Thinking of buying Garmin Venu 2

I saw a lot of different videos on Youtube for my shortlist of possible smartwaches ( Garmin Venu 2, Huawei GT3, Huawei watch 3 series). I droped Fitbit, too expensive , not a premium look, ECG can not use in my country, so paying for features which I can not use and also what you said, buying premium for something what should be a free, no for me. Venu 2 looks premium, it has cool features, I think build material quality is also good, GPS tracking etc , because Garmin is known in the world. I just never used Garmin, so don't know about software support, updates etc.

That is good to know. For example, atm I have Mobvoi Ticwatch 3 pro, and their forum is totally opposite. You can post there and reply, but every post firstly need to be approved from moderators. So sometimes it took 3-6 days to see your reply on forum, or sometimes is removed because you said something wrong about the product.

For me when buying something new (tech) I always want good support from the support, community ( forum, chat etc) and constant updates of SW. Especially when it is expensive product xD

Anyone knows how frequent are Garmin updates and for how long ( in this case Venu 2 ) ?

I think they continue to do updates on-going.  For instance Venu came out in 2019 and there was an update for it just a couple months ago.  Seems like anywhere between 2-3 updates a year for most devices.

I purchased a Venu 2 today. Within 2 hours, it died...became unresponsive. Rang the supplier and they said bring it back and we will replace it. Not sure if that works for me. I see on this forum and other sites many users complaining about the Venu 2. Software issues seem to be the cause, as you would expect with a software driven device.

It looks like for the first few years, many updates to resolve issue. A fix comes out, only to find new issues...and so it goes. You end up being a tester for Garmin.

My wife purchased the older Venu 9 months ago. Been a great watch. Maybe the difference is, it had settled down from regular updates by the time she purchased it, and is now stable.

This was my first 'smart' watch. I think I will be returning to the old fashioned watch.

Good luck with your decision.

Hi,

actually I bought 2 days ago Huawei watch GT3 and I must say, best smartwatch I had for now. Previously I used Fitbit Versa 2, Ticwatch pro 3.

It is best looking watch, accurate, light, smooth, no issues for now. Also I got update already. Seems they care for the customers.

Garmin possible needs more time to optimize watch to be smartwatch.

I don't want to change your mind about Garmin or the Venu 2 but keep in mind that when you visit a public forum like this one, majority of threads will be about complaints because people tend to stay quiet when everything is working properly.

Personally, i experienced few issues during some Garmin updates...some stuff that i didn't expect from Garmin but none of these issues made the watch unusable. Reading some threads after updates were pretty scary but it went pretty well in my case.

How about linking to his Venu2 review, which has the new better sleep tracking (still not as good as fitbit) https://youtu.be/BAqnWxHi2ys

Hi Julien, thanks for the reply. I think the overall problem I found, is when you get the new watch, there should be a slip of paper with quick start information that says:

"the watch may have been in the shop for several weeks/months, and the software controlling the watch may need updating. When you first charge the battery make sure you log into Garmin Connect to update the watch software to the latest version. If you do not do this, the watch may at some stage default to a black screen that appears unresponsive. If this happens, push the bottom button for 15+ seconds. The watch should reboot(you will see a triangle) when rebooted, connect to Garmin Connect, and update the watch to the latest software version. You may need to recharge the battery again. Wear the watch for 24 hours, and all functions should be working".

I found this information on this forum(I love forums for information) This has saved me a visit back to the shop to get another watch, which will no doubt have the same issues.

In the morning, I looked at the watch, and it automatically turned on to see the time, and presented me with sleep information etc. If the above information was supplied when I first got the watch, it would have reduce the frustration.