Garmin Venu 2 review: Save on a superb sports watch in the Amazon Spring Sale | Expert Reviews

Garmin Venu 2 review: What could it do better?

None of the gripes I have with the Venu 2 will come as a major surprise to anyone who has read one of my Garmin wearables reviews before. The first is that the Garmin IQ app store remains rather limited in its scope.

With the full array of sports features built in, that needn’t be a huge problem, but just be aware that you’re not getting the choice of apps you would on a Wear OS device or an Apple Watch.

The next is Garmin Pay. Outside of Santander, no major UK high street banks support Garmin’s contactless payment system. If you’re desperate to make payments from your wrist, there are other options to choose from, including Revolut, Starling Bank and Curve, but they tend to be smaller, less popular organisations. There’s a full list of supported banks on the Garmin website. One other problem that you might have with the Garmin Venu 2 is that, despite letting you check notifications, there’s no option to take or make phone calls from your wrist. That’s something Garmin has fixed with the Garmin Venu 2 Plus, which we’ll be testing shortly, so it might be worth waiting for that review.

Lastly, I’ve experienced a similar problem with the Venu 2 to one I had with the Venu Sq – that sleep tracking data won’t sync with Garmin Connect. All insights are available on my wrist after waking up, but for some reason they never make it over to the mobile app. That’s likely a software bug (and hopefully one that doesn’t affect everyone) that will be fixed via a software update, but it would be remiss for me not to mention it.

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Garmin Venu 2 review: Should you buy it?

The only other major consideration is the thorny issue of price. At £300, there’s plenty of competition around. If you’re an iPhone user, the Apple Watch SE (£250) is a highly tempting prospect. It offers practically every smart feature and app you could dream of but it won’t come close to matching the Venu 2’s battery life. Alternatively, if you’re a Samsung phone user, the Galaxy Watch 4 is the most sophisticated watch you can buy, and it’s £10 cheaper than the Garmin at just £290. Despite all that, the Garmin Venu 2 still comes very highly recommended. It offers everything that we’ve loved about the Vivoactive and Venu series over the years in a package that’s attractive, feature-packed and comfortable.

If you can’t justify spending £300, the Garmin Vivoactive 4 is still a great option that can be found for £200, while the original Venu, which offers most of the same features, but has weaker battery life, will set you back around £220. Lastly, if you’re happy to do without an OLED display, the Venu Sq is even cheaper still at just £130.