Garmin has continued their trend of ‘plus’ versions of their devices with the recent release of the Venu 2 Plus range. The ‘plus’ models are always an incremental upgrade on the device so expect some new features on the Venu 2 plus but not a complete hardware redesign.
There are three new models available the links below include all the new accessories that are compatible with these watches:
Venus 2 Plus vs Vivoactive 4 vs Venu 2 – Differences Only
Venu 2 Plus
Venu 2
Venu SQ
vivoactive 4
Health Monitoring
Fitness Age
Yes
Yes
yes (in app)
yes (in app)
Sleep score and insights
Yes
Yes
No
No
Health snapshot
Yes
Yes
No
No
Sensors
Barometric altimeter
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Gyroscope
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Ambient light sensor
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Daily Smart Features
Connectivity
Bluetooth®, ANT+®, Wi-Fi®
Bluetooth®, ANT+®, Wi-Fi®
Bluetooth®, ANT+®
Bluetooth®, ANT+®, Wi-Fi®
Battery saver (customizable low power watch)
Yes
Yes
No
No
Plays and controls watch music
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Music storage
Up to 650 songs
Up to 650 songs
No
up to 500 songs
Smartphone compatibility
iPhone®, Android™
iPhone®, Android™
iPhone®, Android™
iPhone®, Android™
Pairs with Garmin Golf app
Yes
Yes
No
No
BLUETOOTH phone calling and voice assistant support
Yes
Activity Tracking Features
Floors climbed
Yes
Yes
Yes
Garmin Connect™ Challenges app
Yes
Yes
Yes (optional Connect IQ app)
Yes (optional Connect IQ app)
Gym & Fitness Equipment
Available gym activity profiles
Strength, Cardio, HIIT and Elliptical Training, Stair Stepping, Floor Climbing, Indoor Rowing, Yoga, Pilates and Breathwork
Strength, Cardio, HIIT and Elliptical Training, Stair Stepping, Floor Climbing, Indoor Rowing, Yoga, Pilates and Breathwork
Strength, Cardio and Elliptical Training, Stair Stepping, Indoor Rowing, Yoga, Pilates and Breathwork
Strength, Cardio and Elliptical Training, Stair Stepping, Floor Climbing, Indoor Rowing, Yoga, Pilates and Breathwork
HIIT workouts
Yes
Yes
No
No
On-screen workout animations
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
On-screen workout muscle maps
Yes
Yes
No
No
Running Features
Available run profiles
Running, Indoor Track Running, Treadmill Running
Running, Indoor Track Running, Treadmill Running
Running, Indoor Track Running, Treadmill Running
Running, Indoor Track Running, Treadmill Running
Golfing Features
Automatic club tracking compatible (requires accessory)
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Tournament legal
Yes
Yes
No
No
Outdoor Recreation
Available outdoor recreation profiles
Hiking, Indoor Climbing, Bouldering, Skiing, Snowboarding, XC Skiing, Stand Up Paddleboarding, Rowing
Hiking, Indoor Climbing, Bouldering, Skiing, Snowboarding, XC Skiing, Stand Up Paddleboarding, Rowing
Skiing, Snowboarding, XC Skiing, Stand Up Paddleboarding, Rowing
Skiing, Snowboarding, XC Skiing, Stand Up Paddleboarding, Rowing
Total ascent/descent
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Cycling Features
Available cycling profiles
Biking, Indoor Biking
Biking, Indoor Biking
Biking, Indoor Biking
Biking, Indoor Biking
Swimming Features
Available swim profiles
Pool Swimming
Pool Swimming
Pool Swimming
Pool Swimming
Garmin Venu 2 Plus – Slate Bezel with Black Case
Breakdown of new features
The major new additions for the Venu 2 Plus are primarily centred around the new built-in mic and speaker, plus the 3rd customisable button on the bezel. The new mic and speaker allow you to do the following:
Take and receive calls (with a compatible and paired smartphone) on the watch itself
Use your phone’s voice assistant (Siri, Google or Bixby) to respond to messages, ask questions or control compatible smart home devices.
Playback music on the watch speaker
Incident detection can now make a call to your registered emergency contact.
This is a typical incremental update to our fitness watch from Garmin. They rarely add any significant new features on these models, instead updating and improving old features. The ‘smart’ features like interactivity with smart home assistants are very welcome, bringing the Garmin watches into the realm of modern smartwatches like Apple and Samsung. The speaker and microphone are realistically the only considerations to make with this new edition over the previous edition.
Health Monitoring Features for Venu 2 Plus
The Venu 2 Plus comes with the following sensors used to extrapolate that data into meaningful data you can interpret.
Built-in optical Heart Rate Monitor
Always-on tracking
Pulse Ox (Blood Oxygen Saturation)
Spot check, All-day or Sleep Tracking
GPS/GLONASS/Galileo – GNSS position tracking
Barometric Altimeter
Elevation data – tracking inclines and declines for your activity
Compass
Gyroscope
Accelerometer
Incident detection is used for some activity profiles like Golf
These sensors form the basis of all the data sent to your watch and your Garmin Connect App, which is then transformed into graphs/trends and gauges to let you know your current health status in varying aspects.
The Venu 2 will give you a health breakdown for the following:
Heart Rate Tracking
All-day Stress Tracking
This comes with reminders to calm your breathing if your heart rate elevates significantly while sedentary. It won’t activate, for example, while you’re on a run where the varying heart rate is expected.
Abnormal Heart rate alerts (high and low)
Respiration Rate (24×7)
Daily resting heart rate
Hydration Tracking
This is done manually
Sleep Tracking
Sleep breakdown of different stages of sleep – light, deep and REM. Based on how long you slept, it also explains your prior activities your sleep score. This will let you know if you’ve rested enough to recover or if you had a bad nights sleep and may need to ease off that day to recover.
Training and Activity features
The venu 2 plus has the usual step counter for your daily step goals. This goal increases or decreases with your performance to encourage you to keep pushing yourself within a reasonable expectation of your current health.
Move bar reminds you to move every so often, great to remind you to get up and get blood pumping during a long day at the office. It honestly seems like a pretty basic feature now but I still always find it helpful.
The Heart Rate analysis on the Venu 2 Plus includes HR Zones, HR alerts, HR Calories and % HR Max. During running activities you can also check V02 Max performance.
It also has a built-in calories burned tracker based on your fitness activity. The barometric altimeter also allows you to track floors climbed.
Garmin Venu 2 Plus – Cream Gold Bezel with Ivory Case
As mentioned above, the Venu 2 plus watches also come with a design change with the third button that is fully customisable and the new built-in mic and speaker. This model also sits between the previous 2 sizes of the Venu 2 models at 43.6mm.
Smart Features
These watches come with a huge range of smart features including the ability to respond to incoming calls on your phone either via voice or preset text messages. You also have full control of your music either synced to your phone or downloaded directly onto the watch. You can talk to your chosen smart assistant through the watch as well to perform voice commands.
