| 12 MIN
Garmin added another piece to its portfolio during September - Garmin Venu SQ. So what is new in the smarwatch field? Except for a surprisingly angular display, nothing at all. Compared to last year's model, the Garmin Venu lost a few sensors and switched from AMOLED to the LCD display. Are you wondering what makes this model interesting?It offers a lower price and a modern square design, which will definitely be appreciated by many users looking for a fashionable smartwatch.
Since the release itself, this model has been constantly compared to competing Apple Watches. Just because the watch case is square. But in defense of Garmin, what else can be thought of? Smartwatches are either round or square. There is nothing else. In addition, a comparison of these models makes no sense, as the target group is different.
But for just those who would still say that Garmin imitates the Apple Watch, I'm attaching a 2003 photo of a Garmin Forerunner 205. As you can see, Garmin "was into edges" at the beginning of this millennium. By the way, the first Apple Watches did not appear on the market until 2015.
Garmin Forerunner 205, which appeared on the market in 2003. Source: Wikipedia.com
Now enough about the history of Garmin and Apple Watch. This is a Garmin Venu review, so as a better comparasion subject we can use the Garmin Venu model, which appeared on the market last year. This model was interesting (together with Garmin VivoActive 4) by being an universal sporttester with a number of smart features, such as contactless paying with Garmin Pay and a music player, while being affordable at the same time. In addition, Garmin Venu was the first watch from Garmin to offer a full-fledged AMOLED display (Garmin uses LCD technology in the vast majority of its sporttesters).
The biggest change is noticable at a first glance. The watch has gone from circle to angular, giving the watch a touch of modernity and a fresh breeze into the Garmin watch line. Both watches have a touch screen but Venu SQ has returned to the LCD technology and its display increased its size to 1,3" thanks to the edges. The new Venu SQ model has lost the barometer and gyroscope.
Unfortunately, the battery life was also slightly reduced. Garmin Venu was able to receive a GPS signal every second for 20 hours. The new Venu SQ model can only do it for 14 hours. The reduction (this time in a good way) also happened to the weight of the watch. This year's model lost almost 9 grams and got to a decent 37.6 grams. Venu SQ also has no animations that accompanied the user through exercises. But honestly, it doesn't seem like something extra important to me.
Difference between Garmin Venu SQ (left) and Garmin Venu (right).
But what about everything else? Music player (Music version only), contactless payments, daily monitoring, optical heart rate sensor, pulse oximeter, simple navigation, GPS, GALILEO and GLONASS signal reception? It all stayed there. But that was only in a nutshell.
Usually, the part of the review where I deal with the look of the watch, honestly doesn't seem so important to me. I rather look more into functions and sensor equipment, but here we are talking about Garmin Venu SQ. This model mostly relies on appearance. Why else would Garmin release a more or less identical watch to Garmin Venu a year later?
And do you know what I'm going to tell you? They did a good job in the US. The watch is from the design point of view a top notch. In my opinion, this is one of the first purely urban watches from the Garmin brand. And if someone told me they wanted to buy the watch just because they liked it, I wouldn't object... That is the reason why the Venu SQ model was made.
The watch is offered in a total of eight color variants, four of which are Music versions (music player and support for streaming services). The other four don't have a music player and their price tag is slightly lower than that of the Music version.
Now let's stop waffling around. The watch has a case made of fiber-reinforced polymer and can be controlled through its a 1.3-inch LCD touch screen with a resolution of 240x240 pixels. This display is protected by a mineral glass with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 treatment. Touch controls on the sides are complemented by two mechanical buttons, where the upper one starts monitoring the sports activity and with a long press you can open the shortcuts. The bottom button works as "Back" and with a long press you open the settings.
I have to admit that when I got the watch in my hand, I thought it had an AMOLED display. The colors are rich, contrasting and all I can say is that Garmin did a good job again. I have a bit of a problem with the control of the display, which is a little annoying here and there. Yes, sometimes I am swearing like a sailor when I inadvertently swipe to where I don't want at all and so on. That didn't happen to me at all with the last year's Garmin Venu.
The reason I didn't recognize it is that other Garmin models have a transflective LCD display, which is easily, at a first glance, distinguishable from the OLED display. The display used in the Venu SQ is Liquid Crystal, so it uses a flat backlight and goes out when not in use. Transflective displays are a bit more dull, but they are characterized by being battery life economical, having permanent lighting and perfect readability even in direct sunlight. Pure Liquid Crystal displays are richer in color and contrast, but they go out and are not so easy to read in direct sunlight. In general, the features are more similar to OLED displays.
