Garmin Venu vs. Garmin Venu Sq: What's The Difference?
By Kaelyn C.
Updated May 2022
The Garmin Venu and the Garmin Venu Sq may differ by only one word, but when it comes to their respective prices, the difference is much more stark. Understandably, many prospective buyers wonder what unique features sets the Garmin Venu apart from the Garmin Venu Sq.
We've broken down the similarities and differences between these two models on our Garmin Venu vs. Garmin Venu Sq review down below to give you a better idea of which smartwatch is best suited for you.
On our list
#1 Display
#2 Design
#3 Water Resistance
#4 Smartwatch Features
#5 Fitness Features
#6 Sporting Features
Garmin Venu Sq
Packed with all the basics
Offers great value for health and fitness smart features.
Garmin Venu
Designed for more
Jam packed with extra features along with an enhanced display.
#1 Display
Garmin Venu and Garmin Venu Sq
The Garmin Venu features a circular 1.2 inch AMOLED display which allows for more rich and vibrant colours as well as power saving gains for darker watch faces. Meanwhile, the Garmin Venu Sq features a lower resolution square 1.3 inch LCD display with less vibrant colours and no power saving gains.
The Garmin Venu Sq also lacks the ambient light sensor present in the Garmin Venu. The ambient light sensor auto adjusts the screen brightness based on the lighting conditions for optimal visibility and power efficiency.
#2 Design
Garmin Venu Sq
When it comes to style, the Garmin Venu feels more premium with its' stainless steel case compared to the aluminium casing of the Garmin Venu Sq. However, its worth noting that the Venu Sq does have a lighter weight of 37.6g compared to the Venu which weighs in at 46.3g.
#3 Water Resistance
Both the Garmin Venu and the Garmin Venu Sq have a 5ATM water resistance rating. This allows both watches to withstand water pressure equivalent to a depth of 50 meters making it suitable for showering, swimming, snorkelling and the occasional wet weather.
#4 Smartwatch Features
Garmin Venu
Both the Garmin Venu and the Garmin Venu Sq cover all the smartwatch basics. This includes Bluetooth and ANT+ connectivity for smart phone pairing as well as heart rate and footstep trackers.
Although both the Venu and Venu Sq are display phone notifications for both iOS and Android devices, it's worth noting that only android users can respond to messages through the watch.
Contactless payment is also available through Garmin Pay on both the Venu and Venu Sq.
Garmin Venu
One major difference is that the Garmin Venu offers Wi-Fi connectivity while the Garmin Venu Sq does not.
The Venu also has a large internal storage that allows you to store up to 500 songs for offline playback while the standard Venu Sq model completely lacks this feature, only giving you the ability to control music playback on your phone.
If you would like the same offline music playback feature on the Garmin Venu, the special music edition is going to cost you extra.
#5 Fitness Features
Garmin Venu Sq
In terms of fitness tracking features, the Garmin Venu and the Garmin Venu Sq are decently similar. Both models have an optical heart rate monitor and a pulse oximeter which measures your blood oxygen saturation.
The Venu and the Venu Sq have on-board GPS systems and pedometers but only the Venu can measure the number of floors climbed due to its' barometric altimeter which detects changes in elevation and gyroscope which measures orientation and direction.
#6 Sporting Features
Garmin Venu Sq and Garmin Venu
For golfers, although both the Garmin Venu and the Garmin Venu Sq offer a selection of golfing tools for avid-golfers, only the Venu is compatible with the Approach system which allows for smart club tracking.
For swimmers, both the Venu and the Venu Sq offer stroke detection, a rest timer, time and distance alerts, and underwater heart rate measurement.
Compare Garmin Devices
Final Thoughts
The biggest difference between the Garmin Venu and the Garmin Venu Sq is ultimately its' price. Although the Garmin Venu is almost twice the price of the Venu Sq, it does indeed come jam packed with an array of extra features along with its' overall more premium build.
However, if you're on a tight budget the Garmin Venu Sq covers all the bases of what you need in a smart watch, and it does it well. With that said, if you do have the extra cash for the deluxe Garmin Venu experience, we'd encourage you to go for it — it's definitely an investment worth making.
If you like to read more on Garmin smartwatches, check out our other relevant guides here:
Best Garmin Smartwatches in Singapore
Garmin Vivoactive 4 vs Garmin Venu
Garmin Venu 2 vs Garmin Vivoactive 4
Garmin Venu 2 vs Garmin Venu Sq
Explore the full collection for Garmin on Amazon.com or visit the Official Garmin Singapore Store.
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