Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Garmin through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about vívofit 2, all opinions are my own.

Hello!

My friends at POPSUGAR Select recently sent me a brand new Garmin vívofit 2, and I’m popping in today to share my thoughts on it with all of you.

I received the vívofit 2 toward the end of October, when I was having a hard time getting back into the swing of some of my normal healthy tendencies after getting back from our honeymoon. Getting back to regular workouts wasn’t too bad after the first week back, but being honest with myself about nutrition was (and still is!) a challenge. I also noticed that small daily habits like taking the stairs at work had fallen to the wayside. The vívofit 2 arrived at the perfect time, because getting a new activity tracker in the mail was a nice way to motivate me as I tested it out for you guys!

Garmin is typically known for their GPS sports watches, but the vívofit 2 is the brand’s first dive into the activity tracker market. It’s worn as a wristband, and the backlit display shows steps, calories, distance, and time of day. The device is also waterproof and can track sleep. All navigation on the tracker is done with a simple push of a button. While I think the wristband is slightly bulky, I enjoyed receiving accessory bands for the device in different colors. This lets me switch up the tracker’s look depending on my mood or outfit, and all I have to do is pop the sensor in and out. Easy peasy.

Getting started with the vívofit 2 was simple enough: I just had to sync the device to my computer, create a profile, and I was good to go. You could also set up via the Garmin Connect app for Android or iOS. After getting set up, you can set personalized step goals, find other friends who are a part of the Garmin community, or join friendly competitions to keep you motivated and competitive.

Some of the features that I think make the Garmin vívofit 2 stand out from other trackers on the market include:

• One-year battery life: I guess I can’t really comment on this until I’ve used the tracker for a whole year, but it’s still going strong. This is perfect for someone who is consistently on the move, as there’s no need to spend any time charging it!
• Inactivity alerts: This feature has been huge in helping me remember to get up and MOVE during the day. I’m great at getting my scheduled workouts in, but I can be pretty bad at forgetting to get up and stay active once I’m engrained in a project at work or deep into writing a blog post. The vívofit 2 has an audible alert and a move bar that appears on the display that lets me know when I’ve been idle for an hour or longer. One thing I don’t like though is that there is no vibration option for the inactivity alert!
• Personalized goal setting: The vívofit 2 learns what your current activity levels are and then assigns you an attainable daily goal. As you meet your milestones, the tracker adjusts your goals. I love this! It’s nice to see the numbers increasing from week to week and personal progress being made.

As for using the vívofit 2 during workouts, the distance tracking has been accurate. The tracker also comes with an activity timer/stopwatch that I’ve used to track rest periods with during strength training sessions at the gym. The vívofit 2 doesn’t directly come with a heart rate monitor, but you can pair it with one of Garmin’s own heart rate monitors to record heart rate and zone data to get more accurate calorie burn information. The device also syncs with MyFitnessPal for nutrition tracking.

If I had to identify an area I think the tracker could improve in aside from adding vibration alerts, it would be to streamline the Garmin Connect app a little more. I’ve found it to be a little funky, and my information doesn’t always automatically sync.

All in all, I’ve enjoyed using the vívofit 2 over the past month and a half, and it’s definitely helped me return to prioritizing movement in my day-to-day life after lying on a lounge chair in Aruba for ten days! I feel like I’ve successfully returned to making more mindful choices like parking farther away, taking the stairs, and going for more walks just to reach my activity tracker goals.

Thanks, Garmin!

Let’s chat! What activity tracker are you using these days? What features do you look for in one? Have you tried Garmin’s vívofit 2?