Beginning Design Furnishing App Training Sleep Music Payment Battery life Price Conclusion Comments by Sara // 26. 10. 2020 13: 30 Clock Garmin has given the Venu sports watch a visual update with the Venu Sq, with a low price and many Functions want to convince. We clarify in the test whether the new Garmin Smartwatch is suitable as an insider tip.
As an update of the well-known Garmin Venu, the Venu Sq from Garmin is aimed at fitness-conscious users who value a smartwatch with extensive tracking functions. Because the Venu Sq already starts at a price of around 92 euros, it could turn out to be a real insider tip for price-conscious Garmin fans. We tested the Venu Sq as part of our sports watch theme, compared it with the Garmin Venu (test report) and checked whether the new edition fully exploits its potential.
Design The Venu Sq expands the Venu series. The classic Garmin Venu becomes a premium device with a circular housing and AMOLED display. The Venu Sq relies on a rectangular design with LCD, protected by Gorilla Glass 3. Like its predecessor, it also has two control buttons on the right edge, which are discreetly embedded in the plastic housing of the watch. The bezel of the watch is made of scratch-proof aluminum.
The Garmin Venu Sq. Garmin has considered another innovation for the Venu Sq in addition to the shape of the case: The manufacturer has taken on the user interface and brought the design into shape. The basic structure of the UI has remained the same, but Garmin has changed the individual icons slightly. The interface of the Venu Sq looks a bit more modern than before, but it does not have any major impact on usability.
Like the Vivoactive 3 Music (test report), the Garmin Venue Sq is available in two versions: With internal music storage for about 5000 songs and bluetooth or without. Here, too, the addition “Music” identifies the variant with a music function.
Facility The setup of the Venu Sq is simple and uncomplicated as usual with Garmin. We load the Garmin Connect app on our smartphone, create a Garmin account and pair the watch with a pairing code via Bluetooth. We also select the desired language when we start the watch for the first time. Unlike the Venu, this time the Venu Sq changes the units of measurement accordingly. If we select German as the operating language, the watch will automatically display all measurements according to the metric system.
App Anyone who already owns or has used a Garmin Smartwatch will quickly find their way around the Garmin Connect app. Switching from a Garmin watch to the new Venu Sq works without any problems via the device selection. Even Garmin newbies get the abundance of data that the app records with the help of the smartwatch, presented very clearly and intuitively.
Well-known functions of Garmin Connect also work with the Venu Sq: We can record and plan training units, collect specific successes and join groups, save equipment (and track e.g. kilometers run with a certain pair of running shoes) and emergency information save or share live locations. The watch also has an integrated accident notification, which the Venu Sq uses to send its own location to the emergency contacts stored in the smartphone if it detects an accident or we request emergency help ourselves.
Garmin Venue Sq: software (9 images) Garmin Connect for the Garmin Venu Sq
Training As usual, Garmin shows its full strengths when it comes to training: We can use the Venu Sq to record various sports ourselves, including various running and cycling variants , but also golf, rowing, winter sports, SUP, strength training or Y oga. If we cover a distance in the respective sport, the Venu Sq tracks the covered distance via GPS. After the training we can look at a summary in the app, but also directly on the watch display – including route map and other data such as calories consumed, kilometers covered, steps and so on.
The sports program on the Garmin Venu Sq. As usual with Garmin, the GPS works very reliably: We ran the same route three times in the test, with the Venu Sq always recording the same result for the distance. The watch also found a GPS signal fairly quickly within about ten seconds. Unfortunately, like the Venu, the Venu Sq does not support route navigation.
Runners and cyclists can use the free training plans available in the app with the Venu Sq. The smartwatch then reminds users of upcoming training sessions as soon as they start a session. We can then choose whether we want to start a workout from the plan or just train like that. The app offers detailed explanatory videos for all units, so that the training plans are also very suitable for beginners.
Incidentally, the Venu Sq offers the same water resistance as the Venu with 5 ATM and is therefore suitable for showering and swimming, but not for diving. If you want to record a swim training session, you can set the length of the pool beforehand so that the watch counts the lengths you have covered. The Venu Sq can also count during strength training, which in the test works better than many other smartwatches with similar functions, but still not quite optimal. We tried the watch on an Olympic weightlifting session with snatch and overhead press. The watch registered four out of five repetitions in a sentence and was not bothered by the complexity of the exercise. If the smartwatch does not record our repetitions correctly, we can at least make improvements in the app. There you can also enter the weights you have moved and add additional exercises – the app offers a selection of several hundred different exercise variants, from truck pulls to bench presses and one-armed kettlebell pulling to specific activities such as sitting overhead triceps with dumbbells. If you want to do without an analog training diary, you will definitely get a usable alternative here, even if there is still a little room for improvement in the actual recording of the repetitions.
Garmin has an ace up its sleeve for the Venu Sq: Because the watch is not only compatible with training plans for runners and cyclists from the app, but also allows Training with pre-installed workouts in the areas of cardio, strength training, yoga and Pilates. If you want, you can also create your own workouts via Gamin Connect and then display them on the Venu Sq.
Sleep Because Garmin has not changed much in the design of the Venu Sq compared to the previous model, the new smartwatch is just as comfortable to sleep and practically does not attract attention. The Venu Sq automatically records the phases of sleep and reliably measures times of falling asleep and waking up. It also measures pulse and respiratory rate as well as blood oxygen saturation. We can see the results of the previous night at a glance on the app’s start screen and click on sleep tracking to get a detailed overview of all sleep data.
The integrated vibration alarm clock works reliably, but does not recognize any sleep phases. A corresponding third-party app from the Garmin IQ Shop can help here, but it has a significant impact on battery life. The alarm clock of the Venu Sq has a snooze function that we can program individually. Finally, the Garmin Connect app asks us about our usual sleep time, so that the smartwatch automatically deactivates incoming notifications during this time if desired.
Music Garmin offers the Venu Sq both with and without a separate music function. Who decides on the music variant, for which, depending on the model, about 50 Euro surcharge are due, you can load your own music comfortably into the onboard memory of the smartwatch, as with the Venu . This works without additional software. The music can then be played on the go via Bluetooth headphones without us needing our smartphone.
The Venu Sq without music memory also has music control, which only works in combination with your own smartphone. We can install related apps for Spotify and Deezer on the Venu Sq or control the music played on the smartphone via the integrated music interface. All in all, the music control of the Venu Sq worked absolutely exemplary in our test. Coupling with various Bluetooth headphones also worked without any problems. Many other smartwatch providers could learn a bit from this.
The heart rate monitors of the Venu Sq and the charger. Payment The payment function of the Venu Sq has not changed compared to the previous model: Unfortunately, we are still dependent on our bank accepting credit card payments via Smartwatch supports – and the offer is still quite limited. However, if you have an account with a bank that offers such a service, you can set up Garmin Pay easily using the Garmin Connect app. The payment is then uncomplicated and problem-free.
Battery life Garmin promises a battery life of up to six days for the Venu Sq. We activated the notifications and sleep tracking in the test and also completed at least one training session per day including GPS tracking.
The Venu Sq lasted around five days before it reached a charge level of ten percent. This means it lags behind pure fitness trackers and high-end smartwatches, but it offers more battery life than the previous model. Because the Venu Sq is fully charged within an hour, we rate the battery life of the Venu Sq as positive.
Price Depending on which variant of the Venu Sq we choose, the watch costs between around 195 Euro (square display, no music function) or 244 Euro (square display, music function) and 244 Euro (round display, music function). Garmin also charges an additional surcharge for certain color variants.
