Garmin Venu SQ

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Today, Garmin launched its latest watch, the Venu SQ. Unlike the Forerunner 745, this is a more affordable mainstream consumer-focussed watch.

Functionality-wise it is just a cut-down Venu, so there is not that much to compare really.

Garmin Venu SQ Overview

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  • A new square 1.3” 240 x 240 pixel LCD display
  • Corning Gorilla Glass touchscreen display
  • 6 days battery with smartwatch mode and 14 hours with GPS
  • Optical HR sensor with PulseOx (SpO2 tracking)
  • GPS with GLONASS & Galileo
  • Downloadable structured workout support / Garmin Coach
  • Music storage and streaming with Spotify/Deezer (music edition only) with 3.4GB of usable storage
  • Contactless Payments with Garmin Pay
  • Respiration rate, 24×7 HR, stress tracking, body battery
  • Sleep tracking, step/activity tracking, hydration tracking
  • VO2 Max, Physio trueup,
  • Female menstrual cycle tracking
  • Mindful breathing
  • Connecting to ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart sensors (Footpod, speed, cadence, chest strap)
  • LiveTrack for workouts & safety alerts for day to day usage

What changed and been removed  

  • The round AMOLED display is now a square LCD and lower resolution
  • Venu SQ is 37.6 g vs 46.3 g
  • Longer battery (5 days/6 hours GPS on the Venu)
  • No barometric altimeter
  • No tracking that requires the altimeter, so floors and stairs, as well as ascent/descent tracking in workouts
  • No gyro sensors
  • No workouts animations
  • No live watch faces
  • I have not seen the SQ in real life, but the overall build and aesthetics don’t look as good (but this is justified due to the price)

Price and Availability

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There has been a massive price drop which will make this quite attractive to a lot of users.

The watch is available now from Garmin for 179.99

The Garmin Venu has and RRP of £329.99 however it is under £300 on many sites including Amazon

Compared to the Garmin Forerunner 45

The cheapest comparatively price Garmin is the Forerunner 45 at £150 (RRP £169.99) which is very similar in features with the exception that it lacks onboard music. It has a smaller round display with lower resolution looking a bit more like a traditional sports watch. At passing glance, there is little reason to go for the Forerunner 45 vs the Venu Sq.

Alternative Options

The new Fitbit Versa 3 is very similar offering many of the same features including built-in GPS, NFC payment, onboard music, and all the health tracking features Fitbit are famous for. The Fitbit has the advantage of an altimeter, microphone, speaker. The Versa 3 costs a little more at £179.

For Apple users, there is the Apple Watch Series 3 which is now just £195.00, battery life is poor, but it is vastly superior as far as smartwatch features go.

Last update on 2024-11-12 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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