Comparison of readability in direct sunlight - LCD (left), OLED (middle) and transflective LCD (right).
The watch has a silicone strap with a width of 20 mm. Personally, I prefer a width of at least 22 millimeters, but I don't mind a narrower strap on these watches. The watch fits well on the hand and is comfortable. It also has a "speed" spring bars (QuickRelease system), tso you can change the straps quickly without the use of any tools.
What I'm a little afraid of is the plastic buckle through which the strap is threaded. The watch clasp is a subject to frequent manipulation and I am a little afraid that its life will not be as long as the steel clasp would have, which is used much more often.
Similarly, Garmin saved on the bezel of the watch, which this time is not made of steel (as in last year's model), but of aluminum. On the other hand, it is important to note that thanks to these "cheaper" materials, the brand's manufacturers reached an impressive 37.6 grams in weight.
Sensor features include an optical-based heart rate sensor, a pulse oximeter (measures blood oxygenation), compass and an accelerometer. The watch has an integrated GPS, GLONASS and GALILEO signal receiver. An interesting addition is the ambient light sensor, which adjusts the brightness of the watch according to external lighting conditions.
As already mentioned, this sports tester does not have a barometer, which is used to accurately record ascended and descended altitude meters, as well as ascended floors. Among other things, the barometer can detect an approaching storm. However, this is only a list of functions that the watch does not have.
Although the edges are modern and "urban", the watch also looks good with sportswear.
In terms of battery life, I'd put the Garmin Venu SQ somewhere in the middle. It lasts up to six days in smart watch mode. If the GPS signal is received every second, the battery life drops to 14 hours. The watch does not have an UltraTrac mode, which allows GPS signal reception every minute, so 14 hours is the final maximum. If you combine GPS signal reception with music playing, the battery life is reduced to 6 hours. An even greater reduction in battery life will be achieved by combining several navigation systems (GPS + GLONASS, GPS + GALILEO). By the way, the watch has a preset combination of GPS + GLONASS, so don't let it surprise you.
The watch turns off by default, but also offers the option of setting the Always-on mode, so the watch does not turn off. However, it also reduces battery life and it will definitely not last six days.
Venu SQ looks like a city watch at first glance, but inside there are sports guts. The watch also confirms this with a wide range of sports activities. In addition to running, cycling and walking, you will also find for example rowing, pilates or yoga. Thanks to the water resistance of 5 ATM, it is also possible to swim with the watch in the pool (however, they do not support swimming in open water).
Garmin Venu SQ offers monitoring of the following activities: Running, Indoor Track Running, Treadmill Running, Biking, Indoor Biking, Walking, Indoor Walking, Skiing, Snowboarding, XC Skiing, Pool Swimming, SUP (Stand Up Paddle Board), Rowing, Indoor Rowing, Pilates, Yoga, Stepper, Elliptical Training, Cardio, Strength, Golf and Others (used to create your own activity).
If the offer is not wide enough for you, you can enrich your watch with third-party applications through Connect IQ. You will also find various accessories and looks of the dial there.
Like most people, I tend to box watches and I strongly underestimated these seemingly city watches. But I forgot that there is a Garmin's heart hidden in a suspiciously square case.
When I took the watch on the athletic oval, I compared it to the Garmin Forerunner 745, which is a novelty with the most accurate track record on the running field. Yes, the Garmin Venu SQs have a slightly worse record, but it's definitely not that bad. In addition, it is a watch from a lower price range, so I would say that it performed well.
Livetracking on a running track by Garmin Forerunner 745 with an "Indoor and Outdoor Track Running" activity tracking
Livetracking on a running track by Garmin Venu SQ with "Running" activity tracking.
Then I took the watch on a 10K run, where I was interested in recording the route outside the running track. Note that the watch always recorded the route at the same time and had the same conditions. This applies both to the running track as well as running outside it. I have to admit that Garmin Venu SQ surprised me a little more on the 10K than on the running track, because the records are pretty decent. Don't you think?
Livetracking by Garmin Forerunner 745.
Livetracking by Garmin Venu SQ.
