WARM: Garmin Vivoactive 4 $399.99

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Jun 12th, 2020 7:48 pm

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Jun 12th, 2020 8:09 am

ccwestcliff [OP]: Jr. Member; Jan 5, 2013; 104 posts; 87 upvotes; Montreal

Jun 12th, 2020 8:09 am

[Amazon.ca] WARM: Garmin Vivoactive 4 $399.99

Deal Link:: https://www.amazon.ca/Garmin-V%C3%ADvoa ... amp;sr=8-5
Price:: 399.99
Savings:: 17
Retailer:: Amazon.ca

More offers from Amazon.ca

Certainly not hot but perhaps warm for some: Garmin Vivoactive 4 is down to $399.99 at Amazon.ca again.
I was looking to upgrade my Garmin Fenix 3HR and wanted a smaller form factor (Garmin Fenix 5x was on sale for $399 just the other week at Best Buy) and after doing some research landed on the Vivoactive 4 that overall received great reviews.
(The price is the same at Best Buy and others btw but Best Buy ships via Canada Post which right now means you can receive your parcel anywhere between 2 days to 2 months ...)

22 replies

Jun 12th, 2020 9:35 am

jcon: Deal Fanatic; Sep 3, 2006; 5122 posts; 2357 upvotes; Winnipeg

Jun 12th, 2020 9:35 am

I noticed it's the same price at Costco.

https://www.costco.ca/garmin-vivoactive ... 31630.html

Don't like the thread? Hide it or report it. Don't incessantly complain about it in the thread, please.

+1

Jun 12th, 2020 9:58 am

Majokito: Deal Addict; Feb 14, 2019; 1427 posts; 1703 upvotes

Jun 12th, 2020 9:58 am

They had this sale a month ago or so. It was at all retailers so it may be the same this time. Amazon, Best Buy, MEC, Garmin, Costco, etc. Also, check if the GoodLife discount applies (if you're a member).

Jun 12th, 2020 10:00 am

JoaoPauloB93228: Newbie; Jul 2, 2019; 12 posts; 2 upvotes

Jun 12th, 2020 10:00 am

Any reason to get this over Vivoactive 3 for CAD199? There doesnt seem to be a compeling reason other than one extra physical button.
The rest is mostly the same.

Jun 12th, 2020 10:09 am

snazarella: Member; Dec 17, 2018; 301 posts; 448 upvotes; Ottawa

Jun 12th, 2020 10:09 am

Definitely a warm deal. It is $383 with the GL discount and you have to pay $12 shipping PLUS they are shipping with UPS right now. UPS is struggling with the heavy volumes and it is taking around a week longer than advertised for many items to arrive.

I have the VA3M. I have the VA3. I bought it when the GL discount was better and the VA3 was only $150 plus shipping. I have decided to skip the VA4. I like the touchscreen and as a runner, cyclist, hiker etc the VA3 does everything that I need. I didn't prefer the VA3M over it and when it broke, I switched to the VA3, no music. Personally I didn't use the music feature enough to get any value out of it AND it was murder to the battery life.

Current GL price of the VA3M is $280 plus taxes and $12 shipping. I just ordered one for a friend.

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Jun 12th, 2020 10:27 am

Majokito: Deal Addict; Feb 14, 2019; 1427 posts; 1703 upvotes

Jun 12th, 2020 10:27 am

JoaoPauloB93228 wrote: ↑ Any reason to get this over Vivoactive 3 for CAD199? There doesnt seem to be a compeling reason other than one extra physical button.
The rest is mostly the same.

Not a huge difference. VA4 has a slightly bigger screen, better battery, music (VA3 Music version exists but costs a bit more), body battery, pulse OX, a few extra exercises. Wouldn't say it's worth double the price.

I bought the Venu a while back, which is essentially the VA4 with a better screen. I love it! Never owned a previous Garmin watch. It's pricey but I had a couple gift cards to put towards it so it didn't sting the wallet as much.

+1

Jun 12th, 2020 10:30 am

blexann: Deal Guru; Mar 10, 2005; 10690 posts; 4057 upvotes

Jun 12th, 2020 10:30 am

JoaoPauloB93228 wrote: ↑ Any reason to get this over Vivoactive 3 for CAD199? There doesnt seem to be a compeling reason other than one extra physical button.
The rest is mostly the same.

