Garmin smartwatches and health wearables have been round in India for fairly a while. Though I’ve heard these are well-liked amongst health fanatics, I’ve hardly ever noticed one in use. So when the Garmin Venu 2 Plus was examined, I used to be stunned to see the characteristic listing and the worth. Priced at Rs. 46,990 in India, it compares to the Apple Watch Collection 7, which we and plenty of others have rated extremely. So, is the Garmin Venu 2 Plus the fitting smartwatch for you, or would you be higher off with another? I examined it to search out out.
Garmin Venu 2 Plus Value in India
The Garmin Venu 2 Plus is priced at Rs. 46,990 in India and is just out there with a 43mm watch face. You’ll be able to select from Graphite Black, Cream Gold, and Powder Gray, and every comes with an identical strap.
Design Garmin Venu 2 Plus
The Garmin Venu 2 Plus has a round dial with a 1.3-inch AMOLED show. Surprisingly, it solely is available in one dial dimension of 43mm; you aren’t getting different choices such as you do with the Apple Watch Collection 7 (Review) and the Samsung Galaxy Watch Collection 4. This turned out to be simply excellent from my hand, however lots of people may discover too small or too massive.
The Venu 2 Plus has a metallic bezel with a textured sample, which seems to be and feels premium. There are three buttons on the fitting, whereas the left solely has the speaker. The case is manufactured from polycarbonate and makes use of customary 20mm straps. The equipped strap has fast launch pins that make alternative straightforward with out the necessity for instruments. Garmin used metallic for the underside of the Venu 2 Plus, and that is the place you will discover the well being sensors. This space additionally has charging contacts in a recess. Garmin’s cable simply snaps into place for charging, eliminating any fumbling.
The Garmin Venu 2 Plus has a 1.3-inch AMOLED show
The Garmin Venu 2 Plus weighs 51g, which implies it’s kind of heavier than the Apple Watch Collection 7. In comparison with the Apple Watch, the Garmin Venu 2 Plus has a commanding presence in your wrist. The strap is properly designed and brought on no pores and skin irritation in the course of the evaluate interval. It additionally held the watch fairly comfortably towards my wrist, which helped to precisely measure my coronary heart fee and SpO2 ranges. The Venu 2 Plus is rated for five ATM water resistance and can even monitor swims.
Garmin Venu 2 Plus software program, options and ecosystem
The Garmin Venu 2 Plus runs on proprietary software program and can be utilized with an iPhone or Android smartphone. You should use all of its options when paired with an Android telephone, however when you’re utilizing an iPhone, some options aren’t out there, reminiscent of the power to answer to messages. You should use the Venu 2 Plus’ speaker and microphone to reply incoming calls in your wrist, however you will have to elevate the watch shut sufficient to your face to listen to the caller clearly. The Venu 2 Plus has Bluetooth connectivity in addition to Wi-Fi connectivity and may independently hook up with identified networks. There is no mobile connectivity on the Venu 2 Plus like you will get with the Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 collection.
I paired the Garmin Venu 2 Plus with a Samsung Galaxy S21 smartphone (take a look at) for one week, then upgraded to an Apple iPhone 12 Professional (take a look at) the next week. The Garmin Join app is almost similar on each platforms and simple to arrange. The app’s house display is a dashboard that shows the entire well being metrics that the Garmin Venu 2 Plus has recorded. It shows the variety of steps taken, the variety of flooring climbed, coronary heart fee, physique battery (vitality degree), stress degree and even sleep particulars. You’ll be able to faucet on any of them to see further data. There’s even a calendar view of all these stats, which will be considered at a look.
The underside of the Garmin Venu 2 Plus has a number of sensors to measure coronary heart fee and SpO2
The app allows you to take part in health challenges and even allows you to create your personal. You’ll be able to add associates and compete with them. Should you do, their bodily exercise will present up within the app’s Information Feed tab. It’s also possible to use the Garmin Join app to vary watch faces, customise fast shortcuts, set exercise objectives, and change between totally different monitoring options.
On the Garmin Venu 2 Plus, you may swipe up or down on the house display to entry “Glances”, that are principally widgets that present data reminiscent of your SpO2 degree, coronary heart fee , your sleep stats, and extra. The UI additionally has a widget that aggregates your entire paired smartphone’s notifications, making it straightforward to view them abruptly, however interacting with them requires an additional step. You’ll be able to customise these widgets utilizing the Garmin Join app.
