The Amazon Prime Day sales event is in its final hours. Over the past few days, we’ve seen bargains galore across almost every shopping category. That includes a plethora of fitness deals, with cut-price headphones, massage guns and more. And, if you’re in the market for a running watch, there’s also some epic last-minute deals to be had, including 15% off my favourite Garmin Vivoactive 5.
I’ve worn the Vivoactive 5 for almost a year now and if you ask me, it’s the perfect hybrid of exercise tracker and standard smartwatch, and a more affordable alternative to the Venu 3. While it doesn’t have Garmin’s entire run tracking line-up, there’s more than enough for someone like me who, on average, runs three times a week – plus up to 21 hours of GPS recording.
Garmin Vivoactive 5 GPS
Screen size30.4mm/1.2″Battery life (smartwatch)Up to 11 daysBattery life (GPS)17-21 hoursWaterproof rating5ATM
With a clear, high-quality and customisable AMOLED display, I love that the Vivoactive can easily be worn as a classic watch for everyday wear, with a few added bonuses like step and calorie counting.
Back to that run tracking, the Vivoactive 5 has built-in GPS tracking, heart rate monitoring and HRV status data. However, this isn’t the optical heart rate sensor found on more premium Garmin watches, so it is less accurate. There’s also no barometric altimeter, unlike on the Venu 3, so elevation stats, while tracked during runs, will be less accurate.
Like the affordable, entry-level Forerunner 55 (now a whopping 29% off in the Spring Sale), the Vivoactive boasts Garmin Coach, which recommends a weekly running schedule based on your availability and current running pace. This is a handy feature if you’re looking to train for a specific event, pace or time, and aren’t following a plan already. Plus there’s 30 pre-loaded sports, including cycling and pool swimming.
Running aside, the Vivoactive 5 has plenty of health tracking features. There’s Sleep Coach, which tracks your sleep, gives you a sleep score out of 100 every night, and recommends how much sleep you need based on your current stress levels, physical activity, and previous sleep scores. That said, the accuracy of the sleep tracking is a little questionable; I’ve found it can overestimate the amount of hours sleep we were getting each night.
For just over £150, though, there’s a lot to like here. In fact, this is the lowest price the Vivoactive 5 has ever been, so if you’ve been eyeing it up, now is the time to strike.
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Garmin Forerunner 255 Music
The Forerunner 255 is a sleek option packed with a slew of high-end features that are currently over 40% off at Amazon. For just over £200, you’re getting a GPS running watch that provides you with a daily morning report, summarises your sleep, and tracks heart rate variability. We also love that it can download and store up to 500 songs from Spotify, Amazon Music and Deezer, allowing you to listen to your favourite pump-up tunes in a pinch.
Garmin fēnix 7 PRO SOLAR
If you’re after some heavy-duty tech, the multi-sport GPS Fenix is made with quality and durability in mind. It includes built-in flashlights, trail running tracking, morning reports and up to 18 days worth of battery. It’s one of those watches that truly does it all.
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