Vivomove Trend | Image source: Garmin

Garmin Vivomove Trend vs Style vs Sport: comparison feature

Garmin has made the latest iteration of the Vivomove series official today. Vivomove Trend costs slightly more than its siblings. We explain the features it offers and how it compares to Vivomove Style and Vivomove Sport.

It was no secret that the next Vivomove model was in the works. In fact, we broke the story nearly a year ago. The device, along with a number of other models, was listed on the website of a local Garmin authorised distributor. Since then, nearly all of those devices have seen the light of day.

Garmin hybrid watches provide an excellent balance of traditional watch features and smartwatch capabilities, making them a popular choice for people looking for a versatile device on their wrist. Hybrid watches are appealing to those seeking the best of both worlds in terms of fashion. Users can receive notifications, track fitness, and perform other smart functions with a hybrid watch while still being able to see the time at a glance and not rely solely on a screen.

Essential readingTop fitness trackers and health gadgets

Garmin’s first hybrid watch, the Vivomove, made its debut back in 2015. That one has a traditional analogue watch face that shows the time and fitness data, as well as a discreet digital screen that shows notifications, steps taken, and other data. You could say that watch set the bar for hybrid watches that followed, not just from Garmin.

This article examines the most recent three versions of this lovely watch collection. Which one is best for you? Continue reading to find out.

You can check out all three of these watches on Garmin’s website. Vivomove Style (view on Amazon) and Vivomove Sport (view on Amazon) are also available at other retail outlets.


Garmin Vivomove Trend vs Style vs Sport: Design and hardware

Release date and price

The Vivomove Style was the first of these three watches to be introduced. It debuted alongside Luxe in September 2019. In terms of features, there is little difference between the duo. They have the same display, sensors, and specifications. The only distinction between the two is their case and price. For the sake of simplicity, we will concentrate on Vivomove Style in this article.

Vivomove Sport launched in January 2022. It was introduced as a more cost-effective iteration of the range. Sport costs $100 less than Style and Luxe, which will set you back around $250. And now we have the latest edition, which is the $300 Vivomove Trend.

In terms of design, all of these are examples of typical hybrid watches. You can see them side by side in the image below.

Garmin Vivomove Trend vs Style vs Sport
Garmin Vivomove Trend vs Style vs Sport

Design

While it might not be obvious, there are some clear distinctions between the three.

For starters, the Vivomove Trend and Sport are approximately 40mm in diameter. As a result, they are smaller than the Vivomove Style 42mm. Those with large wrists may want to go with that option.

As you might expect given the price, the Vivomove Sport is made of fiber-reinforced polymer for the case and chemically-strengthened glass for display protection. The Vivomove Style enhances this with an anodized aluminium case and bezel, as well as domed Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The Vivomove Trend has a fiber-reinforced polymer case, a stainless steel bezel, and a domed glass.

So, in some ways, the Vivomove Style has the most premium build of the three. It is also the only one with the option of a woven nylon band rather than the standard silicone one. Of course, because all three of these watches have quick release bands, there is nothing stopping you from purchasing any compatible strap for your Vivomove.

Display tech has progressed

Another distinction is in the display. The winner in this category is the Vivomove Trend, which has a 25.6 mm x 18.8 mm liquid crystal screen. That is slightly larger than the AMOLED display on the Vivomove Style and significantly larger than the greyscale display on the Vivomove Sport. It’s also worth noting that the one on Sport is the only one that doesn’t support touch.

Because this is a hybrid, there are analogue hands on top of the smart display. They show the time in the same way that any other traditional watch does. When you interact with the smart display beneath, however, the analogue hands will move out of the way. To reveal the display, tap or swipe. It only appears when you require it.

Of course, each of these three watches is available in a variety of colour combinations. We won’t list them all here, but they are listed in the table below.

Hardware below the hood

In terms of sensor technology, Vivomove Trend and Vivomove Style are identical. They both include an optical heart rate monitor, blood oxygen monitor, accelerometer, barometric altimeter, NFC chip, and ambient light sensor. Having said that, given the more than three-year gap, it is safe to assume that the Vivomove Trend has a later generation heart rate sensor on board. This should improve accuracy. The barometric altimeter and NFC for contactless payments are absent from the Vivomove Sport.

Everything else remains the same. There is no WiFi connectivity; only ANT+ and Bluetooth are supported. Furthermore, none of these watches have built-in GPS; only Connected GPS is available. So you’ll have to rely on a connected smartphone for that.

