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Garmin Vivofit Jr 3

Garmin Vivofit Jr 3

 VerifiedMPN: 010-02441-23
Garmin Vivofit Jr 3
1.7

21 reviews

Positive vs Negative
4%19%77%
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Build Quality
1.9
Value for Money
1.9
Ease of Use
3.8
Battery Life
4.2
21 reviews
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Edwina
EdwinaVIC
  Verified

It it so dimly lit that you can't see it at night or in low light. So pointless unless you're in full sunlight and hold it at the correct angle. The band is fine. Just doesn't function well as a watch since you struggle to see the screen Show details

Ask the reviewer
Mark Lyell
Mark LyellNSW15 posts
  Verified

I wish I read the reviews before buying to see that this is a low quality watch. The screen is so dark that you have to be sure to be in a bright space to see the display. The realization is that the display brightness is low to ensure the battery lasts for at least a year as the specs state. Had I seen this watch demo'd in store I would not have… Read more

bought it. Of course on the Garmin site and elsewhere, the images of the watch display are bright. For this deception they have a get out of jail free card because when you press the side button for a few secs then the display brightness increases but only for 5 seconds and not that much brighter. So disappointed as I have other Garmin watches which are great. Will see if I can get a refund but this deception has put me off the brand.

PaulW
PaulWVIC5 posts
 

Dull Screen. Unusable – Dull screen. Unusable. These guys should be sued for selling such a rubbish product that receives the same complaints from so many. Show details

Trent Di
Trent Di2 posts
 

Falls out too easily – Screen falls out of band - we have lost it twice already! Really wonder what the design rationale is behind this. The watch strap has been around for decades, and works perfectly well.

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Renee K.
Renee K.
 

Not value for money – Have purchased a Garmin vivofit 3 before but have found this model to have the dullest screen, almost to the point on not being visible! I should’ve done my research! The overall use and of the product I like, I think for the price tag the screen should be better quality. Show details

belvedere
belvedereWestern Australia3 posts
 
Build Quality
Value for Money
Ease of Use
Battery Life

Too many cons – Dull screen, watch band splits and then device comes out of band easily and gets lost, once battery has been replaced once the waterproof seal becomes broken and it's not longer waterproof. If the watch was rechargeable, screen brighter and didn't fall out of the strap, it would be quite good. The kids enjoyed it. Show details

Nty
Nty3 posts
 

Too easy for screen to fall out of band – Product itself is enjoyable although like others have stated the actual watch component isn't attached to band and easily pops out. This is exacerbated by how quickly the silicone band deteriorates. End result is a lost watch within 12 months of purchase.

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Andrew Nguyen
Andrew NguyenWA136 posts
  Verified

Few designs flaw – I got this watch via Telstra reward plus and $35 payment. Very easy to set up with my iPhone, my 8 years old love the steps count and daily chores. Have not seen this much motivation for a long times. She takes it every where with her, so far so good with pool activities and showering. The band is a bit stiff and the colour code is weird Pink… Read more

and Yellow. Let see if the battery last one year. She did complaint how dull the screen look and she would like to increase the brightness. For now it is ok but I personally would not get it if I were buying it outright, considering the bad reviews about the band.

Livesarah
Livesarah15 posts
 
Value for Money
Ease of Use
Battery Life

Be prepared to spend an extra $55 on a band within 12 months – My 8yo daughter has really enjoyed using this watch, especially with the ability to set daily tasks/goals and win ‘gold’. Its functionality is fine, the battery died within about 11 months, which is pretty normal. The battery was easy to change. Then my daughter pointed out a whole lot of cracks in the band where the holes are. It looks like the… Read more

band could break at any minute. So off I go to the online Garmin store and purchase a watch band that costs about 1/3 the original price of the watch! Plus $10 postage. So before the watch hits its first birthday, the total I’ve paid for it is $194 (plus the cost of an extra battery). It doesn’t seem terribly cost effective to pay $55 every year for a new band.

