Garmin VENU 3 Fitness + Gym review!

Summary

The Garmin Venue 3 is a top-tier fitness watch designed for enthusiasts, offering impressive features like a vibrant always-on display, long battery life, and advanced fitness tracking. Ideal for both daily wear and gym sessions, it provides accurate GPS tracking, heart rate monitoring, and sleep insights. The watch also includes smart features such as call handling, text replies via Siri, and offline music support. While it lacks ECG, its body battery tracking, nap suggestions, and workout reports make it a valuable tool for anyone serious about fitness, especially at its price point.

Takeaways

• 😀 The Garmin Venue 3 features a vibrant, always-on AMOLED display that is highly readable even in direct sunlight, making it ideal for both outdoor and gym workouts.
• 😀 The Venue 3 offers impressive battery life, lasting up to 14 days in smartwatch mode and up to 26 days in battery saver mode, with a fast charging time of around 1.5 hours.
• 😀 The watch includes built-in microphone and speaker functionality, allowing users to take calls during workouts and respond to messages via Siri on iOS devices.
• 😀 Fitness tracking is a key strength of the Venue 3, with features like continuous heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen saturation tracking, and body battery insights that help gauge energy levels throughout the day.
• 😀 The Venue 3 offers detailed sleep tracking, including nap tracking and personalized recommendations for nap durations, helping users optimize recovery.
• 😀 The Venue 3 provides valuable workout insights, including workout benefit reports that explain how exercises contribute to overall fitness and help fine-tune training.
• 😀 Users can track their outdoor activities accurately with precise GPS, making the Venue 3 suitable for activities like trail running, hiking, and cycling.
• 😀 The watch lacks an ECG feature, which may be a drawback for those seeking detailed heart health tracking, though it still offers essential heart rate and oxygen monitoring.
• 😀 New to the Venue 3 is the jet lag advisor, designed to assist travelers by providing tips for minimizing jet lag, especially useful for athletes competing across time zones.
• 😀 The Garmin Venue 3 excels at balancing fitness tracking with everyday smart features like call handling, text responses, and music control, making it a well-rounded smartwatch.
• 😀 While the device lacks full integration with all devices for replying to messages directly, Siri compatibility on iOS helps simplify communication from your wrist.

Q & A

What are the design and display features of the Garmin Venue 3?

The Garmin Venue 3 has a sleek, fitness-oriented design, available in two sizes. It features a bright AMOLED display with 490x490 pixels, a stainless steel bezel, touchscreen functionality, and three physical buttons for navigation. The display is readable in sunlight and dimly lit gyms.

How long does the battery last on the Venue 3 in different modes?

In smartwatch mode, the battery lasts up to 14 days. In battery saver mode, up to 26 days. GPS-only mode provides 26 hours, and all-systems GPS mode with music playback lasts up to 11 hours. Real-world usage with always-on display and daily workouts lasts about 3.5–5 days.

What smart features does the Venue 3 offer?

It includes a built-in microphone and speaker for calls, iOS integration with Siri for texting, music playback via Spotify, Deezer, or built-in speakers, and notification alerts. Some smart features still require the phone to be nearby.

How does the Venue 3 track fitness and health?

It tracks steps, calories, heart rate, workout intensity, blood oxygen saturation, and body battery (energy levels). It provides insights into rest, workout recovery, and offers alerts to help maintain fitness goals.

What improvements have been made to the body battery feature?

The updated body battery feature now provides more detailed insights into energy levels, helping users understand what affects them throughout the day and make informed decisions about when to work out or rest.

How effective is the Venue 3 for strength training tracking?

Automatic rep counting can be inaccurate, but users can manually enter reps and weights. The watch also tracks rest periods, starting the timer immediately after finishing a set.

What sleep tracking features does the Venue 3 provide?

It tracks sleep quality and naps, provides recommended nap durations, and includes a sleep coach that suggests optimal bedtimes based on activity. The Morning Report summarizes sleep, HRV status, weather, and recovery insights.

Does the Venue 3 support outdoor activity tracking?

Yes, it provides precise GPS tracking for outdoor activities like trail running, hiking, and cycling. It also generates a workout benefit report to show how the activity contributes to overall fitness.

What are the limitations of the Venue 3?

Limitations include lack of ECG monitoring, some inaccuracy in strength training rep counting, limited color options for the larger size, and certain smart features requiring the phone to be nearby.

Who would benefit most from using the Garmin Venue 3?

Fitness enthusiasts and active individuals looking for a primary fitness watch with advanced health tracking, smart features, sleep insights, and reliable battery life would benefit most from the Venue 3.

How does the Venue 3 assist with recovery and training optimization?

It monitors heart rate, sleep, naps, energy levels (body battery), and workout data to provide insights on recovery. Features like the Morning Report, workout benefit report, and sleep coach help optimize training and daily energy management.