Garmin’s Vivosmart 3 listens to your heart better than Roxette ever did

Fitness trackers are going at each other like a bunch of feisty, windmilling bantamweights. Taking on Fitbit’s Alta HR in the battle to see how much tech can be crammed into a tiny wristband is this Garmin, the first to bring VO2 max estimates to the Vivo army. This means the Vivosmart 3 can, for better or worse, provide a good reading of your overall fitness level (marked from ‘poor’ to ‘superior’). If that’s too invasive, you can always just stick with the continuous heart-rate monitoring, automatic exercise tracking and swim-friendly waterproofing. In fact, the only thing this Vivosmart HR+ sequel hasn’t managed to squeeze into its chiselled body is GPS. We look forward to its tear-up with the Fitbits.

Mark Wilson Features editor

About

Mark's first review for Stuff was the Nokia N-Gage in 2004. Luckily, his career lasted a little longer than the taco phone, and he's been trying to figure out how gadgets fit back into their boxes ever since. While his 'Extreme Mark Wilson' persona was retired following a Microsoft skydiving incident, this means he can often be spotted in the wilds of South West London testing action cams, drones and smartwatches, and occasionally cursing at them.

Areas of expertise

Smart home tech, cameras, wearables and obscure gadgets from the early 2000s.