The Garmin Venu 3 is a sophisticated and feature-rich smartwatch, positioned as a versatile fitness companion for both athletes and casual users alike. Its standout characteristic is the exceptional battery life, making it ideal for those who prioritize longevity in their wearable devices. However, the Venu 3 is not just about battery life. It boasts a wide array of fitness tracking tools, health monitoring features, and smart functionalities, all housed in an elegant design that is as suitable for the office as it is for the gym.
In this in-depth review, we’ll explore everything you need to know about the Garmin Venu 3, including its design, battery performance, fitness and health tracking capabilities, smart features, and how it compares to other models in Garmin’s lineup and its competitors.
Table of Contents
Design and Build Quality
Garmin has taken a more refined approach with the Venu 3, offering a sleek and stylish design that doesn’t scream “fitness tracker.” The Venu 3 features a stainless steel bezel with a fiber-reinforced polymer case, giving it a premium look and feel without adding too much bulk. Its AMOLED display is crisp, bright, and easy to read, even in direct sunlight—one of the primary reasons this watch stands out from Garmin’s other offerings.
Available in different sizes (45mm and 41mm for the smaller Venu 3S), the watch is designed to cater to different wrist sizes and preferences. The touchscreen interface is intuitive and responsive, making navigation between apps, metrics, and menus seamless. Garmin also offers a variety of quick-release bands, allowing users to customize the watch to suit their style, whether it’s for a workout session or a formal event.
The overall build is durable, with water resistance up to 5 ATM (50 meters), making it suitable for swimming and showering. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, ensuring resistance against scratches and impacts. The combination of premium materials, durability, and customization options makes the Garmin Venu 3 an attractive option for a wide audience.
Display: AMOLED Brilliance
One of the standout features of the Garmin Venu 3 is its AMOLED display, which delivers stunning visuals with vibrant colors and deep blacks. The screen resolution is sharp, allowing for easy readability of text and detailed graphics, whether you’re reviewing your daily health metrics or simply checking notifications. Compared to Garmin’s transflective displays, which focus on outdoor visibility, the Venu 3’s AMOLED screen is more visually striking, making it a treat for those who appreciate aesthetics.
The Always-On Display (AOD) option is another great feature that enhances the watch’s usability. With AOD enabled, you can glance at the time or essential data without having to wake up the screen. Even with this feature active, the battery life remains impressive, a testament to Garmin’s optimization.
Battery Life: Leading the Charge
Battery life is one of the primary selling points of the Garmin Venu 3, and it does not disappoint. In smartwatch mode, the device can last up to 10 to 12 days, depending on usage patterns and settings. For users who enable features like Always-On Display, regular GPS tracking, and continuous health monitoring, the battery life may be reduced, but it still outperforms many competitors in the same category.
In GPS mode, the Venu 3 offers up to 20 hours of continuous tracking, making it ideal for long runs, hikes, or outdoor activities. For multi-day expeditions or marathons, this longevity ensures that users don’t have to worry about charging the device mid-activity. When combined with power-saving options, such as adjusting brightness and disabling non-essential features, the watch can extend its battery life even further.
Additionally, Garmin has included fast charging capabilities, allowing users to quickly top up the battery in a short amount of time. This feature is especially useful for those who need to charge on the go or between workouts.
Garmin Venu 3 Slate Stainless Steel Bezel 1.4-Inch AMOLED Touchscreen Display Smart Watch with 45mm Black Case and Silicone Band: Buy it now
Health and Fitness Tracking
Garmin has long been known for its focus on fitness tracking, and the Venu 3 is no exception. It’s packed with an extensive range of sensors and features designed to monitor your health and fitness metrics throughout the day and during workouts.
Heart Rate Monitoring and Pulse Ox
At the core of its health tracking capabilities is the Garmin Elevate™ heart rate sensor, which offers accurate 24/7 heart rate monitoring. Whether you’re resting, working out, or going through daily activities, the watch continuously tracks your heart rate, providing valuable insights into your overall health and fitness levels.
The watch also includes a Pulse Ox sensor, which measures your blood oxygen saturation levels. This is especially useful for high-altitude training or monitoring your respiratory health during sleep.
Sleep Tracking and Sleep Coaching
The Venu 3 takes sleep tracking to the next level by offering in-depth insights into your sleep patterns, including light, deep, and REM sleep stages. It also provides an overall sleep score to help you gauge the quality of your rest. One of the unique features of the Venu 3 is its Sleep Coach, which offers personalized recommendations based on your sleep patterns, making it easier to improve your nightly rest.
Stress Tracking and Relaxation Reminders
The watch also includes stress tracking, measuring your stress levels throughout the day by analyzing heart rate variability. It offers breathing exercises and relaxation reminders when it detects elevated stress levels, helping you manage stress more effectively.
