Garmin has unveiled the smaller, fitness-oriented Venu 2 and Venu 2S smartwatches with a number of health features in addition to the original Venu model. Both models now offer sleep scores provided by Firstbeat Analytics, tracking the stages of bright, deep and REM sleep along with movement, Ox2 pulse and breathing. You will then receive information on how to improve your sleep quality right off the clock. If you have problems with winding up, it also gives you “structured breathing activities” to help you concentrate and relax.
The new models introduce new activity profiles for high-intensity training with on-screen animations, while adding activities such as indoor climbing, boulders and hiking. It also comes with new advanced strength training profiles, including graphics that show which muscle groups you have used. Other new features include “Health Snapshots” that allow you to log in, record, and share key health statistics, a fitness age that uses your actual age, along with activity, resting heart, body fat, and other statistics.
Garmin
Venu already had a long battery life, but the Venu 2 models extend this by up to 11 days in smartwatch mode (8 hours in GPS + music mode) or 10 days and 7 hours for the smaller Venu 2S. As before, the new models support all-day health monitoring and offer smart notifications, contactless payments, music playlists from Spotify and other apps, and more. The biggest problem I had with the first model was the weird user interface and it remains to be seen if Garmin has made improvements in that area.
Venu 2 comes with a 45 mm watch case and a 22 mm band, while Venu 2S has a 40 mm case and an 18 mm band. They are available in several colors, including “granite blue”, black, light gold, rose gold, silver and slate. They are now available on the Garmin website for € 400 each in Europe – we will update the post after we get the US prices.
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