Garmin has announced two new smartwatches: the Venu 3 and the Venu 3S.
In order to highlight the brand new features on offer, we’ve created this guide comparing the new Venu 3 to its predecessor the Venu 2.
Keep scrolling down to find out the key differences between the Venu 3 and Venu 2 smartwatches.
Venu 3 has a new sleep coach
The Garmin Venu 2 already offered a couple of sleep monitoring features, providing you a score for the quality of your sleep as well as providing tips on how to improve your snoozing.
Garmin is delving even deeper into this area, providing a new sleep coach with the Venu 3. On top of the previous features mentioned, it also now keeps track of different sleep stages and detects when you’re taking a nap – you’ll even get suggestions on the length of your naps for the best experience.
The Venu 3 provides more detailed statistics too, including how much oxygen is in your bloodstream compared to maximum capacity, and your heart rate variability status. With all of this information registered, the Venu 3 will offer you personalised coaching to improve your sleep quality.
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New wheelchair mode on Venu 3
For the Venu 3 smartwatch, Garmin is introducing a feature called wheelchair mode. This optimises the data and advice for those who use a wheelchair, recording pushes instead of steps, and sending weight shift alerts.
There are also a number of wheelchair-specific sports apps and workouts, including strength, cardio, HIIT, pilates and yoga.
Garmin says it’s even modified the algorithm to provide more meaningful insights for wheelchair users, providing explanations on how each workout affects your body and how much recovery time is required.
Venu 3 features speaker and microphone
The omission of speakers and a microphone was one of the biggest pain points of the Venu 2, as it meant you were unable to make calls or use your phone’s voice assistant from your wrist. This has now been rectified with the Venu 3.
When paired with a compatible smartphone (both Android and iPhone are supported) you’re now able to make calls using the watch, enabling you to leave your phone in your pocket. In tandem with the voice assistant, either with Google Assistant or Siri, you can even respond to text messages using the Venu 3.
Android users also get a bonus feature of being able to view photo messages on the Venu 3’s display, while using the on-watch keyboard to type up text messages.
Venu 3 offers improved battery life
With all of these new features crammed inside the Garmin Venu 3, you may expect to see battery life take a nosedive compared to the Venu 2, but the opposite has happened instead.
Garmin claims the Venu 3 is capable of lasting up to 14 days without a recharge in smartwatch mode. For comparison, Garmin says the Venu can last up to 11 days in the same mode.
If accurate, that means the Venu 3 can last an extra 3 days compared to its predecessor. But we’ll need to test this figure ourselves once we’re able to call in the new smartwatch for review.
Venu 2 is slightly more affordable
It should come as no surprise that Garmin is upping the price for the Venu 3 considering all of the new features. The new smartwatch has a starting price of £449.99/$449.99 with a silicone band, while upgrading to the leather band will cost £499.99/$499.99.
For comparison, the Venu 2 has a starting price of £349.99/$349.99, making it £100/$100 cheaper. You also get the option to upgrade to a leather band for £399.99/$399.99.
It’s possible that we’ll see a price drop for the Venu 2 in the future too, following the release of its successor, especially during sale events such as Black Friday. So if you’re happy to miss out on the above features, it’s worth keeping an eye out for.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