Body Battery™ Energy Monitoring
A popular feature in Garmin’s lineup, the Body Battery™ energy monitoring system estimates your energy levels throughout the day based on a combination of heart rate, stress, and sleep data. This is a valuable tool for understanding when you’re ready to take on a workout or when you need to rest and recover.
Women’s Health Features
Garmin has continued to expand its focus on women’s health with features like menstrual cycle tracking and pregnancy tracking. These allow users to log symptoms, track their cycle, and receive tailored fitness and health recommendations based on their data. This inclusivity makes the Venu 3 an appealing option for women who want comprehensive health monitoring.
Advanced Fitness Features
The Garmin Venu 3 is designed to cater to a wide range of athletes, from runners to gym-goers and everyone in between. It offers detailed tracking for a variety of activities, including running, cycling, swimming, strength training, yoga, Pilates, and more.
Running Features
For runners, the Venu 3 includes advanced metrics like VO2 max, ground contact time, cadence, and more. The watch also supports Garmin Coach, which offers adaptive training plans designed by professional coaches. These plans adjust based on your performance, making them ideal for those training for a specific event, like a 5K or marathon.
GPS and Navigation
The Venu 3 is equipped with multi-GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo), ensuring accurate location tracking even in challenging environments like dense forests or urban canyons. This makes the watch a great choice for outdoor adventurers, hikers, and trail runners who need reliable navigation.
Strength Training and HIIT Workouts
For gym enthusiasts, the Venu 3 offers strength training and HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) tracking. It can automatically detect reps and sets, providing a detailed breakdown of your workout. The Garmin Connect app also allows you to create and download custom workouts, making it easier to follow structured routines.
Swimming and Water Sports
With its 5 ATM water resistance, the Venu 3 is fully equipped for swimming, whether in a pool or open water. It tracks key metrics like stroke count, swolf score, and distance. The watch can also be used for tracking other water-based activities like paddleboarding and surfing, making it a versatile choice for aquatic sports enthusiasts.
Smartwatch Features
While the Garmin Venu 3 excels in fitness tracking, it also functions as a fully capable smartwatch, offering a range of features that enhance daily life.
Notifications and Calls
The Venu 3 supports smart notifications, allowing you to receive calls, texts, emails, and app alerts directly on the watch when paired with your smartphone. It’s compatible with both Android and iOS devices, ensuring seamless integration regardless of your smartphone ecosystem. For Android users, there’s even the option to send quick replies to messages directly from the watch.
The watch also includes on-watch voice calling (when connected to your phone via Bluetooth), making it possible to take and make calls directly from your wrist. This is especially useful for users who prefer to leave their phone behind during workouts or daily activities.
Music Storage and Playback
Music lovers will appreciate the Venu 3’s built-in music storage. You can store up to 500 songs directly on the watch, including playlists from popular streaming services like Spotify, Deezer, and Amazon Music. This allows you to listen to your favorite tunes without needing to carry your phone during workouts. You can connect the watch to Bluetooth headphones for a phone-free listening experience.
Garmin Pay
The inclusion of Garmin Pay allows users to make contactless payments directly from the watch. This feature is convenient for those who want to leave their wallet behind when running errands, going for a jog, or grabbing a post-workout coffee.
Third-Party App Support
Through the Connect IQ Store, users can download additional apps, watch faces, and data fields to customize the Venu 3. This allows for further personalization and makes it easy to expand the watch’s capabilities beyond its out-of-of-the-box features. Whether you’re looking for custom workout data fields, weather apps, or even games, the Connect IQ Store provides an extensive library of apps to enhance the user experience.
Health and Fitness Comparisons
To better understand how the Garmin Venu 3 stacks up against competitors, it’s important to compare it with other Garmin models and similar offerings from other brands. In Garmin’s own lineup, the Venu 3 sits as a versatile, everyday smartwatch, making it a bit different from the more sport-specific Forerunner or Fenix series. The Forerunner 965 or 955, for instance, offers deeper performance metrics for serious athletes, while the Fenix is built for rugged outdoor adventurers.
However, the Venu 3’s combination of high-end fitness features, excellent health tracking, and beautiful AMOLED display make it an ideal middle-ground for users who want both the best of fitness and lifestyle capabilities.
Venu 3 vs. Apple Watch Series 9
The Apple Watch Series 9 is often considered the benchmark for smartwatches, especially in terms of usability, design, and ecosystem integration. While the Apple Watch excels in its app support, integration with iOS, and smart features, the Venu 3 holds its own with superior battery life (far surpassing the Apple Watch’s typical 18-24 hours), more detailed health tracking, and better fitness data. The Venu 3 is also more durable, with superior water resistance and more in-depth fitness and wellness metrics. However, the Apple Watch offers better third-party app support and tighter integration with smart home ecosystems, making it a better choice for tech enthusiasts or iPhone users.
