Test: Garmin Venu 2 Plus – solid watch for training and health

Garmin has always made good training watches, but as more complete smartwatches, they have fallen on a clumsy interface, frustrating sync and scarce app offerings. But the Garmin Venu 2 was a nice surprise that fixed several of those issues. We tested last summer and now we have tested the sequel Venu 2 Plus.

Plus does not mean a larger size, but that the new watch has more functions. Venu 2 was big enough, with a 45.6 millimeter diameter on the case and a 1.3 inch screen. Venu 2 Plus is actually smaller, the screen is the same but has smaller edges so the watch is 43.6 millimeters wide. That makes it something in between in size between Venu 2 and the “women’s watch” Venu 2s.

It has the same construction as the other Venu 2, with a mat made of matt and very durable fiber-reinforced plastic and stainless steel, and like them is waterproof down to five atmospheres pressure, or 50 meters.

The screen is a colorful amoled with high pixel density and brightness that is sufficient for all situations we expose it to. For example, it adapts quickly to dimmer lighting conditions to save battery.

The watch is available in three color options, white with a gold-colored dial and buttons, light gray with silver and dark gray with dark matt steel. It loses a bit of the luxury vibes compared to a watch that has been made entirely of metal, but on the other hand is much lighter than many of them.

Each comes with a matching silicone bracelet and is flexible and comfortable, but which also gives the watch additional sports watch vibes. Other bracelet options are available, and if you order it from Garmin directly, you can easily combine any watch with different types of bracelets, from plastic to textile and leather. It is also standard 22 millimeter standard socket, so you can easily change it afterwards.

Activity above all

It is not in itself misleading that Venu 2 Plus looks like a sports watch, because first and foremost it is still what it is. It logs heart rate, blood oxygen, respiration, stress and skin temperature with what appears to be high precision, and its GPS accuracy is among the best in the industry. In standard mode, we receive regular updates on our activity and reminders that we should move during a sedentary office workday.

Just as little as switching to a standing job and taking a minute of leg stretching can do a lot, and the Venu watches handle it well without becoming an annoyance. Dynamic goal adjustment of such things as the amount of steps per day and intensive training per week means that you are constantly encouraged to improve, but so subtle that it does not feel like a must.

You can of course adapt this to your own needs, and you have many different types of workouts and activity programs to manually choose from. Here are ready-made programs for everything from walking, running and high-intensity training to pilates and yoga, with customized visual guidance and activity tracking.

Already at the first configuration, we are asked to choose a main focus on training, complete with a “personal coach” with video guides in the app on the phone. It can be skipped or paused if you know what you want to do in terms of activity, but can otherwise be a great way to set up a training schedule and follow it.

Easy to get music offline

The Venu watches are competent and easy to use as music players, either as media player control for the mobile, for own streaming from apps such as Spotify and Deezer (if you are connected via wifi), or for local playback of audio files. You have 4 GB of space for music and extra apps, so you should be able to take one or another offline album or a few hours of podcast with you on the running round without lugging your mobile phone with you. Then you simply pair a pair of bluetooth headphones and set off.

Venu 2 Plus has a slightly shorter battery life than Venu 2. Garmin states up to nine days of operation with sensors but without GPS compared to eleven days for Venu 2. During our three days with the watch, we lose half the battery charge. But it is with all sensors activated and very active use of bright screen. With GPS and music, the battery can run out in about eight hours. You charge it with Garmin’s standard connector, a proprietary USB plug on the bottom of the watch.

What you do not get directly in Venu 2 Plus is such as GPS-guided navigation. But there are third-party apps for this in the app store Connect IQ, which can be accessed from a separate mobile app. Of course, there is not the same huge range of apps here as in Google Play or Apple’s App Store, but we will find a bunch of interesting and fun apps. Most are specific activity apps for different purposes, but there are also diet apps, maps, weather apps, news stickers and much more. For example, control pads for Samsung Smartthings and Sonos speakers.

Call or talk to the assistant

The newest thing about Venu 2 Plus is that it has a built-in microphone, which means that you can use it as a complete speakerphone for calls to your bluetooth-connected mobile. It has also received support for voice assistants Siri, Google Assistant and Bixby. For this, it has got a third button on the watch where Venu 2 and Venu 2s have two. One click on it activates a shortcut to a function or app of your choice, and a long click starts the voice assistant.

However, it has a significant problem, it does not work with all mobile phones, and Garmin does not seem to have full control over which ones it really works with. There is a list of Android phones that are not compatible on Garmni’s site, mostly consisting of Huawei and Honor mobiles as well as individual models from LG, Oppo, Xiaomi and Samsung.

Our first attempt was with a Oneplus 9 Pro which is not on the list, but we were told during installation that it did not support voice assistant connection. But once we found the right permissions for the microphone via bluetooth and Google Assistant, it still worked. We also tested with a Samsung Galaxy S22 and were able to get the watch to work with Bixby, but could not find the right settings for Google Assistant. It requires a lot of tricking with mobile settings no matter what phone you have, which can be a hurdle for many users.

We hope for more

The sound quality of the microphone is perfect for easier conversations, as long as you are not in an overly noisy environment. Voices get a little jarring in tone, but not indistinct. We have no problem getting Google Assistant to understand what we’re saying. All that is required is a good enough bluetooth connection to the mobile, and it does not require such a strong signal.

With a microphone in the watch, there is the potential to add additional smart features. One thing that would be the icing on the cake is voice dictation. At present, Venu 2 Plus has the same limited ability to respond to messages directly on the watch as its predecessor. You have a handful of ready-made phrases you can send, but that’s all.

There is still room to grow, trim to the interface further and build on with more and more varied features and apps. And Garmin Pay’s own payment solution needs broader support in more Swedish banks. But with the Venu 2 series, Garmin has stepped up and is seriously competing with the Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch and a bunch of other Wear OS watches – and Venu 2 Plus is the best of them so far. The question is whether the price tag of just over four thousand notes deters. It offers solid, varied and involved training, and battery life is a plus. That may be enough.

Specifications

Product name: Garmin Venu 2 Plus
Tested: April 2022
Contact: Garmin
Processor: No information
Storage: 4 GB.
Screen: 1.3 inch round amoled, 416×416 pixels
Control: 3 buttons, touch screen
Communication: Bluetooth, wifi, gnss, nfc, ant +
Operating system: Garmin OS, Connect IQ 4.0
Dimensions, estate: 43.6 x 43.6 x 12.6 mm
Weight: 51 grams
System requirements: Smartphone with IOS, Android
Battery life: approx. 9 days (normal use), approx. 8 hours (gps and music)
Other: Water resistant (5 atm), microphone, speakers, Garmin Pay
Rec. Award: SEK 4,849
Award: From SEK 4,042 at Prisjakt