Why You Can Trust CNET Garmin's newest Vivoactive 3 smartwatch adds music, improved sleep tracking
The Vivoactive 3 Music feels like the closest thing to the Fitbit Ionic.
- Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps
This could be the best GPS music watch alternative to the Fitbit Ionic and Apple Watch.
Garmin makes a lot of fitness watches. The Vivoactive 3 is the company's general all-around fitness smartwatch, and the newest version, the Vivoactive 3 Music, adds music storage much like Garmin's more runner-focused (and expensive) Forerunner 645 that arrived earlier this year. The $300 watch is available now.
The Vivoactive 3 Music has a pretty complete set of features: onboard storage for 500 songs, although they have to be sideloaded from a computer, much like the Fitbit Ionic and Versa; iHeartRadio and upcoming Deezer support for music synced from a phone; Garmin Pay contactless payments; GPS; and up to a seven-day battery life (5 hours with GPS on).
It's basically the Vivoactive 3, but with music. Garmin's also promising an improved sleep tracking system that's arriving "soon," using heart rate variability and adding REM, light and deep sleep awareness -- much like what Fitbit already does. The sleep tracking enhancements will come to the Vivoactive 3, Forerunner 645, Forerunner 935 , Fenix 5 watches, Vivosport, Vivosmart 3 and Vivomove HR.
See, I told you Garmin makes a lot of fitness watches.