The central button of the Garmin Venu 2 Plus prompts the voice assistant of the paired smartphone. The built-in speaker permits the assistant to answer your instructions via the watch. The highest-right button brings up a Favorites menu with a brief press, whereas an extended press brings up a management menu. The underside button takes you one step again within the UI, however you can even swipe proper on any display to return. Lengthy press it to entry settings. I discovered this navigation scheme overwhelming after I first began utilizing the Venu 2 Plus, and discovering the fitting setting took some looking out. The educational curve is barely steep in comparison with an Apple Watch, however issues acquired higher after some use.
You’ll be able to summon the private assistant in your paired smartphone utilizing the Venu 2 Plus
You’ll be able to monitor a variety of exercises on the Garmin Venu 2 Plus, from fundamental workouts like strolling and operating to energy coaching. It’s also possible to create customized routines by combining totally different energy workouts utilizing the Garmin Join app or web site. It is simpler to create customized exercises on a PC and sync them to the Venu 2 Plus, which is a large advantage of such an ecosystem.
Garmin Venu 2 Plus efficiency and battery life
I used the Garmin Venu 2 Plus for over three weeks, monitoring my walks virtually each day, and evaluating the outcomes with an Apple Watch Collection 7 to examine its accuracy. The Garmin Venu 2 Plus makes use of its built-in GPS to trace outside exercises. Locking onto a GPS sign took lower than 30 seconds typically. Distance monitoring was correct and the Venu 2 Plus recorded precisely 1 km for each 1 km traveled. Step monitoring wasn’t far off in any respect, and the watch confirmed 999 steps for the 1,000 I manually counted.
The Garmin Venu 2 Plus can constantly monitor your coronary heart fee and it was correct in comparison with the Apple Watch Collection 7. The Venu 2 Plus was additionally fast to detect modifications in coronary heart fee whereas I used to be coaching. You’ll be able to monitor your SpO2 degree on the Venu 2 Plus and even monitor it all through the day, mechanically. That is disabled by default. I discovered the SpO2 readings to be corresponding to a medical grade pulse oximeter.
You get a full breakdown of your sleep cycle when you put on the Venu 2 Plus to mattress
Sleep monitoring was correct, and the Garmin Venu 2 Plus was additionally in a position to monitor totally different phases of my sleep. The app breaks this down into intervals of deep sleep, gentle sleep, REM, and wakefulness. You’ll be able to even allow SpO2 monitoring when you sleep. The Garmin Venu 2 Plus additionally claims to trace stress, and the outcomes displayed matched the texture of my day. Whereas all of those settings made my analytical aspect very pleased, the quantity of data was overwhelming at instances. Garmin ought to discover a option to streamline the way it presents all of this knowledge to the person. Possibly including customized data within the app would make all of the stats simpler to grasp, particularly for novice smartwatch customers.
The battery lifetime of the Garmin Venu 2 Plus was spectacular. With my utilization, which consisted of monitoring night walks most days, notifications from my paired smartphone, coronary heart fee monitoring all the time on, and even sleep monitoring, I nonetheless managed to make the reveals about six days per cost. That is far more than the Apple Watch Collection 7 is able to – I needed to cost it each different day. I count on battery life to be much less with all-day SpO2 monitoring and always-on show enabled. Charging the watch with the equipped cable and my very own 10W AC adapter resulted in a forty five% cost after half-hour, and the watch was absolutely charged after about one other hour.
Verdict
The Garmin Venu 2 Plus is a really succesful smartwatch for health fanatics. It may well monitor a variety of well being metrics and works on Android and iOS. To prime it off, the battery life is superb for the options it provides. Priced at Rs. 46,990 in India, it’s costly and may solely enchantment to a distinct segment viewers. The dearth of LTE connectivity might additionally deter some patrons – the Apple Watch Collection 7 (Review) provides it however at the next value.
Should you’re an athlete or health fanatic who needs to actively monitor exercises and health-related metrics, the Garmin Venu 2 Plus could possibly be a worthwhile funding. iPhone customers who solely wish to monitor their health and need a easier person interface may discover the Apple Watch Collection 7 a stable different. These on a price range can take into account the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Apple Watch SE (Review) as an alternative.