Garmin just dropped the Garmin Venu 4, the latest iteration of its lifestyle-focused, Apple Watch-rivaling fitness watch – and given that the Apple Watch 11 has also just been released, that leaves you with a decision about which to buy.
Packing a speaker, microphone and voice assistant alongside the usual AMOLED screen, suite of fitness tracking software and comprehensive Garmin Connect app, the Venu models are designed to be communication-enabled ‘healthy lifestyle’ smartwatches as much as they are hardcore fitness tracking companions.
Seeing as its predecessor, the Garmin Venu 3, was top of our best Garmin watch buying guide, we’re expecting big things out of the Venu 4. It costs $549.99 in the US, £469.99 in the UK, and AU$949, for both 41mm and 45mm models.
That’s a serious increase over the Venu 3, which retailed at US$450 / £399 / AU$749 when it arrived two years ago, and more expensive than the standard Apple Watch Series 11, which starts at $399 / £369 / AU$679 for the 40mm GPS-only version.
However, there are some things it can do that the Apple Watch Series 11 can’t, so for the right person, it might be worth paying over the odds for the Garmin Venu 4.
Check out my list below for a quintet of cool features you won’t find on the best Apple Watches – and make sure you also read our full Apple Watch 11 review.
1. LED flashlight
The Apple Watch does have a flashlight mode of sorts, but all it does is light up the screen, draining its already meagre battery further. The Garmin Venu 4 joins many of Garmin’s other watches this year, such as the Garmin Instinct 3, in getting a dedicated LED flashlight.
Capable of shining at four intensities and with an additional red-light mode too, it’s useful for attracting attention in the wilderness, switching to red to help you run or walk safely at night – and for finding your way to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
2. Battery life
While the Apple Watch Series 11 has recently had its battery life extended by six hours to a total of 24 hours, the Garmin Venu 4 has actually lost two days’ worth of battery life compared to its predecessor, the Garmin Venu 3.
However, the Garmin Venu 4 still clocks in at a hefty 12 days in smartwatch mode, according to Garmin’s press materials. Expect to see that drop considerably with the always-on display enabled, but you’ll still get quite a few days out of it.
3. New holistic health features
The Garmin Venu 4 is one of the first watches to receive Garmin’s new Lifestyle Logging feature, along with the Garmin Instinct Crossover AMOLED. We’ve not tested this yet, but it seems to be similar to Whoop and Oura’s features that allow you to apply context to your heart-rate graphs using digital journal entries or tags.
Logging naps, caffeine, alcohol consumption and more via the Lifestyle Logging feature can offer additional clarity for outlying data. For example, if you drank lots of caffeine late in the day, you’ll be able to log this and better understand the resulting drop in your sleep score.
A Health Status widget also quickly notifies you if your stats are deviating away from the norm, which could be indicative of stress or illness.
4. Circadian rhythm detection
Yes, Apple’s adding a sleep score to its watches, but Garmin’s gone one step further and claims, with the Venu 4, to be able to estimate circadian rhythms, and how aligned your schedule is with your body’s natural sleep cycle. Using this information, you’ll supposedly be able to better adjust your bedtime to reach optimal sleep.
Garmin’s also adding Sleep Consistency, providing a look at your average bedtime over the last week.
5. Fitness Coach
Garmins are fitness watches first and foremost, and its Garmin Connect app and on-watch workout abilities have always been first-rate. It’s particularly useful for runners, cyclists, hikers and swimmers, offering turn-by-turn route directions inside the native workout app along with gold-standard metrics. Apple’s Workout app is solid – particularly its watchOS 26 redesign – but can’t offer the kind of guidance Garmin can.
What’s more, it’s expanding these features with Fitness Coach, an extension to its algorithmically driven personalized workouts, offering daily suggested workouts based around a goal for 25 different workout profiles. These include walking and running, but also indoor cycling and HIIT.
We’ll be reviewing the Garmin Venu 4 very soon, so don’t be surprised if you see it in our list of the best smartwatches before too long.
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matt.evans@futurenet.com (Matt Evans)
