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Do you love your Venu? Considering it over a Va4s

Just a question on this forum for all you Venu owners do you love it? I’m about to buy my first smart watch. Mainly for fitness and health tracking. ( don’t really care that i can’t reply to sms off my iPhone) it’s more for steps and exercise and sleep etc. I usually wear an analogue watch so it would be a good step up to track things and not have to carry my phone on walks and runs. The venu screen looks beautiful and bright in all the reviews and when they put them side by side to the Va4 it makes it look so dull and boring. Is the Va4 really that much darker? I want to be able to read the watch when indoor and outdoor without having to constantly press a backlight button 

im torn between the vivoactive 4s or the venu. I know it’s exactly the same except for the type of screen and battery life.  Being female the looks of it is a bit important and I have a small wrist. My current analogue is 38mm diameter but happy to go slightly bigger I jus hope it doesn’t impede on movement and function. My wrist circumference is 150cm. 
I’m torn whether to spend the extra for the beautiful screen. I don’t mind if it’s not on an “always on” mode to be honest.  Just want honest feedback from those of you who have it whether you are happy with it or are noticing issues with it now 6 months on. I am curious as it’s their first attempt at AMOLED display have they done it right.

  • I haves mixed feelings about mine. It’s my first also, I had a jawbone band years ago. The screen looks nice, I like the round face and I do like the smoked display. The criticisms about the UI being clunky and not taking advantage of the screen are fair. I get 2.5 days of battery with always on, 4-5 without. There is no perfect fitness watch out there right now in this price category imho. I got used to the size pretty quickly and I do think it looks nicer than the Apple Watch. I’ve had mine for a couple of months and got it for casual fitness, the screen was worth it for me, even with all the caveats above. 

  • Thanks for your feedback. Do you find it’s easy enough to work out with it on? Being that little bit bigger? I do a lot of F45 training so a lot of exercise transitioning jumping down to pushups burpees etc so not sure how something of its size on a smaller wrist goes. I too don’t want an Apple Watch I want more fitness than just reading messages and calls etc. I can do that with my phone I don’t need it on my wrist too. Having never had anything I Am sure even a Va4 will be amazing. It’s a big jump of $70 for a screen that may be under utilised and a few days less battery. Plus I am not sure how annoying it will get to have to keep “waking the screen up” I doubt I will use it in always on mode, charging will be a pain 

  • It’s super light and I find it comfortable to wear, I usually wear it to sleep too. I haven’t had a chance to see the va4 screen in person but if you think you won’t care too much about it being less bright indoors maybe save the $....literally the only difference between the two seems to be the screen and the look of the bezel. I wanted that more dressy look though so I could wear it with work clothes etc.

    Also I found mine from a reseller, it was discounted and that cut the price difference. 

  • On thing to consider is how the display looks outside in bright sun.  You'll probably find the va4 much better in that case.

  • I got my Venu a week ago and first impressions are great.  I too don't have a large wrist so the 43mm size is perfect.  As for the display, I choose this over the VA4 because I wanted a more vivid display.  Sure, the OS doesn't make use of it in all cases but if you check out comparison videos, the VA4 display looks washed out in comparison.  That may be a benefit if you intend to wear it out in the sun where it'll surely be more readable than the Venu (as well as have longer battery life).  To save on battery, I don't keep it on "always on" mode and instead leave the display activating on gesture.  It works reasonably well and has given me a solid 4 days of battery life.  If price is important to you, then check out the resellers.  I got my Venu slate grey brand new for $250, even cheaper than the VA4.

    Hope this helps!

  • I LOVE my Venu. 

    I wrote up a nice long post here for you, with links to pictures (I had both the Venu and the VA4s at the same time while deciding which one to keep), but it was flagged as spam and didn't get posted.  Sigh. 

    Here's one link to my pics: https://imgur.com/a/DX8OCG4

    I do lots of outdoor activities like walking, running and hiking, and the Venu has been there for all of them.  I have had no issues with reading the screen on bright sunny days.  And unlike the VA4s, the Venu looks great indoors, too. 

    I would buy another one again in a heartbeat.  I would love to have the more advanced features of the Fenix, but I can't give up the pretty Venu screen.  Yet.  :) 

  • Oh this is so amazing to hear. I’m glad there’s lots of positives. Also the picture comparing the two is what sold me. The screen looks nicer.

    i have just ordered one  YAY -although not finding a huge amount of third party straps for it in leather 

  • Beware of third party straps, unfortunately.  The lugs of the Venu are just a tiny, tiny small amount wider than 20mm, so most 3rd party bands (especially the silicone ones) will come loose.  

    You may fare better with leather.  I'm having pretty good luck with a milanese style band.  Amazon has a crap ton of 3rd party bands, you should have some luck there. 

    Sleep tracking leaves a bit to be desired (not just the Venu, I think it might be the whole VA line of watches, and maybe others too), but the Body Battery is super cool.  I find it really does a great job of reflecting how well I slept, and how much energy I'll have for the day, and how my stress levels affect both of those. 

    I hope you have some fun adventures with your new watch! :)

  • Thankyou so much. I have read another post about the lugs not being great in third party straps and people having issues with them due to diameter. I really only wanted one to swap out of the silicone from time to time and try a material or more comfortable one. Although I don’t know how comfortable it is. I find material watch straps more comfy. Thankyou so much for all your awesome insight too. I can’t find a huge amount on amazon unfortunately. I’ll check eBay too. Shame they haven’t got good ones for the Venu. Seems to be so many for the vivoactive 

  • Any 20mm watch band will work with the Venu, fwiw.