and they can only really be seen when you angle the watch just right.

Lift-to-wake continues to be bad. I’ve found it to be very unreliable, but this is largely just a good reason to enable the always-on display. While I would normally be hesitant to keep an always-on display on all the time due to the impact on the battery, the battery is more than good enough to compensate — but more on that later.

On the whole, the Vivoactive 6’s display is excellent. Yes, the bezels are enormous, and it’s picked up quite a few scratches, but it’s still sumptuously colorful, bright, and very clear. As ever, I’m impressed with what Garmin brings to the table.

The control system is solid. The Vivoactive 6 has a touchscreen you can use to swish through menus quickly, along with the two buttons arranged around the edges of the case. The top button opens the watch’s menu, and press it again, and it’ll open a list of exercises. Press it once more, and it’ll select the first exercise on the list, and you can press it one last time to start that exercise. Hold the top button and it’ll open a quick settings panel, where you can quickly toggle modes, or find your phone. The bottom button is your back button, but if you hold it down you can set up an app shortcut. As a control system, it’s not the most intuitive, and unless you’re a seasoned Garmin user, you’ll get lost a few times.

Part of this is because there’s no central app drawer. Because an app drawer collects every function on your watch, getting there will eventually mean you get to what you want without having to go back to the home screen. Here, because each function needs you to go a specific way, it’s very easy to get lost. It gets easier over time, but I still end up swiping through the wrong menu fairly regularly.

Garmin Vivoactive 6: fitness and health tracking

But all the good looks and comfort in the world don’t mean a thing if this fitness watch doesn’t track well. And I’m pleased to allay any of your fears in this regard, as the Vivoactive 6 is as excellent as ever.

Some of Garmin’s previous missteps are still there — like the dull-as-dishwater displays during exercises — but there have also been some improvements to Garmin’s overall fitness tracking.

There are still a massive number of exercises to pick from, and you can pick and choose what shows up on your Activities screen using the Edit button at the bottom of the list, or by using the Connect app on your phone.

New for me is the ability to alter your exercise before starting it. Before starting an exercise, you can set your targets or intervals, browse a library of previous workouts, follow a saved plan, or even your past self, like a Mario Kart ghost. You can also choose a map course to follow, change your settings, and even the screens that will show during your exercise, all from your watch. It’s a huge boost from the previous Vivoactive watch, and one that’s very welcome. It could be a tad overwhelming if you want to just run, but opening the menu is completely optional, so you can just bypass it entirely if you’re not interested.

Sleep tracking is good, but not perfect. I’ve had some nights of broken sleep, and the Vivoactive 6 has very clearly missed some nights with shorter periods of sleep. Nothing major, only an hour or less, but it has been missed, and that’s worth mentioning. My Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic would tend to pick those up, but the Garmin watch isn’t alone in missing them, as the OnePlus Watch 3 also tended to miss them too. It’s not a huge deal though, as it’s far from the usual way you’d expect sleep tracking to be used, and I’m more than willing to forgive it otherwise.

But of all the features Garmin has included, it’s the Body Battery I love the most. Samsung has attempted to previously ape this feature, but only Garmin has really nailed it. Body Battery is Garmin’s way of estimating quite how much energy you have left in you for the day. It’s refilled whenever you rest and gradually depletes as you undertake activities, and it’s particularly useful if you’re looking to see whether you should cool off or push harder. It’s not an absolute scale, and you won’t collapse if you let it run all the way down, but it is a fun way of seeing quite how much energy you’ve expended during the day, or how much you’ve recovered at night.

With that said, some elements are still a bit disappointing. I was hoping the rubbish inactivity warnings from the Vivoactive 5 had been fixed, but they’re just as inaccurate as ever, and it’s often pinged me to tell me to start moving while I’m in the middle of an activity. Thankfully, you can turn those off, so it’s not much more than an annoyance for the very start.

Garmin Vivoactive 6: performance and smart features

I was happy with the performance of the Vivoactive 5 at the time of my review, but the moment I moved on to the Forerunner 165, I was struck by how much smoother and faster that watch was. Thankfully, the Vivoactive 6 takes its cues from its sportier brethren, and is very fast and very smooth during use. While the previous entry in the roster wasn’t slow, it did sometimes feel as if it was lagging behind slightly, and the Vivoactive 6 has avoided that altogether. While performance isn’t as huge an issue for a fitness watch like this, it’s certainly nice to have.

It’s clear Garmin is making improvements where the “smart” features of its watches are concerned. The Vivoactive 6 isn’t going to really challenge the best smartwatches out there, but you’ll no longer miss some features when strapping on your fitness watch. There’s a media player, which will reflect your smartwatch and allow you to control your listening from your phone. You can also sign into a number of music apps on your watch and download playlists to listen to on headphones. It’s a great way to listen to tunes on a run without having to take your phone with you.

You also have notification mirroring, same as the previous watch — but now, as well as sending canned responses to messages, you can also use the on-screen keyboard to compose and send replies. This feature technically existed on the Vivoactive 5, but it bizarrely needed the Garmin app open your phone to type and send, severely curtailing its usefulness. That’s no longer the case, and it means the Vivoactive 6 is a much more capable smartwatch-alternative. Sure, it’s no Apple Watch, but it’s no longer a completely incapable.

