Garmin vivoactive 3 in Lidl €160

OmegaGene · 25-05-2020 6:46pm #1

Garmin Vivoactive 3 Smartwatch https://www.lidl.ie/p/p42826?productId=42826&countryCode=IE

FFVII · 25-05-2020 9:17pm

Probably 2 per store

25-05-2020 10:01pm

It's also €170 in Curry's. It's quite old at this stage, so regularly on sale on Amazon etc.

Mantis Toboggan · 25-05-2020 10:03pm

Good watch, got it for 180e on Amazon 2 years ago.

26-05-2020 8:58am

The music version of this is currently on Amazon for £175. Worth the bit extra for the ability to listen to music while running/exercising without needing your phone.

Garmin vivoactive 3 Music - GPS Smartwatch with Music Storage and Playback - Black https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CR8NBQB/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_i_GRmZEbP272542

theoneeyedman · 26-05-2020 9:01am

Basil3 wrote: »

The music version of this is currently on Amazon for £175. Worth the bit extra for the ability to listen to music while running/exercising without needing your phone.

Garmin vivoactive 3 Music - GPS Smartwatch with Music Storage and Playback - Black https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CR8NBQB/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_i_GRmZEbP272542

I use this, and would agree. Can download Spotify playlists and I think Deezer and Google music too (not 100 % on the Google), or MP3.

Works well.

mad m · 26-05-2020 9:12am

Just Incase this watch won’t do open water.

Kevhog1988 · 26-05-2020 9:19am

mad m wrote: »

Just Incase this watch won’t do open water.

Ive used mine in open water?

Mantis Toboggan · 26-05-2020 9:22am

You can use it in water but stay away from sea water.

26-05-2020 9:51am

OmegaGene wrote: »

i have the garmin 4 on the way so im hoping it i good, it is currently with fastway so who know when that will turn up lol

How much did you pay? I got the original Vivoactive for £99, been waiting for the 4 to drop down closer to £200. Was considering the Venu, but think I'm happy enough with the VA4.

budhabob · 26-05-2020 9:58am

OmegaGene wrote: »

i have the garmin 4 on the way so im hoping it i good, it is currently with fastway so who know when that will turn up lol

Vivoactive 4? its a great watch....so much so the wife just ordered the 4s.

budhabob · 26-05-2020 10:12am

Mantis Toboggan wrote: »

You can use it in water but stay away from sea water.

Ive used both the VA3 and VA4 in salt water, its perfectly fine. But after any swim i rinse thoroughly afterwards.

sibersha · 26-05-2020 10:26am

This was on sale on Garmin's official site recently for £110, the Vivoactive 4s was £179

garfie1d · 26-05-2020 10:35am

theoneeyedman wrote: »

I use this, and would agree. Can download Spotify playlists and I think Deezer and Google music too (not 100 % on the Google), or MP3.

Works well.

Picked the Vivoactive 3 music up a year ago for £175 on Amazon, have to say the convenience of having music without a phone is worth the little bit extra, you can also add Revolut to Garmin pay so no need to carry anything

Roberto_gas · 26-05-2020 10:42am

Lads which is the best model to replace fitbit versa ? Had enough with fitbit and planning to move away to garmin or apple

ClaptonBay · 26-05-2020 11:08am

Roberto_gas wrote: »

Lads which is the best model to replace fitbit versa ? Had enough with fitbit and planning to move away to garmin or apple

I would go for the vivoactive 4 if you can. I have the 3 music and find it good as a fitness tracker. Wouldnt be relying on it though as a smartwatch fetures are a bit limited, for me the main use is for tracking fitness which i find it good at and good battery life. Also its sleek looking.

slimshady007 · 26-05-2020 1:18pm

The VA3 music version is €210 in Argos. It's cheaper than the non music version for some reason.

The Forerunner 645 music version is also down to €280 (from €430) on Argos. Has more features than the VA3 and a bit slicker looking.

26-05-2020 1:40pm

slimshady007 wrote: »

The VA3 music version is €210 in Argos. It's cheaper than the non music version for some reason.

The Forerunner 645 music version is also down to €280 (from €430) on Argos. Has more features than the VA3 and a bit slicker looking.

The 645 is only really for runners, IMO. It has a lot of running specific features, but if you're going to spend that kind of money, you're better to go for the VA4 which has a lot more general fitness features, and is touchscreen.

awhir · 26-05-2020 7:29pm

slimshady007 wrote: »

The VA3 music version is €210 in Argos. It's cheaper than the non music version for some reason.

The Forerunner 645 music version is also down to €280 (from €430) on Argos. Has more features than the VA3 and a bit slicker looking.

it's only 224 gbp on the argos uk website. Conversion rate is a bloody ripoff

webpal · 26-05-2020 8:05pm

I got mine on argos UK for £149 about a year ago. Google music wont work on it (or Amazon music in this country)

WezzyB · 26-05-2020 8:11pm

webpal wrote: »

I got mine on argos UK for £149 about a year ago. Google music wont work on it (or Amazon music in this country)

Have Amazon music installed on mine, VA3M, handy if you want to use some playlists from the free version that comes with Amazon prime.

webpal · 26-05-2020 8:39pm

WezzyB wrote: »

Have Amazon music installed on mine, VA3M, handy if you want to use some playlists from the free version that comes with Amazon prime.