One of the major differences is the one button on the 3 vs two buttons on the 4. So functionally the 4 is better

"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus

Jun 12th, 2020 11:29 am

markthomas594: Jr. Member; Jan 24, 2016; 110 posts; 164 upvotes; Ottawa, ON

Jun 12th, 2020 11:29 am

JoaoPauloB93228 wrote: ↑ Any reason to get this over Vivoactive 3 for CAD199? There doesnt seem to be a compeling reason other than one extra physical button.
The rest is mostly the same.

I bought the VA3 a couple of years ago for $250 and I’d have a hard time rationalizing the extra cost for the VA4. I use it for running and biking as well as regular activity tracking (steps, stairs, etc) and my only real issue is the battery life (often have to charge every 2-3 days depending on how much gps I use). I thought about upgrading to the VA4 for battery life, but sounds like tons of people are still having issues with that. As for the one button limitation, unless you want to do splits it’s really not needed. The VA3 does offer a double tap screen option for laps, but it doesn’t work very well in my experience.

+1

Jun 12th, 2020 11:53 am

ccwestcliff [OP]: Jr. Member; Jan 5, 2013; 104 posts; 87 upvotes; Montreal

Jun 12th, 2020 11:53 am

snazarella wrote: ↑ Definitely a warm deal. It is $383 with the GL discount and you have to pay $12 shipping PLUS they are shipping with UPS right now. UPS is struggling with the heavy volumes and it is taking around a week longer than advertised for many items to arrive.

I have the VA3M. I have the VA3. I bought it when the GL discount was better and the VA3 was only $150 plus shipping. I have decided to skip the VA4. I like the touchscreen and as a runner, cyclist, hiker etc the VA3 does everything that I need. I didn't prefer the VA3M over it and when it broke, I switched to the VA3, no music. Personally I didn't use the music feature enough to get any value out of it AND it was murder to the battery life.

Current GL price of the VA3M is $280 plus taxes and $12 shipping. I just ordered one for a friend.

Yeah, the shipping issues are the main reason I posted the Amazon.ca deal as in my experience their own logistics shipping is still the most reliable. I have ordered a few items throughout the last couple of months and they all arrived within the stated timeframe. That is with one exception one item that was shipped from Brampton, ON to MTL via Canada Post. Long story short, the item label was created May 25 and it is still not picked up as of today.
In general I can also second the comments re UPS who equally seems to struggle. Had an item being out for delivery three times over the cause of a good week before it was finally delivered.

+1

Jun 12th, 2020 12:05 pm

freewheel: Sr. Member; Dec 14, 2007; 605 posts; 571 upvotes

Jun 12th, 2020 12:05 pm

snazarella wrote: ↑ Definitely a warm deal. It is $383 with the GL discount and you have to pay $12 shipping PLUS they are shipping with UPS right now. UPS is struggling with the heavy volumes and it is taking around a week longer than advertised for many items to arrive.

I have the VA3M. I have the VA3. I bought it when the GL discount was better and the VA3 was only $150 plus shipping. I have decided to skip the VA4. I like the touchscreen and as a runner, cyclist, hiker etc the VA3 does everything that I need. I didn't prefer the VA3M over it and when it broke, I switched to the VA3, no music. Personally I didn't use the music feature enough to get any value out of it AND it was murder to the battery life.

Current GL price of the VA3M is $280 plus taxes and $12 shipping. I just ordered one for a friend.

What has the GL discount changed to now?

+1

Jun 12th, 2020 12:06 pm

JoaoPauloB93228: Newbie; Jul 2, 2019; 12 posts; 2 upvotes

Jun 12th, 2020 12:06 pm

Ok,
So i'm looking at the VENU now. I've got a VivoActive 3 (recently bought, still have time to return). I am seriously thinking of returning it and getting the Venu. The screen is the low point of the VA3. VA4, as discussed above, doesnt justify the 399 price tag (compared to the va3).
For anyone using the VENU, how well does the not-always-on screen work? Reasonable? Because I read that if its always on, battery only lasts two days.

