Live Science Verdict
The Venu 3 combines cracking fittingness - trailing accuracy with some of the more life style - led collection of a smartwatch . It ’s great , as long as you wo n’t lose some of the athlete - orientate lineament available in the Forerunner series too much .
solid GPS and HR accuracy
attend better than most Garmin watches
The Venu 3 is lighter and less bulky than some of the top-end Garmin watches like the Fenix 8 or Instinct 2.
Comfortable and long - lasting
Lacks a few utilitarian athlete feature
Quite pricey
The Venu 3 is lighter and less bulky than some of the top-end Garmin watches like the Fenix 8 or Instinct 2.
Does n’t have a strong excogitation identity
Touchscreen manipulation can guide to inadvertent commands
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The Garmin Venu 3 features a vibrant, 1.4-inch OLED display.
The Garmin Venu 3 is the most smartwatch - like wearable to day of the month from the drawing card in saturated sport andfitness watches . Is this Garmin playing outside of its comfort zone ? for sure , a sense of touch , but so much of the smartwatch biography is about exercise and bodily function tail that none of its expertise is wasted .
The Venu 3 is accurate and reliable , and has new - to - Garmin features like ECG heart pace readings . Those who are enceinte - conference exercisers should consider a Garmin Forerunner 265 instead , though : it ’s a small less glamorous - looking , but has athlete - head feature film and stats that the Venu series lacks . The Garmin Venu 3 ’s touch - head approach can also be nettlesome during exercise , but more on that later .
You ’ll devote $ 449/£449/$749AU for the Venu 3 , making it the same price as its predecessor the Venu 2 Plus in the U.S. , but somewhat more expensive in the U.K.
The Garmin Venu 3 offers basic workout tracking features.
Garmin Venu 3 review
Garmin Venu 3: Design and display
presentation : 1.4 in , 454 x 454 pixel organic light-emitting diode cover
proportion ( mm):45 x 45 x 12
Dimensions ( in ): 1.77 x 1.77 x 0.47
The Garmin Venu 3 is getting ECG readings, but we weren’t able to test this feature on our testing unit.
Weight : 1.6 oz ( 46 1000 )
Water opposition : 5ATM
Storage : 8 GB internal storage
Each morning the Garmin Venu 3 will provide you with a Morning Report, which is a summary of your sleep and notes for the upcoming day.
GPS : Yes
range : Yes
Contactless payments : Garmin Pay
There is a lot to like about the Garmin Venu 3 performance-wise.
The Garmin Venu 3 combine Garmin ’s seaworthiness nous with a design that will appeal to folks who would never strap a Fenix 7 Pro around their wrist joint . It looks sly , more like a smartwatch , and there ’s less of a sentience the wearer is about to start banging on about their marathon times or run club dramas .
You have two sizing option here , as with many Garmin lines . There ’s the 41 mm Venu 3S and the 45 mm Venu 3 , seen here . No matter which size you choose for , you get a silicone polymer strap , Gorilla Glass 3 toughen glass sieve shelter and a knurled steel bezel , while the rest of the case is a tough plastic .
It ’s jolly light , not too bulky and is generally a joy to put on . However , it ’s quite plain - wait as smartwatches go . It ’s stylish by Garmin standard , but less so by the monetary standard of the wider diligence .
The Garmin Venu 3 has a good battery life for a mid-range fitness watch.
This Venu series also gave Garmin its first - ever OLED sentinel , back in 2022 . The Venu 3 has a super - racy and bright 1.4 - inch OLED display with 454 x 454 pixel . It ’s great for read schoolbook messages and look far more full of life and vibrant than the transflective presentation of something like the Garmin Instinct 2 .
Just like a smartwatch display , it times out reasonably cursorily . But there is an “ always on ” way that keeps the time on - screen all day , at the disbursal of battery life . This is a touch screen and is responsible for the Leo the Lion ’s share of navigation .
Garmin Venu 3: Features
We used the Garmin Venu 3 for a yoke of calendar month , and while we have a passel of affection for this watch , it may not be the proper one if you are all about workout and fittingness . Although feature - packed , it lacks quite a few of the features of , say , a Forerunner 965 or Forerunner 265 that we have grown to have sex .
For object lesson , there are no “ suggested workouts ” for runners and cyclists . You lose the Performance Condition feature of speech that shows how you ’re doing a short means into sessions . And you ca n’t charge road onto the vigil for navigate .
The Garmin Venu 3 is a lighter kind of lookout . Its special features are thing like a speaker and microphone . This combo lets you interact with your phone ’s supporter and take calls from your articulatio radiocarpea .
The Garmin Venu 3 is a good option for fitness beginners and novice gymgoers, not so much for seasoned outdoor enthusiasts.
At the oddment of each exercise seance , you ’ll see your recovery essence rate , which in this causa is measured by how many BPM your middle slows down in two mo , a useful indicator of physical fitness .
While I have liked the Venu series since it began , it has lost some of its sheen now that OLED screens are moderately common on Garmin watches . The Forerunner 265 has one and be less , for instance , and the smartwatch stuff the Venu 3 can still claim exclusivity on is not one of Garmin ’s strong case .