I stand corrected, good to know

Phat Cat · 26-05-2020 10:47pm

I'm in the market for a smart watch and was initially weighing up between the Forerunner 45 and 235 but this seems like a decent price. I'm looking for something under 200e but I'm not sure which to go for now, any suggestions?

Gavlor · 26-05-2020 10:54pm

Phat Cat wrote: »

I'm in the market for a smart watch and was initially weighing up between the Forerunner 45 and 235 but this seems like a decent price. I'm looking for something under 200e but I'm not sure which to go for now, any suggestions?

If it’s mainly for running/biking You won’t go wrong with this

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/s?q=garmin+forerunner+735xt+gps+watch+hrm+bundle

It’s worth the extra €30 quid

Phat Cat · 26-05-2020 11:01pm

Gavlor wrote: »

If it’s mainly for running/biking You won’t go wrong with this

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/s?q=garmin+forerunner+735xt+gps+watch+hrm+bundle

It’s worth the extra €30 quid

It's mainly for running and gym workouts. That looks very nice though, thanks!

sibersha · 27-05-2020 8:04am

OmegaGene wrote: »

you could have mentioned it when it was on sale

I just searched Garmin on HotUKDeals to see if there was anything better than the OP and seen they were recently expired deals

Anjunadeep · 27-05-2020 8:11am

I wouldnt recommend the VA3
I had the Music version and found it very cheap and unreliable.. Bluetooth issues, GPS issues, Spotify app is very unstable.

DuckSlice · 27-05-2020 8:40am

Anjunadeep wrote: »

I wouldnt recommend the VA3
I had the Music version and found it very cheap and unreliable.. Bluetooth issues, GPS issues, Spotify app is very unstable.

What would you recommend?

Mantis Toboggan · 27-05-2020 8:44am

Anjunadeep wrote: »

I wouldnt recommend the VA3
I had the Music version and found it very cheap and unreliable.. Bluetooth issues, GPS issues, Spotify app is very unstable.

Sounds like you might have had a dud. Mine has been perfect.

Anjunadeep · 27-05-2020 8:58am

etxp wrote: »

What would you recommend?

I dont have a recommendation..
Currently looking into the Samsung range.

alexander11 · 27-05-2020 12:17pm

Hi. I'm in the market for a smartwatch around the 200 mark. I'm looking for GPS mainly, and the battery to last a while. Not too fused about the music functionality but that indeed would be a nice extra. It would also have to have a good sync system with strava. I was looking at Coros Pace which is about 200 euro, but not so sure about it as its quite a new brand. I'm mostly cycling lately, but i'm planning to do 50% cycling and 50% running. Does anyone have any suggestions ? At the moment I'm using a fitbit versa lite, and I'm really not a big fan of the fitbits.

Atlas_IRL · 27-05-2020 12:21pm

I have the vivoactive 3 music and it uploads automatically to strava after every use. The garmin app is quite good as well.

rizzee · 27-05-2020 12:25pm

alexander11 wrote: »

Hi. I'm in the market for a smartwatch around the 200 mark. I'm looking for GPS mainly, and the battery to last a while. Not too fused about the music functionality but that indeed would be a nice extra. It would also have to have a good sync system with strava. I was looking at Coros Pace which is about 200 euro, but not so sure about it as its quite a new brand. I'm mostly cycling lately, but i'm planning to do 50% cycling and 50% running. Does anyone have any suggestions ? At the moment I'm using a fitbit versa lite, and I'm really not a big fan of the fitbits.

I use a Forerunner 45 myself for running and cycling. As above said, the Garmin app is great and the syncing to Strava straight away is also a handy feature. I would highly recommend it. I get approx 1-week battery (only have GPS on during runs 5-6 days a week). I don't bother with notifications etc.

alexander11 · 27-05-2020 12:32pm

I was looking at both of those and one thing that would worry me a bit about the vivoactive 3/3 music is that it's a bit outdated.
I haven't really looked into the Forerunner 45. That looks like a nice kit.
Recently I was also looking at garmin forerunner 735xt, but same as vivoactive 3/3music it seems a bit older technology and i'm just afraid that in a year it will lose support/updates etc.

yoshimitsu · 27-05-2020 1:31pm

alexander11 wrote: »

I was looking at both of those and one thing that would worry me a bit about the vivoactive 3/3 music is that it's a bit outdated.
I haven't really looked into the Forerunner 45. That looks like a nice kit.
Recently I was also looking at garmin forerunner 735xt, but same as vivoactive 3/3music it seems a bit older technology and i'm just afraid that in a year it will lose support/updates etc.

