GARMIN vívofit 4

Price: £70 What does it do?

Garmin’s vívofit and vívosmart ranges have been hugely successful. They furnish you with all the basics, and they’re affordable, reliable, and much slicker than the many cut-price copycats. Here we have step counter, distance tracker (but note it’s not GPS-based) and calorie-burn indicator in a swim-proof, showerproof package, with a colour swipe-screen. But the big feature with this one is that it uses a standard watch battery – with a claimed battery life of one year – meaning it doesn’t need to be recharged and won’t suddenly run out of juice on a big walk.

Ease of use

Interface and navigation between the screens are nice and easy once you understand what the icons all mean. It syncs (easily) to the Garmin Connect app which is beautifully clear, summarising your daily, weekly and monthly activity very concisely. It also offers motivational nudging and nurturing, but in a slightly clunkier, more formal way than Fitbit.

What’s it like to wear?

Smoother, secure, light: almost exactly like the Fitbit Alta. Not sure about the paint-speckle design, but it also comes in standard colours too.