[ad_1]
Garmin’s upcoming Vivoactive 6 just broke cover over the weekend – in its first proper leak. While there’s a hint of a redesign and a possible bump in storage, the standout detail is the suggestion that a long-awaited smart sleep alarm could finally be making its way to a Garmin watch.
A familiar face with small tweaks
At first glance, the Vivoactive 6 doesn’t look like a huge departure from its predecessor. The biggest visual change seems to be a redesign of one of the physical buttons. Otherwise, it holds onto the round face and minimal design language that’s defined the line for years.
Here are some images (not hosted on our website).
The website Fitness-tracker-test.info spotted a few retail listings which were removed. This throws in some more details about the upcoming device.
According to all the info so far, the internal upgrades show Garmin is still invested in keeping the Vivoactive relevant. The device will pack animated workouts and a fresh set of running metrics. It’s not quite Forerunner-level, but definitely a step up from the current Vivoactive 5.
One of the more technical changes is an increase in internal storage. The Vivoactive 6 will reportedly offer 8GB, double what came before. Unfortunately, this isn’t being used to support offline maps. It’s strictly for music storage.
Another improvement is to do with satellite support. The device adds BeiDou and QZSS to its list, rounding out its global positioning capabilities. However, it won’t offer dual-band GNSS, so users in dense urban areas might still struggle with accuracy under tall buildings or heavy foliage.
The sensor hardware seems to be holding steady. Listings point to the continued use of the Elevate 4 heart rate sensor, which has been around for a while now. That might disappoint some hoping for the latest Elevate 5.
Smart sleep alarm may be the real story
What really stands out here is the mention of a smart alarm. One of the retail listings — reportedly describes a feature with this name.
Presumably, this is an alarm that wakes you up at the optimal time during your sleep cycle. That means if you set an alarm for 7 AM, the watch might buzz you awake at 6:45 if you’re in light sleep. The idea is to avoid dragging yourself out of deep sleep and feeling groggy all morning.
Garmin already collects a fair amount of sleep data. They offer reasonably detailed sleep stages, sleep scores, and even recommend how much you should be sleeping based on your activity and recovery. So it’s always been strange that they haven’t done more with it.
Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets
Other brands have been ahead of the curve here. Whoop has built their entire brand around recovery and sleep, and their smart alarm is excellent. Even a few budget wearables have dabbled with this. The closest you can get on Garmin right now is through ConnectIQ apps — but those are clunky and not particularly power-efficient.
If this feature makes it to the final Vivoactive 6, it’ll fill a gap Garmin users have been asking about for years. The data is already there — this would just be a smarter way to use it.
Word is the Vivoactive 6 could drop in the coming weeks. If it does, and that smart sleep alarm makes the cut, fingers crossed Garmin brings it to other models too — and doesn’t tuck it behind a subscription!
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter! Check out our YouTube channel.
[ad_2]
Source link