Since you’re a runner using Runna and want better battery life, the sweet spot is probably the Forerunner 265 if you want something light, run-focused and comes with AMOLED brightness which your Galaxy probably has.
If you want more of a “smartwatch vibe” with a mic for calls then maybe the Venu 2 Plus is the only Garmin that adds voice assistant and call handling but its training metrics aren’t quite as deep as the Forerunner 955/965 series ones
If I were you I’d also consider the Forerunner 955 or 965 for serious running and battery though, it’s pretty much the best watch you can get as a runner IMO or you could try [9 Best Smartwatches Worth Investing in 2025 for Running and Hiking](https://alaskanarrows.com/best-smartwatches-in-2025-for-hiking-and-running/) for others as well
Cheers
Lots of comments here about needing to charge the AWU either daily or multiple times a day. I had the 1 and now the 3, and I charge on average every 3rd day. And I use mine for everything - 20+ hours of workouts every week, phone calls, messages, Apple Pay.
My last Garmin (Venu 2 Plus) would last about 8-10 days on a charge.
I used to switch between the 2 for workouts/daily use but ditched the Garmin completely about a year ago.
I find my phone use is way down when I use the Apple Watch.
Venu 2 Plus, got it second hand for 50 Eurosat as a replacement for my broken vivoactive 4. Since I started running a lot more then before last year I'll go for the forerunner 970 this year, but I'll wait until the prices go down a bit
I left AW in 2023 because the battery life on my series 5 was failing and I wanted to try something different. I really liked the change in metrics and find the connect app pretty decent. My only complaint about the app would be its cloud based and wished data was actually stored on your phone. The battery life along on my Venu2+ is enough to keep me from going back. It’s all dependent on what features you love on you AW. Do you text on you watch or just read notifications? Do you want to run without your phone and are willing to pay for cellular on your watch? Are you looking to just stay healthy? If you’re more into the fitness metrics (which is what I got into) then Garmin will suit you and in a week you’ll forget about your AW. If you need all the snappy features of texting via your watch then you won’t like Garmin. However I have several friends who left AW for Venus and found that they enjoy them better. Besides battery life my biggest draw was to be able to set my goals how I wanted and focus on them. If Apple had let me set an actual step goal on my rings then maybe I would have stayed. Ultimately give your garmin a solid go for a few weeks. You may find you never needed the AW features after all
Top Fitness Trackers on Reddit
1
Garmin
Forerunner 255 Series
86% positive of 468 users
Long battery; but wrist HR tracking is inconsistent.
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