Garmin Venu Sq 2 review

What is the Garmin Venu Sq 2?

The Venu Sq 2 is Garmin’s improved version of the original Garmin Venu Sq fitness tracker. Available in three sizes, the 40-millimeter Venu Sq 2 is the company’s only square-shaped watch and the least expensive option. The 43-millimeter Venu 2 Plus and the 45-millimeter Venu 2 both have a round watch design and offer animated on-screen workouts and floors climbed, two “premium” features not available on the Venu Sq 2.

All have full-color, amoled-display touchscreens and are packed with sensors including GPS; heart-rate sensors; and Pulse Ox, which measures the level of oxygen in your blood compared to its maximum capacity. (A low pulse ox reading could mean your body isn’t distributing oxygen enough and could signal a trip to the doctor.)

The original Venu was designed to be the brand’s fashionable, Apple Watch series-esque take on a traditional fitness tracker, and the second iteration includes the same health tracking features you’d expect it to as well as some smartwatch features, such as text and call notifications and Garmin Pay. The Venu 2 also offers more robust sleep tracking, a “health snapshot” that records your ​​heart rate and gives insight into your cardiovascular health, and the ability to download a limited number of apps and watch faces from Garmin’s Connect IQ store.

The Venu Sq 2 records what you’d expect from a standard fitness tracker, such as steps taken and exercise sessions completed, as well as heart rate monitoring. You can also keep tabs on and learn to regulate your stress levels, as the Venu Sq 2 logs the time your body spends in low, medium, and high stress zones, which it calculates by monitoring your heart rate variability (HRV). The device generates an overall stress score at the end of each day—the higher the score, the higher your stress—so you can get an idea of the events and situations that require you to chill.

Its square face is the size of an average smartwatch, measuring roughly 1½ inches long, 1½ inches wide, and ½ inch thick. It’s available in a basic version as well as a music edition that allows for saving and listening to playlists via your wrist, and its claimed 11-day battery life is longer than some other trackers—the Fitbit Charge 5’s battery, for example, lasts seven days. It also comes in four colors—black, gold, rose gold, and green.

What does the Garmin Venu Sq 2 cost?

The Garmin Venu Sq 2 starts at $250, and costs $300 for the Venu Sq 2 music edition, which allows you to load up to 500 songs onto the watch and listen via Bluetooth headphones. Both versions include access to the Garmin Connect app where you can view your logged activity during more than 25 types of exercise alongside your health information.

For comparison, the best fitness tracker we’ve tested, the Fitbit Charge 5, costs only $150, and includes 20 exercise modes, as well as heart rate, sleep, and stress scores, though for more detailed analysis, you’ll need to ante up for a Fitbit Premium membership for $10 a month or $80 a year. The Apple Watch SE also starts at $250, should you find yourself interested in a true smartwatch with more robust apps and other features that Garmin doesn’t offer.

What we like about the Garmin Venu Sq 2

Tracking your activity is simple

Garmin’s activity shortcuts make it quick and easy to record exercise right from your wrist. You can select and save your favorite types of exercise—including walking, running, strength training, biking, and more—to make logging your favorite workouts easier.

Pushing the Venu Sq 2’s top right button takes you to the shortcut menu where you can scroll and select an activity type. I tracked strength training sessions as well as running and yoga, and never had any problems saving my results.

Another nice bonus: The built-in GPS (used for activities such as running or biking) starts up within 15 seconds. If you prefer not to start a dedicated watch mode, the Venu Sq 2 will record any bouts of elevated activity and give you “credit” in the app as well, though your workout data won’t be as detailed.

It’s easy to navigate the tracker

The Venu Sq 2’s touchscreen is responsive and the menus are simple to swipe through. And the tracker’s menus make it quick and easy to customize it to your liking. Not only can you pick and choose exercise shortcuts, you can also customize the apps available in the main menu, making it simpler to find the information you want.

The screen itself is bright enough that it’s easily visible outside in the sunlight—a qualm we’ve had with some other fitness trackers—and the optional always-on mode makes it easy to view your data during workouts when you want to minimize fiddling with the watch, though using this will sacrifice some battery life.

The wrist-based heart-rate tracking is better than most

Though wrist-based heart rate monitoring isn’t as precise as chest-based monitoring, I found that Garmin’s heart rate sensors are consistently accurate and easy to monitor on the Venu Sq 2. Knowing my heart rate and seeing how it changed during workouts helped me push harder during HIIT classes and periods of sprinting during my workouts and let me monitor my walking recovery during interval sessions. For truly accurate heart rate tracking, you can purchase a chest strap heart rate monitor and view that on the watch’s display.

The various health insights are motivational

Fans of Garmin’s line of watches and trackers no doubt recognize the brand for its popularity with runners, thanks to its tracking of run-specific metrics like VO2 max, race performance prediction, and other sport-specific metrics.

The Venu Sq 2 offers a more well-rounded aesthetic to athletes who want to move more but aren't seeking to PR, and it’ll let you know the best time to get active, too, to ward off feeling discouraged after subpar workouts. The “body battery” score tells you what time of day is best to move, and the watches built-in breathwork exercises can help you be more mindful during peak periods of stress.

What we don’t like about the Garmin Venu Sq 2

The included band is uncomfortable

I found the Venu Sq 2’s silicone wrist strap stiff and uncomfortable during everyday wear but especially while exercising. The strap is easily adjustable so it fits my wrist well, but the lack of flexibility in the material is noticeably irritating. You can order a nylon band for an additional $70, should you find the silicone unpleasant.

The smart features are limited

The Venu Sq 2 does an excellent job of tracking your health stats, but its smartwatch features leave something to be desired. While you can receive text and call notifications from your wrist, you can’t quick-reply from Apple phones nor can you make outgoing calls or send messages on either iPhone or Android.

The higher-end Venu 2 Plus offers voice compatibility that allows you to make outgoing calls and connect with your smartphone’s voice assistant for an additional $200, a steep price to pay for a feature that’s standard in other smartwatches. Additionally, the third-party apps you can add are limited, and you have to pay extra for a music-compatible version.

Is the Garmin Venu Sq 2 worth it?

Maybe, but only if you’re a dedicated Garmin user

For fans of Garmin’s fitness tracking or other wearables, the Venu Sq 2 isn’t a bad option to add to your collection. Its comprehensive health and wellness tracking is easy to navigate, and the tracker itself is easy to use thanks to the device’s customizability.

However, the Garmin watch is more expensive than many other fitness trackers, and on par or even more expensive than other smartwatches, such as the Apple Watch SE. If you’re a dedicated Garmin user, you’ll enjoy the Venu Sq 2 for its fitness tracking. But if you’re just looking for a way to track your steps, you can find a better deal elsewhere.