I've only had my Vivoactive 3 for 3 weeks, though I'm wishing I bought it earlier.
Being my first smart watch, it's hard to compare, though I'm enjoying the look of it, functionality (particularly the sleep tracking) and all for a great price on sale.

The only issue I've had is that it disconnects from my Garmin App about once every day or two, which I need to shut down and restart both phone and watch to get them re-connected. I charge every 4-5 days, once it gets below 20% - as I'd hate for it to go flat during the day.

Altogether a great watch and it can be worn from the beach to work without a worry.

I was given this as a gift. Although this watch isn't all bells and whistles like a Samsung or Apple watch, this is an active watch and is built like one. I have had a Samsung watch but I went back to the Garmin. I got the one with a white band and rose gold face. Its simple classy and looks great and the watch is really light on the wrist. I had a Samsung watch and the Garmin is so much lighter I prefer it.
The Good: Great for tracking activities. GPS is pretty ok ,fairly accurate. Battery life is awesome. I can do about 3-4 days with my watch...

I purchased vivoactive 3 last year. Battery life has been fine until Garmin app went down for maintenance for over a week. Since then I have to charge my battery twice a day. It is not reading my sleep patterns either they have been really wired since battery trouble. I like the watch but it is really frustrating me charging it so frequently. I have tried all the trouble shooting suggestions but to no avail.

The watch band keeper broke after 14 months - $5 to replace - fair enough - $10 postage and no pick up option! Prefer genuine parts but no wonder people end up buying copies.

never had a bad experience, all features work well and reliable. had for over 2 years, found garmin also very helpful, easy to connect to phone and costume watch faces and Bluetooth is good

I have using my vivoactive3 since 2017 and it never presents problems. Very good watch. But on February 2020 the battery life became very short, and i need to charge it twice a day. I told with support three times but the problem does not solved. Support suggested me send the watch to PROPARTS so change the watch, but i have no guarantee that this will be free of financial costs. Does anybody have a same problem?

This does most of the simple stuff well, the screen is and easy to use and navigate. My issues:
1. The screen is very sensitive. My widgets reorder/ delete in most showers!
2. The GPS is hopeless in very built up areas. eg. I work in the city and it takes about 1km of running (away from the buildings), before it can find me.
3. Updates during the day can clear all that day's data. I had a massive 35k step day once and it updated and deleted it all at dinner time, giving me 500 steps for the day!
4. The HR is usually pretty accurate, except whe...

Haven't worn a watch in 10 years, but was after a GPS fitness tracker. Looks like a watch, week long battery (if lazy), and basic smarts & notifications, including tap-&-pay. No issue with build quality, I work with chainsaws and other machinery and was concerned of damage, nearly a year on not a scratch! Despite it's water resistant rating, I don't shower with it on, it's usually dusty and dirty under the band after work, plus it allows me to charge it.

This could be a great watch. Sadly, charging it TWICE A DAY made it merely an annoyance. I spent my time tweaking settings, to no avail. And with every firmware update the settings became worse.

There are some glitches like the watch hangs when connecting it to USB cable, solved by a reboot, but the battery life is the worst concern.

I have recently started running again and this watch is amazing!!! The GPS is always correct and the vibrations to let you know when you start running and to start your cool down are quite strong!
I love how it is water proof I never take it off.
The battery life is around 4-5 days for me but that is getting notifications all the time!
Amazing watch would highly recommend