Garmin launches Vivosmart HR+, a fitness wearable with GPS for $219, $70 more than original Vivosmart HR model that lacked GPS
Today Garmin announced … Brian Heater / TechCrunch : Garmin's Vivosmart HR activity tracker gets a GPS upgrade Rob Thubron / TechSpot : Garmin adds GPS technology to an activity tracker with the Vivosmart HR+ Sean O'Kane / The Verge : Garmin adds GPS to the Vivosmart fitness tracker Edgar Alvarez / Engadget : Garmin's new fitness tracker is a more accurate Vivosmart HR CNET : Garmin's Vivosmart HR+ is a slim fitness tracker with GPS (hands-on) Matthew Miller / ZDNet : Garmin brings GPS to an activity band with the Vivosmart HR+ Adrian Diaconescu / Pocketnow : Garmin Vivosmart HR+ hits the wearable scene with its own GPS chip Chris Davies / SlashGear : Garmin's vivosmart HR+ adds GPS and remote action-cam control Peter K. / PhoneArena : Garmin introduces a new activity tracker, the $219.99 GPS-enabled Vivosmart HR+ Jared DiPane / iMore : Garmin adds GPS to the Vivosmart trackers with new Vivosmart HR+
Context & Ripple Effects
Garmin's band line has been climbing a feature ladder fast: the $150 Vivosmart HR arrived last November with an optical heart-rate sensor, and a February refresh pushed automatic workout detection into the Vivofit and a bigger optical-HR face into the Vivoactive. The catch was positioning — a December review scored the Vivosmart HR on par with Fitbit's Charge HR on tracking but flagged bulk and a weaker app.
The Vivosmart HR+ answers the one gap Fitbit's band didn't close: built-in GPS, at $219 — a $70 premium over the model it replaces, and notably above Garmin's own $170 Forerunner 25, which already paired GPS with smartphone alerts.
First-order effects
- Band buyers now face a two-tier Garmin lineup: $150 without GPS or $219 with it, moving the Vivosmart upmarket toward running-watch territory.
- Garmin's own Forerunner 25, cheaper with GPS, becomes internal competition — the HR+ has to justify its premium on all-day wearability rather than satellite tracking alone.
Second-order effects
- Fitbit's Charge line, benchmarked head-to-head in reviews, faces pressure to match on-device GPS or cede the serious-runner band segment to Garmin.
- A $70 sensor premium tests how much of the band market will pay watch-grade pricing, informing where Garmin sets the floor when the next Vivosmart generation arrives.
Third-order effects
- If runners adopt GPS bands, the line between fitness tracker and running watch blurs, forcing vendors like Garmin and Fitbit to differentiate on software and ecosystem rather than sensor checklists — the pattern that later produced the feature-stacked but cheaper Vivosmart 4 at $129.
The trend: Fitness bands are absorbing running-watch sensors like GPS, splitting the wearable market into cheap step counters and pricier mid-tier training devices.