I hate this F*ing thing.

It started out innocently enough. Track your steps, I thought. It'll be good, I thought. So I sprang for the Garmin. Low(ish) cost, counts steps and keeps track of stuff. Yeah. That'll work. What happens after you turn 50, see, is the weight can creep on. Slowly. Slowly. Silently. Until suddenly you weigh more than you did at the highest during pregnancy. Yikes! And since my girls are teens, I can no longer blame the youngest one for baby weight, which is what I did for years.

So I get the thing and put it on. It innocently looks at you and says, "Yeah, you can do 5000 steps a day. That's not much, fatty." So I do. At the beginning, it was just for tracking steps. You can connect to this other app to track food intake if you want, but no, that's not for me. I just wanted to see how many steps I was doing every day in my rather sedentary life.

Well. That first day I did nothing but watch. Um. 3584 steps. Really? So, I realized, yes, this is bad. After that I made it a point to AT LEAST make the minimum steps. After a couple of weeks, I noticed that the required count was sneaking up. Suddenly I had to step 5200 steps, and on an on, until finally it hit 7200. OMG. So, meanwhile I'm trucking along every day, meeting my steps. Who wants to sync up and see all those lovely orange step lines (goal met for the day) with horrifying blue mixed in (goal not met). It happened a couple of times, don't judge. Have I left it until 10:00 p.m. to find that I still need 4000 steps? Yes I have. Again, don't judge. I did the steps.

So then to add insult to injury, the other thing this guy does is it blinks a red line at you if you sit on your butt too long. I'M WORKING. It doesn't care. So now I find myself leaping up and marching around so as to not piss it off with my inactivity.

So then it starts playing mind games. "Geez, you're doing all the steps. Would it kill you to give up some of the sugar and carbs?" So then you decide okay, I can give up sugar one or two days a week. Hey, I really like ice cream, kill me. So after it looks at you and rolls it's eyes, you figure, okay. Sugar just one day a week. I can do this. The Garmin is like, "Yeah, piggy, you can. It's not going to get you the thanks from a grateful nation, but it's a start." So that happens. Next it's carbs. I mean, you're doing the work, right?

Next thing I know, I'm not wasting any precious step-taking minutes. Waiting for water to boil on your scrap of dinner? WALK! Take the dog out a couple of extra times, it adds up. This thing is breathing down your neck, tracking every move you make. I have worn a track through my kitchen, living room, and family room waiting for stuff. By the way, books on tape are awesome.

I find myself a month later. I have more energy (who knew?). My dog is thinner. I'M thinner. We're saving a fortune on rocky road ice cream. My girls and husband are happy because I have less time to hassle them.

It's all this Garmin's fault.

When fitness bands started becoming popular about a year, I did a lot of research. There are many of them in the market now and I was looking for something very specific. I wanted a fitness band that had a display, tracked sleep, acted as a watch and was above all else comfortable. I found all of these things with the Garmin Vivofit. I've been a fan of Garmin for many, many years "” ever since I bought my first GPS. It's been a trusted brand and when I discovered they had a fitness band in the market, I was very excited. I knew that it would be built well and be easy to use. I was not disappointed.

Looking at the basics of the Garmin Vivofit, it's a stylish, lightweight fitness band that gives users the ability to turn everyday activities in to goals and good fitness habits. The activity tracker always stays on and because of Vivofit's year-long battery life (two replaceable CR1632 coin cells), it can always stay on your wrist. It's got a water rating of 5ATM, which means you can safely wear it in the shower and swim with it up to 50 meters in depth. This is something that many of Vivofit's competitors can't promise. The display is always on and has several view options (time, date, step counter, steps left to goal, distance, and calories burned). It's easy to read and shuffle through the different options.

While the Vivofit does not have a vibration alert like some of tis competitors do, it does have a Move Bar on the top of the display that appears after an hour of inactivity. And possibly one of the most impressive features of the Garmin Vivofit is the Autogoal. Vivofit learns your routine and patterns and begins modifying your daily fitness goal based off of your behaviors.
Now that I've discussed the specs of the Vivofit, I'd like to introduce you to why I love it. First of all, it's comfortable. The soft rubber band doesn't pinch like traditional watch bands to and it's flexible enough that when I'm typing on a keyboard, I don't even notice that I'm wearing it. Another thing that I love about the Vivofit is that those comfortable bands can be exchanged for other colors. The Vivofit comes with one band in the box, but users have the option of using replacement bands of varying colors. The "˜brain' of the Vivofit can easily be removed from any Vivofit band and swapped out.

