I bought 2 watches, one for me and one for my boyfriend. The watch has all the features we wanted but the heart rate monitor is so off when my boyfriend wears it. Both watches work fine on me but the HR is super high and inaccurate on him and I have read other review about this same problem

Overall, the Vivoactive 3 is a very solid and fitness-focused watch. It's likely the iteration that many folks have been waiting for in terms of a more stylish unit than the Vivoactive HR was in the last version, and more functional than the super-slim original Vivoactive was a few years back.

In the end, I think the Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music is the kind of device aimed primarily at athletes and then at smartwatch fans. This is exactly the opposite of the Apple Watch, no matter what Apple says.

If you've been following the Garmin story, the Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music should pretty much explain itself. The latest sports watch from the fitness powerhouse takes the Vivoactive 3 we know and love and bestows on it the gift of song, letting you play your tunes from your watch instead of your...

New design looks the part; Music works like a breeze; Packed to the gills with sports modes

Lacking in design options; Only one music service; Basic health stuff behind the competition

"The Vivoactive 3 is an activity tracker that's perfect for the rider who's not necessarily interested in picking apart data with a fine-toothed comb but wants to keep track of their rides and monitor fitness"

Built-in sensors; Bluetooth and ANT+ connectivity; battery life

Optical HR struggles riding on bumpy surfaces; app integration could be improved

The Garmin Vivoactive 3 is one of the tastiest fitness watches we've seen so far. It looks good, isn’t a wrist-dominator, outlasts just about all normal smartwatches and gets you tracking similar to a Fenix 5 at almost half the price. What’s not to like? True offload warriors may want the extra ruggedness of the Fenix 5, and it’s best not to expect too much from the Vivoactive 3’s smartwatch side. It's also a shame that it doesn't store music for you to play during runs. But for sport lovers, the Vivoactive 3's great fitness tracking and battery life will eclipse the lack of smartwatch fluff.

Great exercise tracking; Very good battery life; Contender for smartest Garmin watch yet;

Software not as slick as Wear or Watch OS; Garmin Pay not ready yet; No standalone music playback;

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 third generation of Garmin's Vívoactive moves to a circular design and has more robust smartwatch capabilities, including Garmin Pay.

The Garmin Vivoactive 3 ($269.99) is one of the most full-featured fitness trackers with smartwatch functionality you can get. It manages everything from contactless payments to stress measurement. While it doesn't track the most advanced running metrics, like foot-ground contact time, it does calculate cadence, pace, and distance using GPS. If you use it with an Android phone, you can even reply to text messages directly from the watch. It could stand to be a bit thinner and lighter, but you'd have to lose the heart rate monitor to make that happen. If you're a fitness enthusiast in the market for an everyday watch and tracker, this is the one to get, and our Editors' Choice. At a Glance Handsome yet simple with a round face, the Vivoactive 3 works as casual wear, a gym accessory, and even with business attire, provided you swap the silicone band for something more upscale. The standard size bands and swap out easily with a little spring-loaded lever you can press with a finger...

The Garmin Vivoactive 3 is an attractive, durable wearable that hits the sweet spot between fitness tracker and smartwatch functionality.

24/7 heart rate and stress monitoring; Great features for runners; Tracks wide range of activities; Supports contactless payments; Compact and fashionable

May feel heavy and bulky to some; Charger is proprietary

A brilliant all-rounder, delivering multisport tracking, GPS and all-day heart-rate tracking in a slim lightweight package

Lightweight; Great battery life; 24/7 heart-rate monitoring;

A little ugly; On the pricey side;

Ever find yourself basking in the glow of a runner's high only to be shaken back to reality by realizing you left your wallet at home? With the right smartwatch, like the Garmin Vivoactive 3, that coveted post-sweat brew can still be yours. The Garmin Vivoactive 3 GPS smartwatch, which comes equipped with the contactless payment solution Garmin Pay, is currently on sale for just $147.50 at Amazon. It's usually $249.99, so this deal keeps more than $100 in your wallet (which you can actually just leave at home now, anyway). This watch made it into our roundup of the best fitness trackers for running, so you know the rest of its features stack up, too. Preloaded with 15 GPS and indoor sports apps ranging from running to yoga, the watch is designed to help you make the most out of your sweat session of choice. If you're looking to cool off at the pool, this waterproof watch can track of your swim stats and automatically upload data to the Garmin Connect app. Designed with Garm...