Garmin Venu, GPS Smartwatch with Bright Touchscreen Display, Features Music, Body Energy Monitoring, Workouts, Pulse Ox Sensors and More, Granite Blue with Silver Hardware, Granite Blue and Silver

Good features:Screen - the standout feature and the main reason to go for this watch rather than any other Garmin offeringsBattery life - surprisingly good (4-5 days continuous use without always on display) and in any case it charges up really quicklyGPS tracking - rock solid and finds signal very quickly. It probably gives you at least 10 hours without music.Appearance - looks very goodMobile app - excellent for data vultures like meConnectivity - no problem staying connected to my smartphoneWeight - very light and comfortable to wearActivity tracking - all aspects work well, including plausible step and floor countingPulse Ox tracking - not sure what the point is but it is a lot of funNot so good featuresSleep tracking - doesn't do a good job, as it thinks you are sleeping all the time you are in bed. However, this is common to all Garmin devices. The Fitbit does a much better job here. This means that the body battery reading which is based partly on sleep data is highly suspect tooNotifications - OK but doesn't display icons consistently and there's not much possibility of interaction. The Fitbit does a better job hereNo microphone or speaker - Personally I don't care but it might be an issue for someScreen bezel a tad on the large side though not noticeable if watch face with dark background selectedPrice - high but you are getting a very good watch for your moneyI've owned many smart and not so smart watches, including Garmin, Pebble, Huawei, Samsung, TicWatch and Fitbit offerings. This is the best one I've owned. In my opinion, for what it's worth, the good massively outweighs the not so good and therefore 5 stars is justified.Possible (cheaper) alternatives:Fitbit Versa 2 - also very good display and sleep tracking is excellent. Notification handling much better. Steps tracking is appalling though and it only has "connected GPS". There are also many connectivity problems.Huawei GT Watch 2 - phenomenal battery life and good display but notifications handling is even worse than Garmin, sleep tracking is also suspect and, although workout tracking with GPS is excellent, it cannot be shared with Strava.Garmin Vivoactive 4 - almost the same as the Venu but with transflective (i.e. always on) display and it's a bit cheaper.

Lots of useful info displayedI have worn this watch non stop since I bought it except for the 30 minutes once a week I have to charge it.Sleep patterns, steps data, bike data, heart rate monitor, you can set it so it gets you to move every 30 minutes as I do.It has a great smart phone app, you can join weekly monthly challenges with other people.

Fab product. Looks super smart and have one spare hole left on strap for my small wrist.Love the choice of watch faces you can download or create from the app. Yet to master how to get the downloaded running / swimming apps onto the watch - early days.Easy to use and having been used to a Fitbit a it’s sleep tracking is similar but defo different in how long I’ve been awake etc.Steps are literally actually steps. Cycling with a Fitbit would generate steps to overall daily total…. Bike handle vibrations. This watch - nope - proper actual tracking!It does auto track a walk / cycle / run etc - but it doesn’t give you any further data like a Fitbit would- which is a shame.You therefore have to actually track / start the watch for the activity of you want to look into distance etc.As a runner - I’m working on my cadence - this is easily viewed now on my chosen running screen.Great for swimming too as I no longer have to count lengths - which would hurt my brain in every session 😬Lights in the dark - sometimes disturb me if my wrist and angle shows the watch trying to scan. Guess the round face makes it easier to see / for light to escape.So - Just a few couple of things I miss from the fitbit world - plus the step networks / challenges etc but I will learn to live without it and judge my own progress with the garmin and Strava app. Defo counts exercise calories far more accurately. Fitbit always over estimate!!Price fluctuates - paid 207£ - wouldn’t pay much more for it - but a £200 price tag for it is a fair deal!!I love my watch and feel like this is more negative than positive - but it shouldn’t be. Oh and one other down side - battery life - lasts 3’days max if using to track about 90min of exercise a day.

Garmin Venu (posh version review)This is a great watch with a couple of problems. The display is a big improvement on the always on but pretty dull Vivoactive HR, The way it gets round the extra power draw of the OLED is by activating it when you turn it to your face or if there is a notification. There is a pronounced delay when it does this making it impossible to just glance at it like you would with a normal watch. The buttons aren't that well thought out. I've triggered the activity stop button mid workout when the edge of my glove pushes up my wrist. You can mitigate this by loosening it and pushing it up your arm a bit before you get going.However, the functionality is very good. Much better sensors, it can track breathing and blood oxygen. It communicates much better over bluetooth than the Vivioactive HR. The GPS seems more accurate and I get much better altitude change precision with it.Battery life is good unless you engage the PulseOX blood oxygen level tracking at which point you'll be lucky if you get two days out of it.Overall, great watch, well worth it. Get plugs for the charger port though or it will clog.