Lily 2 Active

Let me start by saying I have spent way too many hours researching the best smart watch for my needs. All the different options and features are overwhelming. So my hope is I can save you some time and stress if your needs are similar. I am starting to count calories and workout again with a mix of strength training, pilates, walks and running. I wanted something that could track my calories burned, step tracker, heart rate monitor and obviously simply tell time without being too big on my wrist. Also receiving reminder notifications from my phone and messages were important too. I've gotten many cheap fitness watches over the years that never lasted long so it was time to spend some more money on one. I have an android, so at first I went with the galaxy classic 6 43mm in silver. The rotating bezel was awesome and the watch had everything I needed and more, but as a female the size was way too big on my wrist and the silver color made me look like a spy kid. The bezel made it look chunky. I returned it and researched Garmin instead. Vivoactive 5 I considered but many reviews said it was not worth it. Has too big a watch face for me anyway. The forerunner 165 is great if you care about detailed running metrics at a lower cost. I ran a half marathon for a college elective and only really learned about many of the metrics from that class. So if you're big into running, I'd definitely recommend this one. Still a bit too big for my wrist though. The venu 3s I also highly considered and is a popular choice amoung smart watch users. Has all the features you need, but still was too big for me at size 41mm. This one is on the pricier side but has more features and a longer battery life. It's great for an all around fitness and lifestyle watch. If you have the money and don't care about the size as much, I recommend this one and almost got it myself. I finally landed on the lily 2 active. The smallest Garmin watch I could find at 38mm. 2 side buttons, and it had all the features I was looking for as mentioned above but could see myself using more features as time went on. I really didn't feel I needed anything too complicated. The screen is in black and white vs color, but as a previous review had said, if I want color I can just look at my smartphone. I decided to buy the lily 2 active and am so happy I did. It's the perfect small size for me and looks sleek. Even has sleep score and body battery functions, which will get more accurate as time goes on. The silver color does NOT make me look like a spy kid. The lines on the screen took a little time to get used to, but are not a big deal to me. I love that I can choose what notifications I want to receive on my watch on ALL my phone apps. If you want to see the feature comparisons in detail side by side you can search "Garmin product comparison" in your browser which I found helpful. If you have any questions I'd love to help if I can!

Garmin Lily 2 active. There’s no smaller watch with GPS. If 9 days smartwatch mode / 9 h GPS is enough for you, have a look at it.

Lily 2 Active because it was the smallest face that had the activities I do most frequently on the watch, meaning I don't have to correct my logging anymore! Also ANT+ to my indoor bike & treadmill is what took me to Lily 2 Active vs just Lily 2 (Vivosmart 4 to Lily 2 Active)

I use the [Garmin Lily 2 Active](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1196650/) watch. I’m a very petite person and it has one of the smallest faces out there for a smart watch. It does constant heart rate monitoring, abnormal heart rate alerts, and has excellent sleep monitoring. It’s waterproof so I can wear it in the shower, which is nice since I like the water practically boiling. It’s about $300 but the price has been well worth it for me.

I debated between Vivoactive & Lily 2 Active, and settled on the latter just because it’s slimmer and more comfortable. It has all the basics I need and a good battery life. It’s geared toward women but I don’t see why a guy couldn’t wear it. You can always change the band. The green looks pretty dope.

Garmin Lily 2 Active Had a Fitbit before. It was horribly overestimating calories burned and steps.  My Garmin is a fair bit more accurate (I've compared it with heart rate monitors and other devices, I was a test subject for a friend's sport science study on the topic with multiple devices)

That’s not true.- it’s called Activity Tracking, the Venu 3 has it and I’m pretty sure also on VA5/6 and Lily 2 Active.

Sorry, I don’t really fit the audience for your question but I’m gonna share my thoughts anyway. I had a Fitbit Charge 5 (aka basic tracker) for three years, during which time they replaced it once because it died from me wearing it swimming. It started falling apart this year so I decided to replace it with an upgrade. Over a period of several weeks I tried out two Garmin watches (Lily 2 Active and Venu 4) as well as an Apple Watch Series 11 and I ended up going with the Garmin Venu 4. There were some things I liked more about the Apple Watch but I really didn’t enjoy the way any of their health or fitness was set up. Everything is weirdly separated out, the calories were way overestimated, and I felt like the rings were an annoying gimmick. I’m not super athletic but I do exercise consistently and every time I wore the Apple Watch to work out I found myself wishing I’d worn a Garmin instead. The health and fitness feedback from Garmin has been really useful for me, and in particular I’ve found the stress tracking, body battery, and recovery metrics insightful as I try to maintain my exercise alongside a classic winter mental health drop. That being said, I would never pay full price for the Venu 4. I used an Optimity 20% discount and even with that I feel like it was a bit expensive for what it is. The design of the watch feels clunkier than the Apple Watch, and for something that costs over $100 more at full retail it definitely doesn’t have as many features. If I cared about stuff like answering calls or texts or just smart features overall I’d be more bothered by Garmin’s paucity, but I actually had a lot of that turned off on the Apple Watch too.

