If you're rocking the Garmin Vivosmart 5, you might’ve noticed Garmin’s been busy rolling out updates. The Vivosmart 5 isn’t a flashy AMOLED watch – it’s a sensible fitness tracker that does the job well. But after a few software tweaks? It’s more reliable, smarter, and sometimes—well—a little quirky. Here's what you need to know, in a human, slightly messy mix of casual and formal (because life’s messy, right?).
☕ What’s the Vivosmart 5 Anyway?
Released in April 2022, the Vivosmart 5 replaced the older Vivosmart 4 with some cool fresh hardware: a 66 % larger monochrome OLED touch display, a proper physical button (glove‑friendly, finally!), swappable bands, and emergency live‑tracking features. It added sleep score, respiration rate, Pulse Ox, incident detection, and Bluetooth heart‑rate broadcasting—all without inflating the price 🌟.
Those are the big additions. But it wasn’t perfect at launch. Users reported stress‑tracking quirks and battery drain issues. Then Garmin started rolling out firmware updates to smooth things out.
🔄 What Garmin’s Updates Have Already Done
Firmware version 3.24 (Sept 2024)
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Made alarms display correctly in 12‑hour format
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Fixed truncation of “strength” in German activity names
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Corrected mismatch in sleep score guidance vs actual sleep
These are small but useful fixes. They don’t rewrite the rulebook, but they clean up annoyances.
🧠 User-Reported Update Effects: Good & Bad
Stress and Body Battery glitchiness
Some users said stress levels were absurdly high even during sleep (70–90), leaving Body Battery stubbornly low. One found the cause: the watch was set to non‑dominant hand—swapping that fixed readings. Garmin support apparently acknowledged it. So, subtle but real.
GPS connectivity wobbles
Since the band uses connected GPS (via your phone’s GPS), some users also reported errors—activity distances stuck, or weird spikes (like 88 km in a couple of km). Often, restarting the watch fixed it. Garmin hasn't publicly addressed this yet, though.
Battery drain after updates
A Redditor noted a drop of 20 % battery in just two hours post‑update, even after a reset. Others chalk it up to new firmware being a bit hungry. The workaround? Disable Pulse Ox, AOD (though not available here), use default watch face—and wait for the next patch.
🆕 Why Garmin Keeps Pushing Updates
Garmin’s approach with the Vivosmart 5: keep the foundation solid—steps, HR, sleep, stress, incident detection—then fine‑tune. No flashy apps or color screen like Fitbit, but steady improvements in usability and accuracy. Most changes are about smoothing the edges of a budget tracker.
So updates are often modest: UI tweaks, sensor fixes, language adjustments—small stuff that matters over time.
⚙️ How to Update the Vivosmart 5
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Ensure at least 50 % battery or plug it in.
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Use Garmin Connect (phone) or Garmin Express (PC).
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App notifies you if a new firmware’s ready. Tap “Install.”
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Keep the watch connected—don’t unplug mid‑update.
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After install, restart your watch and app.
If you hit problems (stuck update, freeze):
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Restart both watch and app
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Reinstall Garmin Connect/Express
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Factory reset as last resort—but back up data first
🔧 Common Post‑Update Tips
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Reboot often after updates—helps stabilize new firmware
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Disable Pulse Ox monitoring if battery tanking
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Use default face; fancier might drain juice
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Set correct wrist/hand preference to ensure accurate stress/body battery readings
What Users Wish Garmin Fixed Next
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Improve GPS reliability during connected‑GPS activities
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Tame the stress/Body Battery accuracy, especially during sleep
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Tackle battery drain aggressively
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Maybe add more workout modes or richer metrics (though that might step on Forerunner lineup)
✅ Final Thoughts
At around (and $149.99 US), the Vivosmart 5 is a solid, no‑nonsense fitness tracker. It’s comfy, sleek, and delivers essential metrics—steps, HR, sleep, stress, incident detection—without subscription fees.
But it's not the be‑all‑end‑all. There are quirks: sometimes wonky readings, occasional GPS glitches, and battery drain can spike after firmware updates. Garmin’s done well to release bug‑fixing updates like 3.24 to address issues, but it’s still a work in progress .
Should you update?
Yes. Updates bring small but meaningful improvements—even if not headline-worthy. Just keep an eye on performance afterward, tweak settings as needed, and be ready to reboot or adjust features.
Is it worth it?
For anyone wanting a lightweight fitness tracker that just works, Vivosmart 5 is a strong pick. But if your wrist demands color display, on‑device GPS, or tons of apps, it’s worth considering a pricier Garmin. For everyday health and fitness tracking at a fair price, updates keep the Vivosmart 5 honest, helpful, and dependable.