The vivoactive 6 is catching as much as the Garmin Venu sequence

I’ve been testing Garmin’s Vivoactive and Venu sequence for generations, and up to now, every line clearly catered to distinct person wants. The Vivoactive line was my go-to advice for budget-conscious athletes. The Venu stood as Garmin’s most suitable choice for a rounded smartwatch expertise. With the discharge of the Garmin Vivoactive 6, nevertheless, the road between the 2 sequence feels blurrier than ever, and for the primary time, I’m struggling to tell apart between them clearly.

Midway by way of testing the Vivoactive 6, I noticed that the variations between it and the Venu 3 are far much less clear than I anticipated. The 2 watches every boast an AMOLED show and make the most of predictably comparable design language. Each characteristic smooth, light-weight polymer builds, comfy, quick-release silicone straps, and 5ATM water resistance. I put on both one with out a second considered sturdiness or consolation. The Vivoactive 6 is smaller and lighter, with an aluminum bezel as an alternative of a stainless-steel one, however I nonetheless discover it a comparatively elegant accent, similar to the Venu 3.

Underneath the hood, each watches ship over every week of battery life, so I’m by no means left stranded with a lifeless system, together with music storage, NFC help, and entry to Garmin’s Join IQ app retailer. On prime of that, they share practically an identical core well being and health monitoring options. The Venu 3 does embody a more recent coronary heart fee sensor and a barometric altimeter, however in my testing, each gadgets proved remarkably correct in comparison with my chest strap.

On each gadgets, customers will discover superior sleep monitoring, SpO2 monitoring, sturdy health monitoring toolkits, and extremely dependable built-in GPS. Every additionally affords Garmin’s full suite of security and monitoring options, Discover My Cellphone and Watch, sleep coach and nap detection, and Garmin-specific favorites like Physique Battery and Morning Report. Briefly, each cowl all of the bases.

This overlap raises issues about product line differentiation and, for me, serves as a knock towards the Venu line. The Vivoactive 6 is priced a lot decrease at $299 however consists of a wide range of options that have been as soon as unique to the Venu sequence. The Venu 3, in the meantime, asks consumers to drop $499. That’s a tough promote when the Vivoactive 6 offers a comparable expertise at a extra accessible value level. The cheaper system additionally packs in a number of training-specific instruments not discovered on the Venu, like additional sport modes, route and course monitoring, Sensible Wake, and day by day urged strolling exercises.

In fact, that isn’t to say the Vivoactive 6 has every part consumers could like in regards to the Venu. I used to be most upset to see the ECG app remains to be lacking from the Vivoactive 6 (because of the older coronary heart fee sensor). There’s additionally the additional button, metallic detailing, and microphone/speaker bundle for voice help and Bluetooth cellphone name help. But certainly these variations don’t equate to a $200 markup, do they?

The optimistic spin is that the Vivoactive 6’s characteristic set and proximity to the Venu 3’s choices may spark evolution for the Venu sequence. To keep up the road’s premium standing, Garmin must reposition the lineup as a real smartwatch. I, for one, would like to see LTE help and expanded third-party app integrations. This may make the Venu sequence extra aggressive with gadgets just like the Pixel Watch 3 or Apple Watch.

All in all, the Garmin Vivoactive 6 and Venu 3 are each nice watches, however the line between them is getting blurry. Because the Vivoactive retains leveling up, the Venu has to evolve too, not simply in value, however in goal. Garmin doesn’t have to scrap both lineup. The corporate simply wants to provide consumers clearer causes to decide on one over the opposite.