LIVE FROM IFA2017, BERLIN: Garmin announced a new set of wearables, including its first touchscreen hybrid smartwatch, as it also entered the ranks of vendors offering contactless payments.

Vivomove HR (pictured) is a hybrid smartwatch with a touchscreen display which supports activity tracking, heart rate monitoring and smart notifications. The company said: “precision hands show the time and dynamically move out of the way for easy viewing of messages, heart rate and more”.

Dan Bartel, Garmin VP of worldwide sales, said: “With the new Vivomove HR, not only is the design as elegant as ever, the wearable technology is cutting edge. We’re the first on the market to offer a hybrid smartwatch with both wrist-based heart rate and a digital touchscreen display. And you get all of that without losing the classic, timeless look of an analogue watch.”

It is “swim and shower safe”, and has a battery life of up to five days in smart mode or two weeks in watch mode.

Two versions will be available: HR Sport and HR Premium, the latter featuring leather straps and full steel body. Suggested pricing is $199.99 and $299.99, respectively.

Payments
Next up was Vivoactive 3, a GPS smartwatch which “introduces Garmin Pay”, a contactless payment service enabled by partner FitPay. The company is following a similar path to Fitbit, which also includes contactless payment capability in its Ionic smart watch.

In addition to the usual raft of fitness features, Vivoactive 3 includes an always-on display and introduces a new “Side Swipe” control to offer quick scrolling and navigation of menus, widgets and stats.

Available in three colours, pricing starts at $299.99.

Finally, Garmin announced Vivosport, a smart activity tracker with heart rate monitoring and GPS. It includes colour touchscreen display, with a suggested retail price of $199.99.