All the features I want to see

After a radical overview, Garmin’s Venu 3 earned Android Authority’s Editor’s Choice award and a whopping 4 and a half stars. In truth, I’ve been impressed by the Venu line again and again as Garmin continues to improve its high smartwatch with each new launch. While a brand-new era will not be imminent, a Venu 4 is probably going sooner or later, and there are just a few extra enhancements I’d love to see.

It is difficult to complain about well being and health monitoring on the newest mannequin when Garmin loaded the Venu 3 with many instruments and features. I was thrilled to see extra exercise profiles and restoration instruments, particularly paired with the model’s dependable sensors. However, there are all the time extra stats to digest when it comes to coaching. I hope the Venu 4 lands with just a few features lacking from its predecessor, together with triathlon and working monitor modes. Likewise, Training Readiness may be very fashionable amongst devoted athletes however will not be at the moment obtainable on the Venu lineup.

At the second, the Garmin secure can appear a bit convoluted. Between the Venu and Vivoactive strains, the Forerunner household, and a wide range of high-end multisport watches, buyers face no scarcity of choices. As such, some features appear oddly left off some gadgets regardless of being obtainable at related value factors on various strains. In quick, the firm works laborious to hold its machine strains distinguished from each other whereas nonetheless making an attempt to provide worth on every possibility. I’m hoping much more coaching and restoration instruments will bleed throughout to the Venu 4.

I discovered little for which to fault the Venu 3, which makes making a wishlist difficult. However, one factor I would have cherished to see obtainable on the present mannequin that I’m actually hoping for on the Venu 4 is an LTE variant. Garmin’s Venu lineup is the best choice for any athlete searching for Garmin-level health monitoring on a tool with smartwatch perks. However, the firm has but to provide buyers a phone-free expertise with LTE connectivity. This would imply on-device name assist and extra with out your telephone close by, making the watch much more helpful to these of us preferring to prepare with a telephone in our pockets.

Wireless charging is an extended shot, however that received’t hold me from hoping for it. Thankfully, most of Garmin’s high gadgets make the most of Garmin’s similar proprietary charger, and it’s efficient and constant. I respect the skill to plug in a single twine and cost a handful of Garmin watches with out thought.

However, wi-fi charging would elevate the Venu 4 to an expertise extra related to different main smartwatches, particularly if the machine had been suitable with normal charging pads. It would additionally enable the watch to cost flat fairly than on its aspect. Finally, whereas the Venu 3 already provides a few of the greatest battery life specs in the sport, I won’t ever complain about extra time between fees. I’d gladly settle for a Venu 4 with even longer between fees.

It all the time feels a bit shallow to add “more colors” to a tool wishlist, however I repeatedly requested Santa for inexperienced eyes as a child, so at the least I’m constant. The Garmin Venu 3 is on the market in restricted, impartial colorways, together with silver, slate, and gentle gold bezels. I would love to see the Garmin 4 land with extra choices. I personally love the Metallic Navy bezel discovered on the Vivoactive 5, and I, in fact, would snatch up a inexperienced possibility in a heartbeat.

More third-party apps

The Garmin Venu 3 is the greatest smartwatch from Garmin, nevertheless it nonetheless isn’t in fairly the similar league as fully-loaded smartwatches like these of Apple, Samsung, and Fitbit. One of the largest elements holding the lineup again is third-party app assist. Compared to the App Store or Google Play Store, Garmin customers have a lot fewer apps to store to spherical out their gadgets. I hope to see Garmin proceed to broaden third-party app assist on the Venu 4 so customers can add extra instruments to their wrists.

• Garmin Venu — September 5, 2019
• Garmin Venu 2 — April 22, 2021
• Garmin Venu 2 Plus — January 4, 2022
• Garmin Venu 3 — August 30, 2023

It’s laborious to think about Garmin pulling the plug on certainly one of its hottest lineups. The Venu secure represents the firm’s greatest smartwatches and the most direct competitor for wearables like the Apple Watch. If I had been a betting lady, I would put my cash on a Venu 4 hitting cabinets. My greatest guess for when that could be is someday in 2025.

The authentic Venu landed in the fall of 2019, and the Venu 2 adopted it up over a 12 months and a half later. The Venu 3 landed greater than two years after that. I anticipate the same stretch between the Venu 3 and Venu 4. On the different hand, we might see a half step in the meantime in the type of a Venu 3 Plus. We’ve but to hear any rumors about the potential for both new machine, however I’ll hold this hub up to date as leaks and rumors come up.

If you aren’t in a rush to purchase a brand new wearable, the Garmin Venu 4 will probably be an excellent purchase. However, I can be stunned to see it obtainable anytime quickly. If you might be prepared for a brand new, wearable fitness center companion now, I’m not shy about my appreciation for Garmin’s Venu 3. It’s a near-perfect machine for athletes who want a strong fitness-tracking watch with just a few key sensible features. One of the present mannequin’s largest shortcomings at launch was an absence of Garmin’s ECG app, which has since been added. The machine additionally is available in two sizes to higher match extra wrists. In quick, the Venu 3 ($449.99 at Amazon) is a good machine price shopping for. It’s additionally not the solely possibility.

The Apple Watch Series 9 ($392.67 at Amazon) stays the greatest smartwatch for iPhone customers. It provides unmatched third-party app assist and a strong well being and health monitoring platform. Likewise, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 ($299.99 at Samsung) is the best option from the Wear OS household, carefully adopted by the Google Pixel Watch ($349.99 at Amazon). The latter provides distinctive Fitbit integration as well as to the newest Wear OS expertise.

If you want to stick to Garmin’s secure, the Vivoactive 5 ($299.99 at Amazon) provides a recent show and lots of of the model’s high instruments, however you received’t discover as many sensible features on board nor the ECG app. Garmin’s newest Forerunners additionally all obtained AMOLED facelifts and proved highly effective gadgets in our overview intervals. The Forerunner 265 ($449.99 at Garmin) comes at the same value level to the Venu 3 and, as the identify implies, is a very sensible choice for runners.