Why Is This My New Favorite Smartwatch?⌚ (Garmin Venu 3)

This video was sponsored by BestBuy

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Please comment below with any questions you might have. Thank you all for watching! I appreciate you!

Disclaimer: This video was sponsored by BestBuy. All opinions are my own.

ADDITIONAL VIDEO NOTES:
On basically every smartwatch ranking the Apple Watch or Galaxy watch will be the #1, and yet my go-to watch lately has been an unlikely winner. The smartwatch I have been wearing everyday has actually been Garmin’s deviation away from sports watches. This is their everyday smartwatch, but why would I prefer it over the tried and true flagships from Samsung and Apple? There are really 5 main reasons, but one big drawback that may make this the wrong watch for some people.

This is the new Garmin Venu 3. So compared to the 2 and 2 plus, there are massive improvements here. Now I can’t get into the 5 reasons I prefer this watch without first showing you what we’re dealing with

About the watch - physical design
3 buttons - the interface tour will show you why I am surprised by these buttons
Speaker
Mic for taking calls from wrist
Interchangeable 22mm band
1.4” AMOLED vs old 1.3” yet longer battery life - 14 days per charge
Stainless steel case but unlike the 2 plus, the back appears to be plastic
New Elevate v5 sensor on the rear is even more accurate and capable
So this new sensor actually does more than just improve accuracy. It unlocks new features for this watch. Take a look at the sleep tracking for example. A huge improvement for this watch.

Sleep: nap detection
Sleep coach
Sleep recommendations
All night HRV tracking
Perhaps my favorite new feature - morning briefing
Jetlag advisor

Now before we get into the accuracy testing, let’s talk about the price. You can order this from the sponsor of today’s video, BestBuy. Both sizes have the same price -

Two sizes once again, 41mm is the 3s, 45mm is the 3
$449 for either model
5 colors for the s, 2 for the 3

Discuss the difference between the 3 and 3s
Show the different colors available on BestBuy’s website
Talk about the option to pick up at a local store vs ship to home
The battery life - 14 days of normal use. I am getting about 11.
Workouts Functions
We’ll get into the accuracy in just a minute, but

New accessory support, new sensors, modified interface, and new fitness stuff including new workouts, recovery time, workout benefit, and jetlag advisor
Accuracy
GPS accuracy test
Track accuracy
HR accuracy test
Sleep tracking accuracy

Smartwatch functionality
Added photos to android texts (not ios)
You can reply to texts with keyboard or quick replies
The Interface
Quick tour of the watch UI and any relevant changes here
Speaker test
Microphone test
Voice assistant speed test

the Garmin App
Fitness age
Recovery
Vo2Max insights
Works with iPhone and Android

Conclusion
Who is this watch for?

[waynehighfield]

Battery time is enough for me to change from Samsung/ Apple.

[mikebuck]

Appreciate the timer during the sponsor ad

[Liz-ocqt]

Most insightful review of the Venu 3 I’ve seen on YouTube. Love that you explained the true value-add of a device like this—I.e. interpreting the data it has collected and telling you what behaviors you need to do more or less of to improve your overall health. Most of the other reviews only talked about “features”. You talked about the real “benefits” of the product and how it will improve your life. Good job!

[corneliusjermainehightower]

Absolutely I will use this watch. It will actually be my next activity watch provided Samsung can’t get their accuracy down. The integration part is really huge, but I would rather have accuracy over Siri or Google Assistant. Good job on the video.

[eflobo]

Congrats on your review. One of the best regarding Venu 3 that I've seen so far, based on a daily usage. I've had 2 Samsung watches, both of them died for no reason.
After 2 months using Venu 3, I can assure it's more reliable (much more) and has better "coaching". I cannot even start to talk about battery life, my Samsungs wouldn't last a day and a half. My Venu 3 lasts from 9 to 11 days.
Kudos from Brazil!

[danielpauley]

Makes me wonder how they can squeeze out so much battery life when the Apple, Google, and, Samsung watches of the world can barely last a day.

[LuggageChestHead]

I like my Venu 2 a lot and have used Garmin watches for decades. They have some Bluetooth trouble now and then, inspite it has improved the last years. What I don’t like: scratches! My venu’s screen got scratched heavily after only a few days. Garmin, give us a sapphire option on these watches!