I was using a Fitbit Charge 5 with a premium subscription from November 2022 up until a few weeks ago, and have been in a big back and forth with a couple of Garmin devices (Lily 2 Active and Venu 4) and an Apple Watch Series 11. I’ll share my (limited) experience. Between the different devices, the Fitbit was best at capturing me lying in bed before falling asleep. Both Garmins and the Apple Watch only seem to start their sleep session recordings when I actually fall asleep and don’t capture how much difficulty I might have with falling asleep. The Fitbit was also best at recording me going back to sleep after waking up in the morning. The Fitbit had the greatest amount of awake time for each night, I think because it counted any restlessness as a full minute of being awake, whereas the Garmin app’s sleep breakdown separates that more. On the other hand, Garmin sleep tracking seems to overestimate how long it takes me to go back to sleep in the middle of the night, compared to both Fitbit and the Apple Watch. I haven’t looked too closely at differences in how the sleep scoring works between devices but I did notice that my scores were lowest on Fitbit because they accounted for both how long it took me to fall asleep and my heart rate while sleeping. But Garmin’s sleep tracking interface has some separation around your heart rate during the night, and there’s more focus on “stress” while sleeping, which is based on HRV readings. The sleep tracking in the Apple Health app is more bare bones than the other two, and the heart-related data is based on sampling throughout the night as opposed to continuous tracking. I don’t really like the sleep interface in the Apple Health app because it makes it hard to look at details for different days or really look at specifics of your data. The Garmin devices have by far had the most questionable SpO2 readings, though I’m not sure if this is an issue with their sensor, the fit of my watch band, or if they just have the most difficulty with my sleeping positions. Also when I did a sleep study with take-home equipment the Fitbit’s sleep stages matched the medical estimates pretty closely, but I wasn’t wearing anything on my head. My Fitbit usually showed my deep sleep on the lower end and REM on the higher end, but both Garmins show more deep sleep and less REM by comparison. The Apple Watch is in the middle. I hope this is helpful! It’s been hard to pick a Fitbit replacement because I got so used to the way the Fitbit tracked everything.

I really agree with your assessment about not having buyer’s remorse but the watch also not feeling like it’s worth the price. I had a period where I was testing out the Venu 4, a Lily 2 Active, and an Apple Watch Series 11. I ended up with the Venu 4 because the features made the most sense to me but I wish I felt more enthusiastic about it. A part of me is still considering selling it and going back to one of the other watches, but I do appreciate the extent of fitness insights it has even though I’m not an athlete.

I think my overarching problem with the Venu 4 is that I don’t feel like it has a strong sense of its own design language in the way the other Garmin watches do. Personally I hate the look of the bulky, tactical watches but those at least have a strong aesthetic throughline to them. I actually don’t really mind the flip phone style OS that it has because it makes me feel like the watch is quieter than a “real” smartwatch. But I do feel like it’s kind of rough around the edges in some ways. Some of the screens feel like PowerPoint slides and others feel like more thoughtful presentations of data. The thing that gets me more is the design of the case, particularly in comparison to the Lily 2 series but also just other circular smartwatches. It just feels so… bland? And the gaps between the metal and plastic parts of the case make the watch look cheaper. I’d love to know if there’s an explanation for that I’ve missed. For me the Apple Watch has better design language but it was too much “phone.” If they made a Lily watch with the Elevate 5 sensor (so ECG and better sleep tracking) I’d switch pretty quickly.

How do you compare the HRV data between the Apple Watches and the Garmin watches? I tried an Apple Watch Series 11 but it seemed to measure HRV differently.

Garmin Lily 2 Active - the active is the only Lily with built in gps. It’s just beautiful, it wins for aesthetics and perfect on a small wrist. It won’t have all the features your Apple Watch does, but it’s worth a look.

I have the Lily 2 Active and really like it. It is very simple to use as it’s more of a basic smart/fitness watch. It’s smaller than any of the other Garmin watches and has a more classic look so it can be worn for any occasion. I have never had an Apple Watch so can’t compare the ease of use to that, but the battery life is way better than the Apple Watch. I get about 9 days of 1 charge.

I have the Garmin Lily 2 Active and love it! Great health tracking (sleep, heart rate, steps, HRV, O2 sat, stress, body battery, women’s health and more). I also use mine to track my walks/hikes, biking, cardio and golf activities. It is a smaller fitness watch and has a more elegant look to it. I have small wrists so the size is a what I like about it most. It has great battery life. I can get up to 9 days on a charge depending on how much I use the GPS.

