Smartwatches and fitness trackers · Garmin
Owners keep the Venu 3 for a battery that runs a couple of weeks and a deep set of health metrics, and they accept a companion app and sleep tracking that divide opinion.
Battery life is the thing owners come back to: it runs for around two weeks between charges, and several who came from Fitbit or moved on to other watches still name it as what they liked most.
Owners are divided on the Garmin Connect app. Some find it straightforward and useful; others find it frustrating, and one cyclist notes it gives step counts but no calorie or effort data for a walk unless you remember to start an activity first.
Pick up to three. You get a page with just those, side by side, on the subjects owners raised.
Once the watch settles into daily wear, the battery becomes the quiet habit: owners charge it every couple of weeks and stop thinking about it. The volume of metrics is the other thing that sticks. A former Fitbit owner is happier with the wider data set, one owner with autoimmune issues uses the numbers to confirm and track how she feels, and another wears it everywhere short of a formal night out and cares about every reading. Workout recognition in the gym, including dips and pull ups, gets a specific mention.
The adjustment is the app and the sleep data. Some owners find Garmin Connect clear from day one; others struggle with it, and the watch will not credit a walk beyond steps unless you start it as an activity. Sleep tracking is described as acceptable rather than exceptional by some, with one owner suspecting an older Fitbit was more accurate, while a long-term owner says nap detection, sleep times and stress readings all land reliably. Owners who wanted a different sleep or GPS experience have moved to a Pixel Watch or considered an Oura ring, keeping the Garmin for the rest.
What keeps working is the core: battery, GPS, workout detection and the daily metrics. One owner has worn a Venu 3 for years before moving up the Garmin range and says its sleep and stress detection performed no differently from the newer, pricier model. Another sums it up as no extra cost and it just works. Nobody in these accounts describes a hardware failure, a dead battery, or a return.
That said, the long-term accounts here are thin. Only a handful of owners speak to more than a few months of use, and none describe repairs, strap wear, sensor drift or software regressions over time. The complaints that do exist are about the app and the sleep numbers, not about the watch breaking. Treat the durability picture as encouraging but not yet well documented.
Nothing has a clear majority against it yet. Counted from the owners who raised each subject, not from everyone. A subject is judged once at least 4 owners raise it.
18 more subjects came up from fewer than 4 owners each, which is not enough for a fair reading. To see how it stacks up, compare it with another machine.
The same owner, asked again at each point. Fills in as owners answer.
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More in smartwatches and fitness trackers: Oura Ring, Apple Watch Ultra, Fitbit Air.
Among the 3 owner accounts here that gave a duration, 2 described a failure. Parts named most: charging contacts, phone call and assistant function.
Before you buy one used, ask the seller: how old it is, whether it was ever repaired and by whom, and whether any of the parts above have been replaced. Ask to see it run. A receipt tells you the warranty start date; most makers honour the term only for the first owner.
Public discussions we read and summarised in our own words. Nothing here was submitted to Still Kicks.
Counted from public accounts by people who said they own it, and summarised by Still Kicks in its own words. Not a manufacturer claim, a lab test or an estimate.
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