Fitbit Charge 2 vs Garmin Vivosport Best Fitness Tracker in 2024

Fitness trackers are available in abundance out there. This makes it particularly hard to get the best fitness wearables available in the market right now. But if there are two rival fitness trackers out there that compete with each other, the choice is often made easier.

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At A Glance: Fitbit Charge 2 vs Garmin Vivosport Best Fitness Tracker 2020

• Fitbit Charge 2 Heart Rate + Fitness Wristband
  Our Top Pick
• Garmin vívosport, Fitness/Activity Tracker with GPS and Heart Rate Monitoring, Slate

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We’re going to compare the features of the popular Fitbit Charge 2 and the Garmin Vivosport. Both models are priced similarly, which makes it easier to determine which offering has the best features on board. So let’s have a look right away.

Fitbit Charge 2 vs Garmin Vivosport Best Fitness Tracker

Fitbit Charge 2

The Charge 2 is widely popular in the fitness community thanks to the company that’s involved with its making. This is among the several fitness bands that Fitbit sells, and currently one of the most popular models out there. But is it all too different compared to the Garmin offering? The answer is yes.

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Pros and Cons

The first aspect that I like about the Charge 2 is the design. In comparison to the Garmin Vivosport, the Charge 2 is significantly easier to handle, and even comes with a dedicated button on the right hand side of the wearable. This makes it easy to use even if you’re drenched in sweat. There is continuous heart rate tracking on the Charge 2, although this feature is also found on the Vivocharge. Both wearables can offer device notifications or at least a glimpse of it, giving you smartwatch like features out of the box. The Charge 2 features an OLED display, allowing better sunlight visibility compared to traditional LCD panels. The Fitbit app to track the band’s data is miles ahead of the competition, and that’s the case here as well.
However, the Charge 2 falls behind in terms of overall features. Particularly, the lack of GPS pegs things in favor of the Vivocharge, which is perhaps one of the biggest disadvantages of the Charge 2. Having built-in GPS allows users to leave their phones at home and go for a run with only the fitness band. The battery life is only 5 days, paling in comparison to the Garmin offering. The Charge 2 lacks complete water resistance, and is only splash, rain and sweat proof. Taking these factors into account, the Charge 2 will have a lot to make up for especially in comparison to the Vivocharge.

Pricing and Availability

It is available in a total of six colors and four band sizes, offering more options to the customers. The Special Edition Gunmetal and Lavender Rose Gold versions will cost you more, however.

Garmin Vivosport

Garmin is not new to the fitness wearables market and has sold multiple offerings in the past before. But the Vivosport is considered a mix of the Vivosmart 3 and the Vivosmart HR+ in terms of design. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as the Vivosport ensures a comfortable wear throughout the day. But is it better than the Charge 2? Let’s find out.

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Pros and Cons

It’s clear that the Garmin offering has a significant advantage over the Charge 2 in terms of features. The Vivosport, for example, comes with a slightly better 7 day battery life, while the Charge 2 can only offer 5 days. Further, it is completely water resistant (up to 50 meters), so you’re safe to take it to your swimming sessions on a regular basis. It can track swim data, but not comprehensively, so you’re only going to get a few details. Also crucial here is the addition of a GPS sensor on the wearable, allowing you to go on runs while keeping your phone at home. It’s clear that Garmin is targeting this as a standalone fitness tracker, with the data syncing automatically when you’re in proximity with your phone.
Another significant advantage with the Vivosport is the always-on color display, while Fitbit uses a standard non-color OLED panel. If there’s a con that we can talk about with the Vivosport, it’s the fact that you can’t heavily customize the wearable once you’ve bought it, so it’s essential to pick the right option while making the purchase. It’s also notable to mention that the Garmin offering doesn’t have a dedicated button for navigation, instead relying on the touchscreen for this purpose. This is not a dealbreaker, however. As you can see, the pros far outweigh the cons of the Garmin Vivosport.

Pricing and Availability

The Garmin Vivosport will set you back making it evenly priced with the Charge 2. It is available in a small/medium and large strap sizes, which should be adequate for most users. There are three colors to choose from – Limelight, Fuchsia Focus, and Slate. Amazon is currently selling the latter two colors on its site.

Fitbit Charge 2 vs Garmin Vivosport Verdict

It’s clear from this comparison that the Charge 2 falls behind on most aspects when compared with the Garmin Vivosport. However, there are some big takeaways from the Charge 2 as well which make it an interesting choice for many. But to me personally, the addition of GPS makes choosing the Vivosport a no-brainer. This, in addition to waterproofing makes it a perfect combination of fitness features and durability.
Since both offerings are priced evenly, the decision becomes even easier for the customers. So is there no way we would recommend the Charge 2? Well, there is, but only to those users who have owned and loved Fitbit offerings before. If we’re talking about app support, Fitbit still reins supreme in this area with its dedicated fitness wearable app. Garmin’s app is decent too, but is slightly complicated for the average user. That’s not to say that it doesn’t have the features present, but Fitbit’s app is simply easier to use for the everyday user.
Both wearables are priced very attractively and you can’t go wrong with either offering. However, if we’re hard pressed to decide, I would go with the Garmin Vivosport nine times out of ten.
Do you agree?