Garmin Venu Sq 2 assessment: a superb Fitbit various

Once I consider a Garmin, I often image a behemoth of a watch worn by a sweaty marathoner — and I see loads of each at my run membership each week. What I don’t consider is life-style smartwatches, regardless that I do know Garmin makes a number of. (A lot of which I’ve reviewed!) It simply wasn’t a class that performed to the corporate’s strengths. Or no less than that’s what I used to assume. After testing the $249.99 Venu Sq 2, my stance is starting to vary.

Because the identify implies, the Venu Sq 2 is the sequel to the Venu Sq (formally pronounced S Q) and serves because the entry-level watch in Garmin’s Venu line. The Venu watches are the closest factor the corporate has to extra conventional smartwatches, characterised by shade OLED shows, sleeker designs, streamlined health monitoring, and a barely larger deal with sensible options. The one downside was they had been sort of costly in comparison with the competitors. However with the Venu Sq 2, it seems like Garmin’s struck a greater stability. Not solely is it higher than Fitbit’s Versa 4 and Sense 2, however it’s top-of-the-line health watches you should purchase for underneath $300.

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I didn’t count on a lot after I unboxed the Venu Sq 2. What can I say? It seems like an Apple Watch knockoff, and there’s no scarcity of these. Throw a stone on Amazon, and also you’ll hit a pair dozen of them. My assessment unit additionally occurs to be the identical shade as my Apple Watch Collection 8. I’ve even reached for the incorrect watch a few times. Visually, the one distinctive issues concerning the Venu Sq 2 are the teeny dots surrounding its 1.4-inch OLED show and the 2 buttons on the aspect of the watch. 

The design did develop on me after just a few days. Though the case itself is plastic, the aluminum bezel provides it an elegant vibe. I wouldn’t really feel underdressed with the default silicone strap, but when it’s to not your style, you may all the time swap it with any customary 20mm band. Dimension-wise, the 40mm watch case is excellent for my wrist, and it was comfy sufficient to put on 24/7. At 38g, it’s light-weight, and I’m happy to report I didn’t rip it off at night time as I generally do with bulkier watches, and it didn’t drag down my wrist whereas working. That’s nice if, like me, you’ve extra petite wrists. The watch can be a slim 11mm and by no means caught on my winter coat sleeves. 

Whereas I choose smaller watches for consolation, I usually discover their screens tougher to learn. However I didn’t thoughts the Venu Sq 2’s show. My eyesight isn’t nice, however the vivid colours and bigger default textual content measurement made notifications simpler to learn than on different equally sized watches. The touchscreen is typically a half-second late when swiping, however to not the purpose the place it’s irritating or unusable. 

Whereas it seems like an Apple Watch, the battery life is all Garmin. With common utilization, the Venu Sq 2 has an estimated 11 days of battery life and between 20–26 hours of GPS exercises. I’ve been sporting this for about eight or 9 days straight, and it’s solely now beginning to dip underneath the 25 p.c mark. That’s with the always-on show disabled. Enabling it is going to shrink that right down to about three days, although battery life will all the time rely in your particular person utilization. Regardless, it is best to get a number of days on a single cost, regardless of your settings.

What I don’t love is the proprietary charger. It additionally doesn’t assist that it’s nonetheless USB-A. Nonetheless, proprietary smartwatch chargers are an industry-wide downside, and no less than this one works with a number of different Garmin watches. 

Informal, entry-level smartwatches just like the Venu Sq 2 won’t ever outperform top-of-the-line flagships on options or sturdiness. Even so, Garmin packs lots into this lil man. I’m not making an attempt to get carpal tunnel, so listed below are the specs and options it’s essential know. (You may try the total listing right here.) 

• Constructed-in GPS (GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo)
• Good options embody alarms, timers, stopwatches, timers, a third-party app retailer through Garmin Join IQ, push notifications, calendar occasions, media controls, discover my telephone / watch, contactless funds, fast replies to texts (Android solely)
• Numerous watchfaces
• Sensors: Optical coronary heart fee sensor, compass, accelerometer, SpO2 sensors
• Has emergency security options and fall detection however requires your smartphone to work
• Helps Bluetooth and ANT Plus equipment
• 5ATM of water resistance, i.e., secure for swimming pools
• If you happen to get the Music model, you get about 500 songs price of onboard storage

That is a formidable characteristic set for the value. And when you spend the additional $50 for the Music model, you may go away your telephone at residence for shorter exercises or errands. However until you should have onboard music, I’d suggest sticking with the common mannequin since this isn’t a real standalone watch — you’ll often have your telephone with you.

