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Garmin Vivoactive 6: One minute review

The Garmin Vivoactive 6 is a great fitness watch, which isn’t something I was necessarily expecting from Garmin’s slimmer, more budget-friendly offering. It’s stuffed with features such as PacePro, Garmin’s virtual pacing system for runners, which generally belong on more expensive, more specialist watches like Garmin’s Forerunner series.

Still, the Vivoactive series is a lifestyle watch for active people. It shares a lot of DNA with Garmin’s other lifestyle watch, the Venu 4, but it’s cheaper and made from less premium materials. If the Venu 4 is like an Apple Watch, the Vivoactive 6 is more like an Apple Watch SE: there have been some compromises made to lower the price, but it’s still a really effective, comfortable activity watch I enjoyed wearing.

Like the Apple Watch SE 3, the Garmin Vivoactive 6 is very light, weighing in at just 36g with a band, and slim at just 10.9mm thick. This means it’s comfortable for all-day wear, and you can go from the gym to the office and even to bed and basically forget about wearing it. It slipped easily under my shirt cuff during daywear when other Garmin watches would bulge. Any sleep tracker has to be comfortable to wear throughout the night, and this was the case with the Vivoactive more so than the Venu, which is a milimeter or so thicker and much heavier due to its metal construction.

Smart wake alarm, a new feature for Garmin, was long missing from its lineup, and I was pleased yet surprised to see it in the Vivoactive line. It wakes you up with haptic vibrations at the lightest point in your sleep cycle, within a 30-minute window. Having tried it for a few days, I found it a much more pleasant way to wake up than my usual alarm, and I feel anecdotally less groggy in the mornings.

I enjoyed the Auto Activity Start feature too, which I set to start recording after one minute of road running. It really contributes to a seamless, super-light smartwatch experience when you don’t have to toggle around to get to the running settings – just run. It’s a nice-to-have, but it adds to the overall ‘virtual assistant’ experience many smartwatches are now striving for, to anticipate your needs without you having to wade through menus. I do wish the Vivoactive 6 had a microphone and voice assistant, but I can accept shortcomings at this price point.

It’s not necessarily the watch I’d recommend to adventurers or serious runners due to missing features from other Garmin watches, and it’s packing the older Elevate V4 heart rate sensor, which is functional but not as accurate as the upgraded Elevate V5, and my tests against the Polar H10 heart rate monitor corroborate that. But it’s a great fitness tool and the best cheap Garmin watch of 2025.

Garmin Vivoactive 6: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future)

• $299.99 / £279.99 / AU$549
• Affordably priced compared to other Garmins
• Comparable to most smartwatches from Apple and Samsung

The Garmin Vivoactive 6 retails at $299.99 / £279.99 / AU$549, although can be found on sale for slightly less.

That's very comparable with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Watch8 and Google Pixel Watch 4, and slightly more expensive than the Apple Watch SE 3. Although it's perhaps leaning more towards fitness enthusiasts than those all-rounder watches, I'd say this is a great price for the amount of features on offer.

Garmin Vivoactive 6: Scorecard

Category

Comment

Score

Value

Cheap and most certainly cheerful, stuffed with premium features for the price.

5/5

Design

Two buttons and a touchscreen, nice and light, with a redesigned UI.

4/5

Features

Tons if you like your fitness, but lacking some modern smartwatch amenities like a microphone.

4/5

Performance

Accurate enough, comfortable to wear and lasts ages. I do wish it was packing Garmin’s more accurate HR monitor though.

4/5

Garmin Vivoactive 6: Should I buy?

(Image credit: Future)Buy it if...

You want an Apple Watch SE alternative

The Garmin Vivoactive 6 is an excellent value package, with an AMOLED screen and loads of training tools.

You’re a runner

PacePro, automatic run tracking, and Garmin’s advanced suite of fitness and recovery tools make it a comprehensive run tracker ideal for most people.

You struggle with comfort

Bulky, heavy watches are difficult to wear at night. The Vivoactive 6 is practically invisible on-wrist, and ideal for slimmer wrists.

Don't buy it if...

You want an adventure watch

The Garmin Instinct 3 is a little bit more expensive and packs lots of outdoor-focused navigation features.

Accuracy is everything

If you need the latest Elevate V5 heart rate sensor for pinpoint precision rather than an estimate, go for the Venu 4.

Also consider

Garmin Forerunner 570

The best Garmin watch for runners: it’s more expensive, but ideal if you love pounding the pavement.

Read our full Garmin Forerunner 570 review

Apple Watch SE 3

The best Apple Watch for most people, with some smartwatch features the Vivoactive 6 is missing.

Read our full Apple Watch SE 3 reviewView Deal

How I tested

I wore the Garmin Vivoactive 6 for 10 days, performing different kinds of workouts, sleeping with it on, and draining the battery down. I tested its various functions, including the new Smart Wake alarm, and tested its Elevate V4 heart rate sensor against a Polar H10 chest-mounted heart rate monitor.

First reviewed: November 2025

The Garmin Vivoactive 6 packs tons of features into a small, affordable package.