Garmin
Venu 3 Smartwatch

I love all the features available on the watch.

It's my first Garmin watch as I previously used Polar and Apple Watch to track my activities. Both watches allowed me to see messages and pause activities. The Garmin watch allows me to see my text message at the expense that I have to disable privacy settings. Hopefully this can be fixed in the future.

I wanted a do-it-all watch to that could function like my Fitbit Charge 5 as well as my Garmin Approach S42. The smartwatch functionality is great for my needs and I didn't want an Apple/Pixel watch that I had to charge every day.

The quoted 14 day battery life is probably a bit optimistic, but if I could get a week as I do with my Fitbit, I'd be happy. This is probably 10 days and that's enough for me. It provides much more info than the Fitbit does with no subscription required, and the golf functionality is as good as the S42 (minus having to download courses). Overall I'm extremely happy with this watch.

Lock screen dosnt disable touch so it wastes battery displaying a lock when wearing long sleeves. Ringer dosnt work for incoming calls and support is no help at all. Less than a year old and speaker sounds like garbage

I bought my Garmin Venus 3 about a month ago. I am speechless on what to say. I'm still learning the options and functional buttons. Having the ability to stay active and restful with the monitoring a healthy life. Get this watch and monitor your health better with me and many more Smart Watch users.

When I bought this is was mostly to keep track of my O2 while I was asleep but it has been so much more . I walk more just to see the numbers go up.

Garmin known for it accuracy sensor, this watch having the ecg option is the best bargain as all others cost double...very comfortable on hand and great screen, speaker is great as well for calls while mobile is a bit far away//highly recommended

Have been a fitbit user and never really liked it, switched to Venu and love the fit, feel, look, data and screen.

So far so good, However, the sleep score can be off by as much 1hr or so. Also, having problems w/connecting to Amazon music. FYI...I do have an account w/them.

The Venue 3nis the perfect compliment to my Edge 1040 Solar. Tracks off bike activities and wellness. Got it to assist with altitude acclimation tracking as well as HRV.

Great size and I like that it accepts different style bands. Would recommend if this is the niche you're looking to fill.

I bought through Garmin directly. I had a forerunner 45 and I was happy with it. I wanted to upgrade with sleeping app and it wet on sale and bought it. It has a larger face, better band and a few more tools, I may never use. It's been about a month and no issues.

Variety of accessories to individualize my watch even more.

Bought it a few weeks ago, it's helpful with fitness goals, which is what I primarily got it for but it is also a capable smartwatch with texting and calling and the whole deal. Good purchase

I am a longtime Garmin user having different models from top end to vivo's. I love the design & how its feel on the hand, great big screen compare to the top end which are heavy & bulky. You added almost all the features most appreciated. The Watch face must have more options like adding the date, temp....

I owned a Fitbit before and are very happy a switched for a Garmin. It takes a little, after 3 years Fitbit, to find my way around in the menus, but it's ok now. Statistics for heartbeats, HRV, stress and body battery are great and better then Fitbit in my opinion.Also some activities are there now that I missed in the past. I did not check the golf app but looks promising. I still are discovering new nice features. I would by a Garmin again.

Best: no monthly charge for all features.

The first months of using this watch was wonderful. Then all the sudden i was getting connection failed and shortly connection established. This has been going on for several weeks with no apparent reason since many of the time connection is lost the phone is right beside the watch. Now the phone and watch will not pair at all. VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH GARMIN.

Purchased this watch to monitor heart beat, calories burned while doing my daily walks. Amazingly, this watch monitors your various exercise activities and as a plus, also connects with your online music app. Love it!

I bought the Venu 3 because of the features not available on my Garmin Vivomove Luxe, including afib detention and hrv status, as well as being able to answer calls. Exceeded my expectations. Easy to use and a beautiful display, plus with Garmin Connect IQ you can create your own watch faces.

Awesome watch to help keep track of all your fitness, sleep, and health. I really use it to help record my progress for fitness, tennis, and golf and tracking my results. The only complaint I have is wishing the Bluetooth could connect a little farther. It seems to only go about 25ft and alerts you every time you disconnect or connect when you are at that distance. Other than that it's a solid overall watch!

I mainly use the watch for running and sleep tracking. I'm not too concerned about the accuracy of the measurements, but it is reasonable and in line with my previous measurements on other devices. The battery life is great, since I don't have to worry about it being out of battery every day. I do charge it once every few days during the time I shower, so I'm not too sure about the exact battery length without charging. The watch is also stylish, and overall, I don't have anything bad to say about it :P

Brought this about a month ago.Really enjoyed the featuresThe one downside is that the battery only lasts about a week,not 14 days.

