Garmin vívofit 2 Review

As someone who sits at a desk all day (I have a marketing and social media job in Corporate America), it’s super easy for me to spend HOURS on my booty and realizing that I’ve barely moved around all day. Even though I work out 4-6x a week, I still don’t like how sedentary I am for the majority of the day. Plus, recent studies show that even if you exercise, it’s not enough to combat the negative effects of sitting all.dang.day so that’s great.

But having an activity tracker seriously motivates me–and more importantly–reminds me to move more. Introducing the vívofit 2.

One thing I especially like is that it functions like a watch with 1 year+ battery life, which is awesome because (1) I don’t have to charge it, and (2) I can wear it in place of my watch. I’ve never been able to pull off the whole layering bracelets with a watch thing (maybe because I have tiny wrists? maybe because I don’t really own great bracelets for layering?). I really like that it has an alert to remind you to move if you’ve been sedentary for too long too. I get sucked into work and emails and projects and hours will go by without my realizing it – so this is good to remind me to take little mini microbreaks, even if it’s just standing and stretching for a minute.

You can scroll through the displays on the vívofit 2 to see the following info:

• · time
• · date (I use this more than I thought I would)
• · number of steps
• · step goal
• · miles (LOVE this!)
• · calories burned throughout the day

It also monitors sleep which is really cool. I have learned that I don’t spend enough sleeping (okay I knew that) and that I only spend about half the night typically in a deep sleep. (Maybe that’s normal?) Either way, I love sleep monitoring stuff. 🙂

I wear this all day – sleeping, working out, showering. You can start a timer when you’re specifically working out (e.g. running) or just let your run add up to your steps. The vívofit 2 seems to recognize when you’re doing a workout either way. I wear it to CrossFit and since the band has a super secure clip that locks in place, I’ve never had issues with it feeling like it’s going to fall off, even mid-burpee.

One thing I’ve learned since wearing it that is good news — I actually move around much more than I was expecting the numbers to show! Living in an apartment building helps with that a lot. It’s short walk to my car, to get the mail, to walk to my apartment gym. Not far distances, but certainly further than when I lived in a house. And having Maizey helps a ton because I have to take her out (instead of just opening my door to the yard); I love walking her anyway and this motivates me to go just a little further. 🙂

I get 5 miles in regularly on days that I’m not even running!

There’s an app so you can sync it through your phone and since I love charts and data, I’m obsessed with the app. The only downside of the vívofit 2 that I’ve experienced is that it doesn’t automatically sync with the app sometimes (but you can manually force it to sync by holding it down until it says “Sync”). Oh and sometimes it’s uncomfortable to sleep with it on because apparently I sleep on my stomach with my arms under me?? So weird.

It has interchangeable band colors, but I’m currently loving the white since it goes with all my workout and non-workout clothes.

 

Bottom line: would I recommend the vívofit 2? Yes.

 

Who do I think it’s good for? Everyone. 🙂 But especially people who are trying to get more movement in their day outside of exercise (i.e. those of us in front of computers!). I think it’d be fun for people who already move a ton throughout because it’d be awesome to see how many steps you get. I want to put this on all my friends who are raising toddlers and see what their steps are. ha!

Price: $99.99

Where you can buy it: Garmin’s site, Amazon, Walmart or Best Buy

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.