Very Poor Garmin Vivoactive 3 and Poor Customer Support
I have owned a Garmin Vivoactive 3 for 2 years and 1 month and now have a mark on the Vivoactive 3 glass. No damage to the outside but a hugely annoying white mark that is in the centre of the watch face. This is caused by a fault that many other people are reporting on chat forums. The watch was bought on 1st February 2018 for 249.99. It has been well looked after. Garmin responded, 'we have determined that your Garmin device will need to be booked in for a replacement' but as my warranty is 1 month outside of the guarantee period I am being a...Read more
sked to pay 96 for a replacement. I asked for a 'good will' gesture but they refused. I am now left with a 'bad taste' in my mouth, it is evident that Garmin are selling a watch with a manufacturing fault and have poor customer service in relation to this issue. Very disappointed as I don't think this watch is worth 249.99 + 96 and will now make a point to inform as many people as possible so that they are aware of the issue before they consider purchasing this watchPurchased in February 2021 at Amazon.
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UnsatisfiedPerth, WA
Regrettable Purchase
I bought the vivoactive 3 watch in august 2022. Today it was 100% charged at midday, then battery was already dead at 5am when i woke up. Does not last long! Regrettable purchase.
Purchased in August 2021 at Harvey Norman for $498.00.
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Very good, but batery life is no good
I have using my vivoactive3 since 2017 and it never presents problems. Very good watch. But on February 2020 the battery life became very short, and i need to charge it twice a day. I told with support three times but the problem does not solved. Support suggested me send the watch to PROPARTS so change the watch, but i have no guarantee that this will be free of financial costs. Does anybody have a same problem?
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Alpha BravoSouth East Queensland, QLD
- 7 reviews
- Vivoactive 3
- Verified purchase
Doesn't Synch with my phone - very frustrating!
I purchased a Garmin Vivoactive 3 in March this year, great price at $269. It looks like a great watch and functionally does what it claims to do EXEPT synch with my phone. It pairs ok and operates with my phone until the first disconnection and then no more synching. I thought it was my phone so I tried pairing and synching with my wife's iPhone 7...same deal, no synching. I called the Garmin service centre and they took me through the turn watch and phone off and restart, take app off and reload it etc, all of which I'd already tried 2 or ...Read more
3 times. Eventually the lady said change the watch, which I duly did. Guess what, same problem, pairs ok and doesn't synch. Next best option, get my money back. Very disappointed and won't be buying a Garmin again. The blogs on the internet are full of this being a problem. Garmin need to get this fixed. I purchased a FITBIT Ionic afterwards, great watch and yes it synchs.Purchased in March 2021 at JB Hi-Fi Retail Stores for $269.00.
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TigerbenGreater Melbourne (Inner), VIC
- 2 reviews
Good for general use, but issues once you scratch the surface
This does most of the simple stuff well, the screen is and easy to use and navigate. My issues:
1. The screen is very sensitive. My widgets reorder/ delete in most showers!
2. The GPS is hopeless in very built up areas. eg. I work in the city and it takes about 1km of running (away from the buildings), before it can find me.
3. Updates during the day can clear all that day's data. I had a massive 35k step day once and it updated and deleted it all at dinner time, giving me 500 steps for the day!
4. The HR is usually pretty accurate, except whe...Read more
Purchased in February 2021 for $380.00.
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A watch, a fitness tracker, plus more!
Haven't worn a watch in 10 years, but was after a GPS fitness tracker. Looks like a watch, week long battery (if lazy), and basic smarts & notifications, including tap-&-pay. No issue with build quality, I work with chainsaws and other machinery and was concerned of damage, nearly a year on not a scratch! Despite it's water resistant rating, I don't shower with it on, it's usually dusty and dirty under the band after work, plus it allows me to charge it.
Purchased in April 2021 for $313.00.
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LisaMSydney, NSW
- 4 reviews
Good device, easy to use
Set up was very fast and easy. More accurate the. The Fitbits I used to use. Heart rate more accurate, more exercises and can customise more. Battery life is about the same.
Purchased in December 2021 at Rebel Sport for $249.00.