Most multi functional watch I've ever had. Great for the sports I love, i:e: Running Golf, Biking, Hiking. Does it all quite well with ease. And great battery life compared to my other Garmins.

I'm a long time Garmin fitness tracker / smart watch user, the Venu3 is my 4th Garmin. This is by far the best. The screen is bright and easy to use. The fitness tracking is easy to use and very effective. Integration with my iphone is great. I love that this watch has a speaker. Battery life is amazing.

I have a Garmin VivoActive4 Fitness watch that I purchased in 2019. It was my first Garmin Fitness watch and have been very pleased with it. It was way ahead of any prior fitness watch brand I had previously owned. But the battery was fading at 4 years of use. So I first purchased a Garmin VivoActive5 to replace it. The VivoActive5 was a disappointing experience. Inaccurate heart rate and sleep data and totally different from my VivoActive4. I went from meeting fitness and sleep goals to not even being close. Only difference was the Fitness watch. My fitness activities and sleep routines had not changed. I returned the VivoActive5 and purchased a Gamin Venu3. While there are still differences in heart rate and sleep data in comparison to my VivoActive4 they are more accurate than the VivoActive5. The Venu3 has later generation sensors, step capability, ECG and other features the VivoActive5 does not have. The OLED display is awesome. The battery charge is better but 11 days as stated in the Specs unless you turn off many of the features you use on a Fitness Watch. But overall a much better choice as a successor to my Garmin VivoActve4. Garmin offers the best value and choices for fitness watches. I would not go back to any of the previous brands I owned.

Great activities, apps, and sensors. Needs more app support, specifically for me, YouTube Music.

I've had the Fenix, Epix and now the Venu3. What I love about the Venu is the simplicity of the screens. The great image it has and the variety of apps. Easy to use and really customizable with the Garmin connect app.

What I wish it was a little dressier. The watch looks and feels a little plasticky despite the metal bezel. Which allows for an EEG which I really like.

I'd pay slightly more for this watch if it looked nicer. Also I'd like the side buttons to be a little more substantial, not plastic. The bottom button is not as responsive as it should be. Overall it's know my go to Garmin watch as it has a nice small profile vs. the Epic and Fenix

Updated my watch from the venu 2 Plus to the new Venu 3 and really really pleased. The screen is still amazing and really vibrant, easy to read, and works great!

I've been really satisfied with the extra training features but the most important ones have been the sleep and recovery enhancements that did not appear on the venu 2 plus. I'm not sure if they would have but I was happy to do the upgrade to the new model and work with the new features as a whole. The HR monitor was worth the jump too as it incorporates the new sensor that should be more accurate as well as offer more features to the watch then just your basic HR monitoring.

As far as the smart watch features go, it is cool that I can still take calls on my wrist with the watch although I rarely do. Seeing text messages was the biggest thing and although this is not different from my Venu 2 Plus, it is a nice feature to have. I think there needs to be a little more custimazation to the notification in general so that I can tailor my watch to show me the notifications I want like say texts, calls, certain app notifications, and other items. But for not its pretty much all app notifications or just the basic notifications of calls and texts. It works for me but something I would like to see down the line with the Venu series where you can customize your watch to notify you of certain things. I know other smart watches in the market are able to do this so I would love to see that in here eventually but not a deal breaker at all. In fact, it is such a small category item in comparison to all the other items that you get in this watch when it comes to training and day to day function.

Last thing is about battery life. Really amazing battery life on this device. I've been able to get around 7ish days of battery all while logging at least one one hour training sessions 6/7 days of the week. This is all while using the watch in the smart watch mode and not the "always on" display.

Really satisfied with this and happy to have made the jump to the newer model! Tons of great features I have not really even used here as well that I look forward to exploring down the line.