Interacting with the digital assistant feels a petty unwieldy and restrictive compared to a wise talker or Apple Watch . And the touch - led approach has go to me unexpectedly fetch up an utilisation school term betimes when taking a quick breather or a quick trip into a workshop more time than I can weigh . This has been the one real annoyance of using the Venu 3 .
It is getting ECG readings , though , alongside just a fistful of Garmin watches include the Fenix 7 Pro and Epix 2 Pro . This functionality was announced mid - examination , and has now been put out in some territories , but is yet to make it to my Garmin Venu 3 .
But the message here is only that serious utilisation heads may require to consider a Forerunner watch . The Garmin Venu 3 does more than enough to fulfil the vast bulk of citizenry on the fitness front .
It has the same sleek interface as the Garmin Epix 2 , make it a doddle to see your day-by-day stats . The picket has 40 fun modes , and you could get more from the long - stand Garmin ConnectIQ app store if you want .
you could load up the Venu 3 up with medicine , as it has 8 GB entrepot , and play tunes or podcasts on wireless earphone . This feature work well with the touchscreen , and the user interface in general feel slick and smooth .
This spotter will give you blood oxygenation readings , try out your emphasis storey and can be used for wireless payment via Garmin Pay . And — a relatively new feature — the Venu 3 now has a Sleep Coach as well as stock sleep trailing . This gives you advice on how to improve your eternal sleep normal .
Each first light you ’ll also see your Morning Report , which is a sum-up of your quietus and note for the upcoming day , include the conditions . It ’s kinda lovely , but if you do n’t agree , you may always disable it .
Garmin Venu 3: Performance
The Garmin Venu 3 benefit from all the in style Garmin technical school , bar one thing , Multi - Band GPS . This is found in several higher - end Garmin watches these days , including most notably the Forerunner 265 , and can really help out in situations when GPS emplacement may be tricky , such as between skyscraper , in a deep valley or in a very marvelous and dense timberland .
I have n’t had a prospect to take the Garmin Venu 3 anywhere quite so exotic , though , and have found its location - trailing public presentation to be fantabulous . It ’s highly consistent and exact enough that , for example , you could clearly tell which side of the route you are running on .
It ’s the same mass with gist pace readings . The Garmin Venu 3 has the latest generation of the company ’s nerve rate technical school , and it is fantabulous .
liken to the Venu 3 Plus , it uses reflector panel and four additional LED that only burn up during recitation tracking to amend results . And Garmin ’s last - generation warmness charge per unit reader ironware was already great .
There are no major truth headache here , at least free-base on our examination — which was primarily go and gym use .
Garmin says you’re able to ask the Venu 3 to last up to two weeks between charges , which is quite a substantial step up from the nine day of the Garmin Venu 2 Plus . While that two week may be possible , it ’s not the form of length of service you ’ll get using the sentry to its fullest .
For almost the entire run period I used the Venu 3 with its “ always on ” screen mode engaged . This think a simple analog clock side was display all day from 7 am to 11 necropsy when the watch was unused ( the stylus vary depending on the picket front you pick ) .
It makes the Venu 3 a much just vigil , but add the assault and battery drain of a sound amount of GPS consumption for exercise tracking and the scout may need charging around every five day . This is one of the drawback of an OLED sentinel — battery life can vary much more than it does in a classical transflective Garmin ticker , whose showing shows subject all the time by design .
However , it ’s not as if we ’re verbalize about feature to charge your Venu 3 every daytime , or even every other Clarence Day .
Should you buy the Garmin Venu 3?
The Garmin Venu 3 is a terrific physical fitness watch , peculiarly if you require something a bit glossier and less intimidating - look than the very outdoors - y Garmin conception norm . You get the same interface as the most expensive Garmin watches , displayed through a undimmed , colored smartwatch - style OLED screen .
As a Venu watch , though , the Garmin Venu 3 does miss out on some of the more advanced example features you get with watches from the Forerunner and Fenix series . Think about whether you want them , as you may now get some of the smartwatch glossary seen here from elsewhere in the Garmin melody - up .
If Garmin Venu 3 is not for you
The Garmin Forerunner 265 is the most compelling alternative to the Garmin Venu 3 , and the one I ’d urge if you ’re liberal on running or fitness .
With Suggested Workouts , Training Load and on - vigil routes ( without full mapping ) in tow , it comes across as a importantly more serious seaworthiness watch . That say , it does n’t face as good , and has a smaller screen , no speaker or microphone and no ECG reader . It ’s a better watch for some , but definitely not for others .
The Vivoactive 5 is also interchangeable but costs less . It uses aluminum alternatively of steel , and does n’t have a speaker or mic , or an altimeter . It use Garmin ’s last - generation heart rate hardware too , but at $ 299 it is significantly cheaper . It ’s a great lower - monetary value alternative .
Do n’t dismiss the Venu 2 Plus , either . It ’s a fairly similar ticker and may be uncommitted for significantly less as an older ( but not that old ) modeling . It does n’t have the Venu 3 ’s ECG lineament , though .
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