Garmin vívoactive 5 Drops 39% Ahead of Amazon's Oct. 6 Prime Big Deal Days

Q: Garmin's wheelchair mode tracks pushes instead of steps, but what crucial safety feature gets quietly disabled when you turn it on?

When Garmin’s wheelchair mode is turned on, incident detection is disabled. That means the watch will count pushes instead of steps and enable wheelchair-specific tracking, but it will no longer use Garmin’s automatic crash-or-incident alert system that can notify emergency contacts through the paired phone and Garmin Connect app. Coverage comparing Garmin with Apple has flagged this as a notable limitation for wheelchair users, especially because Apple’s wheelchair support can still coexist with features like fall or crash-related emergency tools. Garmin’s own materials emphasize that incident detection is only a supplemental safety feature and works only in certain supported activities with a connected phone and network access. But in practice, for wheelchair users considering the vívoactive 5, the key tradeoff is clear: wheelchair mode improves accessibility and activity tracking, while quietly removing one of the device’s more important personal-safety protections.

3 articles · Updated · New York Post · Sep 29

Garmin’s vívoactive 5 is selling at a 39% discount on Amazon ahead of Prime Big Deal Days, with the offer available while inventory lasts.
The smartwatch targets fitness and recovery tracking, offering up to 11 days of battery life, Body Battery and sleep scores, step counting, and workout modes including HIIT, swimming and cycling.
Garmin also highlights accessibility and convenience features, including a wheelchair mode that tracks pushes instead of steps and on-watch music downloads for hands-free use.
Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days runs Oct. 6-7, positioning the sale as an early holiday-shopping push before Black Friday and Cyber Monday; the event is exclusive to Prime members.