Check out my review of the Garmin Venu SQ Smartwatch. Good value for the money. Lots of features for this good-looking Garmin watch.
My Garmin Venu SQ
About a year ago I got my first smartwatch. I wanted to check out if me having a smartwatch was a good match. I started with a cheap and simple one. It as a Gojo smart Watch 2. Now that I have been using this watch for about a year, I was confident that a smart watch is for me. In fact, I use it a lot more than expected. Not just for training, but also on an everyday basis.
Getting started
When you power on the watch, it starts up with a guide, selecting language and pairing up with my smartphone. In order to pair with my phone, I had to install the Garmin Connect App.
Installing Garmin Connect app
The for this watch is the Garmin Connect app, it is the same app for all their watches and it is available for both Android and iPhones. Once installed, you will use the app to pair your new watch with your smartphone. For me it was very easy and intuitive. It found my new watch in second and asked me to confirm the code on the display of the watch on my phone. Once the paring is done, the guide asks a couple of questions regarding gender, height/weight and a couple of other questions to give the best health feedback.
Once the app is configured using the startup guide, you can easily navigate around and change all kind of data you have entered using the guide. As you can see below, there is all kind of information and statistic about your training in the Garmin Connect app. Another great way to deep into all the data this watch collect about your training, is going to the web interface in your computer: Connect Garmin
Charging
When I unboxed my watch, it was charged 53%. It was easy to plug it into the USB cable that is included. Charing could be faster, but once it is charged it last for a long time. One thing I really miss, is being able to see the battery status on the Connect app. That is not possible.
Troubleshooting Garmin Venu
If you have an issue with this watch, Garmin have a great troubleshooting guide where you can find solutions on most issues
Force restart watch
If you ever need to force a restart of the watch you can see here how easy it is:
Specification of Garmin Venu SQ
Below you can see the main specs for the Garmin Venu SQ:
- Display Size: 1.3″ (33.1 mm) diagonal
- Display resolution: 240 x 240 pixels
- Battery life:
- Smartwatch mode: Up to 6 days
- GPS mode: Up to 14 hours
- Physical Size: 40.6 x 37.0 x 11.5 mm
- Weight: 37.6 g
- Sensors:
- GPS
- Heart rate monitor
- Pulse Ox (measures blood oxygen saturation)
- Accelerometer
- Gyroscope
- Ambient light sensor
- Sports Apps: Preloaded sports apps for running, cycling, golfing, swimming, and more.
- Health Monitoring:
- All-day stress tracking.
- Body Battery energy monitor.
- Menstrual cycle tracking.
- Connectivity: Bluetooth, ANT+.
- Compatibility: Compatible with Android and iOS devices.
- Water Resistance: 5 ATM water rating, meaning it’s suitable for swimming and showering.
Pros and cons
Below you can see my verdicts when it comes to pros and cons for this smartwatch.
Pros:
- Good battery life
- Simple, but good navigation
- Great app with lots of data and features.
Cons:
- Charging via USB is quite slow.
- Unable to see battery level in the Garmin connect app
Conclusion
Overall, I am very happy with my new smartwatch. It has all the features that I need and it has a good battery life. In my opinion it is a pretty watch, that I can also wear when I am not training. A good watch that is comfortable to wear. It is really good value for the money if you ask me.
