New Delhi: Popular GPS device maker Garmin has launched a new fitness centric wrist band, the Vivofit (veevo-fit) in India at Rs 9,990. The device is available exclusively through Flipkart. The smartband is listed on Flipkart under the ‘coming soon' badge. The band was initially unveiled during CES 2014, earlier this year.
The Vivofit consists of two parts: the strap and the actual tracker. The strap is made of plastic and a fastens through a basic notch-and-clasp mechanism. The brain of the gadget is, of course, the tracker. The curved unit is about two inches long, by half an inch wide, and has a front screen, which measures 1 x 0.39 inch. That display is two-color (gold and red) LCD with no backlight.
The best part about the device is that it can run without a charge for more than a year. For charging you need to insert new “coin cells” in it. The screen of the device features a small screen which can show you time, date and month, steps you have taken in the day, your step goal of the day, total kilometres you have walked and the calories you have burned in doing so.
Using the device is easy as it can sync with your smartphone and your laptop or PC as well. It uses Garmin's patented ANT+ technology to sync with your PC or laptop and uses Bluetooth sync to connect with your smartphone.
Users can wirelessly sync Garmin Fitness Band with Garmin Connect, a free online fitness community with currently over four billion miles uploaded by users. Setting up the Vivofit through Connect is easy. You'll need an account where you'll be required to answer the typical questions about age, weight, height, et cetera. You'll then, of course, be asked to pair your device. You can pair via Bluetooth with your phone, or with the supplied ANT+ USB dongle and your PC.
If you're within range of your PC or phone, the Vivofit will go right ahead and upload your latest activity. The dashboard presents the most recent info from each main category, which includes Steps, Sleep, Connections (friends) and Activities.
The band stores up to 3 weeks of 24/7 activity data on the device itself between syncs.
The band is compatible with all Android and iOS devices that support Bluetooth 4.0 or above.
It also shows a red bar on the display when it senses that you are not active enough. The Garmin Vivofit is always on and even monitors your sleep pattern. It is waterproof and will work upto 50 metres underwater.
The Vivofit has no physical ports (USB) and uses removable batteries (2 x CR1632) for power, and wireless radios (ANT+ and Bluetooth 4.0) for connectivity.
The band is waterproof to 50 meters.
Garmin Vivofit Fitness Band is available via Flipkart in black and slate colours. Users can change the colour of the band, by using one of the multi-coloured fitness bands sold separately.
