Garmin Venu SQ First Thoughts & Verdict

The new-look Garmin Venu SQ hits the spot for SMARTs, HEALTH and includes many, trusted Garmin sports features for a competitive wellness and activity package. It looks like a Fitbit Sense but it’s better; it looks like the Apple Watch SE but, well, maybe it’s not better…let’s say ‘different’.

Initial Verdict | Garmin Venu SQ Music

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Garmin Venu SQ Initial Verdict

Garmin is targetting a predominantly female audience with the Venu SQ and includes in the Venu SQ fertility tracking, wellness activities like meditation, sports profiles like pilates, music (optional) and smarts like Garmin PAY.

The key success points here appear to be PRICE, LOOKS, USABILITY and HEALTH capabilities:

• Price: Garmin has hit the Apple Watch 3/6 SE price point(ish), although a separate, more expensive music version is silly.
• Looks: Garmin has gone all-in for the Fitbit-cum-Apple looks. Looks proven to work.
• Interface: Garmin has chosen a standard case with a quality screen but still has its outdated menus onboard. Decent-looking watch faces hide some of what lies beneath.
• Health & Personal Safety: Personal Safety issues are nicely covered and I would argue so is the overall health offering. However, it lacks some of the headline sensors featured on the Fitbit Sense which, perhaps, most of us don’t really need.

 

The Apple Watch is a superior companion for you UNLESS sports and battery life are important to you. IF you are doing 1-2 hours of varied exercise 6 days a week and are perhaps not organised enough to charge your watch twice a day then the Garmin Venu SQ is the one to go for as the Apple Watch would eventually annoy you.

 

Pros

• Sensible pricing
• Relatively standard ‘square’ looks
• A decent HR sensor gives the foundations for believable insights, like those from Apple
• 6-day battery life easily wins over the Apple Watch, 14 hour GPS workout time is good for this class of watch
• Superior sports profiles
• Proper workout support edges it over Fitbit
• Fancy screen

Cons

• A separate music version is silly and confusing. K.I.S.S.
• A lack of supported banks outside the USA will be an issue for the Venu SQ to succeed globally
• Cheaper look and feel to Apple Watch
• A naive and unpolished interface when compared to Apple & Fitbit
• No tracking of ‘stairs climbed’

• Local Amazon Link

Garmin Venu SQ Firth Thoughts | Music Key Specifications

• 1.3″ LCD display with 240x240px resolution
  
• Decent Gorilla Glass 4
• 2-button plus touchscreen
• The Garmin Venu SQ is available to buy at an RRP of Eu/$200/£180 and Eu/$250/£230 for the music version. Check the BLUE Garmin banner below for links to discounts
  
• Garmin Pay – for contactless payments

How to Guide: use Garmin PAY with most banks – here

• Music via Garmin’s CIQ apps which includes Spotify and Amazon Music support
• Storage – 4GB/500 songs
• WR50 – 50m water resistance for swimming
• Lots of sports profile
• Sony GNSS chipset supporting multiple GNSS constellations including Galileo
• Standard Garmin charger
• 20mm, cheap-looking but interchangeable straps
• Latest Garmin Elevate sensor (the good one) delivers SpO2 and the supporting info for Firstbeat’s body battery, respiration, PulseOx, Stress level, 24×7 HR and more
• Structured workout support

Screen Shape Comparison | Garmin, Fitbit, Apple

Early release partners will likely include REI (USA) and Wiggle (Eu). Amazon won’t likely get stock for several weeks, although Amazon USA can sometimes get stock relatively early.