4.5 year old Garmin watch now faulty - accept refurbished replacement (£134) or try and push back?

user1977

I'd expect a penny whistle to last the longest out of all those items! No moving parts, nothing to become obsolete...

Grumpy_chap

FWIW - I think if Garmin are offering anything for a 4.5 yo fitness tracker smart watch, then that is fair and worth considering if the alternative will meet the OP's needs.

I happen to have a Vivoactive 3 which I purchased on run-out as the Vivoactive 4 that the OP has was already released.  My watch is only slightly older than the OP has and it is also starting to become less reliable.  I have put this down to the age of the device and the battery life - I have aways really thought the life-span of these watches is only a couple of years or so.  On that basis, 4 to 5 years is good going.

I am interested to know what faults the OP is experiencing.  Other than reduced battery life, my watch works as at should but has developed a tendency to log phantom flights of stairs if doing a run or similar.  I am really not sure I could take that as a fault that I'd do anything about given the watch is really at the end of life.

If the OP accepts the discount on the new / refurbished Vivoactive 5, the OP should check the specification first.  IIRC the Vivoactive 4 has flights of stairs and the Vivoactive 5 does not.  There may be other differences.  I think the nearest direct replacement for the Vivoactive 3 / 4 would be the Venu 3 (despite the item naming.