• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Reviews
  • Guides
    • Fitness & Sports Watches
    • Cycling
    • Running
    • Swimming
    • Diving
    • Classic Watches
    • Designer Watches
    • Kids Smartwatches
    • Safety and SOS
    • Sleep Monitoring
  • Brands
    • Apple
    • Garmin
    • Fitbit
    • Samsung
    • Xiaomi
    • Suunto
  • Comparisons
Superwatches - Smartwatches for smart healthy people

Superwatches

  • Health and Fitness
  • How To
  • Deals
  • About Us

Announcing Garmin Venu – A Stylish All-Round Sportswatch

By Roxana Bikfalvi. Updated: Oct 7, 2021

Garmin recently launched its first-ever smartwatch with AMOLED display at IFA 2019, the Venu. This stylish wearable shares all smarts and functionality with the Vivoactive 4, another new release launched at the same event.

However, a quick look at the two reveals the brighter, more colourful display of the Venu, a feature that will probably make some waves among tech-savvy fitness enthusiasts.

Despite the more battery-demanding display, Garmin decided to make a statement with an always-on mode and various customisation options.

Like all Garmin smartwatches, the Venu certainly offers an impressive range of sports and fitness tracking features, including sleep and continuous heart rate monitoring. It comes with built-in GPS and a wealth of preloaded sports profiles. Furthermore, the Venu even features the acclaimed Body Battery energy monitoring alongside other interesting functions.

This model will be released sometime this autumn, but perhaps you’d like to know if it’s worth the hype. Let’s find it out.

Background

Garmin presented its latest wearables at IFA 2019, the Venu and the Vivoactive 4. Both are a progression of the Vivoactive lineup, and the only differentiating aspects between the two are display-driven.

The two smartwatches bring the various features of the separate editions of the Vivoactive line under the same umbrella.

Compared with the Vivoactive 3, the Venu comes with new offerings including music as standard, an always-on mode, live watch faces, new built-in workouts, and – obviously – the acclaimed AMOLED display.

Features

Firstly, it packs all the features you could expect from a Garmin wearable and some more. This new release delivers smart notifications on the wrist and pairs with both iOS and Android devices.

A few improvements compared to the previous Garmin line is the music feature as standard. You can stream music from Spotify, iHeartRadio, Deezer, or Amazon Music, so you can listen to your favourite tunes even if you don’t have the smartphone around.

The AMOLED display certainly brings in the wow factor, delivering punchy colours and superb visibility in sunlight. The always-on mode is a surprising addition considering the energy-thirsty display involved, but you’ll still get satisfactory battery life.

Indeed, the always-on mode on the Venu boasts different settings, including a low-power mode, as well as night time settings that turn off the face during the ‘do not disturb’ hours you’ve configured.

In this mode, you can get up to 3 days of juice; however if you opt for a classic display mode, you can extend the runtime to about 5 days in smart mode.

Like the newest Garmin smartwatches, the Venu also incorporates the Garmin Pay app for seamless contactless payments.

A nice addition is the Safety and Tracking, this feature enables you to send your location to your contacts either manually or automatically as long as your wearable and smartphone are connected.

Design

This wearable is not the brand’s sleekest smartwatch, but it’s not the ugliest either. It’s more stylish and smaller than many Garmin GPS watches, and its design combines a utilitarian nature with softer lines that make it look at home both at the gym and at the office.

An upgrade compared to the Vivoactive 3 is the presence of two navigation buttons instead of one. The touchscreen is also incredibly responsive and easy to use.

Designed to fit into any lifestyle, it comes with interchangeable silicone bands in various neutral colours. You can’t pick from fashionable metal or woven bands yet, but the future could surprise us considering that the model is not released yet.

Like most Garmin watches, the Venu is made to be worn 24/7. It features durable Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and is water-resistant to 5 ATM.

fitness tracking

Fitness Tracking

The Venu is hard to beat when it comes to fitness tracking. It incorporates all features you’d expect from a capable wearable, such as multi-sports profiles, constant heart rate monitoring, sleep monitoring, and steps and calories count, however, the Venu has much more than the basics.

Likewise with other Garmin models, including the Vivosmart 4, the Venu impresses with the useful Body Battery that lets you monitor your energy levels. You can also keep your stress level under control and monitor your liquid intake to make sure you’re always hydrated – or that you didn’t drink too much on a Friday night out, that is.

