The third generation of Garmin's Vívoactive moves to a circular design and has more robust smartwatch capabilities, including Garmin Pay.
Garmin's new smartwatch comes in three color options.
The first thing you'll notice about Garmin's new Vívoactive 3 GPS smartwatch is that it's round not square or rectangular like previous Vívoactive models. It's also packed with features, including a heart-rate monitor, 15 built-in indoor and outdoor sports apps and the company's new contactless-payment solution Garmin Pay. Additional free apps, widgets and watch faces can be downloaded via Garmin's Connect IQ store.
The Vívoactive 3 is available now in three color options: Black/stainless, white/stainless ($300) and black/slate for ($330). There's no word yet on UK and Australian pricing, but we'll add it as soon as we get it.
Garmin is marketing Vívoactive 3 as the "Smartwatch that lets you pay and play." (See YouTube video below). Enabled by FitPay, Garmin Pay works like other contactless payment solutions from Apple, Samsung and others, supporting Visa and Mastercard debit and credit cards from major issuing banks. (Go here for a complete list of supporting issuing banks).
The Vívoactive 3 is fully waterproof and features Garmin's high-resolution Chroma touchscreen display, with a new Side Swipe control that the company says, "makes for quick scrolling and swift navigation of menus, widgets and stats." Battery life is rated at up to 7 days in smartwatch mode and 13 hours in GPS mode.
We'll have a full review of the Vívoactive 3 as soon as soon as we get a review sample. In the meantime, here's a look at its key specs and features: