Garmin Lily 2 review: Should you buy it?

The Garmin Lily 2 delivers iterative enhancements to the unique Lily, together with an upgraded construct and streamlined band design. Still measuring in at 35mm, the system’s case is now a steel one, appropriate with commonplace 14mm bands. The affect of this materials change is a extra elevated really feel on the wrist. For $249, the bottom mannequin Lily 2 ships with a silicone band in Lilac or Coconut. Starting at $279, the Lily 2 Classic fashions include a Coffee or Sage Gray nylon band or a Tan or Mulberry leather-based band — every of those choices pairs with an aluminum case in numerous colours.

I’m all the time grateful when corporations drop proprietary designs, like band attachments, providing customers extra flexibility and customization. The nylon band that shipped with my Lily 2 Classic is snug and enticing, and the Gray Sage is a really elegant hue. I’d have appreciated to see the pricier fashions ship with a secondary silicone band for coaching, however I didn’t have any points carrying the nylon possibility all through this evaluation.

I additionally discovered the watch completely light-weight for in a single day put on and am pleased to report the addition of Sleep Score and Sleep Details on the system. As is the case with most Garmin gadgets, my sleep information aligned with what I skilled (sleep and wake occasions) and the way I felt (scores) all through my testing. The system additionally provides a sleep mode that retains the watch face from illuminating and blinding you into wakefulness. While in sleep mode, the Lily 2 received’t reply to lift to wake, a easy however appreciated mode.

This brings me to extra common particulars concerning the Garmin Lily 2’s touchscreen show. The system doesn’t provide an always-on show; nonetheless, the raise-to-wake performance is rather more constant than within the earlier era. Meanwhile, on or off, the lens nonetheless contains a refined background sample harking back to high-end watch manufacturers. The lineup consists of quite a lot of patterns starting from botanicals to graphic dots. I personally didn’t discover the sample distracting or arduous to learn round, however it does give the watch a really particular impression.

My solely gripe is that I miss facet buttons. On the very best days, the pseudo-home button was sufficient to maintain me mollified. The system contains a small circle on its display screen that gives haptic suggestions when used to navigate the system. On my worst days, swipes and faucets solely obtained me thus far earlier than frustration set in, and I discovered myself jabbing on the display screen like a baby. I think about anybody buying this system would modify to the shortage of buttons over time, however I can’t say I’d comfortably tailored by the top of my evaluation. Not to belabor the identical level, however the lack of buttons solely reiterates that that is an on a regular basis accent, not a sports activities watch. From beginning exercises to reviewing stats mid-set, I longed for tactile interplay.

And but, the Lily 2 is just not with out enhancements on the health monitoring entrance. The new era provides just a few common sport profiles, together with HIIT, Meditation, and Walk Indoor. It additionally provides Row Indoor, simply in time to guilt me into truly utilizing the rowing machine I bought over the vacations.

For these with rhythm or an absence of inhibition, the Lily 2 provides Dance Fitness, with the choice to interrupt a sweat to a number of genres. Unfortunately, the system doesn’t pair this with music storage or playback, however you can management music in your paired telephone from the wrist. Still, it’s good to see the game profiles elevated to cater to extra customers’ pursuits. I used to be stunned to not see an indoor bike exercise profile, contemplating how common biking is amongst ladies. Unfortunately, the watch doesn’t provide Bluetooth connection to tools like a Peloton Bike.

Beyond particular exercises, the watch precisely tracks all of the fundamentals of well being and health, together with steps, distance, energy, respiration, stress, sleep, and sleeping SpO2. It additionally options Body Battery, one in every of Garmin’s hottest wellness instruments. Dedicated to feminine customers, the watch additionally options feminine well being monitoring and being pregnant monitoring, providing helpful notifications and predictions.

To monitor 24/7 coronary heart fee information, all Lily 2 gadgets function Garmin’s Elevate Gen 4 coronary heart fee sensor, which isn’t the latest era accessible. I hoped the road would improve to the Gen 5 and doubtlessly provide extra superior well being metrics. You received’t discover ECG recordings or temperature monitoring, each of which might have been useful on a female-focused tracker. Still, the sensor proved dependable throughout the board, recording correct readings at relaxation and through exercises. I wore the watch rowing, biking, and working, and the system saved up effectively with my Polar H10 chest strap and Apple Watch.

