GarminVenu 3S Soft Gold Stainless Steel Bezel 1.2-Inch AMOLED Touchscreen Display Smart Watch with 41mm French Gray Case and Silicone Band

I absolutely love this! I have been a Fitbit person almost since they came out years ago. Since they were acquired by Google, quality has really gone down. The latest app update was horrible, I absolutely hate the Fitbit app now, so started looking for other alternatives. This watch is great! It is so easy to set up, very fast to get it up and going, and it’s way more accurate than Fitbit. I suspected hat Fitbit was cheating me out of a lot of zone minutes in yoga, as well as in running. Where I was only getting about 11 zone minutes for power yoga on my Fitbit, I now get 40 on Garmin, which made a lot more sense to me. Heart rate is way more accurate on the Garmin. I know when my heart rate is up, and Fitbit was missing it. I also wondered what food app I was going to use (not crazy about my fitness pal) but I decided to just keep using the Fitbit app for food. It’s easy enough to subtract food calories via Fitbit from total calorie expenditure via Garmin without much fuss. I do like the Fitbit app for logging food since I’ve been using it for years and all my food is already in there. I don’t mind staying with that. Garmin also has so many different apps that you can use, it’s really great and far better than any of the Fitbits I’ve had. I also love that it’s a smart watch, I can make calls, answer the phone, reply to texts etc. on my iPhone. For text replies, I just use Siri which is easily accessible by pressing the side button. Overall, the Garmin is much more accurate, easy to use, and the app is really nice looking and you get a ton of stats. It’s also easy to read and has a black background so it’s not glaring like the Fitbit app is now. Lots of different meditations, a ton of workouts that you don’t have to subscribe to get. So glad I decided to go with Garmin, highly recommend!

bought this watch for my 14 year old son who wanted a smart watch with sports capabilities. We went to the garmin because my son has a very thin wrist and most of the others were too large or had the rectangle shape which did not look nice. This, while formally a womans watch is really unisex and is a good goto for a small wrist. The weight is also acceptable for a kid with a small thin build, so should be good for most anyone. The other advantage of this watch is the good battery life compared to similar watches. He does not really use the heart rate sensor, however we have checked it several times vs a manual count and it seems to be doing a good job. He enjoys the sound quality and is connected to blue tooth quite a bit (need to remember the watch capapilities when we make him put away his phone and screens and the watch can connect to them). The color is nice, and now with a few months on his wrist - despite having a white band - it has retained its color nicely. Value for money - definately when comparing to other similar watches. I don't think there is a good reason to jump to the next generation watch. Sports tracking is also working well, although it has not been through very rugged training and have not tried all that many different sports.

The media could not be loaded. Initial opinion is could this be too good to be true? Larger digital face size than my other watch, lighter feeling on my wrist, seeming more accurate biometrics. Functionality was easy to pair with phone and customize. Accurate display of heart rate with connections to my health. Can report back on durability once I’ve had longer.

The Garmin Venu 3 is an awesome watch for fitness and everyday use. It tracks workouts, heart rate, sleep, and even helps with recovery. The screen is bright and easy to read, and the battery lasts over a week. I love that I can take calls and listen to music right from the watch. It’s a little pricey, but totally worth it if you want something reliable and full of features.

Purchased as upgrade from Vivoactive 4 so it could be donated to person who had worn out a Vivoactive 3.Color AMOLED screen is a game changer. Even without the screen always on it is tremendous because it brings alive the data. The output screens for daily/live data are reason enough to buy this (on sale, of course). Screen illumination is also pretty good outside.The ekg feature isn't as good as my KardiaMobile device, but it will should let me carry around rudimentary capabilities just by wearing a watch, without a need to carry the KardiaMobile device and an iPad/phone for output. Have needed it in the past, and this is another game changer.Use mostly for daily time and cycling. The Sleep functions were a nice surprise, and I don't mind reviewing them in the morning even though I didn't really use them before now.For cycling, the screen has to be changed to Always On, unlike the Vivoactive 3 & 4, but I've got a Garmin cycling computer for while-cycling data display without having to focus on a watch. The Varia radar warning on the Venue is also strong enough to use by itself, although the actual distance display really needs a cycling computer. It can be use while cycling, but I have a cycling computer for that because the large screen and the ability to have a good Varia distance output are far better (although I need the wrist device for Intensity Minutes, anyway).The general watch faces are also a lot nicer than any I've had for the Vivoactives, even if you need to use gestures or actual screen touches. The gestures to toggle are also quite sensitive enough that I rarely need to do a screen tap. The simple screens included on the watch are quite good and can be edited from the watch. They are easily able to take the place of my favorite Mondrian Vivoactive design, which is saying something.As usual, the Garmin manual is written for people who ALREADY KNOW how to use the watch, as are ALL Garmin manuals I've ever read. They really are a throwback to the 1970s and 80s DIY electronics genre. The best you can do is download the pdf and use at least an iPad to read them.You'll have to read elsewhere for a review of the Mobile App because I find it so complicated to connect that I just use the Garmin Express on Windows. Because I'm not a new user, I can't evaluate how easy the Express app on a desktop is. The website data page is better (although different) than before, but let's hope they don't get hacked, again.Battery life is excellent, and will continue to give longer usable charge even as the watch ages. I have a braided nylon band(s) for this, and I have had NO issues with keeping it on for days-on-end, either from low charge OR discomfort of the watchband. The ability to change night time colors and the useful/reworked sleep displays really make it useful to keep the watch on 24/at least 3. BTW, the watch STILL uses the same 4 dot recharging/data connection, so I anticipate a continuing need to buy new charging cables based on past experience with this design. It really is a weak point, and I'll have to find my stash of silicone charging port covers.Overall, it's a great upgrade from the Vivoactive line without the price of the more sports-dedicated offerings. Upgrade means you already have your desktop setup, have spare cables, and know how things work. Can't tell you about the learning curve on those things because I'm past them. Everything works well enough that even with an iPhone I would not trade this for an Apple watch.I don't use the watch as a music player, either. I've got separate players or my phone for that.I would buy a replacement in a heart beat if I trashed this one!!