Garmin Venu 4 Review: A stylish but costly upgrade

Greatest Costs In the present day: Garmin Venu 4

Looking out for a smartwatch that places fashion and health monitoring entrance and centre? Sounds such as you may want the Garmin Venu 4.

The primary Garmin watch I ever owned was the unique Garmin Venu which got here out all the way in which again in pre-pandemic occasions, and I liked my time with it. Regardless that I recall encountering just a few moments of slowdown and the odd glitch when it got here to offline music playback, it was nonetheless a terrific watch to make use of and set a terrific precedent as being one of many very first Garmin smartwatches to function an AMOLED show.

That pattern has solely continued as Garmin as slowly moved away from its old-fashioned memory-in-pixel fashion panels and embraced AMOLED virtually throughout the board, however that does imply that the Venu collection’ unique key function not stands out fairly as a lot, so I used to be desperate to see how the Venu 4 may reel folks in underneath this new panorama.

After spending just a few weeks with the watch, I’ve to say that I’m pleasantly stunned however there was a giant hiccup that I didn’t anticipate.

Thomas Deehan / Foundry

Design & Construct

• 41mm and 45mm choices accessible
• Extra sturdy chrome steel chassis
• One of the crucial fashionable smartwatches round

One of many key features that all the time separates the Venu collection from the marginally extra inexpensive Vivoactive vary is that the previous would usually have a bit extra going for it as a modern accent. Very like the way in which that Huawei has reinvented its Watch GT collection lately, Venu watches are designed to be worn out to dinner and never simply on the gymnasium.

The Venu 3 did an excellent job of maintaining that custom however one factor that irritated me was that essentially the most eye-catching choices had been restricted to the smaller 41mm mannequin, which had a complete of six colourways, whereas the bigger 45mm model solely had three. Fortunately, Garmin has seen match to repair the imbalance this time round by having 4 distinctive choices accessible for every mannequin, and the 45mm ‘Silver with Silver Gray Silicone Band’ choose that I’ve been carrying over the course of this overview is definitely one of many nicest trying watches I’ve examined all yr.

The watch band has a splendidly understated aesthetic, and when mixed with the moderately alluring silver border across the show, it jogs my memory of the Withings Scanwatch 2 which, at a distance, will be utterly mistaken for an analogue wearable. I’ll admit, it in all probability felt a bit too fancy for the gymnasium, however I’ve very a lot loved carrying it all through the vast majority of any given day.

Even with the eye paid to its fashion nonetheless, Garmin has made positive to not overlook concerning the Venu 4’s sturdiness because the bezel and case at the moment are comprised of chrome steel (the latter was plastic on the Venu 3). Within the time that I’ve been utilizing the watch, it hasn’t picked up any noticeable scratches, nor have I seen any normal put on and tear after a number of pool swims and different exercises.

Thomas Deehan / Foundry

Eagle-eyed readers might need seen that the Venu 4 now has one much less bodily button than the Venu 3, eliminating the central right-facing shortcut button. Provided that the enter was solely round for a technology, and you’ll set shortcuts to a long-press of both of the 2 remaining buttons, I can’t say that I miss all of it that a lot.

One side I’m torn on nonetheless is the thickness of the Venu 4. At 12mm thick, the watch isn’t precisely chunky, however in comparison with the 7.9mm Garmin Venu X1 and even the 9.7mm Apple Watch Collection 11, it does really feel like an uptick on the place the market has shifted to. Nonetheless, it’s an affordable trade-off for the battery good points that you simply get from the added actual property, however I’d be mendacity if I mentioned that I didn’t miss simply how smooth the Venu X1 is by comparability.

Display screen & Audio

• Brighter AMOLED show may be very straightforward to learn
• Colors pop on watch faces and menus
• Constructed-in speaker will get the job carried out for podcasts

Similar to how the construct high quality has been given a delicate improve to make it extra sturdy, it’s an identical scenario with the show this time round. As a substitute of accelerating the scale, which did occur within the bounce from the Venu 2 to the Venu 3, Garmin has opted for an uplift within the realm of display screen brightness, and it’s lovely.

Though Garmin has been coy about what the precise specs are (and there’s some conflicting information on the market), I’ll say that I’ve had no hassle with studying the Venu 4’s show in any respect hours of the day. Whether or not that be a fast look on the barely dimmer, always-on show while working at my desk, or really interacting with the watch outdoor and in opposition to direct daylight, I’ve by no means wanted to squint to learn what’s there.

Thomas Deehan / Foundry

Working in tandem with the AMOLED panel is Garmin’s intuitive use of color. Not too dissimilar to how Apple approaches its watchOS UI, Garmin retains a lot of the display screen in the dead of night, whether or not that be in navigating its menus or your chosen watch face, however in consequence, the sections that do have color are actually in a position to pop in an attractive means.

For those who overlook to convey your earbuds with you, or it’s essential take a fast name in your watch while your telephone is buried on the backside of your gymnasium bag, the Venu 4’s built-in speaker can do the job in a pinch. It actually does an excellent job at elevating vocals, which works moderately effectively throughout podcast playback, however I don’t assume I’ll be utilizing it to take heed to music anytime quickly.