If you happen to do get the Music model, offline Spotify playlists are the simplest approach to hearken to music. You may obtain them proper from the watch app. (You’ll want a Premium account.) It took about 5 minutes to switch the 100 songs in Spotify’s That is: EXO playlist. I’m listening to it as I write this assessment and having a grand time. The Join IQ retailer additionally helps Amazon Music, Deezer, and a handful of others. Apple Music customers also can switch playlists through the Garmin Specific desktop app, however it’s a trouble as a result of it solely transfers information that you simply’ve purchased from the iTunes retailer, not ones you stream by means of Apple Music’s subscription service. This mangled my sacred working playlist and wasted an hour of my life. Belief me: simply use Spotify, or stream out of your telephone.

The Venu Sq 2 helps contactless cost through Garmin Pay. It isn’t as widespread as Apple Pay or Google Pockets, however it’ll do in a pinch. I had no issue including a card and paying for a drink from the merchandising machine. You’ll need to double-check the listing of banks that assist Garmin Pay, however there’s a ton within the US. In sure cities, you can even use it for public transit, although within the US, that solely contains New York, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon. 

Nevertheless, the Venu Sq 2 isn’t a really standalone watch as a result of Garmin’s security and fall detection options require your telephone’s mobile connection. It’s high quality when sticking near residence. I’ve left my telephone behind for a brief restoration run across the block and whereas cross-training at my constructing’s health club. The secret is that in both state of affairs, I’d be capable of get assist even with out my telephone. I’d be a lot warier of leaving my telephone at residence when venturing outdoors my neighborhood. 

I examined the Venu Sq 2 on a number of GPS runs alongside my telephone, the Apple Watch Extremely, and the Collection 8. The variations had been so negligible it virtually wasn’t price recording. The Extremely’s multiband GPS was higher, however not by a complete lot. In coronary heart fee testing, the Venu Sq 2 was on par with my Polar H10 chest strap and the Extremely. These outcomes are a snoozefest, however that’s an excellent factor. It is a Garmin watch, and it performs like one. 

The Venu Sq 2 doesn’t monitor each doable metric, however it doesn’t must. Even skilled athletes could not use all the pieces Garmin tracks on its dearer watches. What issues is you’ve received all of the fundamentals like steps, energy burned, and depth minutes. I’m a fan of the latter, because it helps learners perceive whether or not they’re getting the beneficial 150 minutes of reasonable train per week. The watch also can monitor most typical actions, together with pilates, yoga, HIIT, and periods on health club tools like ellipticals. You’ll be lined until you’re into probably the most excessive of sports activities. 

On the wellness entrance, you get options like sleep monitoring, stress monitoring, interval monitoring, hydration monitoring, guided respiratory periods, respiration fee, and Garmin’s Physique Battery restoration gauge. Of those, Physique Battery is probably the most distinctive. It’s a gauge of how a lot vitality you’ve exerted in a day versus how a lot you’ve recharged the earlier night time. I’ve used it a ton over time, and it’s typically spot on. For learners, it’s an excellent, easy approach to visualize restoration. 

This isn’t actually the Garmin for superior athletes, however what I like concerning the Venu Sq 2 is it’s a watch you may develop with. It’s easy sufficient for learners, however there’s stuff for intermediate-level athletes, too — particularly runners. The Garmin Coach coaching plans for 5K, 10K, and half-marathons are extra in-depth than the final health lessons or applications you’ll discover in Apple Health Plus and Fitbit Premium. I prefer it greater than some plans I’ve tried on devoted working apps like Runkeeper, too. Garmin’s plans are led by skilled coaches with completely different educating kinds and have in mind your present health degree and historical past. This system adapts as you go alongside, and the exercises are robotically synced onto your wrist. 

