Garmin devices recognize stress through your heart rate-a pulse that's elevated for long periods of time (when not exercising) shows signs of stress. I found Body Battery to be the most interesting for me when it changed due to stress. The score constantly changes throughout the day as you do different things, and at the end of the day, you can see the highest and lowest Body Battery scores you achieved. But the Vivosmart 4 is much easier to wear all day and all night than any Fenix watch, making it an ideal device to monitor breathing and oxygen levels during sleep.īody Battery takes stress levels, heart rate variability, and sleep and activity data into account when adjusting your score-an intense morning workout could deplete your Body Battery by 20 or 30 points, but a restful period after that could increase it by 15 points.
GARMIN VIVOSMART BATTERY INDICATOR SERIES
Garmin previously only included it in its Fenix series of smartwatches, all of which are much more expensive than the Vivosmart 4. We'll get into the details of this data in the next section, but the Pulse Ox sensor (Garmin's name for its SpO2 sensor) is a great addition to such an affordable device. In addition to the standard array of activity-tracking sensors, the Vivosmart 4 includes an SpO2 monitor to measure blood oxygen saturation. Not only does that increase the longevity of the device, but it also lets users feel like they're wearing a customizable accessory rather than an electronic device. That restriction will hurt Garmin (and probably already has), because most other trackers like those from Fitbit allow users to switch bands out for new ones. You can't change the bands out, so you'll be stuck with the color you initially choose. Since it's safe to swim and shower with, you may forget it's on when you go to do one or both of those activities.īut like the Vivosmart devices to come before it, the Vivosmart 4's module is stationary in the middle of the continuous piece of silicone that makes up its band. Unless you secure the band too tightly around your wrist, you won't feel the Vivosmart 4 when you're wearing it. It's the most comfortable Garmin device I've ever worn thanks to the updated design and its new 0.6-ounce weight. (Ars Technica may earn compensation for sales from links on this post through affiliate programs.) That, combined with the lightly textured silicone band, the new 0.26×0.70-inch OLED display, and the striking aluminum bezels, make the Vivosmart 4 feel like a totally different device, rather than just the next in the Vivosmart line. Garmin shaved off 3mm from the new device's width and nearly 1mm from its thickness. The Vivosmart 4 is leaps and bounds more attractive than the Vivosmart 3, which was an unnecessarily bulky band. Garmin consistently one-ups itself when it redesigns wearables from scratch. While Garmin achieves a certain level of differentiation with the Vivosmart 4, it's unlikely that everyone who prefers fitness bands to smartwatches will gravitate toward this device. As we saw with Fitbit's Charge 3, trackers have fallen into a boredom trap as of late, so companies are trying to find unique ways to capture the attention of potential customers who aren't fully sold on smartwatches.
Those two features, in addition to an all-new design and an affordable price, attempt to push the Vivosmart 4 above the rest of the fitness tracker crowd. It's a metric that could help spot signs of sleep apnea and other breathing-related problems, so companies have been scrambling to perfect their SpO2 sensors and incorporate this data into their ecosystems in a meaningful way.įitbit still hasn't activated its SpO2 monitors in its wearables (although that feature should roll out in beta in November), but Garmin has. Its newest fitness tracker, the $129 Vivosmart 4, includes an SpO2 monitor and measures Body Battery, which lets you know when you should plan your next intense workout session and when you should take a rest day. Valentina Palladino reader comments 52 withįitness tech companies, particularly Fitbit and Garmin, want to monitor the level of oxygen in your blood.
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