Enjoying Charlotte by Kittie (a staple in my operating playlists), a lot of the guitars simply will get misplaced within the soundscape, so that you’re much better off bringing a pair of ANC earbuds in the event you’re on the gymnasium, or some bone conduction headphones for whenever you’re operating out and about.

Software program & Options

• Simply the correct quantity of good options
• Morning and night experiences are sensible
• The watch froze just a few occasions throughout testing

Having bounced round now between the most recent smartwatches from Apple, Samsung and Huawei in current months, I’ve come to understand the strategy to good options that Garmin has settled on, significantly after the UI replace that was first launched on the Garmin Fenix 8.

Thomas Deehan / Foundry

Whereas it’s true that you simply’re not going to get entry to third-party apps like Outlook or Calm, what you do get are the options that make sense. You might have offline music playback through Spotify, Deezer and Amazon Music, in addition to the flexibility to choose up some purchasing or a post-run drink due to Garmin Pay.

This sits on prime of extra fundamental options like seeing your calendar in your wrist, and incoming telephone notifications, and whereas it’s positively scaled again, it really works for what Garmin watches are all about – retaining your focus in your health.

You do have the choice to make use of voice instructions, both inside Garmin’s software program or by activating Siri/Google Gemini, relying on the telephone you’ve, however it’s a bit clunky, and except for utilizing it to set timers, I didn’t actually gel with the function. What I completely adore are the Night and Morning Reviews that seem on the watch.

These useful summaries let you realize instantly whether or not or not you’re absolutely rested, see upcoming objects in your schedule and even get a look on the climate. These check-ins have been so useful, significantly as I’ve been struggling to steadiness work and sleep not too long ago, and it’s helped me to get again on observe. Regardless that it might be a tad by-product, I’d adore it if Apple and Samsung might create their very own interpretation of this function.

Exterior of software program, the large addition this yr is the bodily torch, which is constructed into the physique of the Venu 4 itself. The X1 was the primary Venu watch to be given this function, however because it’s usually been reserved for costlier gadgets, I’m genuinely stunned to see it right here. Nonetheless, it’s a terrific function that makes the whole lot from taking the bins out at evening to seeing the observe throughout a morning run a bit simpler.

Thomas Deehan / Foundry

It hasn’t all been clean crusing, nonetheless. In at least 4 energy coaching exercises, once I’ve had coronary heart charge monitoring activated alongside offline music playback, the Venu 4 has frozen on me at concerning the 20/30-minute mark, on common.

Sadly, it appears as if I’m not the one particular person to come across comparable points, however I’ll say that the watch by no means froze up throughout different sorts of exercises, and my exercise information was fortunately saved each time I booted it again up once more. No matter it’s that’s taking place, I solely hope that Garmin can repair it quickly sufficient.

Health & Well being Monitoring

• A wider array of sports activities to trace
• Twin-band GPS capabilities
• Strong coronary heart charge monitoring

For those who’ve already had a glance on Garmin’s web site, then you might have seen that the Venu 4 has a not insubstantial worth improve on the Venu 3. Within the UK, it’s £70 costlier than the earlier technology, and a whopping $100 extra within the US.

The addition of the LED torch, to not point out the brighter show and extra sturdy construct, does accommodate for a part of that uptick, however the remainder of it may be attributed to the growth of the Venu 4’s capabilities as a health tracker.

Thomas Deehan / Foundry

This time round, now you can observe over 80 several types of exercises (it was simply over 30 on the Venu 3). I are likely to hold my routine to energy coaching on the gymnasium and operating at my native park, but when your most well-liked means of exercising contains ice hockey, pickleball or perhaps a little bit of motocross, then you’ve the flexibility to trace it on this watch.

Whereas this won’t be a most well-liked improve for some, I do assume that it does an honest job of elevating the Venu vary above the Vivoactive watches and a number of the extra inexpensive Garmin Forerunner wearables, because the Venu 4 is now an excellent go-between amongst your entire Garmin vary, and the one one that actually takes style severely.

You now get dual-band GPS too, which offers extra steady route monitoring, which is all the time useful for diving into the metrics of your operating/biking efficiency and figuring out the place you possibly can enhance. Taking the watch on my ordinary route, it did a tremendous job of registering the trail that I used to be on with out ever dropping sign, and it solely took a median of seven seconds to ascertain a connection.

Thomas Deehan / Foundry

Very like with the competing Whoop strap, now you can hold observe of your day by day habits through Way of life Logging. That is nice for retaining tabs on essential features of your weight-reduction plan like the quantity of espresso or tea you may drink on any given day, or the quantity of alcohol you’ve consumed over the course of per week, however the function must take a number of the simplicity out of Whoop’s playbook earlier than it may possibly attain its full potential.

At current, it’s hidden behind a number of menus within the Garmin Join app, and also you aren’t given as many preset behaviours in comparison with Whoop, however you possibly can manually sort them in if wanted.