I wouldnt worry too much about Garmin dropping support. I bought my first Garmin in 2008 (forerunner 305 which had been out for some time already) and it still connects to the garmin platform on my PC and uploads my data to strava, mapmyfitness, etc.

except for the watch taking 5+ min to find all satellites (longer if it's cloudy) and the battery lasting for a 45min max it still works pretty well. I keep it as a backup and just as pretty amazing piece of vintage tech (it was $400 USD when I bought it and quite unique in functionality)

FFVII · 27-05-2020 3:02pm

Fad watches.

Just go and run.

circadian · 27-05-2020 3:15pm

I have a Garmin Vivosport and it's a grand wee device, waterproof too. What it doesn't allow me to do is sync custom workouts to the watch, things like weights, pull ups etc. This was something that was really helpful when I had the Microsoft band, so if programming custom workouts is a requirement make sure the watch is compatible with that function.

Seve OB · 27-05-2020 3:20pm

i have the vivoactive 3
its a good multifunction fitness tracker
i use it for golf, running, cycling, swimming and day to day wear.
BUT
my recommendation is if you want a watch for a specific purposes, get a specific watch.
like this is grand for running, but my old forerunner 410 is much better. my garmin approach is much better for golf and my edge is much better for cycling.

if you just want a decent fitness tracker, then you won't go to far wrong with this

bonkers · 27-05-2020 3:21pm

Got the garmin 4s for 179£ on garmin.co.uk then 7 euro to parcel motel it. Was on offer three weeks back. Avoid the Irish site. I saved 75e that way

27-05-2020 4:46pm

bonkers wrote: »

Got the garmin 4s for 179£ on garmin.co.uk then 7 euro to parcel motel it. Was on offer three weeks back. Avoid the Irish site. I saved 75e that way

Seems a lot easier to find deals on the 4s than the 4.

FFVII · 27-05-2020 7:53pm

OmegaGene wrote: »

That’s really helpful to the thread
Jog on lol

You'll learn eventually.

ClaptonBay · 27-05-2020 8:55pm

FFVII wrote: »

Fad watches.

Just go and run.

Is that you David Goggins? Welcome to boards.
Should I run in my bare feet aswell?

but1er · 27-05-2020 9:23pm

Lads what's the difference vivoactive 3 and forerunner 45 or 45s

27-05-2020 9:49pm

but1er wrote: »

Lads what's the difference vivoactive 3 and forerunner 45 or 45s

I'm sure there's comparison websites out there, but the simple answer is that the Forerunners are primarily running devices, whereas Vivoactive are geared more towards general fitness/smart features. Still a more than decent running watch, though.

nc6000 · 28-05-2020 8:29am

I have been using one of these for a few months now and think €160 is a good price. Some of the measurements like sleep and stress are very good and it counts steps much more accurately than the likes of Google Fit on your phone. The app works fine and never had any issues with it.

The only gotcha I can think of is it doesn't warn you on the device itself or in the app if the battery is running low - you need to check the battery level on the device by going into one of the menus. Ironically if you configure it to receive message notifications etc from your phone you will get an alert on your Vivoactive if your phone battery is low but not when it's own battery is.

Gavlor · 28-05-2020 8:39am

but1er wrote: »

Lads what's the difference vivoactive 3 and forerunner 45 or 45s

Check it on DCRainmaker

Mantis Toboggan · 28-05-2020 8:39am

nc6000 wrote: »

I have been using one of these for a few months now and think €160 is a good price. Some of the measurements like sleep and stress are very good and it counts steps much more accurately than the likes of Google Fit on your phone. The app works fine and never had any issues with it.

The only gotcha I can think of is it doesn't warn you on the device itself or in the app if the battery is running low - you need to check the battery level on the device by going into one of the menus. Ironically if you configure it to receive message notifications etc from your phone you will get an alert on your Vivoactive if your phone battery is low but not when it's own battery is.

Depends on the watch face you're using, most watch faces have the battery percentage like No Frills.

Seve OB · 28-05-2020 9:15am

nc6000 wrote: »

I have been using one of these for a few months now and think €160 is a good price. Some of the measurements like sleep and stress are very good and it counts steps much more accurately than the likes of Google Fit on your phone. The app works fine and never had any issues with it.

The only gotcha I can think of is it doesn't warn you on the device itself or in the app if the battery is running low - you need to check the battery level on the device by going into one of the menus. Ironically if you configure it to receive message notifications etc from your phone you will get an alert on your Vivoactive if your phone battery is low but not when it's own battery is.

yes it does

nc6000 · 28-05-2020 12:03pm

Seve OB wrote: »

yes it does

Where in the Garmin app can you see the battery details or warnings? I'm going to test this out by letting it run down and see what happens.

Seve OB · 28-05-2020 12:15pm

nc6000 wrote: »

Where in the Garmin app can you see the battery details or warnings? I'm going to test this out by letting it run down and see what happens.

i dont use the app really as i dont use a smart phone for day to day use.

but my watch buzzes to let me know the battery is low

Seve OB · 28-05-2020 5:42pm

Seve OB wrote: »

i dont use the app really as i dont use a smart phone for day to day use.

but my watch buzzes to let me know the battery is low

Yep, mine just buzzed there a while ago.

Garmin vivoactive 3 in Lidl €160

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