Garmin Venu 2 review: A fantastic smartwatch priced out of its league

Wearables are the fastest-growing tech category. Those of us who need to stay in constant communication with our friends and family, or who need a quick and easy method to control smart home devices, need one of the best watches on the market. In the time of COVID-19, more and more of us are paying more attention to our activity and fitness, and want to collect as much of this data as possible to get a better idea of our overall health and wellbeing picture.

There is only one company that does it better than Garmin. Due to their accuracy, feature set, and battery life, elite athletes look for watches, trackers, and monitors from Garmin. In terms of style, user interface, and feature set, the best Garmin watches have usually had some compromises compared to others. I think it's more than capable of competing in this space as well after spending some time with the latest offering from the company. Let's get into this review.

Garmin Venu 2: Price and availability

The Venu 2 and Venu 2S were available for order on the same day they were announced. The Venu 2 is 45mm and the Venu 2S is 40mm. The larger version has a black and silver case and band. The smaller version has slate, light gold, silver, and rose gold bands.

The Venu 2 is available at a slightly lower price after six months on the market. You can find the Venu 2 and 2S for $350 through a number of retailers.

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Garmin Venu 2: What's good

I've had the good fortune to review quite a few of them even though they aren't my favorites. I have no doubts that the Venu 2 is the best watch I have ever owned. I don't know where to start because there is so much to like about it.

First, let's look at the design. The Venu 2 is available in two sizes, 45mm and 40mm, and they are both nice looking. The larger model has a silver and blue band, and a slate and black band. The 2S is available in four colors, including soft gold and rose gold.

All of the models have a gorgeous color touch screen that is visible outdoors. I had no problem seeing my numbers as I hiked up the mountain.

The watch was light and comfortable to wear on my wrist, and I never took it off during my review period. If you don't like the band, you can swap it out with any standard 22mm band, which is nice in this age of proprietary bands and clasps.

I was surprised at how easy it was to set up and use this device. The multi-functional buttons on the fitness watches are useful, but they can be difficult to learn. The Venu 2 isn't like that.

Swiping from the top or bottom brings you your metrics, which you can tap into for more information, and you can also modify what you see on this screen. The top right button takes you to start the workout, and the bottom right button takes you to stop the workout. Clicking from the left will bring up a shortcut. This is it. There was no fuss, no buried menu. You don't need to go far to get everything you want.

The battery life is as advertised. The Venu 2 can last up to 11 days with some limitations, but I found that estimate to be accurate. A four and a half hour hike up a mountain was one of the four workouts I tracked on the watch, but I didn't charge it once. Currently it is sitting at 30%. It's not too shabby. The previous model Venu's battery lifespan was less than that of this watch.

I have always found sleep tracking to be solid, as well as adding more exercise modes and on-device workouts. If you want, you can create your own custom workouts. You can still connect to a lot of other fitness apps with the return of the female health tracking feature.

You can track your heart rate, SpO2, and stress with this watch. Your Fitness Age is a new feature that has been added to the Body battery metric.

Your actual age, vigorous weekly activity, resting heart rate, weight, and Body Mass index are some of the factors that can be used to estimate your fitness age. If it's not to your liking, it will give you tips and guidance on how to improve your fitness age.

I like the fact that I can keep my music on the watch and listen to it through a good pair of earbuds. You can download music from Deezer and Amazon Music.

Garmin Venu 2: What could be better

The Venu 2's price is one of the reasons I have issues with it. The $350 device is more expensive than comparable watches from both companies. The latest Apple Watch Series 7 is less expensive. It has better battery life than those other watches, but the feature set is the same, and the design is not as premium. The plastic body makes the device lighter and more comfortable than if it were metal, but it feels weird to pay the same amount for a nicer watch.

Speaking of finishes, while I appreciate that the screen is made from Gorilla Glass 3 and should hold up well to most bumps and scratches, it feels cheap and plastic when I tap down on it. It doesn't feel like glass, but I think it's me or the review unit I had. For what that's worth, I've banged it around a bit and it's fine.

The Venu 2 can last up to 11 days but needs to be topped up every now and then. At least it's compatible with other Garmin watches, but it's a pity that they insist on using a proprietary charge. It would be great to have wireless charging in a watch.

The 40mm Venu 2S was the same price as the 45m Venu 2. Competitors usually price their smaller watches at least slightly cheaper than I do. The smaller version of the Apple Watch Series 6 is discounted by $30 or so from the larger version, and the larger version of theGalaxy Watch 3 is also discounted. It would be nice to have the Venu 2S priced a little lower than the Venu 2.

Software updates can make minor changes and fix issues such as app crashes and laggy response times. The company is known for updating its features to improve the user experience. Changes and upgrades have been made after the launch.

• Support added for HR broadcast over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).
• Added setting to turn off rep counting for Strength, Cardio, and HIIT workouts.
• Added five new watch faces inspired by the Garmin Outdoor, Fitness, Aviation, Marine, and Automotive segments.
• Improved translations.
• Added tennis and pickleball sport modes.
• Detects time spent sitting, walking, or running during a workout.
• Revamped sleep tracking with new "restlessness score."

Garmin Venu 2: Competition

There are a lot of great fitness watches out there at different price points, but the ones that most will consider when comparing against the Venu 2 will most likely be from Apple, Fitbit, and others.

The Apple Watch Series 7 is one of the best watches on the market, but it doesn't work with most phones. It has advanced health tracking capabilities and has a more premium build and design. It's very close to the Venu 2's pricing tier with the 41mm version starting at $400 and the 45mm version starting at $429.

The Venu 2 is more expensive than the other two, but they both have similar capabilities and have more refined designs. It's no wonder that they are one of the best watches on the market.

The Venu 2 and the Sense and Versa 3 are similar in design and price.

If you're looking at the Venu 2 or 2S, you should consider the new Venu 2 Plus. It adds a mic and speaker for using a voice assistant, along with a third button for features. An extra $50 is added to the Venu 2 price.

Garmin Venu 2: Should you buy it?

If you do, you should purchase this.

• You want a great looking, great feeling, high-performance smartwatch
• You are already invested in the Garmin ecosystem
• You want an easy to use wearable

If you want to buy this, you should not.

• You don't want to spend nearly $400 on a smartwatch
• You prefer fitness trackers or bands

I have said many times that I prefer fitness trackers over watches for a couple of reasons. I think fitness trackers are very easy to use. The 10-day battery life on a fitness tracker is better than the one-day battery life on a watch. The reasons don't hold up when you look at the Venu 2. With a battery life that lasts two weeks, there's no reason to complain about putting it on the nightly charge.

With the Venu series, it's making a strong case to pull the uncommitted away from the likes of Apple,Samsung, and the like. I don't think they should have priced it at $300. I think it could more than hold its own at that price point, and I think it would be a really compelling alternative to the Apple Watch.

The changelog should be reviewed.

It was published in May 2021. The following changes were made in November of 2011.

• Updated pricing to reflect recent sales.
• Updated "Competition" section.
• Added "Updated features" section.
• Added mention of updates that came with Software Versions 5.27 and 5.33.

June 22nd was when it was updated.

• Fixed formatting issues that arose from site migration.
• Added Garmin Venu 2 Plus to Competition.
• Added new features to Updated Features.