What the Garmin Vivoactive 6 adds vs the Vivoactive 5

Garmin’s new Vivoactive 6 lands today with the same $299.99 price tag as its predecessor but brings a longer list of tracking options, more advanced training metrics, and a few useful hardware upgrades. It doubles the storage, adds support for new satellite systems, introduces a smart wake alarm, and expands the range of sports profiles to cover everything from trail running to motor sports.

A little slimmer and a bit smarter

At first glance, the Vivoactive 6 looks almost identical to the Vivoactive 5. Same dimensions, more or less, with the 6 just a fraction thinner. But look more closely and you will see a redesign of the top right button. It sticks out a bit more which should make it easier to press in the middle or at the end of a workout.

You still get only one size option and the familiar AMOLED display and overall styling. So no change there. But if you liked how the previous one sat on your wrist, this won’t feel any different. Under the hood, though, Garmin has made some changes.

Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets

You now get double the storage—8 GB instead of 4. This will make a noticeable difference if you’re into downloading music, apps, or loading up with custom workouts.

There’s also a new smart wake alarm, a first for a Garmin watch. This aims to gently nudge you out of lighter sleep stages within a preset window. It’s subtle, but for those who hate abrupt alarms, it’s a welcome update.

Garmin also improved satellite support by including QZSS and BeiDou. These may not matter much if you only train locally, but they do help improve positioning in tougher environments or if you travel. Combined with the newly added gyroscope, the watch should be better at tracking movement, especially in trickier activity types.

Workout tracking goes further

The Vivoactive 5 already supported a long list of sports. But the 6 takes that list and adds to it without going overboard. There are now extra profiles for outdoor running like trail, obstacle, and track. Cyclists get new modes for road, gravel, touring, and cyclocross. There are also more winter sports and even a few motor sports like motocross and snowmobiling, which weren’t on the previous model.

Garmin has added support for advanced training metrics like Training Effect and Anaerobic Training Effect. These show how your sessions are impacting fitness. Running dynamics and running power have also made the cut. These have been around on more expensive Garmins but trickling them down to the Vivoactive series is a good move.

That also ties into PacePro, Garmin’s gradient-aware pacing feature, and a race predictor that estimates finish times based on your training data. And Garmin Coach now covers both running and strength plans, making the device a little more versatile in terms of guided training.

Red shift mode is another subtle inclusion. It shifts the display tone toward red hues, which can reduce sleep-disrupting blue light at night.

A measured upgrade, priced right

What Garmin has done here is refine. They didn’t try to reinvent the watch, nor did they inflate the price. At $299.99, the Vivoactive 6 launches at the same price as its predecessor did. And with the Vivoactive 5 already dropping to $220, Garmin now offers two similar devices at different price points depending on how much depth someone wants in their tracking.

The Vivoactive 6 won’t pull in buyers looking for flashy upgrades. But for those who care about gradual improvements, especially in fitness accuracy and training depth, it quietly becomes the better buy. For existing Vivoactive 5 owners, the upgrades are probably not big enough to warrant an upgrade.

You can find the Vivoactive 6 now on Garmin’s website for $299.99.

Garmin Vivoactive 6 vs 5: Tech specs comparison

These are the changes and additions Vivoactive 6 brings over its predecessor.

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