Garmin Venu X1 – All you need to know

Garmin Venu X1 – All you need to know

Garmin has unveiled its latest premium GPS smartwatch, the Garmin Venu X1, positioning it as a rival to the Apple Watch 10 Titanium or Watch Ultra 2. The device mimics its shape, loses the digital crown while adding a Garmin design twist, along with Garmin’s usual excellent range of sports, activity, and wellness features.

Venu X1 is one of Garmin’s top-of-the-range products (smartwatch), sitting nicely alongside the similarly priced Fenix 8 (outdoor adventure) and Forerunner 970 (performance sports).

Price: $799.99 (same as Apple Watch Ultra 2)

Design and Display

The Venu X1 features Garmin’s biggest display to date – a 2-inch easy-to-read AMOLED display with a resolution of 448 x 486 pixels, protected by a scratch-resistant sapphire lens. In direct comparison:

• The Apple Watch Ultra 2 features a slightly smaller 1.9-inch (1.93-inch) Always-On LTPO2 OLED display, protected by a flat sapphire crystal.
• Other top Garmin models, such as the Forerunner 970 and Fenix 8, feature a 1.4-inch circular AMOLED (or MIP for Fenix 8) display with a resolution of 454 x 454 pixels, making the Venu X1’s screen notably larger.

Other standout features include Garmin’s LED flashlight and its thinnest watch case, measuring 7.9 mm in thickness, adding to a definite overall feel of a sleek and lightweight design, weighing 40g with its band.

• In contrast, the Apple Watch Ultra 2, which features a slightly superior titanium case, is considerably thicker at 14.4 mm and heavier at 61.4-61.8 g.
• The Garmin Fenix 8 is also thicker, at 15.5 mm, and heavier, at 80g (for the stainless steel version). The Garmin Forerunner 970 is 13.0 mm thick and weighs 56g. The Garmin Venu 3, the Venu X1’s predecessor, measures 12.5mm in thickness and weighs 47g.

Smart Features & Smartphone Interaction: Bridging the Gap

The Venu X1 integrates a comprehensive suite of smartwatch features that actively interact with your smartphone:

• Built-in speaker and microphone: This feature enables owners to make and receive calls directly from their wrist when the watch is paired with a compatible smartphone. Both the Forerunner 970 and the Fenix 8 also include a speaker and microphone for phone calls.
• Voice commands: X1 supports voice commands for watch functions, with some accessible even without a phone connection. It can also interact with your smartphone’s voice assistant.
• Smart notifications: Receive emails, texts, and alerts on the smartwatch when paired with an iPhone or Android smartphone.
• On-wrist texting and photo viewing (Android only): Android users can send quick text responses using an on-wrist keyboard or via the Garmin Messenger app, and view photos directly from notifications on the watch screen.
• Music storage: With 32 GB of internal memory, the Venu X1 enables phone-free listening by allowing you to download songs and playlists from subscription services like Spotify, Deezer, or Amazon Music. This is a significant increase over the Venu 3’s 8 GB.
• Garmin Pay contactless payments: Facilitates quick transactions.
• Built-in LED flashlight: A convenient feature borrowed from higher-end Garmin models like the Fenix 8.
• Safety and Tracking Features: When paired with a smartphone, the watch can detect incidents and send a message with your live location to pre-selected contacts, or you can manually activate this feature. It also includes Garmin Share, which allows you to share saved locations, courses, and workouts.
• Connect IQ Store: Download watch faces, data fields, and apps to customise your Venu X1.
• The Venu X1 also includes Voice Notes, a feature seen in the more expensive Fenix 8 lineup but not in the Forerunner 970

A key difference is that the Garmin Venu X1 does not offer cellular connectivity, meaning it relies on being paired with your smartphone for its calling and most connected features. In contrast, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and the Stainless Steel Watch 10 both feature 4G LTE connectivity.

Health & Wellness Monitoring: Gaps in the Premium Suite

The Venu X1 provides robust 24/7 health and wellness monitoring, including HRV Status, advanced sleep tracking with nap detection, Body Battery energy monitoring, and Pulse Ox. It also offers a morning report, stress tracking, and meditation guidance.

• Notably, Garmin Venu X1 includes Garmin’s top Gen 5 HR sensor hardware, but has not enabled on-demand ECG readings. This feature is available on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 through its ECG app, as well as in other Garmin models, including the Venu 3, Forerunner 970, and Fenix 8. This could be pending compliance approval, but even then, Elevate 5 does not have continuous irregular beat monitoring like Apple.

Performance and Training Features: A Forerunner/Fenix Hybrid

The Venu X1 is designed for serious fitness enthusiasts, featuring many advanced performance features typically found in Garmin’s Forerunner and Fenix series.