Plus, all this content material is free. That’s so uncommon in health tech; most apps and providers lock the good things behind paywalls. In fact, it’d change down the road, however for now, Garmin’s made it clear it has no intention to take action. 

The Garmin Join smartphone app has improved over time, however the person interface nonetheless isn’t pleasant to newcomers. Generally used settings are sometimes buried in locations you wouldn’t assume to look, and reviewing knowledge usually seems like gazing a wall of textual content and numbers. Simply have a look at this gallery of the day by day dashboard and a typical working exercise abstract. That is only a style. I’d want greater than seven screenshots to seize all the pieces tracked on a low-key day. Different apps not often require greater than two or three.

I’m a knowledge maximalist, so this cursed knowledge wall is partly my very own making. (Shoot these stats straight into my eyeballs, child.) Minimalists needn’t undergo as I do. You may edit the sprint to be much less cluttered. I maintain all the pieces seen as a result of I’m afraid of dropping sure metrics in a maze of Garmin menus. The factor is, so many health and coaching apps current the identical actual knowledge in a extra digestible approach. Hell, I usually choose viewing my Garmin knowledge by means of Strava. 

Altering on-wrist and app settings may also be a ache. As an illustration, if you wish to activate the always-on show, it’s important to long-press the underside button earlier than following Settings > System > Show > Not throughout exercise / Throughout Exercise > Timeout > At all times-On. There’s no fast settings menu like on most different smartwatches. One other bizarre factor is you may’t handle Venu Sq 2 watch faces from the app, simply on the watch itself. You run into loads of this, as evidenced by the quite a few Garmin Join FAQs on-line.  

One factor I do like concerning the Join app is it’s extremely customizable. As an illustration, you may edit the tabs on the backside of the Join app and program hotkeys or shortcuts. It’s a steep studying curve, however when you put the trouble in, you may make issues as advanced or easy as you want. It’s not so unhealthy when you get used to it. (Both that or I’ve Stockholm Syndrome.) 

If you happen to’re contemplating the Venu Sq 2, you is likely to be coming from Fitbit. In spite of everything, for this value, you may get a wiser smartwatch within the type of an Apple Watch SE or a midrange Put on OS watch. The Venu Sq 2 is for individuals who care extra about lengthy battery, affordability, and in-depth well being monitoring. That is Fitbit’s historic area of interest, however the firm’s misplaced loads of floor in recent times. Garmin is without doubt one of the few names on the market providing gadgets that may work as a 1:1 alternative. (I recommend additionally trying out manufacturers like Amazfit, as they’re an awesome worth — however I get wanting to stay with a extra acquainted model.)

Garmin and Fitbit have completely different approaches to well being and health, however their gadgets test most of the similar bins. Each corporations are identified for wearables with lengthy battery life that work with each iOS and Android. They every have their very own contactless cost techniques and third-party app shops. So why do you have to get a Venu Sq 2 over a Versa 4 or a Sense 2? 

If you happen to’re going to spend between $200–$300 for this sort of smartwatch, you need an ecosystem that offers you room to develop. It must get higher with every technology, and also you must have choices in case your targets change. As I wrote earlier, the Venu Sq 2 is a smartwatch that may degree up with you. That is an entry-level Garmin. As soon as you’re feeling able to tackle extra adventurous actions — marathons, ultramarathons, off-grid hikes, triathlons, and so on. — you may graduate to Garmin’s extra superior traces just like the Forerunner, Fenix, or Epix (and all of the navigational options and additional metrics they monitor). Or, when you merely need a greater, rounder model of the Venu Sq 2, there’s all the time the Venu 2 Plus.  

Conversely, the Versa 4 and the Sense 2 are one of the best Fitbit has. They’ve fewer options than their predecessors, and I’m not satisfied we’ll ever see a Versa 5 or Sense 3. If you wish to improve, you’ve just about received the Pixel Watch and solely the Pixel Watch. At this level, I’d solely suggest the Versa 4 or Sense 2 if options like EKG or an easier app are a precedence. 

The Venu Sq 2 isn’t excellent, however Garmin continues to enhance its informal trackers. On the finish of the day, I like the place Garmin is headed. Fitbit? I’m not so certain.

Images by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge