Garmin has announced the arrival of the Vivomove Trend, the latest hybrid smartwatch in its collection and the first Garmin watch to feature wireless charging.
The $269.99 / £279.99 Trend follows the same rough design as we’ve seen from other Vivomove devices, with a hidden screen located below two physical watch hands, while the feature set also continues to prioritize health and wellness over fitness metrics.
One new addition – an overdue one – is the introduction of contactless payments through Garmin Pay, though things like daily activity stats, blood oxygen tracking, sleep and stress monitoring and access to Garmin metrics like Body Battery remain.
On paper, it also appears to have the same five-day battery life as present on its siblings, such as the Vivomove Sport released last year.
Really, though, there’s nothing hugely new or eye-catching in the features or design department. And actually, from a design perspective, the Trend’s monochrome LCD tech is actually a bit of a step down from the more expensive Vivomove 3 Luxe and Style, which feature hidden OLED screens.
It’s the wireless charging that’s most notable here.
Given that every other Garmin sports watch and smartwatch charges through the proprietary connector (or puck, if you have the Garmin Marq Gen 2), it’s a feature we’ve waited a long time to hit the lineup and simplify our charging setup.
And with the new Vivomove Trend, Garmin says that you should be able to slap it onto any Qi-certified mat and see the charge flow. As you would expect, there’s no Qi charger included with the watch, though you do still get the clip-on charging cable it’s always offered with the Vivomove range.
We’re looking forward to testing this one out – and, particularly, seeing how consistently and quickly the Trend can gain battery from wireless chargers. Stay tuned for our full review.
By Conor Allison
Conor moved to Wareable Media Group in 2017, initially covering all the latest developments in smartwatches, fitness trackers, and VR. He made a name for himself writing about trying out translation earbuds on a first date and cycling with a wearable airbag, as well as covering the industry’s latest releases.
Following a stint as Reviews Editor at Pocket-lint, Conor returned to Wareable Media Group in 2022 as Editor-at-Large. Conor has become a wearables expert, and helps people get more from their wearable tech, via Wareable’s considerable how-to-based guides.
He has also contributed to British GQ, Wired, Metro, The Independent, and The Mirror.
