Garmin Venu 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: Features, Display, and More

By Naila Syifa
Updated September 2023

Garmin offers a range of athlete-focused smartwatches with advanced health and fitness features, but its Venu line is more fashion-focused, bridging the gap between a lifestyle accessory and a dedicated sport watch.

How does is latest Venu model, the Venu 3, compare with the more lifestyle-focused Samsung Galaxy Watch 6? Let's compare both models side by side!

Specs	Garmin Venu 3	Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
	Buy on Amazon	Buy on Amazon
Price	$449.99	$329.99
Dimensions	45.4 x 45.4 x 12.2 mm	44.4 x 42.8 x 9.0 mm
Weight	47 g	33.3 g
Screen Resolution	454 x 454 pixels	480 x 480 pixels
Runtime	14 days	40 hours
GPS	Yes	Yes
Built-in Speaker and Microphone	Yes	Yes
Body Battery	Yes	No
Advanced Sleep Monitoring	Yes, with Nap Detection	Yes, with Snore Detection
BIA	No	Yes
Women’s Health Tracker	Yes	Yes
Wheelchair Mode	Yes	No
Camera Controller	No	Yes
Compatibility	Android and iOS	Android Only

Key Takeaways

Both Garmin Venu 3 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 offer advanced sleep monitoring, but Venu 3 also detects daytime naps while Galaxy Watch 6 detects snoring. Another difference is that the Venu 3 is superior in terms of exercise features with Garmin Coach and Wheelchair Workouts, while Galaxy 6 has better smart features like Camera Controller for Samsung phones.

On our list

#1 Price

#2 Design & Display

#3 Health & Fitness Features

#4 Smartwatch Features

#5 Battery & Power

#6 Compatibility

Garmin Venu 3

Health & Fitness

GPS smartwatch with advanced health monitoring, fitness tracking, and smartwatch features for people with active lifestyles.

Buy on Amazon

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6

Style & Function

GPS smartwatch for health-conscious individuals looking for a blend of style and functionality.

Buy on Amazon

#1 Price

Garmin Venu 3

Garmin Venu 3 is on the more expensive side, retailing at US$449.99. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is more affordable at a price tag of US$329.99, and it can even get as low as US$299.99 if you purchase the smaller S-size model.

#2 Design & Display

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6

Venu 3 has a stylish and elegant design with a stainless steel bezel, silicone strap, and a case made of fiber-reinforced polymer. It features a 1.4" AMOLED touchscreen display with a resolution of 454 x 454 pixels, ensuring clear visibility and details even in bright sunlight. The display is also protected by the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for durability and has an optional Always-On Mode.

Galaxy Watch 6 also features an AMOLED Always-On touchscreen display, protected with Sapphire Crystal Glass for durability. The S size comes with a 1.3" display with 432 x 432 pixels resolution, while the L size comes with a 1.5" display with 480 x 480 pixels resolution.

In terms of design, one advantage that the Galaxy Watch 6 has over the Venu 3 is the interchangeable band, which allows you to easily switch between different styles and colors to match your outfit or mood. The price of the smartwatch includes one band you can choose from 5 options (Sport, Extreme Sport, Hybrid Leather D, Hybrid Leather T, and Fabric) and you can purchase additional ones separately. The Fabric band is typically suitable for sleeping, owing to its lightweight and breathable nature.

#3 Health & Fitness Features

Garmin Venu 3

Both the Venu 3 and Galaxy Watch 6 are great fitness trackers. They allow you to track metrics like duration, distance, calories burned, and many more from so many supported exercises from running, rowing, swimming, cycling, to many others. Mental exercise like meditation is also supported on both devices. The Venu 3 can even display on-screen animations for certain workouts like yoga, cardio, pilates, and strength, so you can easily follow along with the workout.

Both smartwatches also allow you to monitor your health by tracking vital signs like heart rate and blood oxygen saturation. The Galaxy Watch 6 can even send you a notification when it detects an irregular heart rhythm, and it has an edge with its skin temperature sensor which measures your body temperature like a thermometer. The Galaxy Watch 6 also has a Bioelectrical Impedance (BIA) sensor, which measures things like body fat, BMI, skeletal muscle, body water, and more.

The Venu 3, however, has an advantage with its Heart Rate Variability (HRV) monitoring, which gives insights into your stress level and respiration rate.

Garmin Venu 3

Advanced sleep features are also available in both smartwatches, allowing you to keep track of metrics like sleep duration and sleep stages (light, deep, REM). The Sleep Score gives insight into your sleep quality, while the Sleep Coach gives you personalized guidance on how to improve the score.

One difference is that the Venu 3 can detect daytime naps, while the Galaxy Watch 6 can detect snoring when your phone is within 2 feet. When you're detected to be asleep, the Watch 6 can also be set to automatically activate certain night routines like turning off the compatible smart home devices or activating Do Not Disturb mode on your phone.

On both smartwatches, you can also manually log menstrual cycles and other women's health-related data for tracking and predicting periods and fertile windows. In Venu 3, you can also log your daily fluid to monitor hydration.

Venu 3 has more unique health & fitness features unavailable on the Galaxy Watch 6, such as the Body Battery feature, which gives insights into your body's energy level based on your activity, stress, and sleep. Wheelchair Mode is also supported, a useful feature for wheelchair users that tracks pushes instead of steps. Furthermore, the Venu 3 offers features for more serious and intensive training, such as Garmin Coach, Interval Creation, Intensity Minutes, VO2 Max, and more.

#4 Smartwatch Features

Camera Controller in Samsung Galaxy Watch 6

When connected to a compatible smartphone, both Venu 3 and Galaxy Watch 6 allow you to receive and respond to texts and emails right from your wrist. With the built-in speaker and microphone on both smartwatches, you can also take and make calls or get help from compatible voice assistants.

Music can also be stored and played on both smartwatches, so you can listen to your favorite tunes without needing your phone. Garmin Pay and Samsung Pay are also supported on the respective smartwatches, allowing you to make contactless payments from your wrist.

One difference is that in terms of safety features, the Venu 3 is more advanced with its Incident Detection and Livetracking, which can send your real-time location to your emergency contacts when it detects an incident. The Galaxy Watch 6, on the other hand, only supports 911 quick dial and offers hard fall detection.

However, the Watch 6 offers a Camera Controller, which allows you to use your watch to control your phone's camera and see exactly what your phone's camera is seeing, so you can take better selfies and group photos.

#5 Battery & Power

Garmin Venu 3

In terms of battery, the Venu 3 is more powerful. It has a battery life of up to 14 days in smartwatch mode and can even reach up to 26 days with the battery-saver enabled. On the other hand, the Galaxy Watch 6 only lasts up to 40 hours with a single charge. However, it supports fast charging with a wireless charger that can reach 45% in just 30 minutes.

#6 Compatibility

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6

Venu 3 has a wider compatibility, supporting various smartphones running on both iOS and Android. The Galaxy Watch 6, on the other hand, only supports Android phones of 10.0 version or later and it requires a Samsung Health app version 6.22 or later installed on the phone.

Also, it is worth noting that some features of the Watch 6 are only supported in Samsung Galaxy devices, including irregular heart rhythm notifications, phone separation alerts, and the Camera Controller. If you're an Android user with a non-Samsung phone, you might miss out on some of the Watch 6's features.