Why you possibly can belief Android Central
Our skilled reviewers spend hours testing and evaluating services and products so you possibly can select the perfect for you. Discover out extra about how we check.
As somebody who does primarily weightlifting and never a lot working, Garmin smartwatches at all times appeared out of attain to me. They at all times felt like fanatic watches for runners or outdoorsy sorts, neither of which I’m. Moreover, the buttons and complicated UI made them tough to choose up. Nonetheless, the Garmin Vivoactive 6 appears to be a treatment to this, providing a reasonably reasonably priced various with a easy design and a extra user-friendly UI.
The Vivoactive 6 seems like the proper entryway into the world of Garmin watches, particularly in the event you’re not likely a runner. You could not get all the most recent and best options or specs, as anybody in search of these should spend considerably extra on a watch. Nonetheless, the Vivoactive 6 is nice for getting the fundamentals, monitoring exercises, and holding you energetic.
Garmin Vivoactive 6: Value, availability, and specs
The Garmin Vivoactive 6 was introduced in April 2025 and went on sale the identical month. The watch retails for $299 and is offered in a number of colorways: Slate, Lunar Gold, Metallic Jasper Inexperienced, and Metallic Pink Daybreak.
The Vivoactive 6 solely is available in a 42.2mm case measurement and helps 20mm quick-release bands.
|
Class |
Garmin Vivoactive 6 |
|---|---|
|
Measurement |
42.2Â x 42.2 x 10.9 mm |
|
Supplies |
Fiber-reinforced polymer case Anodized aluminum bezel Silicon strap |
|
Safety |
Gorilla Glass 3 5ATM |
|
Weight |
36g (with included band) |
|
Show |
1.2-inch (390×390) AMOLED |
|
Reminiscence |
8GB |
|
Battery life |
Smartwatch mode: 11 days Battery saver: 21 days GPS-Solely GNSS mode: 21 days All-Methods GNSS mode: 17 hours All-Methods GNSS mode w/ music: 8 hours |
|
Sensors |
Elevate v4 HR, pulse oximeter, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, exterior thermometer |
|
Monitoring |
GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, BeiDou |
|
Connectivity |
Bluetooth, ANT+, NFC |
|
Colours |
Slate, Lunar Gold, Metallic Jasper Inexperienced, Metallic Pink Daybreak |
Garmin Vivoactive 6: What I like
The Vivoactive 6 is a surprisingly well-built smartwatch. It is on the smaller aspect, which can not swimsuit you when you’ve got bigger wrists, however the plus aspect is that it is neither thick nor heavy. In reality, the watch could be very gentle and cozy to put on. That is nice not solely in on a regular basis use, but additionally when carrying it to mattress, as I hardly discover it is on, not like different smartwatches.
It is pretty powerful, too, though most likely not as sturdy as pricier fashions. You continue to get strong water safety with 5 ATM, that means the watch might be submerged as much as 50 meters deep, which ought to attraction to informal swimmers. Gorilla Glass 3 safety also needs to assist preserve the show intact, whereas the aluminum bezel and fiber-reinforced polymer case give the watch a tender really feel.
The OLED show could be very vibrant and pretty straightforward to maneuver, regardless of the somewhat giant bezels. It is extremely responsive and vibrant sufficient to make use of outdoor. At simply 1.2 inches, I want the show have been bigger, but it surely nonetheless serves its objective.
One factor I observed instantly after establishing the Vivoactive 6 is that the UI is a big enchancment over the Venu 3, which is the one different Garmin watch I’ve used. It is not excellent, however menus really feel extra logical, and different UI adjustments make extra sense, similar to accessing notifications by swiping down from the house display screen after which Look shortcuts by swiping up. Fast settings are accessible by swiping down, or you possibly can press and maintain the principle energy button. Settings can be accessed by holding the again button.
I feel a part of what makes this simpler to navigate, except for the revamped software program, is that you simply solely have two {hardware} buttons. As I discovered having a 3rd button on the Venu 3 to be complicated, I admire the simplicity.
