Got My Garmin Vivoactive 3 (Gunmetal), Discounted & Early — But Was An ABSOLUTE PAIN To Pair With My Android 7.0 Tablet!

by Anura Guruge

So, I finally got IT — after 38-days of not having a Garmin Vivoactive on my wrist.

I, of course, ordered it through Amazon BUT did not get one fulfilled by Amazon — because their promised delivery was for this coming Monday, November 20, 2017.

I had been keeping an eye on these ‘small’ Garmin distributors who kept on claiming they could get me a Gunmetal model earlier. The latest to do so was ‘Heart Rate Monitors USA‘ — a small 14-person company in Pennsylvania.

On Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017, having watched their listing for 24-hours, I called them up. Spoke to a lady called ‘Amy’. She seemed genuine enough and she inspired confidence. So, I placed an order — WITHOUT cancelling my prior order which was NOT due to ship till today.

Heart Rate Monitors USA shipped out the unit — to UPS — within 4 hours. Yes, I was monitoring (every couple of hours). {Smile}

I got it yesterday, Thursday, November 16, 2017 — Beaujolais Nouveau Day.

I also got it for $310 — rather than the $330 I was being charged by Amazon.

I like it. Nice and light and looks OK.

But, the JOY of getting it was MARRED by the horrendous problems I had trying to PAIR IT with my 6-month old, ASUS ZenPad 10.1″ running Android 7.0. Now I had had my old Garmin Vivoactive HR paired with this tablet (albeit with erratic syncing) and had, after 9 or 10 attempts, managed to pair my short lived Garmin Forerunner 235 with it.

Click to ENLARGE.

With the Vivoactive 3 I just could NOT get it to PAIR. I would type in the 6-digit pairing code and something would go WRONG or NOTHING would happen.

Called up Garmin support and was with them for nearly 50 minutes. They admitted that they have NEVER tested pairings with Tablets. Just phones. Which is why they call it ‘Pair With Phone’.

It paired, first time, with an old ASUS phone. I do not have a working smartphone. I prefer a 10″ tablet.

I was SO DISGUSTED I set out to return it! Even reboxed it — with a printed return label.

Then I relented. I decided to get a phone — most likely a Google Pixel XL, since my main requirement is a decent camera to use at events (e.g., concerts). So, I started looking for phones.

Also read some posts about Bluetooth. Once suggested STOPPING the Bluetooth service on Android and starting it again. Did that around midnight. Then, two attempts later it PAIRED!

I know I spent close to 2.25 hours trying to get it to pair — and MAYBE 22 (or more) attempts.

That is NOT right.

So, that spoiled the whole experience. I am still recovering!

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>>>> Search ‘Fitbit’ & ‘Garmin’.

by Anura Guruge