Garmin Venu 3S Soft Gold Stainless Steel Bezel 1.2-Inch AMOLED Touchscreen Display Smart Watch with 41mm Ivory Case and Silicone Band

I abosolutely love this watch. I had a heart attack 6 months ago so I thought it was important to be able to keep an eye on my health and healing progress without needing all of the workout information and bulk of the Forerunners. This watch is the perfect size, has great battery life (I can go 2 weeks before charging, unlike an Apple you have to charge daily), and it can track all of my health measures including ECG, SPO2, heartrate, sleep effectiveness, and more. It also tracks my workouts whether running outside, on a treadmill, or just using a stationary bike. Also, my cardiologist and I are amazed at how accurate it is compared to their monitors! Oh, and don't forget the OLED screen. It's bright and brilliant, especially indoors. But I also have no issues seeing it in full sun. For me, it's the perfect watch. It won't track a triathlon for 17 hours, but it does everything I want and more. I also love being able to create custom faces for it. :)

This is my 1st purchase of a Garmin Smartwatch. I had several Fitbits in the past 10 years and I was pretty much satisfied with just using the basics of that simpler watch. Music, payments, advanced workouts, messages, all the rest – I never used my watch for those functions. I was looking for a smartwatch to count my daily steps, track heartrate (see why below), quickie weather forecasts, a few stock quotes, oh yeah…and the time. That was pretty much the limits of my Fitbit usage. So having those plus a bunch of other simple apps or glances (Garmin’s terms for simple and oft-used apps), I was more than happy. The Garmin Venu 3S does all of this and more. If you want to do music, videos, payments, and lots of other features the Venu 3S can do those too, but that’s not my bag, as Austin Powers once said. The glances features are pretty easy to navigate once you get comfortable with these app-like functions. The Body Battery function is interesting, combining data from several apps to determine how much energy your body has or needs. Sleep Score is also useful. I even found a nifty Sun & Moon app that gives me the time for sunrise/set and moonrise/set plus the Moon phase -- useful for my daily activities and those days and nights when I pursue my astronomy hobby. I am especially pleased with the heart apps. I have several heart issues including HOCM (Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy) so being able to check my heart rate at rest and during rigorous walks is very important to me. The ECG and HRV Status apps are nice additional features to have (if you have an arrythmia check with your cardiologist/doctor before activating the ECG function). The Pulse Oximeter is also good to check upon during long walks or other strenuous activities. Battery life consistently averaging 10 days is fantastic, especially compared to Apple smartwatches that need to be recharged in under 2 days. My Fitbits could last 5 days but that meant bringing a charger for most vacations or longer times away from home. The Venu 3S is able to last 10 days right on the dot, and that included during the setup run when the watch was being used a lot more and downloading updates, glances, apps, etc. A battery saver option with a “sleep” mode will help you survive until you can get back to your home and charger, preserving battery life if you’re using the watch but running low on power. I got the Venu 3S instead of the brand new model 4S (which had just come out) because for someone not maxxing out on all the apps/glances/features, the 3S was more than enough for my needs. I didn’t see a revolutionary change from the Venu 3S to the 4/4s. If you are a person who lives more off their smartwatch than your smartphone, then perhaps the additional features and new OS (assuming no glitches) on the Garmin Venu 4 will be worth it. At an extra 20% in cost, make sure you need the latest features or it’s an unnecessary expenditure. Net-Net: this is a really nifty smartwatch for the advanced or beginner smartwatch user. The interface is very nice…swiping is easy and seamless....button navigation also very simple...the watch face colors are bright and easy to see even in direct sunlight. The 41mm size is fine for me (I’m under 6 feet tall) and most people, but if you like having an oversized watch or are a bigger person with a bigger wrist, than the 45mm size of the Venu 3 might be better for you. Very happy with my Garmin Venu 3S and if my prior experience with their GPS car navigation systems holds, I should have many years of trouble-free usage ahead of me.

This watch is absolutely awesome!!! It has the perfect balance of both fitness features and tracking for everyday life and daily use. There are so many very useful apps that are easy to download and install and cover basically everything you need. I give this Garmin watch five stars and two thumbs up.

Let me preface this by saying I chose this one after buying, trying, and then returning the Apple Watch, the Samsung Galaxy Watch, FitBit, and a couple of other lesser-known brands. I actually went with a Garmin Venu Sq. 2 first and I loved it, at which point I bought this one due to the beautiful, large AMOLED screen and because it runs on the sand base software. That’s a GOOD thing, so let me elaborate. This is by far the most accurate watch for counting the total calories burned. The Apple Watch simply did not let me view the TOTAL calories burned, as it would show your estimated basal metabolic rate and then stack the active expenditure in a separate category, so you’d have to go back and forth to view each one and then add it up. The Galaxy watch suffered a similar problem, but it was not that accurate at measuring steps, which would directly affect the caloric expenditure. The FitBit was just WILDLY inaccurate and once told me I burned 5000+ calories in a day because I had a panic episode after something bad happened in my personal life, and so that night it registered me as having burned thousands of calories just laying in bed. The Garmin, however, did everything right (accurate steps that match the ones my iPhone said to within 5%, heart rate matched a professional blood pressure cuff, and the calorie counter tracked my weight loss exactly). It is extremely useful when counting calories where a slim margin is needed, such as aiming to lose 750 calories a day to lose 1.5 lbs/week. It it’s off by just 100 or 200, that’s already a half pound off, or 26 pounds a year. It is extremely important to me that it gets it right. It also has a ton of features, but I don’t use them honestly. It’s very easy to connect and set up, too. The price is subjectively fair but objectively it is quite high. Regardless, I am very pleased with it. The battery life is EXCELLENT if you turn Bluetooth and WiFi off, too. 5/5 all around!