Total, the UI feels considerably extra inviting for informal health fanatics and anybody seeking to buy their first Garmin watch.
Battery life is sort of strong on the Vivoactive 6. Garmin claims you possibly can stand up to 11 days of battery life per cost, which I do not doubt. I constantly get a full week of battery life, with one or two exercises tracked per day and the show set to gesture activation. You’d get much less battery with the always-on show activated, however I discover the gesture choice to be completely satisfactory.
Garmin Vivoactive 6: Health
The Vivoactive 6 would not include Garmin’s newest Elevate sensor know-how, that means you will not get the improved accuracy discovered on fashions just like the Forerunner 970 and even the Venu 3. That stated, the watch nonetheless presents loads of health options and with sufficient accuracy that the older sensor mustn’t postpone informal customers.
I carried out two separate step exams, strolling 5,000 steps and evaluating the top outcomes between the Vivoactive 6, Pixel Watch 3, Venu 3, and Oura Ring 4. For the needs of the check, I wore the Pixel and Venu on separate days, and I wore every gadget on the identical arm in order that they might detect the identical motion whereas I walked. I additionally used a handbook counter, tapping it for every step I took till I reached 5,000.
|
Step counts |
Garmin Vivoactive 6 |
Garmin Venu 3 |
Google Pixel Watch 3 |
Oura Ring 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Day 1 |
4,482 |
✖ |
5,002 |
5,114 |
|
Day 2 |
5,064 |
5,174 |
✖ |
5,294 |
The Vivoactive 6’s step depend was surprisingly low in the course of the first check, and I could not decide the reason for this discrepancy. Nonetheless, it carried out significantly better in the course of the second check, coming in considerably nearer than the Venu 3 or Oura Ring 4.
I additionally wore the Vivoactive 6 and Venu 3 throughout just a few exercises, primarily to check coronary heart price knowledge. The information is from two HIIT (high-intensity interval coaching) exercises and 500 steps on the stair stepper:
Picture 1 of 3
I observed throughout my exercises that the readings from the Vivoactive 6 would typically keep fairly near these of the Venu, however typically I may see it nonetheless making an attempt to catch up when my coronary heart price rose quickly.
As you possibly can see from the charts, the Vivoactive would have just a few random dips earlier than taking just a few seconds to match the Venu, or it will take longer to register the rise in coronary heart price.
The Morning Report function is just like Morning Temporary on the Pixel Watch, offering a breakdown of the morning, together with climate, sleep rating, and physique battery. It additionally comes with recommended exercises, though you will not get far more than recommended walks. It is superb for informal health fanatics and serves as a great way to encourage customers to stand up and transfer all through the day.
I want the recommended exercises have been a bit extra diversified, particularly for somebody like me who actively engages in HIIT, weightlifting, and energy yoga six days every week. That stated, it is clear that this watch is extra centered on encouraging customers to be energetic than on pushing them, which, once more, could be extra attribute of a Forerunner.
The watch options built-in GPS and helps numerous navigational programs, that are fairly correct and helpful for monitoring your route on runs or hikes. Remember that you do not get an altimeter, which is a draw back in the event you benefit from the outdoor and climbing. You can also’t obtain maps to the watch, which can be a draw back for some.
You do, nevertheless, have entry to exercise movies instantly on the watch, which is useful when following the pre-made exercises created in Garmin Join. You may as well curate your individual exercise inside the app, though this seems like a really time-consuming and tedious activity, and I’d give up midway by way of.
Should you’re a weightlifter like me, you will doubtless be happy with the exercise monitoring. It could robotically detect reps and relaxation between units. It is not excellent, but it surely’s fairly helpful and extra correct than Galaxy smartwatches in my expertise, and considerably extra correct than you will get with a Pixel Watch.
In any other case, the watch comes with a wide range of exercise modes, which ought to please most customers.
Sleep monitoring has been pretty correct, even when in comparison with my Oura Ring 4. The one instances I’ve observed any misses are after I would get up for a bit and fall again asleep for just a few hours, which my ring would account for however the watch would seemingly ignore.
