Venu 2 vs. SQ vs. Vivoactive? Garmin Watches Compared! 

I would really like to have one of these as my previous sports watch (charge 3) broke and I’m recently looking for one but at a budget.

I'm glad the review was helpful! I think the features that differentiate the Venu 2s aren't necessarily what everyone would need or be willing to pay for. It's not easy though as these watches are all very good and overlap quite a bit on functionality.

haha, it definitely can feel like that! Glad my review was helpful, thanks for the comment!

I'm really happy to hear it! Enjoy your new watch 😃

It's a great choice! Hope you enjoy your watch on the upcoming bike rides and other activities!

@@foXnoMad well I now own it and I have to say it's pretty disappointing so far. I'll keep trying it for the next few days but aside from good the battery life I've been promised this particular model is a let down. Feels cheap, not intuitive to use, requiring 3 programs or apps to use and modify. It's not snappy, it lags between screens, if it registers the touch or swipe or button press at all. Maybe I should have gone with a different model. Reg price here on this is $289, kind of surprising it's this bad. Of course it's only been a few hours with it. Real test will be with an app if I can ever get say Strava installed.

@@katherinelangford981 A month in, what're your thoughts on it now? Also, what would you recommend instead if it's not what you hoped?

@@Norixus i ended up getting a Samsung fit 2 for $70 cdn here. The venu sq seemed to only last 1 hour longer on a paddle than my other Samsung watches. We did a 3 hour paddle, and by the end it was almost dead. A friend with the vivoactive said it could be because I have notifications on and because it notified me every 500m of a "lap". She turned that off but had a hard time, already having owned 2 garmin devices herself, navigating it to make adjustments. The Samsung fit 2 has great battery life. I received and charged it on June 7th, wore it steady for the week, with all notifications on and doing reg activities. It's bright screen is nice, though like the Garmin the faces are limited but it does have a lot of options for seeing various readings, like time, steps, hr, weather, etc. You can see all of them or none of them. I miss placed the watch on a camping trip in the bag and just got notification today while out in the garage that it had connected and battery was low. This means the battery with 1 week wearing for everything and all notifications on, and then basically in a bag in my garage lasted a total of 20 days! I'd be curious how long the Garmin would last with same scenario. Just to see how battery does compared to each other. I will say this about the Garmin Venu Sq, even apple watch owners mistake it for an apple watch, and ask me where I got the band. I never did figure out how to have it auto detect a work out, or walk which sucks. And though it says it's connected to Strava and the app says it's set up to send data automatically the to strava app it has never actually done that. So it has GPS but since it doesn't seem to detect a workout, unless I click it on it doesn't track the route or anything. My GPS enabled samsungs do. Or any samsung when I have my phone with me of course will if it doesn't have GPS which the fit 2 does not. My Samsung watches all automatically detect when I'm even walking the dog and detect the "work out." I wore the two together at the same time, just to compare and they actually tracked steps and heart rate pretty closely. Both received notifications at about the same time, so overall that was good, but I only did that for 1 day. I think when I go back woods camping I'll be wearing the Samsung because I think it will actually last longer. Right now the garmin would be good if I didn't have a phone, wanted to track a ride, and manually turned it on. Then the Garmin app would map it. It does look nice on the wrist but still feels cheap. The plus side of feeling cheap it also feels really light. I wouldn't but this watch again or recommend it, but might try the new version of what my friend have which is a vivoactive line because hers seems to do most of it. I have pretty good selection of smart watches, I just like them in general and switch them up pretty regularly, so these will still stay in rotation.

@@katherinelangford981Incredible reply, thank you!! Was leaning SQ but you've certainly talked me out of it. Another option was the vivoactive line so I might give that a shot. Though now I'm gonna look into the Samsung fit. First time hearing about it but it sounds like it would do everything I want. I've been very hesitant to get a workout tracker/smart watch but want to make the jump in a cheap way too and if I can get a watch for around what you got it Canadian, I'd be very happy I think. At least a good start to see if I actually enjoy having one

I appreciate you saying that and happy I was able to help!

Much appreciated, thanks!

Thank you very much!

I appreciate the feedback. This video was made before the SQ 2 was released but if you or anyone is interested, here's my separate review of that watch, AMOLED and all 🙂 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Kdy3Oa0sVW4.html

@@foXnoMad Awesome!

You should be able to see a comparison in this video but it's really that the SQ has a noticeable bezel. Hope this helps a bit but it's definitely still a tough choice, both great watches.

@@foXnoMad I decided to give the SQ a try. If I don't like it, I can always return it 😁

@@ajwalker4416 how did it go? I just can‘t decide which watch to get, Vivoactive 4S or the Venu SQ/SQ2? What’s your opinion?

@@danielpatyi2483 I swtiched all together to the Amazfit GTR 4. I didn't like the Venu SQ and returned it and I really didn't want to spend $400+ US for the Venu 2. I resettled on my Vivoactive 4 but then saw Amazfit had released the GTR 4, the GTS 4, and the GTS 4 mini. I tried the GTS 4 mini but it really is mini on my wrist so I went with the GTR 4. The GTR 4 has an always on display mode and was less than half the price of the Venu 2. I've had the GTR 4 now for 2 weeks or so and it is a great fitness tracker and smartwatch. The Zepp app isn't as robust with details as the Garmin app but it tracks all the basics. Battery life is incredible even with the always on display and it tracks every fitness activity I need it to do including the indoor rowing machine. I'm very happy with my purchase and it is a much more economical alternative to Garmin while doing many of the same things.

@@ajwalker4416 thank you.

Thanks!

A good choice, enjoy the new watch!

I'll keep this in mind for a follow up! Any specific questions about a particular watch?

The Connect IQ app has this feature - you can download to confirm nothing's changed when you're reading this.

USD!

@@foXnoMad great, thank you! So the Venu SQ does not measure stairs(have barometer?).

For outdoor runs/walks, it uses the GPS.

I just checked and it doesn't look like it 😕

@@foXnoMad no garmin watch has it. 😑 i had to buy a App for it. Thank you very much.

Btw, the latest Venu 2s firmware adds a few more activities (tennis for example) but not inline skates. Might be worth writing to them so they know it's a requested feature!

On the SQ, you can get the fitness age by connecting the watch to the Garmin app. It doesn't display it on the watch itself. O2? Yes, the SQ has that and you can take readings from the watch itself.

@@foXnoMad does the app fitness age work the same as built in ones? Like will it give suggestions on how to lower fitness age? And will it update itself or I must do it manually? Which do u prefer sq or 2S? Overall. This will be my first garmin watch.

@@foXnoMad 02 works continuously or only during sleep?

You can set it either way.

More or less, yes. The app should update when it syncs with your watch - as far as my personal preference, the answer is there in the video. It comes down to a few specific features some may or may not be looking for.

Keep an eye on this channel, working on something that may help answer your questions.

@@foXnoMad thanks looking forward to it

Do you swim primarily in pools or is open water mode important for you?

@@foXnoMad only in the pool

Both the SQ and Venu series have pool swimming modes.