Garmin Vivosport: Essential guide to the fitness giant’s next tracker

While Garmin has suffered through some minor struggles in the fitness tracker market this year, it's by no means ready to give up. After releasing the Garmin Vivosmart 3 earlier this year, it's back at it again to bring us the Garmin Vivosport — alongside the Garmin Vivoactive 3 and the Garmin Vivomove HR.

The headline addition for the Vivosport, as we'll explore below, is the re-introduction of in-built GPS to the range. However, there's more going on here to dive into — including a rejigged design, plenty of sports tracking and information regarding when you'll be able to pick one up.

Wareable verdict: Garmin Vivosport review

So until we get our mitts on the Vivosport for a full review, here's what you can expect from Garmin's latest fitness tracker.

Garmin Vivosport: Design

If you feel like you've seen the Vivosport before, we don't blame you. In truth, this isn't drastically different to the Vivosmart 3 released earlier this year.

It features the same sporty, silicone band, only this time it comes in three different colour variations on the underside: black/slate (small/medium and large), black/fuchsia (small/medium only) and black/limelight (large only).

Where this differs to its predecessor is through the always-on, Chroma 9.7 mm x 19.3 mm touchscreen display, which Garmin also claims is readable even in sunlight. This isn't the biggest screen, of course, but it does offer a resolution of 72 x 144 pixels, and one that might be preferable to some users over the blended screen which features on the Vivosmart 3.

The tracker itself weighs either 24g or 27g, depending on whether you opt for the small/medium or large variant, while it also sits at a width of 21.0 mm and a thickness of 10.9 mm.

Garmin Vivosport: Sports tracking

Although its design isn't going to blow any of its competitors out of the water, Garmin undeniably packs a wealth of features into its latest fitness tracker.

As we mentioned above, the fact GPS is on board for the ride is a big bonus, and one that helps users leave their phones at home once again. Continuous heart rate tracking from the wrist is also present. And while this naturally lends itself to helping you keep track of your beat, HR zones and HR calories during exercise, it also contributes to the device's stress tracking capabilities — heart rate variability (HRV) is tracked to give you a continuous look at your wellbeing.

Up close: Garmin Vivomove HR review | Garmin Vivoactive 3 review

Dedicated indoor/outdoor sports apps for the likes of walking, running, cycling and strength training are the key staple of what's offered in this fitness tracker package, and Garmin Move IQ means that multiple activities can be classified. Garmin has also included its VO2 Max smarts to give you an extended and more in-depth look at your fitness, something which is also built upon in the Garmin Connect companion app alongside the likes of sleep analysis.

As you might expect, notifications are also in tow here. Users will be privy to vibration alerts for pretty much everything you can think of, including emails, texts, calls, calendar reminders, app alerts.

Garmin Vivosport: Battery life

As always with battery, it depends how you're using it. However, Garmin suggests you'll be receiving up to seven days of life while the device is in smartwatch mode, while GPS mode gives you eight hours. This isn't anything groundbreaking, but it's a leg-up from the five days that were promised through the Vivosmart 3.

Garmin Vivosport: Price & release date

In terms of the all-important price, Garmin is letting you get your hands on the Vivosport for , which is in fact cheaper than the launch price of its last GPS-toting tracker, the Garmin Vivosmart HR+. Unfortunately, the device isn't yet ready to buy, though Garmin indicates it will drop at some point during Q3 2017.