Ladies deciding to wear this smartwatch benefit from a full menstrual cycle tracking feature where you can log your physical and emotional symptoms or learn about training and nutrition during this delicate period.

Yoga and breathing techniques dedicated to those who practice mindfulness meditation or oriental sports come as a fresh addition compared to previous Garmins.

Those who are not really into fitness but want to make a change for the better may also appreciate the preloaded animated workouts for Pilates, cardio, yoga, and strength training. Undeniably, a more versatile alternative compared to the Moov Now fitness tracker.

Main Advantages

  • All-round smart and sportswatch
  • Always-on AMOLED display
  • Easily visible in direct sunlight
  • A wealth of preloaded sports profiles and workout demonstrations
  • More features and apps available via Garmin Connect
  • Integrated GPS
  • Waterproof to 5 ATM

Main Disadvantages

  • Pricy compared to similar Garmin wearables
  • Lame workout completion screen

Competition

  Garmin Venu Garmin Vivoactive 4 Garmin Vivoactive 3 Apple Watch 4
Display Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Sapphire crystal glass
Display type AMOLED Transreflective MIP Transreflective MIP LTPS OLED
Resolution 390 x 390 pixels 260 x 260 pixels 240 x 240 pixels 448 x 368 pixels
Size 43.2 x 43.2 x 12.4 mm 45.1 x 45.1 x 12.8 mm 43.4 x 43.4 x 11.7 mm 44 x 38 x 10.7 mm
Weight 46.3 g 50.5 g 43 g 48 g
Band material Silicone Silicone Silicone Silicone
Water resistance 5 ATM 5 ATM 5 ATM 5 ATM
Connectivity Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi Bluetooth Smart, ANT+ Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
GPS Yes Yes Yes Yes
Heart rate monitoring Yes Yes Yes Yes
Body Battery Yes Yes No No
Feminine health Yes Yes No No
Stress tracking Yes Yes No No
Smart notifications Yes Yes Yes Yes
Sleep tracking Yes Yes Yes Yes
Calorie count Yes Yes Yes Yes
Multi-sport profiles Yes Yes Yes Yes
Interchangeable bands Yes Yes Yes Yes
Battery life Up to 5 days Up to 8 days Up to 7 days Up to 18 hours

Summary

In conclusion, the Garmin Venu presents itself as a versatile device. It promises a lot, and even though we couldn’t actually test it yet, we can easily imagine the functionality it packs. Finally, if you don’t care too much about aesthetics and a fancy display, you’ll get the same functionality at a lower price with the Vivoactive 4. But if you want a capable last generation sports smartwatch that looks good when paired with formal wear too, then the Venu is undeniably a more than inspired choice.

Last Updated on October 7, 2021

Roxana Bikfalvi
Roxana Bikfalvi( Editor )

A degree-qualified professional writer with extensive experience in copy writing. Expert in product description, reviews, editing and proofreading. Also a bilingual expert in Italian and Romanian where she is originally from.

A wealth of experience in IT and technology, and also a wordpress expert.

Notice: Qualifying purchases through links may support us with commission. Read our editorial policy.
October 7, 2021 By Roxana Bikfalvi Filed Under: News, Reviews

You are here: Superwatches > News > Announcing Garmin Venu – A Stylish All-Round Sportswatch

Primary Sidebar

Search this Website

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

Trending News

Garmin Vivomove Trend

Garmin Vivomove Trend is here.

The Garmin Vivomove Trend is a stylish hybrid smartwatch that combines the traditional look

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Rumors for the 2023 Release

The Samsung Watch 6 is the highly-anticipated successor to the popular Samsung Galaxy

XGO2 smartwatch for kids

Garmin Bounce Review

Garmin are renowned for making high-quality devices for kids, but their latest Bounce model

The People Behind Superwatches

People Behind Superwatches

Watch Our Videos

Our Videos

Affiliate Disclosure: Superwatches.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchase.
Our participation in affiliate programs is at no extra cost to you.


Copyright © 2023 · Superwatches.com · Privacy · FAQ · Terms · Contact us

facebook      twitter       pinterest      instagram       tumblr       superwatches youtube channel    superwatches tiktok channel


Superwatches is a part of SDS Consultancy. We are a sole proprietor primarily focused on content and marketing. Read more about us