It's been close to a month now with this beast of a watch and it's amazing. Watch history was apple watch which was great but battery is a no no for me till about 8 months ago. Then moved to a amazfit watch (gts 4) which fixed the battery problem but lacked some more smart watch features since there was close to none there till last month. No fast forward to now and I found the perfect mix. Good battery, good smart watch functions, great fitness tracking capabilities. I have AOD for about 15 hours of the day and that lasts me about 4 days and I use the fitness tracking for about an hour and a half a of which is not what was promised but still great to me which is better than 1 day. It is helping keep better track of my training plus my own body. 10/10

I've had my Venu3 a few weeks. Before this I had a Fenix7 and also have an old Vivoactive 3music. The Venu3 has been great for the weight and thinner width. Good all-rounder..I can save music to the device, has big easy to read screen but not thick, has golf activity which I use all summer, and the newer sensor for better health metrics. I put on an elastic nylon band and it works great, whereas it might not with a heavier watch. I have had Afib so the ECG ability is great. Other than that I can't really tell any difference in the new sensor over the Fenix. HR seems a bit slow to respond compared to a chest strap but are super accurate once things stabilize. As Afib sufferers know... watch optical HR sensors are all but useless when you are actually in arrhythmia...you need a chest strap. But other than that they match up well in my tests. Venu3 has a unique sleep coach which is a neat feature and Sleep scoring has improved over time with Garmin, although I still wouldn't bank on it exclusively if sleep tracking is vital for you. I do find the new nap detection has worked well. Nowhere near the Fenix bells and whistles in the Venu3...simplicity has its pros and cons...things I personally wish the Venu3 had: Trail Running activity (I just use Hiking when I do a trail run, which is ok...I still think adding basic Trail Running should be available..cmon Garmin). I also wish the Golf features were more up to Fenix standard, but they are not. Just the basics, but glad to have them. I found I wasn't using the built in Fenix maps much at all so I don't miss that feature as much as I thought i would really, though some of the Hill and Endurance features were fun. The Venu3 is more health and daily driver functional and not the uber outdoor watch. Running has been fine and I appreciate the lighter weight... luckily the reaction time of the wrist gesture has gotten better with these amoled screens, so you shouldn't run into poles waiting for the display to light up to useable levels. That said, the MIP is probably always going to be more consistent there. Overall I have loved the brighter Amoled screen and has been worth the tradeoff in battery. For me, width of the watch is a biggie as I wear it all day and overnight. The 12mm is a nice compromise in size and functions/battery life. As Garmin gets better battery tech and bigger watches slim down, I may look at diff models down the road. I don't mind bigger screens at all.. it's the thickness that tends to bother me over time. I'm glad battery life tech has been a priority for Garmin as it makes it a front runner for me over the Pixel watches and such for now.

Good:

The display is clear and bright.

The setup was relatively easy.

Poor:

The only good watch faces are from 3rd party apps who want all sorts of access to my watch which in turn has access to all sorts of things from my phone ... Security issue.

The watch doesn't automatically change from one time zone to another leading to missing appointments.

The sleep data is way off ... someone is just guessing.

The phone app does menu options you don't have on the watch and the watch has some menu options you don't have on the app. They should match.

The screen-on-when-you-gesture only works about 75% of the time.

The 3 buttons on the side are completely unintuitive .. which is "in" which is "out" which is "next" ... complete guess situation by situation.

Much nicer than previous garmin devices... Has some update software that really helps.

I've had it for a month and it's a pretty basic watch compared to other watches on garmin's line, but make no mistake about it. This watch still runs circles around the competition. It's the perfect everyday watch for me. Money well spent so far.

Hi there, thank you for great product. I like garmin venue 3.

But i am a little bit disappointed.

After two weeks of usage, i found that weather became wrong on watch screen. It shows different values, not what i have on watch.

When i did set up of watch, i selected Weather settings to get data from my iPhone. And everything was Ok.

But after few weeks you released some upgrade to watch and Connect app. And now i don't have option is user settings to change weather config. There is no such setting any more. Why? And now my watch shows wrong weather.

In setting on watch for weather there is only option to update my location by GPS. But gps does not work properly in Ukraine due to fu*ed russia aggression over Ukriane.

Please return weather setting to iPhone Connect app.

Thanks in advance. Have a nice day.

Since the first day wearing it, I loved it! Amazong watch, features and readings.

I bought this to replace another brand of smartwatch. And it easily has 10 times the features and depth of data from my previous smartwatch. This watch is a powerful aid, to managing health and fitness for me.

Sent it back. Google assistant rarely worked. Most notifications didn't come through consistently. Fitness features worked great. Smart phone features were unreliable.

The Garmin Venu 3 is a high-performance smartwatch that combines fitness tracking with advanced health features and smart functionalities. Its sleek design, stunning AMOLED display, and long battery life make it an excellent choice for those seeking both style and usability in a wearable device.

