Vivoactive HR -> Vivoactive 3...Worth it?

I did that upgrade a while ago and haven't regretted it. I like the new shape & size a lot.

As for problems with fw 5.50, I haven't had any problems ... with the exception of the actual 5.50 upgrade taking two passes (once for the firmware and another to pick up the new GPS code).

I would say do it.

I agree with fallingrock. My vivoactive HD works great, but I prefer a round watch. I have a samsung s3 frontier, but it's been back to sammy a few times for warranty "repairs" and just isn't up to daily use.

My vivoactive 3 is a great watch, for the money, and I had seen zero affect (good/bad) in the 5.50 update.

My own suggestion is not to buy it. Vivoactive 3 causes new problems for every few months. The latest firmware 5.5 works for some users, but you can see the reactions of many users in firmware 5.4. The battery last for 1 day only, including me. This is not the first time Garmin pushes bad updates to us.
And even the lastest firmware have problems. If I switch off the watch immediately after charging, battery level would decrease 20%+ after one night. I don't want to write emails to them anymore after countless complaint mails to reflect different problems.

My girl friend has a Vivoactive HR and now is far more predictable than Vivoactive 3.

But my real suggestion is, try not to buy anything from Garmin again. I own 2 products and I personally think it is a brand with poor software and usually certain functions are unusable. This watch together with Edge 1000 cycling computer tell me these are my last Garmins. I now suggest my friends around me try looking for other brands and never touch Garmin.

My thoughts are that it boils down to the display. The two devices are really close in performance and the display can make the difference. That and if you need to track a wider range of activities.

I have the Vivoactive HR and about a year ago moved to the Vivoactive 3 because I wanted the larger screen and the ability to switch out the watch face. I use the Vivoactive 3 as my daily driver and still use the HR for yard work where I'm not overly concerned about scratches.

As far as the bugs with the Vivoactive 3 goes, they haven't become a major impact for me since the random restarts have gone away. I use the watch to track my daily activities (walking, steps, etc.), track my time on the treadmill and track my outings in the kayak. Not a power user by any stretch but I do go beyond the basics.

As to whether or not to buy Garmin, that's a tough call. I've got about 4 years of data built up with the Garmin system and the smart scale. Had I not had such a history with Garmin, I'd likely have switched over to Fitbit earlier this year. Fitbit has some nice devices and their support blows Garmin's out of the water. Fitbit seems more innovative where Garmin struggles. If the Vivoactive 3 ever died, I would likely bite the bullet and pick up a Fitbit Versa and one of their smart scales. I'de learn to live with losing the Garmin data but would really miss having a second device around for yard work.

Don't get me wrong, I like the Vivoactive 3. It fills my needs and looks good. I just wish Garmin would be a little more proactive in supporting their products.

I bought the VAHR very early on and still have it. I simply love it, only had very few bugs and nothing major, battery was great.
I also have a Fenix 3 HR, which is a great device, but I''ll have to RMA for a second time because of Altimeter issues (fortunately, in Switzerland, when you get a replacement on guarantee, the guarantee of two year starts anew), and because the battery has degraded way to quickly.
My old FR620 only had one minor bug, great device too and I still have it.
5 days ago I got a VA3 from a friend for almost nothing (actualy, the VAHR is the only watch from Garmin I didn't buy second hand). I have no bugs software-side whatsoever, everything works just great (yeah, altimeter too). But: I fully charged it on Tuesday morning. Now, five days later, using it only in Smartwatch mode, backlight to minimum, gestures off, GPS used for only 10 minutes, I'm down to 14%... Will have to charge it this evening. This is, for me, quite disappointing. My friend also told me, that strength session of about one hour eat away about 20%... I'll RMA this one too if I can confirm this and hope for the best.
So, compared to the VAHR, the battery is very disappointing.

Your decision what's important to you.

Thanks everyone. Most helpful.

I'm used to the Garmin 'reliability' issues, having started with the 705.

I may well give the Vivoactive 3 a go!

I also upgraded the VAHR (my first sports watch) to a VA3. I liked VAHR a lot but couldn't wear out in public because of the visual appearance of the watch. That was my main reason getting the VA3 which looks more like a traditional watch. With those 20mm quick release bands, I have since stopped wearing regular watches (with their annoying need to have their batteries changed every 1-2 years). One other thing to note... I think VA3 offers just a more pleasant experience in terms of usability... Even though the Side Swipe is a bust, the screen is bigger, the font is bigger and I find myself spending less time going for menu to menu than I did with the VAHR.

I haven't experienced the bugginess of the FW the same way as some of the others... Granted, I only do irregular runs, hikes and bicycle rides combined with cardio but I really haven't had issues that have been too annoying. I'd say the most annoying issue so far has been that the GPS can take a while to receive a signal. As for battery life, I've never had any issues or instances where during an activity the battery has rapidly gone down.

The thing is though... What is the alternative for VA3? What other watch at this price range offers the visual appearance of a regular watch, quick release bands (which I love) and all the bells and whistles that's inside the watch? Polar? No. Suunto? No. Fitbit? No. Apple? No. I see no real alternatives other than going for a smart watch with some sport abilities... I mean people have been raving about the up and coming Huawei GT watch which looks nice (I wouldn't mind a slightly bigger screen). However, you would be sacrificing a bunch of those smart tech features that the VA line has.

Have had VAHR since launch, and then purchased VA3 for my wife right upon the launch as well. It was RMAed this summer due to faulty elevation tracking (starting from the upgrade to 5.XX firmware), and then replaced with a brand new VA3M.

VAHR
- Excellent watch for the money, haven't had any issues aside from occasional freezes or reboots (low ambient temperature and low battery state of charge, but the watch was somehow able to save and continue the ongoing workout). Have been using it a lot for running, cycling, strength workouts, rowing (both indoor with a CIQ app and on the water), and occasionally for walks / hiking, kayaking, open water swimming (poor GPS tracks though...) etc. I'm using a third party watchface, widgets, data fields for most native apps, and some apps for rowing. All of these have been rock stable most of the time.

VA3
- Great upgrade from VAHR. If I were to choose between these two, I'd go with VA3 every time due to the structured workouts (a critical advantage from my perspective - I miss it a lot, and my wife has used this feature from the onset), better looks and feel, a much better touchscreen, 24h OHR, Garmin Pay (this one is very convenient), rep count and stress monitoring. I really loved these features, all new to the Vivo family. The watch has been stable ever since its purchase until the altitude mess-up. Wouldn't recommend it on this very basis (elevation tracking), they haven't resolved the issue yet. The battery performance is not on par with VAHR, probably about 80-90% of the latter.

VA3M
- A really good upgrade from VA3. A little bit lighter (although thicker), the screen's quality seems to be better, with a roundish shape pushing off water. Also, the music feature is quite cool (my wife said she was indifferent about it, but later on it grew on her), and the location of the barometric sensor port hole on the side gives you confidence that the altimeter may work as it should for years to come. So far it has been performing on par with my VAHR during our runs with my wife together in the elevation tracking department.