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DmitrySydney
- 4 reviews
BATTERY LIFE
This could be a great watch. Sadly, charging it TWICE A DAY made it merely an annoyance. I spent my time tweaking settings, to no avail. And with every firmware update the settings became worse.
There are some glitches like the watch hangs when connecting it to USB cable, solved by a reboot, but the battery life is the worst concern.
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Alli_OliverMetropolitan Adelaide, SA
- 9 reviews
Very happy for the most part
I am downgrading from Apple Watch series 3, as I was very unhappy with it's battery life, and couldn't justify the expense to replace it.
I was very happy to find the Garmin vivoactive 3 on sale at Rebel Sport for $250, RRP $499.
I initially had a lot of trouble setting up my watch, as it was not performing as expected despite multiple hard resets and updates. I found it difficult to find a solution to my issue. However, once I worked out a fix, and got to play around with it, I was a lot happier.
I find it very conformable on my wrist. Supe...Read more
Purchased in November 2021 at Rebel Sport for $250.00.
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MattPerth, WA
- 3 reviews
Clunky, not much better than my older 235 but not as good as Samsung
The Vivofit Active 3 is a nice looking watch and has great specifications but is a let down as soon as you turn it on. It struggles to connect to an android device and needed to be reset multple times before it would connect permanently (ie it would forget connection). It was very challenging to work out how to then connect the watch to my phone so that calls and texts could be received. It continued to be a challenge to simply receive phone notifications and wouldn't do the most important task - turn off the phone's alarm. Sumsung's watch just...Read more
worked/synced so much easier. The Vivofit Active comes with many settings turned on in its default state which is very annoying as you need to take time to turn most of them off. Garmin would do good to determine what it is that people really need to see and turn everything else off. Due to this, battery life was very short, but too my surprise, battery life wasn't much better after the settings were adjusted. And then came the final straw. The watch got stuck on the charging screen just as my older 235 had done years before. I could have waited for the battery to deplete and restarted the watch (as I did for the 235), but for a current generation watch that costs $450, this is not acceptable. The watch has been returned and I now have the current gen Samsung Watch.Purchased in August 2021 at Rebel Sport for $450.00.
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SMKGreater Melbourne (Metropolitan), VIC
- 2 reviews
Solid watch you can wear 24/7
I have owned this watch for 3 months.
Comfort: Very comfortable. The strap is flexible. Aesthetically it does not look like a smart watch.
Battery:I wear this 24/7 and workout around 5 times a week. I need to chanrge my watch once a week.
Tracking: I track my Crossfit workouts. I have really gotten the most out of accurately monitoring my HR during WOD’s. This watch tracks running, rowing and walking really well.
Other pros: Apple pay, step count and phone notifications have all been featured i have found helpful
Purchased in June 2021 at Catch for $338.95.
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yankeesgirl
- 2 reviews
- 1 like
Great for me
I started out with a Fitbit Zip, then received a Fitbit Flex from someone who had no need for it, they were both great and I was happy with the Flex until sadly my dog chewed it. I did a lot of research on what to replace it with and found at the time the Fitbit range just wasn't what I was looking for. I then obtained a Vivofit 3 via a program and had that for around 15 mths, while this was a good wearable it was lacking in detail. I saw that Garmin were releasing the Viviactive 3 and it was what I was looking for. I have had mine now since N...Read more
ov 2017 and am glad I purchased it. I find the battery life is great, usually only have to charge it every 3-4 days. I don't use the GPS much at all however if I do I need to charge more frequently. I use this for notifications from SMS, Messenger & WhatsApp daily and this has relatively no impact on the battery life. I love the timer & alarm feature, the ability to customize my watch face and the text responses, that it is smart enough to adjust my daily goal to the amount of exercise and alert me to changes in my activity with insight. At a glance on either the wearable or the app I can see what is happening and it can keep me on track and focused. I did have an issued in the last few weeks with the battery draining in the space of 12 hours or so however I phoned Garmin Australia for support and was help by the team there with a number of solutions and the offer to call them back if these did not fix the problem. Thankfully the issue was resolved and I am now back to 3-4 days battery life and enjoying my Garmin once more. I would recommend it and am looking forward to the Vivoactive 4.Purchased in November 2021 at Garmin for $429.00.