Important Health Update Published 12/27/24 in Environmental Science & Technology Letters: “New research reveals that many smartwatch and fitness tracker wristbands, particularly premium models, contain alarming concentrations of PFAS chemicals that could potentially seep into wearers’ skin. The study highlights specific concerns about a compound called perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), found at unprecedented levels in some devices worn continuously against the skin.” !!! Based on that research, I removed the silicone wristband that came with this watch and ordered a nylon wristband instead! If you plan to do that, consider the color of the edges of the watch you choose, which coordinate with the colors of Garmin’s silicone wristband and may not be easily matched with the colors of alternative wristbands. I chose the sage gray and now wish I had purchased the black! As for the watch itself, having not yet owned a smartwatch, after much research, I carefully chose this Garmin Venu 3s watch just for its health indicators: Heart rate and variability, respiration, pulse oxygen level, stress, sleep tracker and overall “Body Battery” (Body Battery is the perceived energy level based on other readings). I walk, don’t run, jog, lift weights, play golf or the myriad of other options this watch can track. I particularly appreciate the HRV (Heart Rate Variability) indicator, as well as the “Sleep Coach” data and reminders. Various settings are adjusted using the Garmin Connect app (Tip: After checking it out, I found the additional Garmin Connect “IQ” app worthless for myself - they are 3rd party apps that gather too much personal data; the IQ app offers some additional watch faces to choose from but there are about 10 of those that come loaded onto the watch and there is the ability to create your own watch face - see several related YouTube videos for help, if needed). The Sleep Coach points out whether I am hitting my sleep/rest goal for the day, with breakdowns of deep, light, and REM sleep, as well as how many times I woke during the night. The watch offers a few “tips” along the way, like pointing out my day has been stressful (whether I realized it, or not), so I should relax well before bedtime in order to sleep better. I’ve used this lightweight Garmin Venu 3s for several months and really appreciate it, especially for its battery life which I extend by setting the watch face to “go dark” until I tap the watch face, not set to always be lit and not to light up when I raise my wrist to check the time. I turned off all exercise items I do not use. I also chose not to activate the phone or messages features on the watch, since my smartphone has to be within sight to be connected to the watch to receive those anyway, and responding with anything other than quick/preset messages would be “clunky” - not with a standard type of keyboard (See YouTube videos about the Garmin Venu 3/3s for those in-depth details!). I chose the model that must connect to a smartphone - instead of the “Cellular Venu 3/3s” model that would need its own cellular account! This smaller 3s is comfortable to wear 24 hours and, after 5 days, usually has about 45% battery remaining (Most Apple Watches must be charged daily, and there is also a question about the accuracy of the method Apple uses to determine Heart Rate Variability - since Apple uses a continuous monitoring method, rather than when the person is at rest as is customary). Once the Garmin Connect software was downloaded, the watch easily connected to my Apple 14 (Pro) phone to set up the watch and update the software. I have settings adjusted so health readings are saved only when I access the Garmin app from my smartphone - rather than having the Garmin app constantly connected to the watch to provide routine background updates that would drain battery life. I spent hours researching other models and chose the Venu 3s - the smaller version. The Garmin Venu 3 is a bit larger/heavier but otherwise has the exact same features as the 3s (Though I’m not sure the larger model has a touch screen! Something to definitely determine before considering that “3” model.) I’m very happy with this watch. 🌟🌟🌟🌟 I removed one star for the unhealthy silicone band that came with the watch that I had to remove and order a replacement for, due to the health issues of wearing silicone next to skin. After seeing how beneficial the watch has been for me, my husband had me order one for him and is pleased with it, especially when, after a month of wearing it, the HRV readings alerted him of a potential issue which his cardiologist is now checking further. My husband opted for the smaller 3s version, as I did, and though he’s a big guy, it looks fine - not too small. I hope all of this helps with your own purchase decision and would appreciate an indication of that if so.

