Garmin vivofit jr 2 vs 3 (2021): Comparing Fitness Trackers For Kids

Released in late 2020, the vivofit jr 3 is the latest addition in Garmin’s lineup of wearables for kids. Naturally, we want to compare it to the vivofit jr 2, its predecessor, to see if it’s a worthy upgrade. The Garmin vivofit jr 3 comes with a new look and some new features, but is it worth it to spend the extra money for it? Or should you just buy the older but still reliable Garmin vivofit jr 2? Below is our comparison of the two.

Garmin vivofit jr 2 vs 3 Comparison Chart

Design

The display of the Garmin vivofit jr 3 is bigger and has a higher resolution than the screen of the vivofit jr 2.

Both the Garmin vivofit jr 2 and 3 are designed for kids ages 4 and above. The Garmin vivofit jr 2 has two styles—stretchy bands and adjustable bands. The stretchy bands can fit wrists up to 147mm while the adjustable bands can accommodate wrists up to 175mm. In contrast, the vivofit jr 3 only comes with adjustable bands. There are a lot of third party bands that will fit the vivofit jr 2 and 3 if your child wants to have different color bands. The bands that come with the two are made with silicone.

The biggest difference between the two fitness trackers is their display. On the vivofit jr 2, the screen measures 0.43 x 0.43 inches, has a resolution of 88 x 88 pixels and only has 8 colors. The vivofit jr 3, on the other hand, sports a slightly larger display that measures 0.56 x 0.56 inches with a resolution of 112 x 112 pixels and 64 colors. Due to its larger screen, the vivofit jr 3 is heavier than the vivofit jr 2, with the two of them weighing 25g and 17.5g, respectively.

These are designed to be worn all the time and it’s nice to see that they are durable. The two of them also have a 5 ATM water resistance, meaning that they are water-resistant to up to 50 meters.

As the vivofit jr 2 is older, there are more themes available for it. As of this writing, the vivofit jr 3 only has a few themes available—Garmin’s own themes, Marvel and Disney. Please refer to the comparison chart above for all available themes.

Features

The I.C.E. or In Case of Emergency screen is a feature that’s only available on the Garmin vivofit jr 3.

Setting up the vivofit jr 2 and 3 will require that you create a Garmin Connect account. You’ll then have to download the Garmin Jr. app to set activity goals, assign chores, track your child and hand out coins for rewards. In the Garmin Jr. app, there’s a “Kid Mode” that you can enable so that your child can have limited access to the app on their own phone.

Features-wise, there’s not a lot of difference between the two. Both fitness trackers have themed adventures that your kids can unlock by meeting real-world activity goals. Meeting these goals will unlock the next part of the story.

On the trackers themselves, your child can cycle and view different information such as time and date, their progress on the 60-minute activity goal, number of steps taken, total coins earned and the list of chores that are available to them. An additional widget that is only available on the vivofit jr 3 is the I.C.E. or In Case of Emergency widget. This displays your name and contact information so that you can be contacted easily when the need arises.

Tracking

The Garmin vivofit jr 2 and vivofit jr 3 offer similar activity tracking.

Both fitness trackers have a step counter. However, only the vivofit jr 2 has the Move Bar, which will appear after an hour of inactivity. The Move Bar reminds your child to move, which is not really that big of a feature, but it is still nice to have. On the vivofit jr 3, this feature is gone, but it does have a counter for the distance travelled.

Aside from tracking your child’s steps, the vivofit jr 2 and 3 both also come with sleep tracking functions. You can view your kid’s quality of sleep on the Garmin Jr. app. It shows you the quality of sleep as well as the total number of hours.

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Battery

The Garmin vivofit jr 2 and 3 come with cell coin batteries.

Unlike other fitness trackers, the Garmin vivofit jr 2 and 3 come with coin cell batteries that can last up to a year. You no longer need to worry about charging at night or losing charge in the middle of the day. You only need to replace the batteries once a year and to do so, you just need to unscrew the four screws at the back that hold the batteries in place. The Garmin vivofit jr 2 requires a CR1632 battery while the Garmin vivofit jr 3 needs a CR2025 battery.

Verdict

There’s not a lot of difference between the Garmin vivofit jr 2 and vivofit jr 3, so choosing one will depend on the theme and style that your kid will like.

Since the two are similar in a lot of ways, you should choose one depending on which style and theme your kid will like most. That said, the Garmin vivofit jr 2 offers the better value for money since it is cheaper and it is often on sale. The Garmin vivofit jr 3 is also a good buy if you prefer a bigger screen on your child’s fitness tracker. Whichever one you choose, you’ll be getting an excellent fitness tracker for your kid.

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