Why Garmin Dominates In GPS Running Tech, Despite Fitbit’s Gains

You learn a lot monitoring the wearable tech space day in and day out.  Some of the time we spend researching the wearables market gives us a chance to sneak around in the deeper, darker parts of Amazon’s world to see which devices are selling the most in different categories.

The results are very interesting, especially considering how much press Fitbit gets for it’s sales dominance.

Today we drill down into categories like ‘Running GPS Units’ or ‘Heart Rate Monitors’ to get a better glimpse at who is buying what.

Our weekly roundup begins with the Amazon category “Running GPS Units”.  Check out Amazon’s own list of the bestselling Running GPS Units here, and you’ll see that Garmin holds seven of the top ten spots.  The only other wearable running gps unit to share the stage with Garmin is Polar with it’s A360 Fitness Tracker (6th place) and teh Polar M400 GPS Smart Sports Watch (in 9th).

The GoPro controlling Polar V800 GPS Sports Watch we wrote about in February isn’t even on the list…yet, and here’s why:  Amazon’s ‘Best Sellers’ lists are cumulative in nature, reflecting the fact that a product that has been around for a year will likely have much more total sales than a product released last month.

But back to our GPS Running Watch best-seller.  Can you guess which Garmin model is still Number One?

Answer: It’s the Garmin Vivofit 2 Activity Tracker.

Released in March 2015, Garmin didn’t just find a way to ensure the Vivofit 2 had the top features built in, but their engineers went the extra mile really make it smart.

First up, of course the Vivofit 2 has GPS and although it tracks Heart Rate through a separate monitor, it is included in some Vivofit 2 packages.  For runners and training athletes, these are probably the top two features.  But unlike other fitness devices, the built-in battery on the Vivofit 2 lasts about a year so there’s no daily fumbling or remembering to charge it.  So leave it on because it also has built in sleep tracking, making it a true 24/7 wearable.

The Garmin Vivofit 2 is water-resistant enough to make it through the rain or be worn in the shower.

There’s one neat feature about the Vivofit 2 package that we really like, especially if it’s a gift for someone else: the Vivofit 2 comes with 2 bands, a large and a small so it’s good to go for the owner right away.  (Just read the reviews of other devices that come in a specific size so see how frustrating it is when you don’t get one that fits right away.)

So why are we still talking about a Fitness Tracker that’s been around for 2 years and has it’s younger brother, the Vivofit 3 nipping at it’s heels?

Because Garmin found such a good recipe with the Vivofit 2 Activity Tracker that it just keep selling and selling. And because newer models aren’t wildly better than the Vivofit 2, it has become one of the least expensive GPS Activity Trackers.

Without the separate Heart Rate monitor, the Garmin Vivofit 2 is under $60 with free Prime shipping.

With the Heart Rate monitor, it’s under $90.

[turbo_widget widget-prefix=text&obj-class=WP_Widget_Text&widget-text–title=&widget-text–text=%3Cscript+src%3D%22%2F%2Fz-na.amazon-adsystem.com%2Fwidgets%2Fonejs%3FMarketPlace%3DUS%26adInstanceId%3D46022deb-4b9e-4ee7-b798-1a90e866be3d%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E&widget-text–filter=false]