For those who go to a marathon, a operating or biking occasion, or just about any aggressive sport, likelihood is you will notice one model of watches greater than others: Garmin.
And whereas beforehand the Garmin model was related to fundamental watches which used monochrome shows and didn’t fairly have the performance of a full-on smartwatch, the most recent Garmin Venu 3 goals to alter that WHILE protecting Garmin’s massive benefit: battery life measured in days fairly than hours.
So is the Garmin Venu 3 lastly that final smartwatch with one-week battery life that you must get? Let’s discover out in our in-depth evaluation.
The Garmin Venu 3 is available in a quite simple field and the unboxing expertise is barebones to say the least. The packaging feels form of low cost, and contained in the field you’ve the watch with a strap on it, the proprietary Garmin charging cable (with USB-C on the opposite finish), in addition to a person guide.
Earlier than we dive deeper, right here is an outline of crucial Venu 3 and Venu 3S specs:
Curiously, we couldn’t discover any details about the processor Garmin makes use of for these two watches, and if one thing about that, we might love to listen to from you within the feedback part.
We love that the Garmin Venu 3 is available in two sizes: the 45mm bigger Venu 3 mannequin after which the 41mm small Venu 3S (the one we now have for evaluation).
Each watches include a plastic physique and solely the bezel across the display is product of chrome steel. That was stunning contemplating the excessive value of the watches and the truth that the earlier Venu 2 Plus used aluminum. We guess the rationale for that’s to scale back the burden, however those that favor the extra premium really feel of steel may be disenchanted.
Some reviewers have talked about “mushy” buttons, and whereas that may be the case for some models, the buttons on the watch we now have are completely good.
Garmin Venu 3 Bands
Your commonplace spring bar bands
There’s a slight distinction within the band dimension for the totally different Venu 3 fashions. The bigger Venu 3 makes use of 22mm straps, whereas the Venu 3S we now have makes use of 18mm straps.
These are your commonplace spring bar bands, so there aren’t any fancy new methods to swap bands right here, however after a whilst you do get used to it, so this was no massive deal to us.
The silicone sport band that comes within the field can also be delicate and really comfy, and we now have discovered Garmin bands to be very sturdy and final for years.
Garmin Venu 3 Software program & Options
Wealthy on options, however the interface feels historical
Garmin was as soon as recognized for sports activities watches which might be used largely by athletes, however with the swap to OLED screens and by including assist for calls and a voice assistant (through the telephone), the Garmin Venu 3 goals to be greater than that. It goals to be a smartwatch enjoying in the identical leagues as Apple Watches and Galaxy Watches.
So how does it do as a smartwatch?
After reviewing the entire above smartwatches, utilizing the Venu 3 felt like going again in time. The interface lacks important performance.
For instance, all fashionable smartwatches assist watchfaces with issues. You possibly can increase your wrist and see a ton of knowledge instantly. Not solely that, you possibly can faucet on any complication and go on to the corresponding app display.
Navigation gestures are additionally unusual: a swipe proper exhibits you one “widget” that you may customise, however… that is it! Only one! Why cannot I swipe additional to see much more data? And why does nothing occur once I swipe left? These are bizarre, nonsensical interface design decisions.
You entry the vast majority of data by swiping up or down. That works fantastic, however such an interface could be an ideal match for a digital crown like you’ve on Apple Watches and the Pixel Watch.
Coping with notifications can also be a little bit of a ache. We love that we are able to see them full display, however clearing a notification requires a couple of faucets whereas it needs to be a lot faster.
I can see how Garmin carries this interface from means again within the day of memory-in-pixel (MiP) shows with no touchscreen assist and button-only navigation, however we aren’t in these days anymore and the interface wants to regulate and regulate rapidly.
Sports activities Monitoring
What the Venu 3 lacks in interface chops, it greater than compensates for with glorious sports activities monitoring choices.
The GPS accuracy has additionally improved and whereas you do not have dual-band GPS assist on this watch, we nonetheless discovered it to be extraordinarily correct in monitoring your exercises.