There is no physique temperature sensor, which is probably going a cost-cutting measure, though I am unable to say I miss it. There’s additionally no ECG, however you will get nearly each different well being monitoring function that one ought to count on on a smartwatch.
Garmin Vivoactive 6: What I do not like
The UI on the Vivoactive 3 is way improved, but it surely nonetheless comes with some quirks that I really feel are typical for Garmin. Notifications can typically take up your entire display screen, which might be fairly annoying whenever you’re really making an attempt to do one thing on the watch. Moreover, the vibration depth cannot be altered, so you will get a fairly jarring buzz until you flip the vibration off.
Talking of vibrations, the watch incorporates a Sensible Alarm that makes use of sleep monitoring to wake you up on the optimum time, so you’re feeling much less groggy. It sounds nice in concept, however I’ve discovered this function fairly ineffective or annoying. Oftentimes, I get up forward of my set alarm, so the Vivoactive finally ends up simply being late to the occasion when the sensible alarm lastly goes off. It additionally solely has a 30-minute window, which does not appear to be sufficient time to reap the benefits of a function like this, particularly in case your sleep schedule is as erratic as mine.
The Vivoenergetic additionally has Transfer Break alerts to remind you to stand up and transfer, which is sensible. Nonetheless, I will be actively standing and shifting round or cooking, and the watch will nonetheless buzz me with a transfer alert, which I discover annoying.
Lastly, regardless of the improved UI, Garmin nonetheless appears to cover options and settings beneath a mountain of menus, making it tough to find sure issues. That is whether or not you are on the watch or within the app. Utilizing the Garmin Join app might be overwhelming, and I typically needed to confer with Android Central senior editor and wearables skilled Michael Hicks to determine tips on how to do issues on the watch or within the app.
The smartwatch UI is a big step in the precise course, however I really feel that the app may use some enchancment.
Bonus: I briefly used the Join Plus subscription whereas testing the Vivoactive 6, however actually didn’t discover it helpful sufficient to warrant sticking with it. A reside view of my exercise coronary heart price was neat, as have been among the AI-based insights, however I do not suppose it is value paying for.
Garmin Vivoactive 6: Competitors
On this worth vary, one other watch chances are you’ll wish to take into account is the Pixel Watch 3. It incorporates a extra streamlined UI, quite a few apps, and a implausible design, together with LTE assist for individuals who require it. That stated, health monitoring will not be fairly on par, battery life is not as nice, and the bottom mannequin will value extra.
The Galaxy Watch 7 is one other smartwatch value contemplating at this worth. It additionally runs Put on OS, so you will get most of the similar perks because the Pixel Watch with some Samsung aptitude. That stated, it additionally comes with the identical downsides, regardless of its fairly strong Samsung Well being app.
Garmin Vivoactive 6: Must you purchase it?
You should purchase this if…
- You are new to Garmin.
- You are an off-the-cuff fitness-goer.
- You need a smartwatch with lengthy battery life.
You should not purchase this if…
- You are a severe runner or biker.
- You need a smartwatch expertise that is straightforward to make use of.
- You need a watch that pushes you to do extra.
The Vivoactive 6 has been a surprisingly refreshing expertise for me after coming from the Venu 3. Positive, it is not precisely a premium watch, and also you miss out on some options and specs, but it surely will get you a lot of what you’d count on from a Garmin gadget with out the worth tag related to watches just like the Fenix 8.
Since I am not a runner or biker, this seems like an ideal watch for somebody like me, who simply desires to trace my exercises. The Vivoactive 6 will not push you to do something you do not wish to do, however it’ll ensure you’re at the least staying energetic, which is sweet sufficient for many people.
This is a perfect smartwatch for anybody all in favour of Garmin however involved about what it entails, and it is platform-agnostic, so each Android and iOS customers are welcome.
Keep energetic
The Garmin Vivoactive 6 is a superb smartwatch for anybody new to the Garmin ecosystem and beginning their health journey.
