Garmin New Zealand has announced the vivoactive 3, a GPS smartwatch that introduces Garmin Pay, a contactless payment solution that lets users make secure payments from the watch, no phone or wallet required.
With Elevate wrist-based heart rate and over 15 built-in indoor and outdoor sports apps, the vivoactive 3 is packed with features to keep up with a varied active lifestyle. With thousands of watch faces, widgets, data fields and apps available to download for free from the Garmin Connect IQ store, users can easily customise the vivoactive 3. The vivoactive 3 is one of the many new wearables from Garmin being launched in conjunction with IFA in Berlin, Germany, September 1-6.
“Anyone who is out and about being active can relate to the struggle of where to stash a credit card or cash, and has had to forgo a post-workout snack or coffee as a result,” said Adam Howarth, General Manager Garmin Australasia. “We’re solving that dilemma with Garmin Pay, an exciting feature on the new vivoactive 3. Use it pretty much wherever contactless payments are accepted, and give yourself one less thing to remember when you’re leaving the house.”
Garmin Pay, enabled by FitPay, supports Visa and MasterCard debit and credit cards from major issuing banks, with more being added every day. Adding these cards into their Garmin Pay wallet gives users the same rewards and benefits of the physical cards, with the convenience of having them right on the wrist. The vivoactive 3 in New Zealand will be Garmin Pay ready, with banks and financial institutions anticipated for support late December 2017 / early 2018. A full list of participating banks and financial institutions can be found at Garmin.com/garminpay and will be continually updated and added to.
The vivoactive 3 features stainless steel metal details and an always-on high-resolution Garmin Chroma display. It also introduces Side Swipe, a control which makes for quick scrolling and swift navigation of menus, widgets and stats. The new vivoactive 3 is safe for swimming and showering and has a battery life of up to seven days in smartwatch mode and 13 hours in GPS mode.
With Elevate wrist-based heart rate, users can access fitness monitoring features including VO2 max and fitness age which provide valuable data to monitor changes in fitness level. All-day stress tracking is also available on the vivoactive 3 by monitoring HRV (heart rate variability) data. The ability to view both current stress levels at the wrist and a longer timetable of stress on Garmin Connect allows customers to identify patterns and consider making lifestyle changes to avoid or better cope with stress-inducing situations. A Four-Fold Breath relaxation timer further helps users balance stress and rest.
Smart notification vibration alerts are delivered right to the wrist. When paired with a compatible smartphone, users can receive and even respond to text messages and see social media updates, app alerts, calls, emails and more. The vivoactive 3 can also be used to control music on a smartphone, send an alert to locate a misplaced smartphone and control a Garmin VIRB camera (sold separately). The vivoactive 3 includes LiveTrack, a feature that provides family and friends with peace of mind during outdoor workouts by tracking activity and location in real time. Those individuals receive invitations via email, Facebook or Twitter with a link to a webpage that includes the position of the connected vivoactive 3 device.
The vivoactive 3 comes in three colors – black/stainless and white/stainless (with a recommended retail price of NZ$499) and Gunmetal (NZ$549) and is available from October. Users also have the option to switch up their style with compatible accessory bands (sold separately).