Vivofit also comes equipped with a sleep tracker, which is something I was very interested in. Over the past several years, my sleep schedule has been thrown off of "˜normal' for a variety of reasons. I was interested to see what my patterns were like and how long I was sleeping. The findings were fascinating. I found that even though I average about 4-5 hours of sleep a night, my sleep is not exactly sound. Vivofit shows my movements while I sleep. And at times, my movement is so frequent that my sleep cannot be sound.

Another feature that I've been curious about is how accurate the pedometer is. I've tested out a few fitness bands and some of them are so sensitive to movement that even simple arm movements count as steps. Within the first few hours of wearing the Vivofit, I discovered that might be the case with it, too. However, I found that over time, the pedometer evens out.

I was concerned about was the ease of syncing between my device and my iPhone. As it turns out, it was probably the easiest Bluetooth syncing I've ever experienced. To sync, you press and hold the main button until the display shows "˜sync'. As long as you have your Garmin Connect app running on your mobile device, the two will connect and your information will sync flawlessly. I've not had any connection issues for the month I've been using the Vivofit. It usually only takes about 15-20 seconds to sync. Besides the ease of syncing, the Garmin Connect app displays the most vital information from your Vivofit and organizes it so that it can be reviewed easily. The app is comprehensive and allows for editing. There have been several times that I've forgotten to put my Vivofit into sleep mode and I discovered that in the app, you can define your sleep times even if you didn't put your Vivofit into Sleep mode and the movement data will sync up with those times.
Has Vivofit changed my fitness behaviors? In some ways, yes. I have become much more aware of certain health factors that might be "˜red' flags and have discovered several ways to improve my daily habits. I do find myself moving around more throughout the day.
I believe that the Vivofit by Garmin is the best value on the market for fitness bands. In addition to all its other charms, Vivofit is compatible with HealthKit from Apple and will sync data with MyFitnessPal.

"This product was received at a free or discounted price in exchange for my review. I am a technology journalist and pride myself on providing fair and honest reviews. Please feel free to ask any questions you might have."

BE WARNED! It doesn't matter how much anyone loves this watch because it has a DEFECTIVE wrist strap. Mine fell off a number of times at home so I was able to find it. Then it fell off while outside and it is GONE--money down the drain! At this price it would seem Garmin could easily put on an effective clasp or "belt" to prevent loss. Garmin customers shouldn't have to fork out more money to a third party for a belt to save their watch from falling off and have it look like a kid's watch!

Garmin should be replacing lost fitness bands under their "defective" section of their product service warrantee. Pay attention to the reviewers here who have said the same about the defective wrist strap.

Garmin vivofit the best on the market right now.

I have had a fitbit flex since March. I got the vivofit in July, not from Amazon. The fitbit is a good device but the vivofit is superior in almost every way. I give it a 5 but it is not perfect, but it is the best on the market.

The BAND. The band is really no different than the fitbit, it may be perhaps better or at least feels better. It's comfortable just like the fitbit. But it has the same design flaw as the fitbit does, maybe not a flaw but a design decision. It can get snagged on things and easily rip open. I have, on more than one occasion, looked at my wrist and noticed my fitbit was gone. Luckily I found it every time. The garmin has the same issue. What may cause some people who switched from fitbit to garmin more angst is a simple change that garmin made over the fitbit. The band clasps are opposite directions. Imagine swinging your arm forwards past your leg, on the garmin this motion could catch the clasp and un-clasp it where it wouldn't on the fitbit. Swinging your arm back past your leg could un-clasp the fitbit but not the garmin. All assuming you are wearing them both on your left hand. As most have said, get a bitbelt, tape, or something to back up the clasp. Garmin, include a bitbelt in the package and you are golden. Also I am one of those people with sensitive skin, I can't wear most watches because they give me a rash. I have had no problems with this band or any rash.

USE. It's a pedometer. It counts steps, not stairs which is a bummer. I never really believe the calories these devices count, but it does that also. I like the little red bar that reminds you to get up. If you sit behind a desk it is a nice feature that will remind you that you have been sitting for a long time. Didn't think I would care about that feature, but I have come to like it. It tracks sleep, does it just like fitbit. Neat feature, I use it just to see how much sleep I get in a week.