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Mutasim S.Greater Melbourne (Inner), VIC
Started out great...
After 4 months of happy use, the GPS on my vivoactive became permanently temperamental. Takes up to 10 minutes to find GPS, incorrect distance data, just a faulty GPS unit.
Purchased in March 2021 at JB Hifi Home for $400.00.
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BenIllawarra, NSW
It was great... But battery and support suck
Watch works well at first...but battery life doesn't last long before going down hill.. updates in the middle of the day delete your steps for no reason. Turn off updates and it'll turn them back on and mess with your battery life.. really not happy with product..I came from 5 fitbit devices now that's another brand I won't ever purchase again
Purchased in July 2021 at JB Hi-Fi for $400.00.
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cwsThe Mallee, VIC
- 4 reviews
- Vivoactive 3
- Verified purchase
Perfect running companion
I love the understated design of the watch, it look like a normal watch and not a training watch. You can easily change the wrist strap to match different occasions. GPS tracking is excellent.
The only negatives are that battery life could be better and sleep tracking is not always accurate.
Make sure to update your watch with the latest software to fix a lot of issues.
Purchased in October 2021 at eBay for $359.20.
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Alr
- 3 reviews
- 4 likes
Too many technical issues
I am really disappointed in this watch.
The Bluetooth connection Barely worked with my phone.
It doesn’t play music underwater.
The distance when I’m swimming in REALLY not accurate or doesn’t work at all.
I have it since only two months and the step tracker stopped working.
Everytime I contact customer service, their solution is to update.
I always update. Still having constant issue.
I really don’t recommend spending that much money in something that works half of the time.
Purchased in March 2021 for $400.00.
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Roxanne Toleafoa
- 3 reviews
Works great
Works to average standard.
Doesn’t talk or sync as well as I expected with an iPhone (apple health)
Like the “move” feature as it gets me up to remove the bars on my step count. Heart rate is great too
Purchased in March 2021.
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TaniaMetropolitan Adelaide, SA
- 2 reviews
Vivo va-voom
I recently purchased a vivoactive watch which replaced my Tom-Tom. I am continuously impressed with the level of functions and accuracy Garmin have imported into this watch. I’ve never looked back, the rose gold also adds a feminine element
Purchased in December 2021 at JB Hi-Fi Retail Stores for $480.00.
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JoshMetropolitan Adelaide, SA
- 4 reviews
- 1 like
- Vivoactive 3
- Verified purchase
Better than a fit bit Versa
Went from fitbit versa to Garmin vivoactive 3 music.
Won't look back from switching over.
Notifications from my phone come through promptly compared to the Versa.
More on screen workouts and tracking activities. Battery last between 2-3days depending on how often the gps is used.
Purchased in January 2021 at JB Hi-Fi Retail Stores for $399.00.
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SmartishSouth East Queensland, QLD
- 5 reviews
- 2 likes
Beware!
I was given the Vivoactive 3 Music as a birthday present following much research and deliberation. I chose the music as all of the marketing and advertising states that your Apple playlists can be simply dragged across! Beware. This is not the case. Your Apple playlist cannot be used!! The option to use Spotify may console, however, that's also not possible. Garmin fail to respond to any contact with a solution.
I'd go buy an Apple Watch!
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Questions & Answers
Steveasked
How can I recalibrate the GPS?
1 answer
Hi! Im sorry, i dont know how recalibrate the GPS. You should ask the support. Usualy, the GPS calibrates automaticaly when you do reset factory and press a new activity.
James Wasked
The heart rate display has been going haywire, I can be sitting inactive for awhile with a heart rate of 70. I get up and move and suddenly my heart rate is 110+. I then check myself with a blood pressure monitor and find I have a heart rate of 70. Yesterday I rode my bike for 23Klms and when I arrived homely watch was showing 150 checked with BP monitor and I was 114. Is there anyway to calibrate ?
No answers
Ken - Qldasked
Can the Vivoactive 3 sync with pre planned routines that you set up in the Garmin app. eg if i want to run 8 x 400m reps with 90 seconds rest, can i set that up in the app,then use the Vivoactive 3 to track that session or me?
No answers
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