With a range of preloaded activity profiles and accurate sensors, the Venu 3 provides comprehensive tracking for various sports and workouts. Whether you're running, cycling, or hitting the gym, this watch will deliver detailed data on distance, pace, heart rate, and more. The on-screen animations and coaching features further enhance your fitness journey, helping you achieve your goals and push your limits.

Beyond fitness, the Venu 3 excels in health monitoring. It tracks your heart rate variability, stress levels, sleep quality, and even offers body battery energy monitoring. This holistic approach to health allows you to optimize your well-being and manage your energy throughout the day.

On the smart front, the Venu 3 keeps you connected without the need to constantly check your phone. It delivers notifications for calls, messages, and social media alerts, ensuring you stay connected while on the go. The Garmin Pay feature allows for contactless payments, adding convenience and ease to your shopping experience. With onboard music storage, you can also enjoy your favorite tunes without the need for a separate device.

Battery life is worth mentioning, as it offers up to five days of typical use and up to eight hours in GPS mode. This longevity ensures you can go about your day without worrying about constant charging interruptions.

In conclusion, the Garmin Venu 3 is a powerful yet stylish smartwatch that caters to fitness enthusiasts and health-conscious individuals. Its comprehensive tracking features, advanced health monitoring, and smart capabilities make it a valuable companion for both workouts and daily life. If you're looking for a reliable, feature-packed wearable that combines fitness, style, and functionality, the Garmin Venu 3 is definitely worth considering.

I got this for Christmas and returning it because comparing to other heart monitor devises, it sometimes give false elevated reading.

An impressive take on a smart watch from Garmin. I replaced my aging Apple Watch with the Venue 3 and haven't looked back. The health and fitness metrics are FAR superior, and it's much more comfortable to wear at night so I actually get to collect sleep metrics. My biggest complaint is the touch screen. It's not nearly as responsive as the Apple Watch. I find myself wishing it had the two additional buttons that the Forerunner has.

Lo compré hace 1 mes, y es muy buen productos y preciso con el pace y distancia. Sin embargo, no me gustó que no puedo responder mensajes cortos desde reloj porque no es compatible con Apple. El resto de herramientas si.

I bought this right after Christmas,Great watch, wish it was solar

I am very happy with this version (and I was happy with the original). The new features and the much better display is great.

Originally bought a Samsung. Big mistake. It does not monitor/record pulse rates anywhere near what they are.

The Venu 3 records pulse rates properly, which accordingly calculates calories burned more accurately. The mapping of my walks/runs is amazing in its accuracy. And the ~week-long battery life is wonderful.

I love this watch!!

I received the Garmin Venu 3 for Christmas to replace the original Venu. I immediately noted the screen was brighter and clearer and navigation was snappier than I had become accustomed to. In addition, I appreciate the improvements to the sensors. For example, I find sleep tracking to be much more accurate and the addition of naps is a good one. The band that comes with the Venu is fine, but I have had issues with the clasp on both my original Venu and the Venu 3. That is why I was delighted to find that you make a very good quality band that uses a Velcro connector. This band is the most comfortable watch band I have ever worn.

Got it for Christmas. So far so good and still learning all these functions that the watch have. One thing i think is not as accurate is the heart rate monitor. Reason i said this is because i know my heart is racing after doing a few pushup, but monitor is not reflecting it. Did not get a chance to utilized the GPS function yet. Definitely good battery life. Looks good. Still learning and alot of function i have yet to use.

I received the watch as a Christmas gift, so I've had it for almost a month and I really love it. I've had Garmin watches before (vivofit3, VenuSq), but it has great new features, such as a Sleep Coach and Sleep Score, and provides am overview each morning along with a daily breakdown of your activity levels and stress each night. This is in addition to heart rate monitoring, activity tracking, hydration tracker, cycle tracker for women, and even meditation activities. Highly recommend this watch if you want to monitor your health and activity levels.

It is now over a month since I had this watch; I wanted to gather enough information for this review. I had a Venu 2 before this, so I can tell you a little bit about the differences.

Let's start with the good part:

- sync speed is better though occasionally the sync process seems to hang

- battery life is offering a day or two extra; I have the always-on display enabled and it lasts about 4-5 days.

- improved sensors. The altimeter sensor on Venu 2 was so bad that even after I got a replacement under warranty it will still show that I completed my floors goal by walking on a flat surface. But so far no issue with Venu 3.

- I like the new Morning Report though there are issue with the weather info (see below) and calendar displaying only one event.

The bad is mostly related to the watch software. I feel like Garmin's software team has something to learn from Fitbit. A collaboration with Fitbit/Google might benefit them.