[mt_front]

I got the Venue 3s. Been waiting for the smaller variant with mic and voice assistant ever since Venu 2 Plus came out. Very disappointed at the voice assistant connectivity issue like you mentioned, basically make it not usable. Coming from galaxy watch 4 I'm still very impressed with the battery life (got 8~9 days even on the smaller variant) and fitness features, and I don't use other "smart watch features" at all even when I was using the galaxy watch, so still happy about the purchase. Hopefully Garmin will see this review and keep improving the voice assistant reliability.

[randalllewis]

I've had Galaxy, Fitbit (pre Google) and Garmin. I've always returned to Garmin. Battery life has always been better and they've had the important smart watch features. I've found sleep tracking more reliable than Galaxy. Thanks for the review Mike.

[jasonlevine]

Great review. I really appreciate you pointing out that unlike most other brands (including Apple and Samsung) Garmin activity tracking actually includes activity specific data rather than just the same metrics regardless of activity. So many reviewers simply say that like Apple/Samsung Garmin tracks lots of activities without noting that the way those activities are tracked is much better on Garmin. Also the battery life is such a huge issue if you are serious about health and wellness tracking. Your watch is no good to you for those purposes if it is often off your wrist (especially when sleeping) because you have to charge.

[camilos.]

the battery life was the reason I picked this watch. super happy with my choice. Not having to think about yet another gadget to charge is great.

[slowbluesmaster]

Thanks for the review.
I suspect that Garmin realises that implementing more 'smart' functionalities, will not only eat into battery life, but shift the Venu to a different category, competing directly with Apple and Samsung smartwatches. That would not be a smart move, because you'll start from scratch. Improve what you're best at, don't give into feature-creep that'll dilute the brand's overall strong points. Casio has recently made that mistake with their new sports & health featured G-Shocks.

[vincentlessore]

I don't need the additional mobile phone connectivity (I don't want a phone on my wrist) so the Venu 3 is perfect for me having also had a Vivoactive 3 & 4 plus a Fenix 5s prior to purchasing my Venu 3. The battery life with screen auto off is amazing.

[jakekeil]

I Got the Venu 3 recently ( upgrades from original Venu) and it has been Amazing. The battery and GPS accuracy are great and it does have improved smart features. The calls function is really nice and the voice assistant works pretty well for me, especially if my phone isn't with me or in my backpack.

[StephenLifeExplorer]

I bought this recently, and definitely something that's on my wrist almost all the time, except when showering.. it's so light and battery is great.. and the health features amazing, especially when using the Garmin website..
I own a Samsung Watch 5 Pro, and only use it as a smartwatch and ignoring all the health features... With the Garmin Venu 3, the health feature is front and center for me.. going to sell my Samsung Watch 5 Pro..

[ervalkat]

I bought a Venu 3 and it’s my go to watch at the moment. I still prefer the Garmin 265S for training, but I’m not currently training so the extra attention to sleep quality and health factors are welcome. My only disappointment is that I’m very dependent on the Garmin Pay feature and that’s not currently working with my WF Visa card. WF says they’ll fix it “soon” but I’m impatient. Other than that, this is a great watch.

[dajr.]

The Garmin app is as legit as it gets. I run consistently and love tracking all my activities. I ordered a Samsung watch on black Friday and think I'm going to return it and go back to my Garmin. I didn't realize how good I had it with Garmin until I tried switching. The Samsung app also eats way more of my cellphone battery than Garmin, which was a surprise issue I discovered after the fact.

[edteachr]

Agree wholeheartedly. My favourite watch by far as it strikes that balance between smart watch and fitness guide very well, and the battery life is second to no other brand. I also like how it integrates all fitness metrics into one app, whereas with Apple you need various third party apps to achieve the same. I also like how the Venu 3 can broadcast my heart rate to my bike computer, negating the need for an additional sensor (even though a strap is more accurate than the watch). Thanks for the video.

[yngvenordahl]

Looking at the HR graphs of your interval run there, it looks like you've mixed up the coloring. The orange one seems much more realistic for intervals that are tracked accurately, while the purple one seems to be lagging behind, the way you'd expect from an optical sensor, and it also has the other expected artifacts of that type of sensor as well.

[terricross]

A friend of mine brought this video to my attention and it is exactly what I needed. No Uber and no Teams = deal-breakers as I look for my next smartwatch purchase. Thank you!