You can compare all three Garmins side by side on their website, which I have found useful when I’m interested in a new watch. I’ve been a Garmin user for years and don’t plan to switch to any other brand. I have the Lily 2 Active and really like it. Use mine for walking, cardio, biking, golf and health tracking including women’s health. But like the other comments have said, Garmin watches are fitness trackers first, smart watch second. As an Apple user, you won’t be able to reply to text or calls as Apple won’t give Garmin those rights. I have heard some series will allow you to use Siri through it, but I have read mixed reviews on how well that works. So just depends on what your priorities are!

Definitely don’t get the Lily or Lily 2. The Lily 2 Active does have built in GPS so it might be okay for your needs. However, I had it for about 7 months and changed to the Venu 3s which is 100% better. The Lily series is a basic fitness watch that is not worth the price when there are other watches at the same price point that give you way more features. I also have small wrists and the slightly larger size of the Venu 3s if just fine for me and honestly not noticeable when wearing it. I’ve been using Garmin Pay on my watches over the years and it works great. (Saw someone said it doesn’t work for them, but I’ve never had an issue) If you haven’t already, you can compare watches side by side on Garmin’s website which is very helpful! But I’d recommend a watch in the Vivoactive, Forerunner or Venu series.

At certain angles in direct sunlight, it can be hard to read due to the etched lens and the grayscale font. But, if I just turn my wrist a little when this happens to put it at a different angle, then I can see it fine. I have no issues reading it indoors.

I have the Lily 2 active and like it. I got it for its size as I also have small wrists. It’s a basic but good fitness watch! Otherwise I would recommend you go on Garmin’s website and you can compare watches side by side and find the one that is best for you!

The Lily 2 Active came out October 2024 so it’s actually pretty new! For me, it has everything I need. For activity tracking, I use mine for cardio, walking, biking and golfing. Then I obviously use the health tracking (steps, sleep, HRV, body battery, womens health etc). Everyone is different on what they want out of a fitness watch but this one is perfect for me! Sometimes I miss having a colored screen, but the whole point of the Lily series is it’s elegant look so I think that would take away from it. Plus I really don’t go through the watch much. If I want to look at my health stats, I typically use the Garmin app on my phone since everything is easily found on the main screen of the app. If you want a colored screen, the next smallest watch would be the Venu 3s. You would get more features too, but it’s more expensive and the watch band is larger as well. I like that I can wear this for any occasion and keep tracking my health so it’s worth the trade off for me.

I had the Lily 2 Active for about 7 months, then got the Venu 3s instead a few months ago. I also have small wrists and liked the look of it, but I found it really lacked customization and I missed having a colored screen. It’s a pretty basic fitness watch, which may be fine for some people. I got back into running this summer and wanted to do run/walk intervals and it didn’t have this feature which seemed like a pretty basic feature. I ended up giving it to my mother in law as she is trying to lose weight, but she isn’t an active person and just does walking. As far as what you want: it will find your phone, you can read notifications from your phone (can’t reply), you can control the music that is playing on your phone (advance or go back songs and adjust volume, but you won’t be able to control it during an activity which I was annoyed by. I can with the Venu 3s), it is waterproof (I believe up to 50 meters), the GPS is accurate (been a Garmin user for years and the GPS has always been great!), Health tracking was pretty accurate, but don’t read too much into the sleep tracking as its not great with Garmin no matter what device you have, I have an iPhone as well and had no problems with connecting to it, you wont be able to use any third party apps on it as it wont connect to the Garmin Connect IQ store (one of the “customization” complaints I have), the band can easily be switched out, I got up to 9 days of battery life depending on how often I used GPS. It might work great for your needs, but just know that it’s pretty basic. I absolutely love the Venu 3s. It’s way more customizable and has way more features. It’s slightly larger, but I honestly didn’t even notice the difference when I switched. I got the one with the soft gold bezel and dust rose band and it’s beautiful! I can still wear it for any occasion.

I disagree. Not all women “train like men” and need all those metrics. The Lily series is a great option for women who have small wrists and are just looking for basic fitness tracking. I am a woman and have the Lily 2 Active. I am not “insulted” by it as you troll on many posts about the Lily series. Please don’t speak for all of us women. Our needs are all different and unique. Men and women alike.

I can understand how that’s frustrating. I like the Lily 2 Active and it has what I personally need, but the price tag is frustrating when the Vivoactive series costs the same but has way more features. I do find that insulting.

