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* I've had some problems with [[Footpod]]s on the VA3. I've found that the [[MilestonePod]] and the Adidas Speed Cell (both Bluetooth) work fine, but I've can't get the Garmin Ant+ footpod to pair, nor can I get [[Stryd]] to pair over either Bluetooth or Ant+. Strangely the Stryd [[Connect IQ]] app works fine (it doesn't require pairing.) The previous firmware had some problems, but 2.60 seems to be worse (or it's intermittent and I've been unlucky.) I've not had any issues with heart rate monitors such as the Garmin HRM, Suunto, or Polar H7. * The [[Stryd]] support is quite limited. You can get the Stryd estimate of running power through the [[Connect IQ]] app, even if the Footpod sensor issues discussed above could be resolved you have to be in treadmill mode (no GPS) to get pace/distance from a Footpod.
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Garmin Vivoactive 3 Notes}}
It's early in my testing, but I'd avoid purchasing the Vivoactive 3 at this point. I'm still testing the Vivoactive 3, and normally I wait until I've completed my evaluation before writing anything up. This time I thought I'd publish my ongoing thoughts for those that are interested, and it should morph over time into a full review. * I'm concerned that the VA3 might have the same hardware flaw that is causing so many issues for the Fenix 5 and Fenix 5S (but not the [[Garmin Fenix 5X]])). This is a problem with connecting to sensors, and because it's a hardware issue, it's unlikely to get fixed. ** I've had some problems with [[Footpod]]s on the VA3. I've found that the [[MilestonePod]] and the Adidas Speed Cell (both Bluetooth) work fine, but I've can't get the Garmin Ant+ footpod to pair, nor can I get [[Stryd]] to pair over either Bluetooth or Ant+. ** Strangely the Stryd [[Connect IQ]] app works fine (it doesn't require pairing.) ** I can't get the RunScribe V3 footpods to connect to their Connect IQ application, though currently RunScribe is still in what I'd consider Alpha test, so it might not be an issue with the VA3. However, I get the data field to work with the original Vivoactive, the Fenix 3, and the Fenix 5X. ** I've not had any issues with heart rate monitors such as the Garmin HRM, Suunto, or Polar H7. However, the location of a heart rate monitor positions it much closer to the watch, so distance might be an issue.** The previous firmware had some problems, but 2.60 seems to be worse (or it's intermittent and I've been unlucky.)
* I find the way that Garmin have intentionally crippled the VA3 to be rather mean spirited. They've gone beyond the typical limitations of not supporting all sensors and restricted the data that can be displayed while running. The first Vivoactive (and the Vivoactive HR) had some of this, with only a few screens of up to three fields, but this could be overcome by [[Connect IQ]] apps like "Single Field Run" that display lots of data by taking up the whole screen as a single field display (hence the name.) Garmin have made it far harder to use this type of data field by forcing all screens to have the same number of data fields. I think that's just nasty and petty.
* I'm not a big fan of touchscreens as they're tricky to use while running and even harder with gloves. Unlike the original Vivoactive which had four buttons and a touchscreen, the VA3 only has the single button. This makes the user interface far more challenging and complex. The touchscreen is nicely responsive, though sometimes it frequently does its own thing. It's like it detects taps or swipes when there are none. * You record laps by double tapping the display, something that's cumbersome and easy to get wrong.
* The display is lovely, and it's really big given the form factor of the VA3. The display is the same as the [[Garmin Fenix 5X]], but the watch itself is about half the volume. This move towards smaller bezels is something that's occurring on TVs, phones, laptops, and it's good to see it happening in watches.
* The battery life is worse than claimed. I got only 10 hours under optimal conditions, rather than 13 hours claimed. This is a little better than the previous firmware where I got only 8 hours, and it's unusual to see a company claiming longer than actually provided these days.
* It will take me a few weeks to gather enough data to evaluate [[GPS Accuracy]], but initial results suggest it will be similar to the previous [[Garmin Vivoactive]] and [[Garmin Vivoactive HR]], which is pretty poor.
* I've not gathered enough data to understand the accuracy of the [[Optical Heart Rate Monitoring]], but superficially it seems no better than I'd expect.
* I've had some odd issues syncing the VA3, both via a PC and via iOS. This might be intermittent issues with the Garmin servers, but I'm not seeing any similar issues with the various other Garmin devices I'm syncing over a similar period.
(I'm testing with Firmware 2.60, and future updates may resolve some of the issues.)
=Comparison Table=
{{:Best Running Watch-table}}