The DISPLAY. I love the display. I love having the physical button and not just tapping it. Also I think many people have missed the point of not backlighting the device. I am personally glad it's not backlit. When you go to sleep that last thing you want is something lighting up your wrist. I guess if they offered a button where you could turn on a backlit that would be the best of both worlds, but I don't miss a backlit at all and I am glad it is not backlit, give me battery life instead. Also, having a clock and date is awesome. This feature seems simple but it's great.
I didn't think I would care about the time, but honestly, this is one of my favorite features.

The BATTERY. I love never charging it. This is such a plus and is so overlooked by most reviewers. I hated charging the fitbit every 5 days. It would often give me a low battery at the worst times, travel, etc. It's not a big deal to some, but I just didn't want to have to worry about charging another device. This is a huge advantage over the other devices, huge.

ACCESSORIES. HR capability. I haven't used it yet because I use HR with my edge 800 for biking mainly but I plan to sync my HR strap and test it out on a hike this weekend.

The SOFTWARE. Fitbit is better, for now. Seems like garmin as made some improvements but I think fitbit is a bit cleaner and easier. But I have no problems with the new Garmin modern site. Syncing was much easier with the fitbit. They just did a better job with the sync process. Not that Garmin is difficult, just not as good. For example you have to press sync on the device itself. Just a step that the fitbit doesn't have. I like recording my weight everyday into garmin/fitbit sites and tracking it. Just being aware of the weight has helped me lose a few pounds

BIKING. This is the main reason I was looking for something else besides fitbit. Using the fitbit while biking, it would randomly go into sleep mode, and it would add a ridiculous amount of steps. I tested this on 7/10 wearing both devices. I rode 12 miles and the fitbit added 8000 steps and the garmin added 900. The fitbit went to sleep more than 10 times. I guess the vibration of biking causes the fitbit to sense taps which put it into sleep mode. I have had the fitbit go into sleep while driving also. Maybe I wore device too loose.

ACCURACY. I tested it against my edge 800 gps and it is pretty good if you are walking. I think both the fitbit and garmin are fairly accurate, or at least similarly accurate. But, none of these devices are very accurate. Expect ¼ mile accuracy over 8 miles.

WHATS MISSING. Not having climbing steps. This is the only feature I would really like. If they would have had this it would have been the perfect device on the market right now. Its wider than a fitbit and a little taller. I wish it were a little thinner, but that is just a wish list because I have no problems with the thickness as it is.

SUMMARY. Best on the market but get the bitbelt rubber clasp, use electrical tape, or something as a backup. If you choose the fitbit, do something to secure that band also.

WHY get this or any fitness device. If you want something to track your weight just giving you a better understanding of your habits, it's a good idea. For me, I wanted to track sleep and make sure I was getting enough walking in during the day. I sit behind a desk all day and easily lose track of time, so I needed a reminder to get up.

UPDATE 8/11/14
I still love the device. I have been using the bit belt to secured the band, and that has worked. Although every time I lift my 2 year old she knocks the clasp lose. I think they need 3 changes to make this device perfect.

A standby mode. I would love to be able to select standby mode when I am biking so it doesn't count steps. It counts much less than the fitbit, but it still adds steps when biking

Stairs. I would love to know stair counts

A better locking band. I want a band that is bullet proof. I love the comfort of this band, just design a more secure clasp.

Make no mistake, I LOVED my Garmin Vivofit. I bought it to replace my Fitbit Flex and was delighted to find that it matched the Fitbit feature for feature in every way, and surpassed it in so many others - no need to charge the battery few days, no need to sync to see your data - it's all right there on your wrist, and it has a built-in watch. Did I say I LOVED (past tense) my Garmin Vivofit? I was wearing the Vivofit when I left the house this morning and it was no longer on my wrist when I returned! I had it for all of one day and now it's just gone. I miss it, but I can't afford to buy another knowing that the wrist band clasp is so flimsy. I had read the reviews that warned of this, but I assumed that since I'd never had a problem with the Fitbit clasp, that it would be fine. Do NOT buy the Vivofit without also buying something to reinforce the clasp. Garmin, you really should address this. It's such a great device otherwise!