Garmin, one of the most renowned smartwatch manufacturers today, aims to create watches for every taste as part of its current product strategy. A common feature among many Garmin smartwatches is their core functionality focused on GPS activity tracking and leveraging the brand's years of experience in user interface design. Almost everything else can vary among different smartwatch devices from this American electronics manufacturer. Over the years, I've discussed a range of Garmin watches on WatchTested, including the current high-class Garmin collection known as MARQ.
Today, I am reviewing something entirely different - the Garmin Vivomove Luxe. The Vivomove family includes several versions of different sizes, currently peaking (price-wise, that is) with the Vivomove Luxe model. They come in 42 mm metal cases (unlike plastic or other materials), plated with 24-karat gold (for yellow gold models), 18-karat rose gold (also shown in photos), and natural polished steel. An advantage of the Vivomove Luxe model is the synthetic sapphire crystal over the dial - the same scratch-resistant material used for most luxury watches. The watch case is water-resistant to 50 meters.
On the wrist, the Vivomove should look like traditional watches, both in style and appeal. Garmin has made every effort to create a shape that resembles traditional fashion watches rather than hiking gear. Naturally, the Vivomove Luxe is an excellent choice for a woman looking to add a smartwatch to her professional or social attire. From Garmin's perspective, this is more or less an attractive point, i.e., offering people the ability to track their sports and activities without immediately declaring it when choosing a watch.
Next comes the clever dial that overlays traditional hour and minute hands on a "hidden" color AMOLED display. There are no buttons on the Vivomove case, and all functions are performed by tapping or swiping the sapphire glass (or using the Garmin Connect app). When you want to activate the watch, you need to raise and turn your wrist or give a couple of firm taps on the screen.
I found the Vivomove a bit stubborn to "wake up" when raising the hand; also, when tapping, you need to apply some force to get the device's attention. This is probably because Garmin didn't want people to accidentally activate the screen, to save battery life. The screen mainly responds to taps, and by scrolling the screen from left to right, you navigate through the main functions. You also sometimes scroll up and down or hold the screen for various options and other displays. I'm still not entirely sure I can work with the interface, but I think after wearing the Vivomove for a few weeks, I'd get a bit more used to it. I really like the colorful screen and pleasant interface design.
At a width of 42 mm, the thickness of the Vivomove Luxe is 11.9 mm. Although these watches can be categorized as unisex, the color scheme and style admittedly lean towards the feminine side. However, the size is not bad, as these are among the few smartwatches that don't look too big or too techy when worn on a woman's wrist. If you choose the right strap (easily removable and replaceable), all Vivomove Luxe models are suitable for men as well.
Accustomed to fully digital Garmin smartwatches, the Vivomove made me content with less functionality, but in reality, I didn't miss much. Interestingly, the Garmin Connect app allows the use of multiple devices that contribute to achieving your activity goals. This means that theoretically, you can wear more sporty Garmin watches while running or training, and the Vivomove Luxe in more social settings, while still tracking steps, movements, heart rate, and much more.
Thus, you can benefit from having multiple smartwatches, but without significantly losing out on active tracking and recording of your activity data. You can even track runs and other specific "activities" in the Vivomove Luxe operating system.
Personally, I am less interested than some users in receiving smartphone notifications on my smartwatch. If you're interested in smartphone messaging capabilities, then Apple Watch or a Google Wear device might suit you better. Although you can receive messages via Garmin watches, I didn't spend time checking if you could reply to them. Garmin excels in activity and exercise tracking, device reliability, and focusing on doing what they do quite well.
I like that I can input information into the watch, such as how much water I drink, and also view useful information like weather data or current heart rate, easily, with just a few swipes across the dial.
Garmin is excellent at creating smartwatches, but it still has much to learn about watch design as a whole. As traditional watches, Garmin Vivomove Luxe are not very discerning because the hands on the screen are almost the same color as the screen itself (worse in some models), and lack contrast. This means that your eyes have difficulty seeing them. However, the Vivomove Luxe does not claim to be traditional watches. Rather, they are modern smartwatches with GPS-based activity tracking, disguised as traditional watches. I believe that while Garmin has made a great start when it comes to applying fashionable design elements of traditional watches in its collection, the company still has much to learn in this area.
The battery life is claimed to be up to five days in smartwatch mode and up to two weeks in "watch mode". Considering the bright screen and connectivity features, as well as the smaller case size, I would say this is quite fair. For charging the watch, Garmin provides a cable that attaches to the back of the watch. It works well enough, but I wouldn't trust it if the watch were charging in a bag (although the connection is much stronger than with other watches I've tested).
Garmin delivers on its promise to offer a "premium" wearing experience (suitable for formal, work, or social events) with all the main features that consumers expect from reliable Garmin smartwatches for tracking sports and activities. However, the Vivomove Luxe still remains a better device rather than a piece of beauty or fashion, although Garmin is on the right path and approaching its goal. I think that for many people who are interested in the world of Garmin products and software, but don't want to advertise "hey, look at my training smartwatch on my wrist", the Garmin Vivomove Luxe is a great smartwatch option.
The price ranges from $499.99 to $549.99 depending on the strap choice.