I would like to point out that Garmin Forerunner 745 is novelty from this September that is proud to have a top-notch livetracking, which can also recognize which side of the road you are running on. It's a really tough opponent for Venu SQ, but I don't think the "square" did badly at all.
Do you want a quick answer? Really well. On a 10K run, I compared the data obtained from a chest strap (which reads the heartbeat directly from the chest, ensuring more accurate results) with the data obtained from Garmin Venu SQ.
Heart rate data obtained from the chest strap.
Heart rate data obtained from Venu SQ.
One might even say that I put here the same photo twice. Yes, Garmin Venu SQ measures heart rate really well. Of course, this is a result of a quality optical sensor (Elevate), but also lightness of the watch and how well it fits on the wrist. The watch does not "hop" on your hand, which guarantees accurate measurements.
Immediately after the sports activity, the watch evaluates your training and tell you everything you need about distance, pace, speed, but also cadence, stride length or estimated sweat loss. When connected to a chest strap you can also get data about ground contact time and balance, vertical oscillation and ratio.
Of course, the watch also offers an estimated VO2Max value, which is used by athletes to evaluate their fitness, but really it is a maximum amount of oxygen that a person uses during sports performance. We have already talked about estimated VO2Max value in an article in our magazine. After sport, you definitely appreciate the recovery time estimation and the training analysis.
Nothing is perfect and the same goes for Vena SQ. While using it, I came across some shortcomings. One of the biggest is the monitoring of sports activities itself, which is generally half-baked. If you are an owner of the Music version, there is no data field reserved for controling the music directly in the monitoring. I really don't understand that. Yes, in the version without music I would understand. Rationally. But in the Music version?
Another shortcoming in monitoring is the number of data within one data field. A watch with a rectangular display has more display options than a watch with a round display. Logically, more data will fit in there. But Garmin didn't use it at all.
The watch displays only three pieces of information in one data field. So there is a lot of unused space and honestly, the three details are really small (fortunately you can download the data field from a third party through Connect IQ). Probably not for a beginner, but definitely for a more advanced athlete. Another inconvenience is the black colored background. In combination with the non-transflective display on the watch, there is really almost nothing to see in direct sunlight.
I replaced the original restricted data field (left) with a data field downloaded from Connect IQ (right).
If you are not doing sports, the watch still monitors you all day. During the day, the watch evaluates whether you are stressed or not based on your heart rate variability. At night, it monitors your sleep (time ratio in light, deep and REM sleep). But it also records your heart rate during the day and calculates your average resting heart rate. The watch also offers all-day measurements with a pulse oximeter, but I have to say that this rapidly reduces battery life. In our magazine you will find an article on the topic of these sensors and what they can tell us about our health.
A useful feature is the Body Battery, which determines the "body charge" on a scale from 0 to 100 based on the user's stress, sleep and activities.
After all, an urban watch should have some smart features. And yes, it has. I think the two most used are definitely Garmin Pay and quick answers. Garmin Pay is a contactless payment method supported by most of the banks in the Czech Republic. So you can leave your wallet at home and conveniently pay with your watch. The latter function will quickly respond to incoming messages with preset replies. You can also use the same answers when rejecting an incoming call.
Another useful feature is accident and fall detection, where the watch asks if you are OK after detection. If you do not confirm this prompt, the watch will automatically send a message to the three preset contacts.
In the Music version (more expensive), the watch can play music from its own storage. Inside, you can "fit" up to 500 songs. The watch also supports streaming services such as Spotify, Deezer or Amazon Music. You can download your favorite playlists via Wi-Fi and listen offline.
I would not really recommend this watch to a star athlete. The battery life is short and during a long race the watch probably won't make the finish line being on. Garmin itself consider the watch as suitable for walking and fitness. I would also recommend it to a recreational athlete or to an intermediate runner. Livetracking is really good, the heart rate sensor works very well and the watch is light, so it is pleasant when running.
I think that this model will be sought after by many users, as it offers contactless payments, a music player in the Music version and a wide range of sports activities for a decent price. In addition, all these functions are enclosed in a modern square case.
If you would like a slightly more equipped watch, I would not be afraid to recommend last year's Garmin Venu model. Same features as found in Garmin Venu has Garmin VivoActive4, which also has a transflective LCD display. An alternative from a different brand can be for example Samsung Galaxy Watch Active2, or a smartwatch from the Xiomy Amazfit line.
