Garmin Vivoactive 6 Review

Introduction

The Garmin Vivoactive 6 is a smartwatch that wants to be the watch you turn to for tracking workouts, whether inside or outside, while behaving like an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch the rest of the time.

Unlike Apple and Samsung, it promises to give you more battery to play with than its closest rivals.

While Garmin’s Venu 3 is actually Garmin’s most direct rival to Apple, Samsung and Google’s flagship smartwatches, the Vivoactive is here to give you some of that Venu experience for less.

Big changes from the Vivoactive 5 lie mainly with software that aims to make it one of the easiest smartwatches to use while being more affordable than most of Garmin’s wearable range.

Design and screen

• Same case size, slimmer than the Vivoactive 5
• 1.2-inch AMOLED display
• Waterproof up to 50 metres

If you compared the Vivoactive 6 to the Vivoactive 5 side-by-side, you’d be hard-pressed to see many differences.

There’s still just the one 42.2mm case size, which means it’s a pretty compact watch to wear. It’s a polymer case with aluminium in the bezel, paired with a 20mm removable silicone strap, just like the Vivoactive 5. Its clean, minimalist look reminds me of the Galaxy Watch 7 design.

Breaking up that simple design are two physical buttons on the right side of the case. It’s not the full complement of buttons you’ll typically find on Garmin’s more performance-focused watches.

That puts great emphasis on the touchscreen display, which is the same 1.2-inch, 390 x 390 resolution panel featured on the Vivoactive 5. It’s still a very punchy, colourful screen that responds nicely to taps and swipes, and supports the ability to adjust text size to make sure you’re making full use of that screen estate.

There are four colours to pick from, including slate, pink, green and gold, letting you keep things low-key or opt for something more eye-catching. The green version I tested strikes a good balance between the two.

Waterproofing remains the same as the Vivoactive 5 and most other smartwatches at the price point, so you’re getting a watch that’s safe to swim and shower with up to 50 metres. It posed no issues when I took it for a dip at my local pool.

Performance and software

• New user interface
• Lacks voice features from Venu and Fenix
• New Smart alarm feature

Like all Garmin watches, the Vivoactive 6 runs on a proprietary operating system that works with both Android and iOS. I’ve been using it across both smartphone platforms and have had no problems getting set up, syncing data or getting apps onto it.

You can handle the latter via the separate Connect IQ Store app, but it can also be done directly from the watch, providing a much better experience when you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network.

The big change from the Vivoactive 5 is a rethinking of the software experience, which I think needed to happen. As such, the fitness and smartwatch features are now packed into a single screen. As busy as that might sound, it works better than on the 5, creating a far more intuitive software experience overall.

The bottom physical button can offer shortcuts to your favourite apps, which feels like a feature Garmin has grabbed from other smartwatches.

As for core smartwatch features, there isn’t a huge difference compared to the Vivoactive 5.

You can view your phone and app notifications, and Android users can respond to notifications and view images from messages to make notification support feel a bit more comprehensive. There’s also Garmin Pay for contactless payments, though it’s far from the most polished payment method available on a smartwatch.

It’s good to see that Garmin has bumped storage up to 8GB (from 4GB), giving you more room to store music and apps. You can also use the storage to store music offline from third-party services like Spotify.

There’s a new smart alarm mode, which has been around on other fitness trackers and smartwatches for quite some time. It essentially means you can set alarms that wake you up gradually in accordance with your sleep time. It does that as advertised and is a handy one to have if you struggle to get out of bed in the morning.

Off the watch, you now also get access to Garmin Connect+, the subscription-based part of the Connect app that’s free to try for 30 days. This gets you access to features like AI-powered insights, tracking indoor activities, and viewing live data from the app. You also get access to exclusive badges and additional training features.

I can’t say there’s been anything that’s instantly grabbed me and changed the way I used the Vivoactive 5 before I switched on the trial to say I need to pay for this access. Maybe that’ll change after longer-term use.

Overall, I think the improvements to the user interface are what really shine through when using the Vivoactive 6 day to day.