Garmin Vivoactive 6: battery and charging

The Garmin Vivoactive 6 is a fitness watch first and a smartwatch second (more on that later), and the fitness watch bit leads when it comes to the battery life. With all health tracking features and the always-on display enabled, the Vivoactive 6 lasts for up to five days. That’s an exceptional lifespan if you’re used to a traditional smartwatch, beating out even the long-lasting OnePlus Watch 3. Turn off the always-on display, and Garmin claims the Vivoactive 6 will last for 11 days. I’d only recommend doing this if you’re happy dealing with the unreliable lift-to-wake function.

Charging comes via a proprietary charger, and it’s a little slow. Charging the tiny battery cell from 15% to full took just over an hour, which isn’t anywhere near as quick as it could be. Still, it’s easy to forgive if you’re only charging once or twice a week. Stick it on to charge while you shower in the morning and you shouldn’t need to charge at any other time.

The Garmin Vivoactive 6 is a fast, long-lasting piece of tech that makes the most of Garmin’s lightweight operating system.

Garmin Vivoactive 6: companion app and Garmin Connect+ subscription

Garmin Connect continues to be an excellent app by itself. It’s mostly clean and intuitive, and the tile system gives you all the information you need at a moment’s notice. I say “mostly” because the introduction of the Connect+ subscription system does mess up the app’s clean interface rather a lot. I’ve spoken about my experience with Garmin Connect+ at length before, but it’s important to note here whether my opinion on it has changed or not. It … hasn’t. Quite simply, I forgot I’d subscribed to it, so the notification that my subscription had renewed came as quite the shock.

Everything I noted in my initial thoughts has remained true; if you’re not going to be using the coaching plans, don’t lift weights, and don’t use LiveTrack, then you don’t need to bother. The AI-fueled summaries are particularly pointless — I’ve yet to see one that isn’t basically just “you’re tired”, or “you haven’t slept very well”. Perhaps they would be different if I was training more, but that just adds more grist to my personal recommendation that you don’t subscribe unless you’re a keen athlete. The added value given by the subscription is there, it’s just not for me, or for people like me. If you’re a casual exerciser, perhaps running or swimming a few times a week, you can skip Garmin Connect+.

Outside of the Connect+ features, Connect is still very good. While you can do quite a bit on the watch itself, it’s here you’ll set up training plans, look up videos, sign up for new challenges, and other similar tasks. It’s well made and not confusing to use at all, and the data is as encompassing or easily ignored as you like. If I have one problem with it, it’s that Garmin continues to separate the watchface and app store into its own app, Connect IQ.

In fairness to Garmin, Connect IQ is great. I love the number of watchfaces on offer, and while there aren’t anywhere near as many apps on it as there would be for watchOS or Wear OS, there are enough staples like Spotify that Garmin’s app store at least justifies its existence. But I just cannot fathom why it continues to be a completely separate app.

Garmin Vivoactive 6: price and availability

The Garmin Vivoactive 6 is currently available from the Garmin webstore and a number of other retailers. It costs $300, and there are no additional upgrades to get on top of that — no larger sized variants, and no LTE upgrades. You get four colorways to pick from though: Lunar Gold with a Bone band, slate with a black band, Metallic Jasper Green with a Jasper Green band, and Metallic Pink Dawn with Pink Dawn band. Personally I’d buy the Jasper Green, but you can also customize your watch directly from the Garmin store if you want a different band or combination.

Should you buy the Garmin Vivoactive 6?

What is the Garmin Vivoactive 6?

Well, it’s important to note that this is not a full-fledged smartwatch. If you’re looking for an Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch-style device, then this is not the device for you. It has a few third-party apps, but it has nowhere near the app support you’ll find on Wear OS or watchOS. If a fancy, shiny smartwatch is what you’re after, then stay away from the Vivoactive 6.

But, if you’re looking for a fitness watch that can stretch into smartwatch territory, then this is a great option. If you’re looking for a device with great health and fitness tracking that you don’t need to charge very often, then this should be in your basket. Or, if you’re a keen athlete of any stripe, then Garmin is always going to be a very good option, regardless of the specific model.

The Garmin Vivoactive 6 is an extremely comfortable fitness watch with enough smarts to keep my smartwatch itch scratched, while also keeping enough in the tank to last for four-to-five days on a single charge with everything turned on. The Vivoactive 6 is an exceptional device, and I have loved every moment with it.

But what about competition? As mentioned, the Apple Watch Series 10, Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, and OnePlus Watch 3 are all very strong competitors from the smartwatch side, while on the fitness tracker side, you could also consider the Garmin Forerunner 165 for $250. Fitbit do some excellent fitness trackers too, including the Fitbit Charge 6, or even the mighty Google Pixel Watch 3, which straddles the fitness and smartwatch divide, with a stronger lean on the smartwatch side.

Ultimately the Garmin Vivoactive 6 is exactly what it seems: a competent fitness watch with a good smartwatch side to it. The subtle design will appeal to those who don’t like the sportier design of many fitness watches, and the long battery life will sate those who simply can’t abide the idea of charging a smartwatch every day. At a price of $300, the Garmin Vivoactive 6 is absolutely worth your money if you need a great fitness and health tracker, but don’t want everyone to immediately know about your gym days.