One factor that I nonetheless love is Garmin’s Physique Battery, and I’ve solely come to understand it much more whereas utilizing the Venu 4. Over the course of this overview, I’ve had fairly a heavy workload and quite a lot of private planning happening with a child on the way in which, and on one significantly busy day, I made a decision to take a little bit of time for myself and play on my Swap 2 for half an hour.

That temporary second of pause really elevated my physique battery and jogged my memory of how vital relaxation will be to your physique’s capability to perform. No different model has given me fairly that stage of perception.

Thomas Deehan / Foundry

On the center charge entrance, the Venu 4 did an excellent job of amassing information in comparison with a chest-worn Garmin HRM 600. When each gadgets had been used throughout a treadmill run and an elliptical exercise, there was solely ever a discrepancy of 1BPM within the common and peak outcomes collected, which is as little as it may be.

Battery Life & Charging

• As much as 12-days of battery life
• Roughly six days of use with the always-on show
• A full cost takes simply over an hour and a half

If there was one space that I’d have appreciated to see improved on the Garmin Venu X1, it was the battery life, however fortunately – largely as a consequence of its thicker chassis – this isn’t an issue with the Venu 4.

When ensuring that the always-on show isn’t toggled, Garmin claims which you could rise up to 12-days of use (10-days on the 41mm mannequin) with the Venu 4 which, it needs to be identified, is simply barely lower than the 14-day stint offered by the 45mm Venu 3. As somebody who likes to have the always-on show operating, nonetheless, I went within the different course to see how the watch would fare underneath a little bit of stress.

With the mode toggled, putting in just a few updates, downloading Spotify playlists and monitoring a handful of exercises, I used to be in a position to get the Venu 4 to final for six days on a single cost.

With that context, I can positively envision hitting that 12-day declare underneath sure use circumstances, and in both sense, it’s nonetheless vastly superior to the 1-2 battery life at the moment offered by Apple and Samsung’s newest mainline watches.

Thomas Deehan / Foundry

Charging isn’t too lengthy an affair, as I used to be in a position to claw again 19% after simply quarter-hour (sufficient for a day) and a large 60% after 40 minutes. A full 100% cost required simply over one hour and 32 minutes, however as you don’t have to cost the watch that usually, it’s hardly a serious concern.

Similar to with the corporate’s earlier watches, the Venu 4 makes use of Garmin’s established proprietary charger.

Value & Availability

There are two dimension choices for the Garmin Venu 4 (41mm and 45mm) however there isn’t any distinction within the beginning worth for both at £469.99/$549.99. For those who go for a model of the Garmin Venu 4 that comes with a leather-based watch strap then that worth jumps to £519.99/$599.99.

The watch is now accessible in all main territories through Garmin’s web site and thru Amazon. There are a complete of eight colourways, 4 for every dimension. The 41mm mannequin has Silver with Periwinkle Silicone Band, Lunar Gold with Bone Silicone Band, Slate with Black Silicone Band and Lunar Gold with Bone Silicone Band and Gentle Sand Leather-based Band.

The 45mm mannequin incorporates a comparable set of choices together with Slate with Black Silicone Band, Silver with Silver Gray Silicone Band, Silver with Citron Silicone Band and Slate with Black Silicone Band and Brown Leather-based Band.

Thomas Deehan / Foundry

No matter which one you go for, the Venu 4 is now costlier (particularly within the US) than the Garmin Venu 3 which had a beginning worth of £449.99/$449.99. At this charge, all the main current-gen smartwatches together with the Apple Watch Collection 11, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 and the Pixel Watch 4 are cheaper.

On this context, the Garmin Venu 4 is finest seen as a go-between for anybody who needs an extended battery and extra health monitoring options however with out spending the premium-level money required for the Apple Watch Extremely 3 or the Samsung Galaxy Watch Extremely.

Do you have to purchase the Garmin Venu 4?

With a revitalised adherence to eye-catching fashion, and a larger array of health monitoring options, the Garmin Venu 4 has given the corporate’s mid-range wearable a definite identification as soon as extra, the issue is that it comes with a hefty worth improve in consequence.

For those who’re working with a sizeable funds, then the upper price ticket received’t be a difficulty, and at that time I can simply advocate shopping for the Venu 4 over competing watches just like the Apple Watch Collection 11 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 in the event you worth having higher health monitoring and an extended battery life to go together with it. For individuals who can’t afford it, Garmin remains to be promoting the Venu 3 which stays a terrific choice in its personal proper.

The glitches that I encountered throughout my time with the Venu 4 do have me apprehensive, however they don’t seem like the typical expertise for many customers. I solely hope that Garmin can devise a repair for the few who’re seeing them.

Take a look at our round-up of the perfect smartwatches to see what the Garmin Venu 4 is up in opposition to.

Specs

• 41mm and 45mm fashions
• 46/56g
• 1.2/1.4-inch show
• AMOLED
• Stainless-steel chassis
• As much as 10/12-day battery life
• Twin-band GPS
• 5ATM water resistance
• 8GB inside storage
• Works with iPhone and Android