Tracking and features

• Added satellite coverage for GPS support
• Added animated workout animations
• Adds new Garmin Coach features

I’d best describe the Vivoactive 6 as the Garmin to go for if you want something that will give you some, but not all, that Garmin has to offer in sports tracking. It’s also the same story for wellness and health features. It’s about offering a balance, and I’d say the Vivoactive 6 gets that balance just about right.

As a fitness tracker, I found daily step tracking typically within 200-300 steps of two other trackers, and didn’t feel like it was grossly overestimating step counts. That data, alongside the inactive and active moments of your day, are easily viewable from the watch face and the main widget stream. It will motivate you to move in more subtle ways by adjusting daily goals based on your progress. I like that approach.

Another plus is Garmin’s Body Battery energy monitor, which monitors daily stresses powered by heart rate and movement to let you know whether reserves are strong or depleted. On more strained days, a notification would highlight this and suggest putting aside time to recover and relax before going to sleep. It’s all about the delivery of that data that makes it a feature worth noting.

Heart rate monitoring is delivered by an older version of Garmin’s Elevate optical sensor technology, and that means missing out on the new ECG heart rate capabilities that have been slowly rolling out to other compatible Garmin watches.

The heart rate sensor you get here is capable of delivering reliable continuous data during the day and night and copes well with tracking heart rate for most workouts. It also supports pairing an external heart rate sensor for tougher, more frenetic ones.

You’ve still got features like grabbing a health snapshot of multiple metrics from a single measurement, but as far as grabbing this for serious health insights, there will be better options elsewhere.

Garmin’s sleep tracking support has steadily improved over the years, and it’s actually been good on most nights with the Vivoactive 6, though it does still have the tendency to slightly overreport overall sleep data. It overestimated my sleep time anywhere from 30 minutes to just under an hour compared to two other sleep trackers I wore alongside it. That will have a knock-on effect on the sleep scores you’ll see, as well as sleep stage breakdowns.

You’re still getting a watch with a bucket load of sports profiles with running, cycling, swimming and golf as the core tracking modes.

There’s built-in GPS, and it’s an upgraded setup with support for two other major satellite systems. I’ve tested against Garmin’s more advanced multiband GPS-packing watches, and it held up well for distance tracking, though I found real-time pacing information to be a bit off and had me running a lot quicker at times. 

Garmin has made recent improvements to its Coach platform, which is free to use and incorporates running, cycling and now strength training plans you can follow from the watch. I’m mostly glad to see that animated workouts have been reinstated from the Vivoactive 4 to make the Vivoactive 6 a more useful training companion for those who maybe prefer home workouts to a trip to the gym or heading out for a run.

Garmin’s daily suggested workouts now incorporate recommending walking workouts based on previous activity history, which feels like another indicator of who Garmin sees this watch for; it’s not necessarily someone already familiar with the gym.

Battery life

• Up to 11 days of battery life
• Up to 5 days with an always-on screen
• Up to 21 hours of GPS battery life

The Vivoactive 6 promises exactly the same battery life as the Vivoactive 5, whether that’s in heavy usage or using the most accurate available GPS to track your outdoor workouts. What that means in reality is that this is a watch you won’t have to charge every few days.

When you do need to charge it, it uses the very same charging cable that pretty much every new Garmin uses. I’ve typically had to charge it once a week, and less than a week when keeping the screen on at all times.

Garmin says you can get anywhere from 5 to 11 days of battery life, and I’d say that’s accurate with a few caveats. It can go that long if you’re not using features like the best GPS accuracy, regular music streaming, or keeping that screen on, which are the features that more noticeably drain the battery.

If you want to push things further, there’s a battery saver mode that extends the battery life to 21 days while still giving you access to workout tracking features.

When using the GPS, battery life depends on the mode you’re using. You’ll get around eight hours with the most accurate GPS mode while streaming music. If you’re using the more basic GPS mode, it’s 21 hours, and that drops to 17 hours when using the best accuracy GPS.

The drop-off during workouts is very similar to that of the Vivoactive 5. It’s not a worrying drop even in that more accurate tracking mode, and if you’re looking for something to track workouts 3-4 times a week and can live without the screen on 24/7, the Vivoactive 6 performs well on the battery front.

Should you buy it?

FAQs