Great looking watch, love that it doesn’t look like a sports watch. Easy to use, nice clear display

Only had it a few weeks, it has done what everything Garmin said it would do, so far.

The line between a smartwatch and a fitness watch continues to dissolve on a day-by-day basis. It used to be that if you were interested in fitness you’d get a dedicated, nondescript fitness tracker with a super basic dot-matrix display (I’m looking at you, Nike FuelBand). Then Apple came out with their watch, and I remember thinking how silly it sounded. I mean, I already had a smartphone — wasn’t a smartwatch a little redundant? Oh how the times change, and there’s no better example of watch evolution than the Venu from Garmin. The Venu is basically the same thing as the Vivoactive 4 — a multisport smartwatch that still has all the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections necessary for Android and Apple notifications. However, the Venu has a key difference in its display. The Venu’s 390 x 390 pixel AMOLED display blows the Vivoactive’s 260 x 260 MIP display out of the water. While their physical sizes are similar at 1.2 inches and 1.3 inches respectively, the Venu’s screen has a far crisper p...

AMOLED Display; Activity Tracking; Workout Animations; Loads of Sensors;

Lack of in-depth fitness metrics; Lack of storage;

“The Garmin Venu is a solid fitness tracker, but its gorgeous AMOLED display is the killer feature.”

AMOLED Display; Activity Tracking; Workout Animations; Loads of Sensors

Lack of in-depth fitness metrics; Lack of storage

If you're looking for a true smartwatch with a colour screen that can outlast the Apple Watch, the Venu is your answer.

Bright and sharp display; Plenty of sports tracking features; Solid battery life

Design a little uninspiring; Shorter battery life in always-on mode; Garmin Connect still a bit overwhelming

If you're looking for a true smartwatch with a colour screen that can outlast the Apple Watch, the Venu is your answer.

Bright and sharp display; Plenty of sports tracking features; Solid battery life;

Design a little uninspiring; Shorter battery life in always-on mode; Garmin Connect still a bit overwhelming;

The Garmin Venu can't compete with more established smartwatches like the Apple Watch Series 5 or Fossil Gen 5, but it has a leg up in fitness tracking. In fact, it's one of the best (if not THE best) multisport watches you can buy right now.

Crisp OLED screen with an always-on display Garmin Pay support is convenient Music storage is standard 5-day battery life Unique breathwork exercises Accurate fitness and health tracking Useful and accurate sleep tracking

Touchscreen can be finicky High price

Very happy with my Garmin Venu. Great overall fitness watch especially strength training and running for me.

The Venu’s screen is Garmin’s best, but it’s not enough to recommend it over its cheaper stablemates

The always-on AMOLED screen is bright and easy to see in all conditions, and it hasn’t had too much of an effect on battery life – I got three or four days out of a charge; You get the usual excellent Garmin sports tracking, and the guided strength, yoga and Pilates workouts with animations are...

The smart features are limited; with Garmin Pay having only one UK high street bank partnered and the ConnectIQ app store lacking apps beyond extra watch faces and data screens for sports.

After three months of usage, I have little question that this display type is the future of Garmin wearables. Not all wearables, not immediately anyway – but certainly the future for sure. Battery tech and display tech moves so fast.