Venu 3 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is another popular contender in the smartwatch market. Samsung’s offering has a strong focus on health and fitness, much like Garmin, but it is often praised for its versatility as an everyday watch. The Venu 3, however, pulls ahead in terms of battery life (10 days vs. about 2 days for the Galaxy Watch 6) and fitness tracking accuracy. Garmin’s heart rate, GPS, and fitness data tend to be more reliable, making it a better option for serious athletes or those with a keen interest in fitness. Samsung’s smartwatch, however, has a more polished interface and better third-party app integration, making it a great option for Android users who prefer smart functionalities over in-depth fitness data.
Venu 3 vs. Fitbit Sense 2
Fitbit is known for its health and fitness tracking, and the Fitbit Sense 2 is one of the brand’s flagship models. When compared to the Garmin Venu 3, Fitbit offers a similar focus on health tracking, including stress management, sleep tracking, and heart rate monitoring. However, the Venu 3 provides better GPS accuracy, multi-sport tracking, and deeper analytics for those interested in performance metrics. The Venu 3’s battery life is also significantly longer, with Fitbit Sense 2 offering up to 6 days, which is still shorter than Garmin’s 10-12 days in smartwatch mode. In terms of overall versatility and performance, the Venu 3 is the stronger contender, especially for those seeking advanced fitness data.
User Experience: Ease of Use and Daily Life Integration
One of the key strengths of the Garmin Venu 3 is how easily it integrates into daily life. Whether you’re using it for workouts, tracking your sleep, or managing day-to-day notifications, it provides a seamless experience.
Garmin Connect App
The Garmin Connect app is the central hub for all your fitness, health, and performance data. The app is intuitive, offering clear insights into your activity levels, sleep quality, stress, and more. It also syncs easily with other fitness platforms, like MyFitnessPal or Strava, making it convenient for users who are already invested in their fitness ecosystem.
Customization is another strong point of the Garmin Connect app. Users can personalize dashboards to prioritize the data that matters most to them, whether that’s sleep, stress, or daily step count. Additionally, it provides an avenue for creating custom workouts and reviewing detailed performance reports, making it a great companion for users who want to dig into their health data.
Comfort and Wearability
Despite being packed with features, the Garmin Venu 3 is lightweight and comfortable to wear. Thanks to its quick-release silicone bands, users can swap out straps to match their style or activity level. The smaller-sized Venu 3S also ensures that users with slimmer wrists can enjoy the same features without compromising on comfort.
The watch is lightweight enough to wear during sleep, which is crucial for those looking to benefit from its advanced sleep-tracking features. Additionally, the watch’s vibration alerts and customizable alarm system are non-intrusive, making it easy to wake up without disturbing your sleep cycle.
Battery Life in Real-World Scenarios
While Garmin promises up to 10-12 days in smartwatch mode, real-world usage varies based on how you use the watch. For those who frequently use the Always-On Display, GPS tracking, or listen to music through Bluetooth, the battery life will drop, but even in heavy usage, it still manages to last 5-7 days—which is far more than most smartwatches in the market.
The fast-charging feature is also highly practical. In just under an hour, you can charge the watch from near zero to full, which is perfect for users who don’t have time to leave the watch on charge for extended periods. If you’re someone who tracks daily runs or workouts, you can easily squeeze a week’s worth of battery life out of the watch without the need to recharge mid-week.
Price and Value
Garmin’s Venu 3 is priced at the higher end of the smartwatch spectrum, but it offers a wealth of features that justify the investment. With its stunning AMOLED display, robust fitness and health tracking features, long battery life, and premium build, it competes with the best smartwatches on the market, including Apple and Samsung. However, the Venu 3 stands out because of its superior battery performance, extensive sports tracking options, and advanced health metrics, making it an exceptional value for those who prioritize these features.
Final Verdict: Is the Garmin Venu 3 Worth Buying?
For fitness enthusiasts, health-conscious individuals, and those who want a premium smartwatch that doesn’t require daily charging, the Garmin Venu 3 is a compelling choice. Its combination of a high-quality AMOLED display, advanced fitness tracking, and long-lasting battery life sets it apart from many of its competitors. While it might not offer the same level of app support as the Apple Watch or the Galaxy Watch, it more than makes up for it with its accurate health data, extensive workout tracking, and durability.
Whether you’re a casual gym-goer, a runner, or someone just looking to improve their daily wellness, the Garmin Venu 3 provides all the tools you need. With its exceptional battery life, beautiful design, and advanced features, it’s a well-rounded smartwatch that truly offers the best of both worlds: functionality and style.