Sleep monitoring and nap detection
You can even monitor your sleep with the Garmin Venu 3 and actually you actually ought to if you wish to have an correct “Physique Battery” rating, which is without doubt one of the massive promoting factors of this watch.
The concept is that Physique Battery exhibits you a 1%-100% estimate of your supposed power ranges in the course of the day based mostly on how effectively you slept in the previous couple of nights, your HRV standing, in addition to how arduous and the way typically have you ever labored out.
What’s new right here is that if you faucet on the Physique Battery widget you see how precisely explicit actions affected your rating (we guess this characteristic will arrive to older watches through a software program replace).
As for sleep monitoring, we discovered it did an excellent job. The watch was capable of precisely decide if you fell asleep and if you get up, and provides you a breakdown of your sleep phases. You even have a sleep coach that makes use of that data to let you know when you might want to make amends for sleep and what number of hours you must purpose for the subsequent evening.
As for nap detection, I used to be feeling underneath the climate and took lengthy afternoon naps for 2 days straight, however the Venu 3 by no means registered any of them. We can be testing this extra, however at the very least at present that characteristic doesn’t appear to be engaged on our finish.
Garmin Venu 3 Battery and Charging
Do not carry a charger for weekend journeys!
And whereas the Garmin Venu 3 falls brief on the subject of the interface and watchfaces, it completely makes up for that with battery life!
Neglect about in a single day charging, and always worrying whether or not your watch will final till the subsequent day or if it will not die midnight and never file your sleep.
Whereas utilizing the always-on show operate on the smaller Venu 3S and figuring out for a mean of round an hour every single day, we bought round 5 days of use between prices. And you’ll count on a bit extra out of the bigger Venu 3 mannequin! That’s spectacular! And for those who flip off the always-on operate, you possibly can add a couple of days extra to that. Forgot your Garmin charger on that weekend journey? No want to fret!
A full cost takes only a bit greater than an hour on each watches.
Garmin Venu 3 Fashions and Costs
As we have already talked about, you’ve two fashions:
- Garmin Venu 3: 45mm, $450
- Garmin Venu 3S: 41mm, $450
So the worth is identical for each.
Garmin watches do NOT provide mobile connectivity and that’s one draw back you might want to account for. Different smartwatches do provide a mobile choice with eSIM which lets you place and get calls, in addition to an Web connection even when your telephone isn’t round. Not on the Garmin.
You possibly can, nonetheless, pre-load music on the Venu 3 and you may play music in your run through headphones with out bringing your telephone.
Garmin Venu 3 Voice Calls, Assistant and Haptics
You might have a speaker on the left aspect of the Garmin Venu 3 and sure, you possibly can place and obtain calls on the watch however solely when your telephone is close by.
By default, a protracted press on the center key of the Venu 3 is programmed to start out your telephone’s voice assistant (Siri on an iPhone, Google Assistant on Androids), and whereas that works okay, remember the fact that there’s a little bit of delay when utilizing that characteristic. For that purpose, I really used it far lower than I’d use a voice assistant on different smartwatches, however your mileage might differ.
As for haptics, you possibly can set the power of the vibration, however the vibration motor itself isn’t fairly as exact and sharp as you get on an Apple Watch, as an illustration. Nonetheless, it will get the job finished.
Garmin Venu 3 Rivals
We have already talked concerning the greatest rivals: the Apple Watch, the Samsung Galaxy Watch, and the Google Pixel Watch.
Garmin Venu 3 Abstract and Closing Verdict
On the finish of the day, the Garmin Venu 3S will probably keep on my wrist after this evaluation is completed, and I feel that’s the finest testomony to its capabilities.
I simply hate having to fret about charging a smartwatch every single day and I do like to make use of the sleep monitoring characteristic, which requires an much more cautious charging schedule with conventional smartwatches.
Garmin has the exercise stats, battery life, consolation and now the display high quality, but it surely actually must put the work in optimizing that outdated interface and watchfaces, and if it does that, it has all of the possibilities of beating Apple and Samsung at their very own sport.
