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Garmin has been producing great sports watches for years, but the old Memory in Pixels (MiP) displays suffer from a lack of color, and most watches lack voice calling, voice assistants, and other smart features. They are more sports watches than smartwatches.

The newly released Garmin Venu 3 is meant to change that. While its core still runs on the same Garmin proprietary operating system, the Venu 3 comes with a stunning OLED screen that performs swiftly in everyday use.

However, what are the similarities and differences between the Garmin Venu 3 and the Apple Watch, the most popular smartwatch at the moment? We've compared it to the Apple Watch Series 9 to give you a detailed look at the differences, as well as revealing the true performance of the Garmin watch's battery life.

Design and dimensions

Do you favor round or square watches? We're glad that both the Garmin Venu 3 and the Apple Watch Series 9 offer two size options: a smaller 41mm model (which Garmin calls the Venu 3S) and a larger 45mm version (the Venu 3). And on the Apple Watch, you'll find the same options in the corresponding sizes.

Which is the better fit to consider when choosing a size? Generally, if the wrist size is 170 mm or smaller, a smaller model may be more appropriate; conversely, if the wrist is larger, a larger model may be more appropriate.

However, the Garmin Venu 3 has a circular design while the Apple Watch is rectangular. Of course, this is a matter of personal preference, but based on the many people I've talked to, most people prefer round smartwatches. Also, from my experience, round smartwatches are usually more comfortable to wear and move around the wrist more freely.

In terms of looks, both excel and both have the same 5ATM water resistance for swimming. However, while the base model of the Apple Watch is usually made of aluminum or stainless steel, the Garmin Venu 3 is made of plastic. This may come as a surprise considering the slightly higher price tag. However, it's worth noting that the Garmin Venu 3 comes with a stainless steel bezel, giving it a more refined look.

While plastic may feel less upscale, it has its advantages: it's lighter. In fact, the Garmin Venu 3 is nearly 25% lighter than the Apple Watch.This difference is noticeable because I often forget I'm wearing my Garmin, while the Apple Watch doesn't offer the same lightness.

Finally, when it comes to buttons, Garmin has configured 3 buttons on the right side, while the Apple Watch comes with a digital crown and another button on the bottom.

straps

The Garmin Venu 3 features regular straps that are 22mm (for the Venu 3) and 18mm (for the Venu 3S). The Apple Watch, on the other hand, utilizes Apple's proprietary band exchange system, which allows users to easily change bands with the click of a button and a sideways slide.

When it comes to band changes, the Apple Watch is much easier to use. However, as the bands for this system are typically wider, Garmin's design fits more snugly and tightly around the wrist, something I personally recognized during actual wear.The Garmin Venu 3 also comes by default with a band designed for sports, which has plenty of adjustments and is soft to the touch, making it ideal for extended periods of time and delivering excellent comfort.

On the Apple Watch, while users can choose from different types of bands, the default is the Sport Loop band, which is equally soft, but we found it slightly more cumbersome to adjust compared to the Garmin and can cause some wrist sweating.

Heart Rate Accuracy

In terms of heart rate accuracy, the Garmin Venu 3 comes with the new Garmin Elevate Gen 3 sensor, which has been improved to enhance performance. However, will it be able to match the industry-leading Apple Watch in terms of accuracy?

Through my testing, I found that the heart rate monitoring performance of both smartwatches was very close in most situations, but during more intense exercise, we could observe some minor differences. It's worth noting that both watches performed very well in the most common activities such as running and cycling, as well as sleep tracking.

This shows that the Garmin Venu 3 is competitive in the field of heart rate monitoring, although it may vary slightly in extreme sports situations. Overall, both smartwatches perform quite reliably in terms of heart rate accuracy, providing users with comprehensive health data tracking.

Sleep recording accuracy

When it comes to sleep tracking, both smartwatches provide time to fall asleep, time to wake up, and the length of each sleep stage, including deep sleep, light/core sleep, and rapid eye movement sleep.

Personally, I was impressed with the background information attached to the Garmin app. The app is able to provide details about specific sleep stages and make comparisons with recommended standards. This aspect, on the other hand, does not provide the same level of detailed information on the Apple Watch.

In addition to personal experience, data from other scientific measurements show that the Apple Watch has the highest accuracy in sleep tracking estimates, while Garmin watches typically perform poorly in measuring rapid eye movement sleep.

It's worth noting that Rapid Eye Movement sleep is usually one of the most challenging stages of watch sleep tracking. However, in my sleep monitoring on several consecutive nights wearing both the Venu 3 and the Apple Watch, the results were very close.

Overall, the Apple Watch still takes the lead in terms of overall accuracy, although Garmin offers more detail on stage-specific sleep tracking information.

Battery and charging

Garmin leads overwhelmingly with amazing battery life, proudly claiming that the Venu 3 can be used for up to 14 days on a single charge, in contrast to the Apple Watch's official battery life of just 18 hours!

In my experience, with one workout per day and the always-on feature enabled, the smaller Garmin Venu 3S only needed to be charged for about 5 days, whereas with the Apple Watch it needed to be charged every day!

This aspect is a key reason why Garmin remains popular, as many people don't want to have to worry about and charge another device every day. The Garmin Venu 3 is definitely the more desirable option for those who are concerned about battery life.

While both watches take over an hour to charge, if you're pressed for time, it's worth noting that a 45-minute charge will give both watches a charge of about 80%.

Garmin uses its own proprietary charging cable that users need to plug into a wired connection to charge, while the Apple Watch uses a magnetic charger for greater convenience and ease of use. This time around, Garmin has once again provided a more convenient user experience through superior battery performance.

Summary

If you're after a watch with an OLED screen that lasts for nearly a week on a single charge, then the Garmin Venu 3 is for you.

However, please don't expect it to be as sophisticated as other smartwatches in terms of design and details: the dial design is rather plain, the functionality lacks some sophistication, and the performance is relatively slight with some gaps. By contrast, the Apple Watch is still the most accurate smartwatch on the market, especially in terms of heart rate measurement and sleep tracking (although the difference is not very significant).

All in all, Garmin Venu 3 has a unique charm in specific areas with its excellent battery life performance and OLED screen, but there are still some compromises in certain details and features. Users need to weigh these factors according to their personal needs and preferences and choose the smartwatch that best suits them.

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