Thanks to Apple and Samsung with their smartwatches sporting vibrant, brilliant touchscreen displays, people have come to look for this type of display on other wearables. Dedicated GPS sports watches tend to focus on data capture accuracy with displays that are visible outside.

Vibrant color LCD display; Responsive touchscreen interface; Low price; Excellent tactile buttons; Advanced health tracking and fitness features

Limited notification support

The Venu Sq is a new approach from Garmin, looking to offer something a little less sporty in looks, while retaining the potency of Garmin's sporting heritage.

Compact design; GPS tracking; Lots of sports tracking; Body Battery for holistic view of fitness and recovery; Good accuracy

Display isn't the best; User interface might be a little too basic

“This is an excellent health and fitness watch at an affordable price.”

Reliable and accurate activity tracking; In-depth data collection and analysis; Simple and lightweight design; Support for dozens of workout types; Nearly week-long battery life

$50 up-sell for music functionality; Touchscreen can be finicky during workouts; Limited "smart" features and notifications

Take the Garmin Venu, replace the OLED with an LCD display, and cut the price nearly in half....

Entry-level price point Long battery life Garmin Pay support on all models Accurate fitness and health tracking Useful and accurate sleep tracking

Music Edition costs $50 more Small display can be difficult to use GPS accuracy could use work

There’s nothing really new here, but Garmin’s Venu Sq offers solid features and performance at an affordable price

Lightweight and comfortable design; Offline Spotify playback; Appropriately priced;

Sleep tracking didn’t work on our review sample; No altimeter; Inferior battery life;

The Venu Sq is a new approach from Garmin, looking to offer something a little less sporty in looks, while retaining the potency of Garmin's sporting heritage.

Compact design; GPS tracking; Lots of sports tracking; Body Battery for holistic view of fitness and recovery; Good accuracy;

Display isn't the best; User interface might be a little too basic;

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t know Garmin, and more often than not, they’ll know the company’s extensive line of fitness-focused smartwatches. It has a well-deserved reputation for making the highest-end and most-accurate watches for runners, bikers, triathletes, and every other possible outdoor sport. But Garmin doesn’t just want to play in the “pro” space. There’s reason to believe the Garmin name can translate into sales on the affordable end of the scale, competing with entry-level smartwatches and high-end fitness bands. This is where the Garmin Venu Sq comes in. You can’t see it any other way. The Venu Sq looks like an Apple Watch. I know, there are only so many ways to make a rounded-rectangle smartwatch, but it’s hard to miss. Just a couple days after getting the Venu Sq, I was at soccer practice, and a teammate asked how I liked my Apple Watch. That isn’t a bad thing, though. Unlike every other Garmin fitness watch, this isn’t a polarizing design. It’s simp...

Reliable and accurate activity tracking; In-depth data collection and analysis; Simple and lightweight design; Support for dozens of workout types; Nearly week-long battery life;

$50 up-sell for music functionality; Touchscreen can be finicky during workouts; Limited "smart" features and notifications;

Small, cheap and cheerful, the Garmin Venu Sq is a great Fitbit and Apple Watch alternative fitness watch for people on a tight budget. Being able to access premium Garmin sports features for such a friendly price is a real boon.

Decent battery life, Plenty of performance features..., ... As well as smart ones on board, Snappy touchscreen

No AMOLED display, Small screen, Garmin Connect app is geared towards athletes

The Garmin Venu Sq is a great value for those who want an inexpensive fitness tracker, complete with GPS and long battery life. If you’re looking for one of the best fitness trackers for less than $200, you can’t do better than the Garmin Venu Sq.

Great selection of fitness and health features, Accurate, fast GPS, Great battery life, Good price

Poor app selection, Feels cheap

The Garmin Venu Sq is a well-priced and powerful jack-of-all-trades smartwatch, which cherry picks some of the best features of Garmin, Apple and Fitbit devices. It’s sports tracking focused, but doesn’t hold back in terms of wellness and body insights that cost a lot more elsewhere.

Stress; energy and respiration; Great price; Loads of sports profiles