Tech specs compared

Vivomove Trend
Vivomove Style
Vivomove Sport
Release date
February 2023
September 2019
January 2022
Lens material
Domed Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Domed Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Chemically-strengthened glass
Bezel material
Stainless steel
Anodised aluminium
Fibre-reinforced polymer
Case material
Fibre-reinforced polymer
Anodised aluminium
Fibre-reinforced polymer
Strap material
Silicone
Silicone or woven nylon
Silicone
Quick release bands
Yes (20 mm)
Yes (20 mm)
Yes (20 mm)
Physical size
40.4 x 40.4 x 11.9 mm
42 x 42 x 11.9 mm
40 x 40 x 11.0 mm
Display type
Liquid crystal
AMOLED
OLED
Display size
25.6 mm x 18.8 mm
24.10 x 18.70 mm
8.6 mm x 18.5 mm
Display resolution
254 x 346 pixels
240 x 240 pixels
72 x 154 pixels
Touchscreen
Yes
Yes
No
Weight
Case only: 28.3 g
With silicone strap: 43.3 g
Case only: 25.50 g
With silicone strap: 42.0 g
With nylon strap: 35.0 g
Case only: 19.0 g
With silicone strap: 33.8 g
Water-resistance
5 ATM
5 ATM
5 ATM
Memory
10 timed activities; 14 days of activity tracking data
10 timed activities; 14 days of activity tracking data
10 timed activities; 14 days of activity tracking data
Sensors
Optical heart rate, blood oxygen, accelerometer, barometric altimeter, ambient light sensor
Optical heart rate, blood oxygen, accelerometer, barometric altimeter, ambient light sensor
Optical heart rate, blood oxygen, accelerometer, ambient light sensor
Connectivity
Bluetooth Smart and ANT+
Bluetooth Smart and ANT+
Bluetooth Smart and ANT+
GPS
Connected GPS
Connected GPS
Connected GPS
NFC for payments
Yes
Yes
No
Color options
Cream Gold Stainless Steel Bezel with French Grey Case and Silicone Band
Light Gold Aluminum Case with Blush Pink Woven Nylon Band
Cool Mint Case and Silicone Band with Silver Accents
RRP
$300
$250
$150

Garmin Vivomove Trend vs Style vs Sport: Battery life

Whichever of these three watches you choose, you will get up to 5 days in smartwatch mode between chargers plus up to 1 additional day as an analog-only timepiece. You might think that’s where the story ends. But it isn’t.

The big news with Vivomove Trend is that is is the first Garmin watch with support for wireless charging. Most Qi-certified charging pads will work with it.

Qi charging is a quick and convenient way to charge smartwatches. Users no longer need to fiddle with cables and ports to keep their device powered up with this technology. Instead, they simply place their watch on a charging pad or dock to charge it. Furthermore, because there are no moving parts or cables to wear out over time, this type of charging is often more durable.

The only option for refuelling on the other two is the Garmin proprietary plug charger. Which is also remains as an option for Vivomove Trend.

Vivomove Trend
Vivomove Style
Vivomove Sport
Battery life
Smartwatch mode: Up to 5 days
Watch mode: Up to 1 additional day
Smartwatch mode: Up to 5 days
Watch mode: Up to 1 additional week
Smartwatch mode: Up to 5 days
Watch mode: Up to 1 additional week
Charging method
Garmin proprietary clip charger and compatible with most Qi-certified wireless charging pads
Garmin proprietary plug charger
Garmin proprietary plug charger
Garmin Vivomove Trend
Vivomove Trend | Image source: Garmin

Garmin Vivomove Trend vs Style vs Sport: features

One might believe that a hybrid watch lacks health, fitness, and smart features. They would, however, be incorrect.

The hybrid watches contain the majority of Garmin’s activity tracking smarts. This includes all of the fundamentals, as well as stress, blood oxygen, and respiration tracking, among other things. Vivomove Sport is the only one that does not have a floor count because it lacks a barometric altimeter.

These timepieces include running, cycling, and swimming sports profiles for exercise tracking. As previously stated, you will have to rely on Connected GPS rather than built-in GPS. Garmin most likely did this to keep the price low and the battery life long.

Also, there is no sign of the much publicised ECG feature that landed on Venu 2 Plus a few days ago. It would have been a big ask for this to be made available on the hybrid, but next year’s edition might very well include it.

The watches also come with some smart features such as smartphone texts, calls and calendar reminder support, music control, safety and tracking features and more. Vivomove Trend and Style come with the addition of a NFC chip that you can use to make contactless payments with a certain selection of banks.

Vivomove Trend
Vivomove Style
Vivomove Sport
Garmin Pay
Yes
Yes
No
Barometric altimeter – floors climbed
Yes
Yes
No
Sleep Score
Yes
Coming soon via an update
Coming soon via an update
Chronograph
Yes
Yes
No
Realtime settings sync with Garmin Connect mobile
Yes
Coming soon via an update
Coming soon via an update
Image source: Garmin
Vivomove Trend | Image source: Garmin

Garmin Vivomove Trend vs Style vs Sport: The bottom line

If you want to avoid the typical smartwatch appearance, one of the Garmin hybrids might be for you. All of the fitness and smartwatch features are hidden inside and will only be visible when you want them to.

The latest iteration, Vivomove Trend, has the advantage of new QI wireless charging and later generation sensors over the three-year-old Vivomove Style. It also has a barometric altimeter, NFC chip and a more premium build than the one-year-old Sport. In terms of other features, the three are nearly identical.

If you’re on a tight budget and don’t require contactless payments, we recommend Vivomove Sport. It costs roughly half the price of the Vivomove Trend and provides a lot for the money.

The price difference between Vivomove Trend and Style (and Luxe) is only $50. If you must choose between the two, we recommend Trend. It is more likely to benefit from future software updates and has newer sensors. However, if you can get Style or Luxe at a significant discount, it might be worth considering. Those options might also be good for people with large wrists due to their bigger case size.

You can check out all three of these watches on Garmin’s website. Vivomove Style (view on Amazon) and Vivomove Sport (view on Amazon) are also available at other retail outlets.

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Marko Maslakovic

Marko founded Gadgets & Wearables in 2014, having worked for more than 15 years in the City of London’s financial district. Since then, he has led the company’s charge to become a leading information source on health and fitness gadgets and wearables.

One thought on “Garmin Vivomove Trend vs Style vs Sport: comparison feature

  • Great Analysis. Cleared my doubts. Thanks a lot.

    Reply

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