Jun 12th, 2020 12:07 pm

JoaoPauloB93228: Newbie; Jul 2, 2019; 12 posts; 2 upvotes

Jun 12th, 2020 12:07 pm

I get that its better. But is it "twice the price" better?

Jun 12th, 2020 12:24 pm

snazarella: Member; Dec 17, 2018; 301 posts; 448 upvotes; Ottawa

Jun 12th, 2020 12:24 pm

freewheel wrote: ↑ What has the GL discount changed to now?

It's only 20% now.

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Jun 12th, 2020 12:34 pm

Majokito: Deal Addict; Feb 14, 2019; 1427 posts; 1703 upvotes

Jun 12th, 2020 12:34 pm

JoaoPauloB93228 wrote: ↑Ok,
So i'm looking at the VENU now. I've got a VivoActive 3 (recently bought, still have time to return). I am seriously thinking of returning it and getting the Venu. The screen is the low point of the VA3. VA4, as discussed above, doesnt justify the 399 price tag (compared to the va3).
For anyone using the VENU, how well does the not-always-on screen work? Reasonable? Because I read that if its always on, battery only lasts two days.

I have the Venu. Been using it for a month or two. I have no issues with the screen. I turn my wrist, it lights up so I can see it them shuts off after whatever delay you set. With mostly default settings on the device I get maybe 5-7 days. I've started using pulse OX and running with GPS a few times a week so it's probably closer to about 5 days for me right now which is way better than what I was used to with Wear OS.

Jun 12th, 2020 4:20 pm

wearysky: Deal Expert; Nov 28, 2013; 20506 posts; 9950 upvotes; Oakville

Jun 12th, 2020 4:20 pm

Decent deal, and the 3 for $199 is an excellent deal too. I had the 3, but had issues with it not correctly measuring elevation (I would start and finish at home, it would tell me that I finished 40m below my starting altitude). Tried getting Garmin to replace it under warranty, they said it was a "known issue" and they would "let me know when a fix came out" - a year later and still no fix, so I used my Geek Squad warranty (got it discounted on a price match when I bought it) to get the full purchase price back. All of these companies have their reports of terrible warranty service, but this has kinda pushed me away from Garmin for a while. Plus, getting data out of the Garmin ecosystem was kind of a giant pain in the ass.

Jun 12th, 2020 4:27 pm

MoonDoggy: Deal Addict; Nov 19, 2006; 3673 posts; 382 upvotes; Toronto

Jun 12th, 2020 4:27 pm

JoaoPauloB93228 wrote: ↑ Ok,
So i'm looking at the VENU now. I've got a VivoActive 3 (recently bought, still have time to return). I am seriously thinking of returning it and getting the Venu. The screen is the low point of the VA3. VA4, as discussed above, doesnt justify the 399 price tag (compared to the va3).
For anyone using the VENU, how well does the not-always-on screen work? Reasonable? Because I read that if its always on, battery only lasts two days.

I had the vivoactive 3 for about 2 months but now i have a venu. i much prefer the venu cause things works better on it. if you are only wearing it for sports, i would just stick with the va3. otherwise, venu is slightly better in every category than the va3.

Jun 12th, 2020 4:59 pm

pentexplorer: Deal Addict; Mar 24, 2011; 1911 posts; 638 upvotes; Vancouver

Jun 12th, 2020 4:59 pm

The venu is the same price too .. I guess it's better to go for the venu

Jun 12th, 2020 5:22 pm

ccwestcliff [OP]: Jr. Member; Jan 5, 2013; 104 posts; 87 upvotes; Montreal

Jun 12th, 2020 5:22 pm

Reading the comments about VA4 vs Venu I opted for the VA4 due to the “always on” display yet still longer battery time.
The experience I had with my Fenix 3HR was the main reason for this.
For one, the transflexive display is excellent (no AMOLED of course but still great) and I took it on vacation for a whole week and could just leave my charger at home. Did daily runs and kayaking which I tracked, switched it off at night and still came home with 20% charge after a week.
So I hope the VA4 will have the same performance.
But at the end of the day it comes down to personal requirements. Both are great watches and I was very happy with my Fenix for the two years that I used it.