The solely exercise throughout which the Lily 2 struggled was an indoor HIIT session. As you can see within the chart above, the system saved up moderately effectively with my chest strap for the primary twelve or so minutes. Once I launched burpees, rowing, and pushups, issues went haywire. Then, across the begin of my cooldown, it realigned with the chest strap. Wrist-based wearables can wrestle with actions that put pressure on the wrist. However, given how effectively the Lily 2 carried out in different exercises, it’s additionally potential I wasn’t carrying the watch at fairly the proper match for this particular exercise.

Still, this watch is just not geared toward high-performance athletes as a lot as people keen on informal (albeit very correct) monitoring. This is made clear in that the Lily 2 doesn’t provide built-in GPS. Instead, it leverages the GPS information of your paired telephone for outside runs and rides. Accuracy is, due to this fact, fully dependent in your cell slightly than the system itself. As you can see within the map above, the Lily 2’s GPS route, derived from my smartphone, is almost an identical to that of my Apple Watch Series 9. Still, I used to be pleased to see GPS lock on rapidly and keep a robust connection all through my exercises. Additionally, Garmin added incident detection to the Lily 2, emphasizing customers’ security throughout the Garmin secure.

Oddly sufficient, the Classic fashions of the Lily 2 additionally add Garmin Pay to the lineup in order that customers could make funds with out a telephone available. I’d discover this addition extra helpful along with built-in GPS (eliminating the necessity to take a telephone on lengthy walks or runs), however it’s undoubtedly good to see extra smartwatch options added. Aside from smartphone notifications and music controls, the Lily 2 remains to be fairly lean on that entrance.

Finally, the battery life on the Garmin Lily 2 is listed at 5 days. The system lasted simply over 4 days between fees for me, with a number of exercises per day and above-average utilization. The system ships with a proprietary charger that ought to look acquainted to anybody with an unique Lily. The chip clip type finish aligns with the pins on the again of the watch case. The charger is, nonetheless, USB-C slightly than USB-A, which is good to see.

While there isn’t one other particularly female-focused system accessible for direct comparability, loads of further wearables provide an identical person expertise. The trackers and smartwatches under signify the very best Garmin Lily 2 alternate options.

• Garmin Venu 3 ($449.99 at Amazon): From Garmin’s personal secure, the Venu 3 gives the very best smartwatch expertise Garmin has to supply, plus built-in GPS, and ECG capabilities. It’s a well-rounded system now accessible in two sizes, although neither possibility is as small because the Lily 2.
• Garmin Vivomove Sport ($179 at Amazon): Garmin’s vivomove Sport gives another hybrid expertise with a hidden show and actual ticking fingers. Like the Lily 2, the system is proscribed on good options however packs a lot of Garmin’s highly effective wellness instruments under the floor.
• Apple Watch SE 2 ($269.99 at Amazon): Apple’s price range wearable packs almost the identical function set because the flagship Series 9, however drops just a few sensors in favor of a a lot cheaper price tag. Typically, when evaluating Garmin vs Apple wearables, the previous takes the lead in health monitoring; nonetheless, within the case of the Lily 2, an Apple Watch SE 2 is probably going a greater exercise companion for many customers because of built-in GPS and different good options.
• Withings ScanWatch 2 ($349.95 at Amazon): An enticing health-focused hybrid watch, the Withings ScanWatch 2 packs an ECG for atrial fibrillation detection in addition to SpO2 monitoring. Thanks to its tiny show window, this watch additionally boasts 30-day battery life.
• Galaxy Watch 6 Classic ($299.99 at Samsung): Though barely pricier, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 Classic mannequin contains a rotating bezel for a conventional aesthetic much like that of the Garmin Lily 2. The smartwatch expertise on this decide is extra strong than that of Lily 2, however the system can be bulkier on the wrist.
• Fitbit Charge 6 ($159.95 at Amazon): A band type tracker rounded out by integration with Google’s prime apps, the Charge 6 is the very best health tracker from Fitbit and gives a small, although sporty, type issue. When evaluating the Garmin and Fitbit experiences, customers on the lookout for extra informal, fundamental monitoring information will doubtless discover the Fitbit ecosystem greater than passable.