I had a fitbit versa 4 before this watch and Garmin outshines it in every way especially since Google took fitbit over and ruined them. The tracking apps a major improvement and highly accurate compared to fitbit. The strength training is really good overall nothing is 100% so when you do like a bench press it might come up in the app that you did a lateral raise or some other workout. Again I dont expect it to be 100% accurate on those. It is nice to be able to log those on the app and edit them for a digital journal instead of a paper one. Battery does pretty good but just remember the more you track activities it does drain the battery quicker even with always on off and battery saver on. The display is is nice and clear bout like looking at my phone clear. Still better than fitbit

I absolutely love this! I have been a Fitbit person almost since they came out years ago. Since they were acquired by Google, quality has really gone down. The latest app update was horrible, I absolutely hate the Fitbit app now, so started looking for other alternatives. This watch is great! It is so easy to set up, very fast to get it up and going, and it’s way more accurate than Fitbit. I suspected hat Fitbit was cheating me out of a lot of zone minutes in yoga, as well as in running. Where I was only getting about 11 zone minutes for power yoga on my Fitbit, I now get 40 on Garmin, which made a lot more sense to me. Heart rate is way more accurate on the Garmin. I know when my heart rate is up, and Fitbit was missing it. I also wondered what food app I was going to use (not crazy about my fitness pal) but I decided to just keep using the Fitbit app for food. It’s easy enough to subtract food calories via Fitbit from total calorie expenditure via Garmin without much fuss. I do like the Fitbit app for logging food since I’ve been using it for years and all my food is already in there. I don’t mind staying with that. Garmin also has so many different apps that you can use, it’s really great and far better than any of the Fitbits I’ve had. I also love that it’s a smart watch, I can make calls, answer the phone, reply to texts etc. on my iPhone. For text replies, I just use Siri which is easily accessible by pressing the side button. Overall, the Garmin is much more accurate, easy to use, and the app is really nice looking and you get a ton of stats. It’s also easy to read and has a black background so it’s not glaring like the Fitbit app is now. Lots of different meditations, a ton of workouts that you don’t have to subscribe to get. So glad I decided to go with Garmin, highly recommend!

There are so many things wrong with this watch it's hard to begin. First off I was trying really hard to get past all the problems and try to get used to the watch. My last watch was a fossil 4 and it was amazing. The only downside to that watch which was a huge downside was the battery couldn't last a full day when using the watch functionality regularly. Unfortunately, Fossil has stopped making their smartwatches and have gone a different direction so now I'm left with trying to find another brand that is as good and has a better battery. I thought I found something better when I found Garmin's venu series. I was sorely mistaken. Let's start with the only two positives I have about this watch: Physical aesthetics and battery life. I bought the 41 mm diameter version of this watch and it feels and looks amazing. It's extremely light and the face and back of it have the dimensions of a small and unobtrusive as well as elegant looking watch. Battery life, I haven't had a chance to test just because I was disgusted by the watch after the first 30 minutes of trying to get it set up. On paper, the battery life looks amazing so I'm just going to give Garmin the benefit of the doubt and say that, yes, it will probably last a full 10 days. All right, now to the laundry list of garbage associated with this watch that makes it completely unusable. 1. This watch is incapable of connecting to my Wi-Fi router. I'm pretty good at setting up devices on my router. I can set them up with automatic settings or manual settings pretty easily. Anything that has the ability to connect to a modern router I've been able to connect to my router. So far I've had several failed attempts at connecting to my Wi-Fi from this watch. I've attempted to make the connection from the watch itself as well as from the Garmin app. I've restarted the watch and attempted these connections again. I've also attempted doing the connection manually on the watch by setting the security type of my network as well. I know the SSID and password for my network like the back of my hand so the chance of user error trying to set this up is zero. This reason alone is enough to return the watch. Without Wi-Fi access there's no way to configure apps, there's no way to install apps, there's no way to sync up data to my phone, basically you can't use the watch for anything other than checking the time. If that's all I wanted then I would have gotten a cheapo $20 piece of garbage at the store that only tells time. 2. The UI is nowhere near as good as WearOS 3.0. Garmin touts their watch as a device for active people who are outside a lot and want to track their location, distance, calories and everything else associated with being active. To do this, they decided to build their own operating system/app instead of piggybacking off of what Google made. That was a big mistake because there UI and UX designers are absolutely incompetent at building a user experience that is intuitive and easy to use. The way you have to swipe around to get to different screens is not as intuitive as WearOS. All of the swiping is mostly vertical and really only gives you exercise and activity screens. You can swipe right to give you a custom screen which could either be a music app or a couple of other different options. That's it. That's all you get. For $450 that is pathetic. Furthermore the physical sliding of your finger across the screen has to be perfectly done from the outer edge of the screen to make a swipe register. My Fossil watch would let you start your swipe from anywhere on the screen and as long as you swiped in a particular direction that it recognized (Left, right, up, down) it would do as you asked. I would love to have reviewed the rest of the watch such as the activity functionality as I was using it, The GPS accuracy, the battery life, and everything else associated with using The everloving atrocity that is the Venu 3S, but alas, Garmin made it impossible to actually use their watch. I wonder if this was a ploy by the engineering team to sabotage the company. It sure feels like it.