I have the Garmin Lily 2 Active and love it! It’s a smaller fitness watch that is more elegant looking than your typical fitness watch. I have small wrists so it doesn’t look huge on me and I can wear it for any occasion. I can get up to 9 days on a charge depending on how much I use the GPS for tracking outdoor activities.

Since you plan on using it for running, you will want to stay away from the Vivomove trend as it does not have built in GPS. It has “connected GPS” meaning it will just use the GPS from your phone, which could be a problem if you don’t run with your phone. I have also read that the connection can be poor with this, but I have never personally tried it myself. I had the Lily 2 Active for about 7 months, but found it lacks customization and was a little too basic for my needs. I got the Venu 3s instead and absolutely love it! I was initially drawn to the smaller size of the Lily 2 Active too as I also have small wrists, but I honestly don’t even notice a difference between the two as it’s a pretty minor size difference. The Venu 3s could be another option for you if you don’t like the Venu 4 options. There aren’t many differences between the Venu 3 & 4. I have it in soft gold bezel with the dust rose band and it’s beautiful! With the Venu, you can download many different watch faces and apps from the Garmin IQ app. The Lily 2 Active only comes with certain ones installed and you can’t download others or add any apps. (One of the “lack of customization” issues) I do think the Lily 2 Active would be enough for your needs, just letting you know my experience with it!

If you are looking at the Lily 2 series then definitely go with the Active version as it has built in GPS. The standard does not. You’ll especially want this since you run and cycle. I had the Lily 2 Active for about 7 months, but decided to swap it with the Venu 3s as I found the Lily to be a little too basic for my needs and I missed having a colored screen. I have small wrists and wanted something I can wear daily as well and the Venu 3s is a perfect fit. The Venu series is more expensive so you could look at the Vivoactive 6 since it is the same price as the Lily 2 Active, but you’re going to get way more features with it. I would recommend comparing watches on Garmin’s website! They have a compare tool that lets you compare watches side by side which is very helpful.

The biggest thing for me was I started running again and wanted to do run/walk intervals and this wasn’t an option on the Lily. There just isn’t a lot of customization with it. There’s only a certain amount of watch faces to choose from too and only a couple that I liked, but I wasn’t able to make them show everything that I wanted to see on the watch face. I ended up gifting it to my mother in-law as she is trying to lose weight and she is loving it. She is using it track her steps and health metrics, but doesn’t do any activities except walking. I think it’s fine for someone who just wants to do that with some light exercise. The Venu 3s is by far a step up. It is slightly larger but I don’t even notice the difference. It’s still very lightweight and comfortable. I got the soft gold bezel with the dust rose band and it’s beautiful! The Venu 4 is newer, but the new features on it aren’t things I personally need so it wasn’t worth the additional cost, especially when I got it 20% off the 3s. The Venu 3 & 4 use the newest HR sensor, whereas the Lily has the generation older sensor.

The Lily 2 Active is a pretty basic fitness watch. I think it’s great for health tracking, but not for activity tracking. I had it for a while but decided to switch to the Venu 3s and I’m glad I made the switch. I never used it for swimming and I don’t see the answer on Garmin’s website so you may have to reach out to them if you don’t get an answer on that. Since you are coming from an Apple Watch, you may want to consider the Venu series. Otherwise the vivoactive 6 would work for you as well. I also have small wrists (5.5 inches) and my Venu 3s is comfortable. The Vivoactive is going to be larger than the Lily 2 active and Venu 3s.

Definitely don’t get the Lily or Lily 2. The Lily 2 Active does have built in GPS so it might be okay for your needs. However, I had it for about 7 months and changed to the Venu 3s which is 100% better. The Lily series is a basic fitness watch that is not worth the price when there are other watches at the same price point that give you way more features. I also have small wrists and the slightly larger size of the Venu 3s if just fine for me and honestly not noticeable when wearing it. I’ve been using Garmin Pay on my watches over the years and it works great. (Saw someone said it doesn’t work for them, but I’ve never had an issue) If you haven’t already, you can compare watches side by side on Garmin’s website which is very helpful! But I’d recommend a watch in the Vivoactive, Forerunner or Venu series.

Definitely don’t get the Lily or Lily 2. The Lily 2 Active does have built in GPS so it might be okay for your needs. However, I had it for about 7 months and changed to the Venu 3s which is 100% better. The Lily series is a basic fitness watch that is not worth the price when there are other watches at the same price point that give you way more features. I also have small wrists and the slightly larger size of the Venu 3s if just fine for me and honestly not noticeable when wearing it. I’ve been using Garmin Pay on my watches over the years and it works great. (Saw someone said it doesn’t work for them, but I’ve never had an issue) If you haven’t already, you can compare watches side by side on Garmin’s website which is very helpful! But I’d recommend a watch in the Vivoactive, Forerunner or Venu series.