What is better for me Vivoactive 4 or 3?

I have a VA3, and I'm very happy with it. Although the latest firmware has a couple of bugs (see the VA3 forum), it really is great value for money. I'm also not interested in music while working out (I have a TomTom Adventurer with music, never even used it once for that!). I also like the stainless steel back (VA4 is plastic) of the non-music 3, but that's purely subjective. One thing you lose with the 4 over the 3 non-music is sideswipe, where you use the edge of the watch for swiping up/down. I like that, many don't, but if you orient the watch so you can use your index finger rather than your thumb  it is very accurate. Swiping on the touchscreen is too light on the 3 and too slow on the 4, I find. The 4 comes in two sizes, 40mm and 45mm, the 3 only in 43. The 4 has Pulse Oximetry and a Sony GPS chipset (less accurate but also less power-hungry), I'm tempted by Pulse Ox mainly for sleep recording (I have sleep apnea). Also, even if you don't need music the extra memory means that some apps and widgets will have more features and be more reliable on the 4 than on the 3. The 4 also has animated instructions which you may or may not need/like.

Thanks Bernard, as I was thinking, for my needs the VA4 is not really needed.

There is still one point that attracts me to the VA4 and this is the WiFi. What is this WiFi connection really doing? Can you transfer your data from the watch to the server directly without passing through your mobile phone? Or is it just for music download and things like this. 

Thanks again,

toto

I'm not sure about the WiFi  I would probably never use it. Btw, I've decided to upgrade to the VA4 but that's mainly due to the Pulse Ox, I've discussed it with other sleep apnea sufferers and my doctor and it would be helpful.  Plus the larger display is better for tired old eyes... It'll arrive tomorrow, I'll let you know my impressions. 

The Bluetooth synchronization of my versa with the mobile phone is extremely power consuming. The mobile phone battery is dragging twice as fast as when I use the versa. 

With direct wifi sync the phone won't suffer so much.

Enjoy your new VA4 and thanks for letting me know your impressions. 

I've decided to stay with the VA3 and get myself a Vivosmart 4 for pulse ox instead. At least that's the thinking right now. In the end I'll probably get myself a Marq Aviator, who knows...  

Im also back to a vivosmart 4 after the dissapointing week with a Venu.

Sure the build in GPS+Music was nice and i didnt need my smartphone anymore while working out or running.

But the new garmin watches are just a pain in the the ass from the software side.

The vivosmart 4 is pretty reliable now, super comfartable to wear and the calorie count is the most spot on from all watches i ever had. 

The Versa was completely over the top with calories and the syncing with my smartphone was pure horror always loos8ng connection.

thanks Sebastian for your precious opinion.

In my case, the accuracy on the calorie is not really important, but I would like to have the built-in GPS. 

I totally agree with you, the Versa is loosing the connection every second hour and it consumes so much power on the smartphone side. 

Thanks puglives. Indeed I have to wait a bit before buying it, so maybe they fix it before. 

Had a VA3 in the family a year ago, and now I own a VA3M and a Fenix 5S+, and my wife has a VA3M. The late VA3 was replaced via RMA by Garmin, and then sold, and we bought a brand new VA3M for my wife, she's very happy with it but would like to upgrade to VA4 just for the looks and larger screen. 

The VA3 has an inherent design related issue related to the location of a barometric sensor port hole, as they name it. It's always against the skin, and gets clogged in some time by sweat and debris or whatever, resulting in the malfunctioning barometer. 

VA3:

You could see it in the workouts where you do a looped run ending up always at a significantly lower (my wife's case) altitude that you started. We've tried lots of steps to remedy the situation (there are plenty of related threads on VA3 forums), cleaned the hole with water, air and threads (you could put a thread into the hole near the OHRM, and it goes out near the side button, and then move it back and forth carefully to clean it), but the barometer sensor never recovered to perform normally. 

The port hole on VA3M is located at the side of the watch (same as on Fenix 5S+), never touching the skin, so far both watches in the family have worked perfectly. 

One more minor difference - the VA3 screen is kind of flat where the VA3M one is slightly convex and a lot more slippery to the touch, just feels better. In the end of the day it's easier to clean the screen from fingerprints, and the touchscreen seems easier to operate with. 

So, speaking of VA3 vs. VA4, I would make it VA3M vs. VA4 contest for sure, it's a no brainer for me having had some experience with both models.