Garmin - Venu Sq – Music Edition

Garmin venu sq music. Does a good job for swimming and my other varied activities. Cheap ish too.

Forerunner and fenix watches seem to me like a heavier, off grid watch. Longer battery life, super rugged, heavier. Vivoactive is good for all those things but it’s lighter and a good daily wear. I have the venu 3. I lift weight, cycle, and starting to get into running. I wanted a watch that did all the bio tracking but didn’t want something rugged and off grid. 7-10 days battery life. Good daily wear. Good sleep tracking. I’ve worn it for 1.5years now. Had the venue SQ prior. I disable the messaging and notifications but still get calls just in case I don’t have my phone on me. Glad you aren’t looking at Apple Watches. Garmin is the best choice for activity and daily wear.

I have most bells and whistles turned off on my VenuSQ, but it drains really quickly. I have the screen brightness at the lowest setting too. It’s only 3.5 years old.

Previously using a garmin SQ, now the fit 3 and the huawei is excellent. Gps lock is fast, works well with cycling as a hr monitor. Ganda pa ng interface at battery life. Daming free watchface na maganda din.

The 2x5 line is much better for running than the 165, so I wouldn't recommend the 165. I find that Garmin watch are pretty bad at handling audio content (music, but especially podcasts and audiobooks). Coming from running only my Apple Watch, I switched to running with my 255 and my phone. So personally, I wouldn't recommend getting the music version. As for the 955, it does have maps and little more over the 255/265. It really comes down to how much you like to run in new places where maps are needed (and even then, the breadcrumbs map on the 255 can be handy).

I don't know.about the samsung fit 3 (msntioned below) but most galaxy watch will have 1 to 2 days of battery life. I get 2.5 days with my Galaxy Ultra. My 70 years old dad is not a runner (walk) but I got him a basic and cheap Garmin forrunner 55 instead (he loves it) - 1.5 to 2 WEEKS battery life (my dad won't charge a watch every day) - always on display (reflective display, not amoled) - display phone notifications on the watch - basic vital, sleep tracking, HR, GPS etc - emergency call/fall detection over BT (needs phone nearby, not LTE, which he has with him all the time). - not touch screen, button only, but he prefers that too. Other Garmin (venu series) have amoled touch screen etc and still have a week of battery life. The forerunner was good.enough for my dad's need (long battery, notification,readable screen). https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/p/741137

Most people coming from apple go vivo active or venue. Venue being closest to a smart watch. Personally, I'm a instinct guy. Although I'm wearing a Fenix today since I didn't charge my Instinct for 2 weeks and it died before bed. I've swam tens of thousands of meters (more like hundreds but..) in pool, open and salt water with my Garmins. Done free diving (only to about 40ft, I'm not very good) and press the buttons regularly sub surface. I've also done cliff jumping with every watch, and haven't lost a garmin to water intrusion. I would definitely select a 100m rated model for water sports. Any watch can fail but I've had 6 garmins and none have. I also had a bunch of Casio and Timex over the years and not one failure.

Been wearing the same Garmin for 5 years now. Sometimes the splurge is worth it. If you can wait, there will probably be some deals for the upcoming holidays and Black Friday, but that is a bit away. Personally I do like an all in one smart watch for fitness tracking and phone syncing.

Garmin Venu series are comparable to an Apple Watch. Garmin’s GPS tracking for outdoor activity is a little bit better/accurate. That’s something to consider if you want to log hikes, bike rides, walking, running etc. I use an iPhone and just download the Garmin Connect app, that’s where all the data is stored. The Venu series are more fashionable. The first Venu model has the basic sleep tracking. I know the newer ones have some other updated features. I do find the sleep tracking, body battery, active/resting calories data to be pretty accurate based on how I feel.

From what you have written, budget is not a constraint for you. I'd go for a watch. Tracking sleep is very useful. I am implementing small changes to improve sleep and the data from the watch is helpful. Eventhough it's not perfect. If i could afford it, I'd buy a Garmin Venue right now. Also, while a chest strap may be a tad bit more accurate for heart rate tracking, it is not something you want to wear for hours at a stretch every day. There a watch is useful.