- Weather app. The issue here seems to be that they display "Feels Like" temperature instead of actual temperature. It might be their excuse to cover software issue but it gets even worth when current temperature is outside the Minimum-Maximum range by 10 degrees or more (see images).

There are three temperatures displayed on the watch: current, min and max. Logically when the watch current temperature is outside the ranges, there is a technical problem.

Instead of taking a logical decision, Garmin's customer support is trained to find the issue on the user's side. After long complicated debug processes, the outside temperature raised more than 10 degree so it will no longer falls under the minimum. Now they think their debug solved my issue. Until next morning when I see the issue again but I don't have time to waste on customer support anymore.

- Sleep score. Sometimes you get a good sleep and then you look at the watch and it gives you 48 (Poor) score. Why? I looked at the sleep components: 3 are Excellent, 1 Good, 1 Fair and 1 Poor. How is that giving a Poor overall score. Don't you see a problem here?

Customer support says: It seems there is a problem with the Stress Level on your watch. Can you clear all data from your watch and wait another 6 days to collect enough data for an "accurate" sleep score? Now my wife has the same issue on Venu 3S; I think you should treat this as a rule not like an exception.

- Swimming. My pool is 10 meters long but Garmin doesn't allow me to set a length bellow 13 meters.

Customer support answers that the algorithm is relying on number of strides and the data will not be accurate under 15 yards.

First of all saying that my pool is 15 yards long instead of 11 will definitely generate inaccurate results.

Second, the number of strides is not a good way to calculate swim length. In the beginning, when I am rested, I need 7-8 strides to cover the length, but when I am tired I might need double the strides. Why don't you use the pool length I set (10m) and using the amounts of sensors on the watch, you can auto-detect easily when users is doing a change in direction?

- Auto-detect activity. I was expecting that Venu 3 will have an improved version of it since Venu 2 will sometimes auto-detect few minutes late. Well instead of an improved version, the software team decided to remove it. It was probably too much of a hassle for them.

- Auto-pause activity. Even thought they removed the auto-start / auto-stop activity features from Venu 3, they are still offering auto-pause. With the same rigid thinking, the feature cannot be customized (how many seconds of inactivity would trigger the pause). I tried this feature on my last vacation and at a point, my watch was continuously switch between pause and start even though I was still walking and my hand was not in a pocket but moving. This will also make me raise may hand to see what the watch wants? Why is it vibrating or beeping? At the end of my walking activity, my watch only gave me credit for 1.7 miles. My wife used the same feature without the auto-pause and her watch recorder 2.4 miles. So I was penalized 30% of the distance though distance should be the same.

- phone calls. Generally works but it's a hit-and-miss. Sometimes the call gets disconnected from the watch and there is no option to retrieve the call back.

On the Phone, you have to option to send a call to the watch but you need to try multiple times to succeed. And even after success, they added a confirmation to the watch: "Accept audio call?". Are they afraid the call might go to another device in the room? Isn't that prevented by the pairing process of the bluetooth connection? I am not getting any confirmations if I try to send the call to my tablet or to my car.

- Stats: The iConnect app is showing me 25 stats about by walking activity: heart-rate, distance, time, elevation, etc. It even displays a map of my route which I really like; but the most important stat for walking is NOT there: number of steps.

Conclusions:

Since Samsung switched its watch operating system to Wear OS (Galaxy Watch 4) their watches are no longer working on IOS platform. That makes Garmin the only viable competitor to Apple Watch. For me, battery life was the decisioning factor.

If you are an IOS user and can close your eyes on the software issues and on the poor customer support, then this is definitely a good option for you.

I really hope that my review can help Garmin improve their products and we will see better smarter watches from them.

Please excuse the quality of some photos; they where taken at night and with my screen protector on.

Bought 1 month ago to replace vivoactive I had for years. Love this watch

Spent a good deal of time searching, reading reviews and watching videos. Ultimately the battery life won me over. I'm over 70 and thought the Venu 3 might help motivate me to keep moving, running is out of the question with a bum knee however I'm walking more now that I have the watch to keep me aware of my daily totals.

I have been using my Venu 3 for about 3 weeks now. Overall so far I am very happy. I have been able to track steps and sleep and some basic info. I am looking forward to exploring and using more of the great functions available. I leave the watch on all of the time and have it go in sleep mode each night. I using give it a quick charge when I am in the shower, which has been more than enough to keep it going.

I really love the data it provides on sleep as well as the suggestions/recommendations based on my da