More tech discoveries this week, as Garmin announced the launch of its new ultra thin Vívosmart 3 activity tracker, with features a new hidden display that’s only visible when the user needs it.
According to Garmin, the new Vívosmart 3 adds high-end fitness monitoring tools such as VO2 max and fitness age, alongside wellness monitoring and all-day stress tracking, to its popular Vívosmart family.
Thanks Garmin’s Elevate wrist heart rate technology, the Vívosmart 3 now provides 24/7 heart rate monitoring and automatically tracks activity including steps, floors climbed, calories burned, intensity minutes, sleep and more. It also features smart notifications to keep users connected while on the go. In addition, the Vvívosmart 3 boasts a battery life of up to five days, and can be worn while swimming or showering.
“Health conscious customers are becoming more interested in the meaning behind their activity stats,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales. “As in, I like seeing the data, but how does it correlate to my overall wellbeing? With its new fitness and wellness monitoring tools that tell you things like fitness age and stress level, the vívosmart 3 is able to provide users with those answers, and that is a game changer for the activity tracker industry.”
Additionally, the Vívosmart 3 features a range of new fitness monitoring tools which are designed to provide users with a better understanding of their body’s overall physical performance. For example, it’s the first product in the Garmin Vivo range to estimate VO2 max, a measurable indication of aerobic performance which was previously only available with higher-end Garmin running watches. Furthermore, users can now see their VO2 max score translated into a fitness level, ranging from poor to superior. VO2 max is also used to calculate fitness age, a relatable metric that translates a user’s fitness level in terms of age.
The Vívosmart 3 also includes a new Strength Training activity that lets users stay focused on their form and does the rep counting for them, by keeps track of reps, sets and even rest times during user’s free weight and bodyweight exercises. This data gets sent to Garmin Connect where it can be reviewed in greater detail later.
Garmin says, “for those seeking to live a healthier life, improving one’s emotional wellbeing can be as important as increasing time spent at the gym. To this end, the vívosmart 3 adds wellness monitoring with the all-day stress tracking feature. Therefore, when users are not on the move, the Vívosmart 3 tracks heart rate variability, which in turn is used to calculate and measure stress level, displayed as a wedge graph right on the device.
Stress levels high?
The Vívosmart 3 features a breathing exercise that users can access from the device to encourage relaxation and help lower stress level.
In addition to tracking steps, heart rate, floors climbed, calories, distance and sleep, the Vívosmart 3 also measures activity intensity through Intensity Minutes which are measured against goals recommended by leading health organizations. And thanks to Garmin Move IQTM, users don’t need to worry about starting or stopping a particular timed activity for it to get recorded. Move IQ automatically recognizes activities like walking, running, biking, swimming and elliptical training without any action on the part of the wearer. Once synced with Garmin Connect, these recorded activities are viewable as part of a detailed timeline.
The Vívosmart 3 automatically syncs with the Garmin Connect mobile app throughout the day to save stats for easy access later. In Garmin Connect, users can track their workouts, strength training activities, stress levels, sleep patterns and join online challenges to compete against friends and earn virtual badges. They can also receive Garmin Connect Insights, smart wellness insights personalized to each user that provide cues to help them reach goals. For extra motivation, Insights also show users how they stack up in comparison to other people like them.
Other features include, the delivery of smart notification vibration alerts to users’ wrists, when they receive emails, texts, calls, calendar reminders, app alerts, social media updates and any other notification from a compatible smartphone. Moreover, users will also benefit from the ability to control music on their smartphone from the Vívosmart 3, send an alert to locate a misplaced smartphone, and remote control a Garmin VIRB camera (sold separately).
Lastly, given its inconspicuous band and new slimmer profile, the Vívosmart 3 complements every discipline of actively sport, by virtue of its hidden display which is only visible when activated via gestures, alerts or notifications. When not in use, the screen disappears from view.
The new Vívosmart3 is available in black (small/medium and large) and purple (small/medium), with a suggested retail price of $139.99.
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