Garmin Vívosmart 6 — Could this be the first truly capable fitness band with GPS?

Tags: Presentation | Garmin | Smart

7.1.2026 | 3 MIN

The display was the previous generation’s weak spot, and GPS had been missing from the entire line for years. Garmin Vívosmart 6 may change both — the question is, at what price.

Rumors started swirling in mid-December about the sixth-generation Vívosmart, and it looks like January 2026 could be a key month. Or rather a big V?

The last generation, Vívosmart 5, launched back in 2022, so it makes sense. It was—and still is—a very minimalist smart device focused mainly on health monitoring (and to some extent fitness), but it relies on a smartphone for some features. It doesn’t have built-in GPS.

Vívosmart 5 did outshine the competition when it came to heart-rate sampling frequency. With limited room for a larger battery, most rival devices sampled once per minute and then continuously every second during workouts. Vívosmart 5, by contrast, kept it up all day, whether you were recording an activity or not.

What it couldn’t do was measure distance and pace accurately without a phone—as I mentioned. But...

A modern fitness band with built-in GPS?

Everything suggests that Vívosmart 6 should include GPS, because within the source code of Garmin’s Bangladesh website not only did the product name appear, but also a short blurb that, besides mentioning 30 sport profiles, includes a note about built-in GPS.

Clues to Vívosmart 6 were spotted by Gadgets and Wearables, which noticed a new Garmin product registered in the Korean regulatory database. While models like Fenix or Forerunner are typically classified as “smartwatches” or “low power wireless devices,” this product, registered under number A04986, falls into the “fitness products” category. Combined with a Swedish placeholder web page, the hints really do point to Vívosmart 6.

With CES 2026 set for January 6–9 in Las Vegas, it stands to reason that Vívosmart 6 could be unveiled around then—ideally on January 6 for symmetry.

So, based on the leak, here’s what we can infer about Vívosmart 6:

• Main upgrade: Built-in GPS
• Expected launch window: January 6–9, 2026
• Expected unveiling: CES 2026

I’m well aware Garmin already had a band with GPS — Vívosport. But calling it modern would be a stretch. The display looked more like something from a Japanese Casio, and the model frankly never became particularly popular.

And of course we can speculate further. What was Vívosmart 5’s biggest drawback? The display.

It was small, finicky to operate, touch-only, and on top of that a monochrome OLED. I get that minimalism was the guiding idea for the line, but minimalist things should at least do one thing — work. For me, Vívosmart 5 was genuinely awkward to use. So if the sixth generation brought a slightly larger display and, better yet, switched to a livelier AMOLED, that would be great.

What about a barometer? Fair question, but honestly I struggle to imagine such an inexpensive product including one. Take Forerunner 55 for instance, which will probably be in a similar price bracket to the anticipated Vívosmart 6, and it doesn’t have a barometer either.

Frankly, beyond notifications I don’t expect any more premium smart features like NFC, a music player, or phone calls.

Infographic generated by AI.

Will Vívosmart 6 make sense in Garmin’s lineup?

If I expected anything — and I’m surely not alone — it was more likely a display-less band. Something like Whoop, Loop or Helio Strap.

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Suddenly, though, it looks like it could arrive as a kind of stopgap for a potential Forerunner 65. Forerunner 55 has been around forever with no successor in sight. Now we have a compact device with GPS. Vívoactive 5 also factors in for me, since price-wise it’s, in my view, quite close to the planned Vívosmart 6, which I’d peg at around €180. Why that high? Because of GPS.

But I’d rather not jump to conclusions until we see the full spec sheet.

Photo credits:

• Hodinky 365 photographers