Computer Shopper - UK (2020-05)

ISSUE387|COMPUTER SHOPPER|MAY2020 47

SPECIFICATIONS

PEDOMETERYes•HEART-RATEMONITORYes•DISPLAY

SIZE0.8in•RESOLUTION132x64•OS SUPPORTAndroid,

iOS•BATTERYLIFEFive days•WARRANTYOneyearRTB

• DETAILSwww.garmin.com•PART CODE010-02239-01

THEREAREPLENTYofpeoplewholikethe
ideaofasmartwatch,butdon’tlikewhatit
oftenmeansinpractice:bulkywatchfaces
withbrightscreensandbatteriesthatneed
chargingseveraltimesperweek.
ThesearethepeopleatwhomtheGarmin
Vivomove 3isaimed: it’s awatch with actual
moving hands protected by glass, but there’s
also asmall OLED screen under there,which
flashes to lifewithnotifications when called
upon. The displayitself takes up less than
half of the watch face’s surface area,
granting certain smart capabilities with
much slower battery drain.
The preceding Vivomove HR (Shopper377)
had the same concept, of course,but the
Vivomove 3focuses more than ever on

fitness and exercise.‘Connected GPS’ allows
the watch to piggyback off your phone’s GPS
formore accuraterun tracking, and there are
other new features such as respiration rate
tracking and Body Battery,which tells you
how ‘charged’ forexercise you are,soyou
don’t overwork yourself.

SQUEEZING JUICE
All these smarts are well hidden, as the
displayispractically invisible until you activate
it by either firmly double-tapping it or sharply
raising your wrist. However,wealsowish
there was aless animated wayofwaking it;

asingle buttonooonthe

side,for exampleee,

wouldn’thavemmmessed

withtheVivomooove3’s

sleekdesignthaaatmuch.

It’scomfortaaable,however,

and you can reppplacethe

20mmbundledsssilicone

strapswithinduuustry-standard

quickreleasepinnnstomakeitas

dressyorcasualasyoulike.

Withnormaluseofthescreen,the

Vivomove3lastsforaboutfiv

better than asmmmartwatch,

ittotheweekmmmark.Howe

watchmode–whhhiiichhhdddiiisabbblllesthescreenand

simplykeepsthehandsticking–willadd

anothersevendays,soifyoumainlyjustwant

awatch that only occasionally needs to be

smart, this could be just the thing.

Swiping through the screen reveals a

number of specialised widgets, from simple

step and stair counters to music controls,

your current heart rate, calendar events, and

even hydration and menstrual tracking tools.

THATSQUINTING FEELING

These are amixed bag in terms of usefulness.

The Body Battery feature is aclever wayof

showing complex information in asimple

way–if the number is high, do some exercise;

if it isn’ttt,then rest –and instant heart-rate

feedbaccckisashandy as it’s ever been for

regulating your exercise.Notifications, on the

other haaand, don’t work that well: the tiny

132x64pppixel OLED screen doesn’t have

enough room to show anywhere near afull

messageee,and although you can scroll

throughhh,it’s only by afew words at atime.

Equaaally,while the music controls pick up

on whatttever you’re listening to at the time,if

you press playwithout any apps running,

Garmin bizarrely boots up Google PlayMusic,

which isssuseless if you’re not an active

subscribbber.What’s more,ifyou’re in the

middleooofarun, themusic controls pop up

over theeetopofuseful tracking metrics you

might accctually want to consult.

Connnnected GPS is also less convenient

than havvving abuilt-in sensor,asyou need

GARMINVivomove3

★★★★★

£196•From http://www.amazon.co.uk

FITNESSWATCH

VERDICT

Afinehybrid smartwatch, but the new
features aren’t entirely worth the extra cost

tokeep your smartttphone on you whhhen

running, but at least performance is good.

It recorded a5km run as 4.93km, which is

accurateenough. Even the more dedicated

GPS running watches seldom get distances

absolutely correct.

All the same,serious runners shouldn’t

really consider the Vivomove 3astheir

race-daywatch of choice.Not only is it fiddly

to startaworkout, but once again the tiny

screen doesn’t present much data to go

off,especially when the music controls get in

the way. We prefertohavethree different

metrics on the screen at once,but you may

have different priorities, especially if you’re

someone who favours post-workout analysis

to on-the-go readings.

OVERLYFAMILIAR

It remains true that, forthe most part, the

Garmin Vivomove 3isagreat hybrid

smartwatch, but then so was its predecessor,

the 2018 Vivomove HR, and it’s not really

clear why this is worth £50 more.There are

extra fitness features, but with these,it’s

encroaching on territory where having a

dedicated running watch is just amore

sensible solution.

All the same,we’dbehappytoforgive any

minor misgivings about the watch given its

good looks if it weren’t forthe existence of

the Vivomove HR. Available foraround£150

now,that’swhatwe’drecommend if you’re

dead set on ahybrid watch.

AlanMartin

If youmainly justwantawatch thatonly occasionally

needs to be smart, this could be justthe thing