Catherine Wilson
Catherine WilsonNSW
 

Terrible - wish I had not purchase – The back light for the screen is dreadful and my daughter can hardly read the screen and it is NOT adjustable. Honestly not good! Show details

Sarah
SarahVIC2 posts
 
Build Quality
Ease of Use
Battery Life

Great concept but execution is terrible – I bought my son and daughter each a watch for Christmas last year. A few months after using my daughters watch face started to pop out. After 8 months my sons band snapped at the end. Then his watch face popped out and was lost. We were unable to find it and my son is devastated. A great watch but the design flaw makes this not fit for purpose.… Read more

Also annoyed that it was not clearly noted that the watch face could be removed. If I have known I would not have purchased this watch. Very disappointing given the price point.

Sarah
Sarah   

By way of update we contacted Garmin after this post and explained the situation and they provided… Read more

Jfg
JfgSouth Australia
 
Build Quality
Value for Money
Ease of Use
Battery Life

Great until its not – Bought for my son (9) we love the rewards the coins alarms he loved pushing his steps and seeing his sleep. A few months in his band was breaking splits all over it and his watch face would fall out so bought a garmin band replacment for the same thing to happen. He lost the watch many times but lucky we would find it because he loves it but… Read more

about 2 weeks ago it fell out again and now its gone for good.

This watch would be amazing with a few changes * brighter screen * a find my tracker added to the app for when it falls out the band *a solid band so it doesnt fall out or not be rubber that just breaks.

Its dissapointing to spend big bucks on somthing that kids can loose so easy and my son was never rough or silly with his

Michael
Michael
 

Disappointed – I love Garmin devices including the Vivofit jr3 we bought for my daughter until it fell out of the band within a month of purchasing it. Now 3 months old and have had 4 occasions it has fallen out and spent hours trying to find the module. Show details

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Sarah-Jane C.
Sarah-Jane C.QLD
  Verified

Good watch but kept falling out and now lost – We brought this for our child for Xmas. The watch fell out from the band the first time about 3 months after the purchase and we managed to find it. Today it fell out at school and it is now lost. I am very disappointed given the cost of the watch. We have another child with one purchased 8 months ago and this issue never happened. I phoned the… Read more

shop we purchased from and they said they do not replace lost goods. They never considered that it could be an issue with the watch or band.

TJ Strydom
TJ StrydomQLD
  Fair Incentive

Great Watch, but keeps on falling out of the Band – We bought this for our child for her birthday, great in the beginning till it started to fall out of the band, this happens 5/6 times a day. This is a great watch just wish they can get n band that actually works. Show details

Shellby
ShellbyNSW44 posts
  Verified

Nice watch for my 8yo and good for routines – I purchased this watch for my son for Christmas as he wanted a watch for chirstmas and as I have a Garmin already I thought this would be a good way to go. I found it easy to setup and connect to my phone as well as add my husband to his family account to give rewards and setup goals. My only downside with the connecting is for it to sync to the… Read more

app my son needs to push and hold in his button which he finds a little difficult as he does have some gross motor skill issues. I wish it had the same feature as my watch in which you can click on your app and it syncs with your watch, also mean I wouldn't need to remind him to sync.

He really enjoys the routine setup with the watch. My son is autistic and has ADHD so finds routines calming. I have been able to setup alarms throughout the day with what they are for - so school morning would be Eat Breakfast, Take Meds, Get Dressed, Make Bed, Brush Teeth, Do homework, Pack School Bag, Put on Shoes, Leave for School. Each one has a time and he just follows it throughout. Much easier than having routine charts up everywhere in the house and him having to keep coming back to it. I have it setup for different days and all through the day.

I like the rewards chart as well. During the day I can tick off his goals and activities and he gets to see his coins increase. Not only does he enjoy being rewarded with coins he has been learning how to save etc to get different things for different amount - so he will wait and save his coins to get something worth a heap versus easy rewards he can save up for in a day or 2. Again it also means I don't need to have rewards charts all around my house either.

As my son suffers with sleeping, I have found the sleep monitor has been helpful for us to pay attention to how he is sleeping and what nights he has trouble getting to sleep meaning next day we can look out for more melt downs or look into what changes we did that evening that may have affected his sleep routine.

He likes the watch and loves that he can make changes with the screen characters and what he sees on the screen. He likes being able to see what coins he has at anytime weather at home or school and loves having the routine.