• It boasts many preloaded sports apps and includes advanced metrics such as Training Readiness, Training Status, Endurance Score, and Hill Score. These are core features found on the Forerunner 970 and Fenix 8.
• For navigation, the Venu X1 comes with full-colour built-in TopoActive maps and dynamic round-trip routing. It also has extensive golf features with over 43,000 preloaded course maps.
• However, a notable omission is the lack of dual-band GPS. Both the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and top-tier Garmin models, such as the Forerunner 970 and Fenix 8, offer L1+L5 Precision dual-frequency GPS, which enhances location tracking in challenging signal areas. While Garmin rightly claims its non-dual-frequency GPS can often outperform competitors’ dual-frequency designs, the absence of this feature is a deliberate choice for the Venu X1.
• Conversely, it lacks some of the more advanced running metrics recently introduced to the Forerunner 970, such as Running Tolerance (or Impact Load) and Running Economy.

Battery Life: A Trade-off for the Large Display

While Garmin watches are typically known for their multi-week battery life, the Venu X1’s large AMOLED display impacts its duration:

• The Venu X1 offers up to 8 days of battery life in smartwatch mode, which drops to 2 days with the always-on display mode.
• This is significantly less than the Venu 3’s up to 14 days, the Forerunner 970’s up to 15 days, or the Fenix 8’s up to 16 days in smartwatch mode.
• However, the Venu X1’s battery life still outlasts the Apple Watch Ultra 2, which typically offers up to 36 hours of regular use (or up to 72 hours in Low Power Mode). This makes the Venu X1 a strong contender for those who prioritise extended battery life over the Apple Watch Ultra 2’s cellular capabilities.

Price and Availability

The Garmin Venu X1 is priced at $799.99, directly aligning it with the Apple Watch Ultra 2’s price point. It is available for order from June 18th, in Black with a Slate Titanium Case or Moss with a Titanium Case, both featuring a ComfortFit Nylon Band.

Take Out

The Venu X1’s design will be polarising—some will love its sleek, squarish look. In contrast, others might find it less refined, reminiscent of budget-friendly Apple Watch imitations rather than the premium Ultra model it intends to rival. The absence of a digital crown, however, lends a positive touch to its aesthetic, which I like.

For those considering the Venu X1 as a rugged alternative to the Apple Watch Ultra 2, a note of caution: while the X1 boasts solid specs for adventure, its lens lacks the raised protective metal casing found on the Apple Watch Ultra. A hard, unluckily placed knock could spell expensive trouble for the glass.

Battery life is where Garmin usually excels; however, here, it is offering a 2-day always-on display (AOD) and 14-hour all-systems GPS sport recording, which only edges out Apple. In practice, though, both watches likely demand a similar charging routine. Unlike some of Garmin’s other models, the Venu X1 won’t let you go weeks without a recharge.

The lack of dual-frequency GPS is identical to what the Apple Watch 10 Titanium offers (but the Ultra 2 offers dual frequency). That isn’t a dealbreaker, and neither will be the missing ECG functionality (though it may be added later). Apple’s continuous irregular heart rate monitoring is a strong wellness feature, but Garmin counters and beats that for most people with more frequent 24/7 heart rate tracking, delivering richer data for sleep and recovery through truly continuous heart rate variability (HRV) insights.

Out of the box, the Venu X1 offers a robust suite of sports and wellness features that are seamlessly integrated. While third-party apps for Apple Watch might outperform individual Garmin features, curating them takes time and effort most of us won’t invest.

So, does the Venu X1 hold its own against the Apple Watch, based on what I’ve said so far? In many ways, yes—it even pulls ahead in fitness tracking. But two key limitations temper this:

1. Smart Features: Apple’s ecosystem offers deeply integrated smart capabilities that Garmin cannot access or match – see these details.

2. Connectivity: The Apple Watch Series 10 Titanium and Ultra 2 both support 4G LTE, enabling standalone calls and smart features without a phone. The Venu X1 currently lacks cellular independence, and the proximity of your phone limits its smart features.

Garmin’s recent strides in smart features, culminating in the Venu X1, show promise, but there’s room to grow. I anticipated this move from Garmin, though I expected it later in the year. Looking ahead, the company’s next leap will be adding LTE to models like the Fenix 8 (Pro), Venu X1 (Pro), and Forerunner 975 (970 Pro). Even then, that step only partly closes the connectivity gap; Apple’s full suite of smart features will remain elusive to Garmin.

In some ways, Venu X1 changes nothing. If you want a deeply sporty watch, buy a Garmin. If you want the smartest possible watch, buy an Apple. For those considering the squarish case format, that is the basic choice you have to make, as this time around, the Garmin battery life is not the standout feature it is on its other watch models. That said, the flashlight and TOPO Mapping will be must-have features for some.