Hands On With the Garmin Venu Smartwatch

You might still think of GPS devices when you think of Garmin, but at IFA this year, the company is all about smartwatches. That includes updates to existing lines like the Vivoactive and Vivomove series, and more excitingly, the entirely new, high-end Garmin Venu. We got our hands on some of these watches at the show and have some initial thoughts to share.

Garmin Venu

The Venu (pictured above) is the real showstopper here. It boasts a beautiful 1.2-inch AMOLED touch display. While you can navigate its interface by swiping around on the screen, a button on the side is used to go back and to quickly trigger lap counting when swimming.

Under the hood is a heart rate monitor, an NFC chip for Garmin Pay, GPS, and a battery that provides up to five days of power. There are over 20 different exercise modes to track activities like running, swimming, golfing, biking, and more. With an on-device workouts feature, you can follow along to exercises that are animated on the display for strength, cardio, yoga, and pilates; if the workouts you want aren’t included, you can download more from the Garmin Connect app. A Health Stats widget shows heart rate, stress, body battery, pulse oximetry, and respiration (the number of breaths you take per minute as you sleep), all in a single view.

The respiration feature also helps detect when there is a change in the environment or the air quality has shifted and then analyzes how this impacts your health. Other new features include sweat loss estimation and hydration tracking, which work in tandem; the watch calculates how much water you should be drinking, depending on how much you lose through sweat.

Throughout the night, the watch tracks your sleep stages (light, deep, and REM), along with your blood oxygen saturation levels using the pulse oximeter.

The Venu comes out this month for $399.99. It will be available in a few different color combinations including a black wristband with a gold or silver case, a light sand wristband with a rose gold case, or a granite blue wristband with a silver case.

Vivoactive 4 and 4S

For a bit less money, the Vivoactive 4 series has the same suite of health and fitness features as the Venu. The watches also have AMOLED displays but don’t feature an option to turn the screen on or off (unlike the Venu, which does). On the plus side, the Vivoactive models come in two different sizes and boast up to eight days of battery life.

The Vivoactive 4 is available in a 45mm stainless steel case with up to eight days of battery life in smartwatch mode and six hours in GPS and music mode. The Vivoactive 4S comes in a 40mm stainless steel case, with up to seven days of battery life in smartwatch mode and five hours in GPS and music mode. Both models are priced at $349.99 and will be available this month.

Vivomove Series

If you prefer the look of a more traditional timepiece, Garmin’s updated Vivomove series offers 16 different style options. For a more upscale, premium design, there’s the $549.99 Vivomove Luxe (pictured above), which features a 42mm stainless steel case and sapphire crystal lens; you also have the choice between a Milanese metal or Italian leather strap. If you’re looking for a more casual option, the Vivomove Style’s 42mm case is made of aluminum around a Corning Gorilla Glass display. Priced at $299, it comes with either a woven nylon or silicone band. Last, the $249 Vivomove 3 and 3S come in either 39mm or 44mm stainless steel case sizes with a selection of silicone bands.

Both the Luxe and Style models have a hidden AMOLED color touch screen with ticking watch hands and dial details on top. When you swipe on the display, the watch hands move out of the way to reveal health metrics, smartphone notifications, and other information. The Vivomove 3 and 3S models feature monochrome OLED displays.

As for features, all of the watches in the Vivomove series offer 24/7 heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking with pulse oximetry, stress tracking with relaxation reminders, menstrual cycle tracking, and body battery energy monitoring. They also come with GPS to track distance during outdoor activities and NFC chips for Garmin Pay. For fitness, they track steps, floors climbed, intensity minutes, and have exercise modes for cardio, running, strength training, yoga, walking, and more.

Legacy Hero Series

For fans of fitness and superheroes, look no further than Garmin’s Legacy Hero Series. The Captain Marvel Special Edition smartwatch features a 40mm case with a light gold bezel and the Kree insignia on the lens. The back of the case is engraved with a Captain Marvel quote. The watch comes with a blue leather watch strap and an additional blue silicone band. As for battery life, the Captain Marvel model lasts up to seven days in smartwatch mode.

There’s also a Captain America option, which features a larger 45mm case with midnight blue accents and a stainless steel bezel inspired by his signature shield. Like the Captain Marvel model, the watch also has a quote engraved on the back of the case. While it comes with a leather band attached, you can also get an additional blue silicone band to match the accent details on the watch. As for battery life, it lasts up to eight days in smartwatch mode.

Both models feature 24/7 heart rate monitoring, GPS, an NFC Chip, activity and health tracking, body battery energy monitoring, sleep tracking, and incident detection. Using the Garmin Connect app, you also have the option to choose from exclusive character-themed watch faces.

The Legacy Hero series watches cost $399.99 and will be available this month.

Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com on September 5, 2019.