Negatives I have found was like I said not being able to just sync via the app. Also the watch doesn't have a backlight display so at night and in the dark he can not read his watch at all which is a bit annoying and to be honest I was shocked a watch today not having a backlight that I didn't pay attention for that feature. I find the strap holder is always falling towards the watch meaning he has heap strap hanging out the side of his watch which gets in his way as he has it on the smallest hole. He has also found sometimes it get really hot and it leaves a red mark on his wrist like a light burn. Seems to happen after it gets wet so we tend to take it off before swimming etc, has only happened a couple of times so not sure if its a him thing or the watch but since removing it before getting wet we haven't had anymore trouble.

Minh T.
Minh T.WA
 
Build Quality
Value for Money
Ease of Use
Battery Life

Watch popped out – We have had the vivofit jr 2 but after my daughter lost it (her fault) we upgraded to the vivofit jr 3. My daughter said it’s much better than the 2. Until it popped out on its own after about 3mths wear. Would replace it but it seems other people have had this issue so would seem like a waste of money. Show details

TIM B.
TIM B.QLD
 
Build Quality
Value for Money
Ease of Use
Battery Life

Could have been great but falls... short! – We had the jr2 prior to this and it eventually fell out of the band due to a split. The jr3 is worse as it falls out several times a day. We are on to our 2nd one as the 1st was lost after falling out. We have tried various glues, double sided tape and even hot glue to enlarge the watch but it still falls out. So the watch now just sits in a… Read more

draw unused as it causes to much drama and time waste hunting for the popped out face/watch.

Such a shame as it works well for our needs which was as an hourly drink water reminder for our boy.

I am surprised that Garmin allowed the design to pass testing as it is fundementaly flawed.

Helene
Helene6 posts
 

WHAT screen brightness?? – This watch is new today, and spent ages setting up with the app...the app on my smart phone I can see, as my phone has adjustable brightness (clever, huh?). The watch display? Different story. In advertising it shows a nice brightly lit display...this is NOT the case. My child & I thought it wasn't even turned on! You can press the button to light… Read more

it up a bit, but only stays on for about 3 seconds. Who wants to press that in every time you want to tell the time? But worse, when reading alarms, reminders, steps, & rewards...3 seconds is NOT enough. Apparently it's designed to work better outdoors than indoors, but I am not seeing the logic...frustrating kids so they ignore reminders? And this is a watch recommended for high functioning autistic kids. This has not got a chance for them, as they need an easy to read, clear display. App seems great, display on actual watch lets it down...read forums on Garmin! And now I read I should expect face to fall out? Oh. Dear. May be seeking a refund the display is so poor.

Sandee
Sandee4 posts
  Verified
Build Quality
Ease of Use
Battery Life

Ironman Garmin Vivofit Jr3 – I purchased this for my son for Christmas 2020. From christmas to feb it was great! He loves being able to challenge us in steps. In feb 2021 the watch face fell out, so we lost it. I purchased another one for the same thing to happen a few weeks later. For a kids watch i dont think the quality is good enough. Very disappointed as we have now… Read more

wasted over $300 on this watch in 3 months. Could have bought a much better quality garmin for that. Think twice if your buying this for a child.

Kylie M.
Kylie M.NSW
 

Actual watch face keeps falling out, all other functions are excellent – My kids got one each for Christmas 2020, My daughters watch face fell out within a month (could not find it), When I questioned Garmin on the design of the product I was told as it is a new design there is no feedback yet. I was offered 50% discount on a replacement which I accepted at the time - my daughter was absolutely devastated she had lost… Read more

the actual watch and only had the band. Then yesterday 4th March 2021 My son's watch face fell out of his watch while we were at the park (we could not find it). This was the 2nd time his had fallen out, we were lucky enough the first time to find it. Although I love the features and it is extremely motivating for my kids to see their activity and how many steps they have done. They (and me) love the chores and coins, they have little goals worth different amounts of coins they can work towards which is motivating them to do chores. My son is currently doing chores, saving coins, to redeem for a visit to the zoo. I feel with all these great features it is pointless when the watch face falls out so easily getting lost so the kids can no longer use it, although I can show them the app so they can see their coins are still there and can still be earnt, they are still quite upset and the motivation is gone. I have asked around and I am not the only one having this issue, I feel its a design fault with the Jr3.

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