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Garmin Venu 3

Garmin Venu 3

Scored on 256 verified owner verdicts, from 3,173 comments read across 5 communities
TL;DR
Owners rave about the Venu 3's multi-day battery life and accurate heart-rate and GPS data with no subscription, though many find its sleep tracking unreliable and its smart features limited compared to an Apple Watch.

69% of 256 verified owners recommend the Garmin Venu 3, based on real owner verdicts aggregated from Reddit, enthusiast forums, and YouTube.

See the problems 47 owners report →

What 256 owners say
3,173 comments reviewed · scored on the 256 clearest verdicts
69%
Recommend
177 owners
13%
Neutral
32 owners
18%
Don't recommend
47 owners
Last 6 months:62% recommend(29 recent verdicts)→ holding steady vs older reviews
Source
Score
N
Counted in the score
Reddit
70%
250
Other forumsWhoop, Garmin
33%
6
Reviewed, but not counted — and why
YouTubeiowner comments
76%
42
Affiliate blogsipaid commission
67%
3
No clear verdictiSetup, tips & quirks
9

Affiliate blogs here say 67% recommend, while the owner-based score is 69%. They earn a commission on every sale — so we show them for transparency but never let them move the score.

The headline score reflects owners (Reddit, enthusiast forums), independent lab tests, blogs with no affiliate links, and YouTube owner-comments when they line up with owners. YouTube and Affiliate blogs are shown for perspective but kept out here — hover the i for why.

What owners like
  • Exceptional multi-day battery life · 95 · 37%
  • Accurate HR, SpO2 and GPS · 45 · 18%
  • Rich free tracking, no subscription · 40 · 16%
  • Great smartwatch and sport-watch balance · 32 · 13%
  • Light, comfortable, sleek to wear · 22 · 9%
What owners flag
  • Unreliable, inconsistent sleep tracking · 25 · 10%
  • Limited smart features versus Apple · 24 · 9%
  • Notification and connectivity glitches · 20 · 8%
  • Cheap plastic build for the price · 18 · 7%
Who it's for
A great fit if
  • Switchers from Apple, Samsung or Fitbit craving long battery life
  • Casual athletes wanting fitness plus everyday smartwatch balance
  • Health trackers who value subscription-free HRV, stress and body battery data
  • Swimmers and multi-activity users wanting accurate metrics
Look elsewhere if
  • Buyers who need best-in-class sleep tracking
  • People wanting full smartwatch features and app ecosystem
  • Those expecting a premium metal build for the price

Synthesized from what Garmin Venu 3 owners say — not a spec sheet.

How buyers rate it elsewhere

Retailers' own star averages, for comparison — separate from our vetted owner-verdict score above.

Top quotes, sourced

3,173 reviewed · 240 shown
Sentiment
Community
Sort
YouTube▲ recommend

Battery time is enough for me to change from Samsung/ Apple.

YouTube▼ don’t recommend

Garmin's pricing is insane to me. $450 for plastic watch.

Reddit— neutral

I like the Venu 3, because it is not that bulky looks „normal“ for everyday use. It also does everything I need as a casual athlete (cycling, running).

YouTube▼ don’t recommend

"The display is very responsive" *proceeds to show a laggy UI with delays*

YouTube▲ recommend

Great watch even if I'm 80 years old. I still love my gadgets, like my Venu 3. Very comfortable and easy to use.

YouTube— neutral

Venue 3 and vivoactive 5 does not show active calories during a workout on any data screen. Tried the connectiq data screens as well. The forerunner 265 and 965 has this option.

YouTube— neutral

All I miss is Google Pay and that would be it for me.

YouTube▲ recommend

I had my Venu 3 for about 4 days now, it´s amazing in every way, everything you want from a smartwatch and a training watch, its down to 74% battery after 4 days of use, very good

YouTube▼ don’t recommend

You can't buy a normal garmin watch under $500. Insane!

YouTube▲ recommend

I've this watch for over 5 months and coming from the VivoActive 4, it's a HUGE upgrade, battery life is freaking insane, super accurate, great display and not laggy like many other watches considering battery life.

Reddit— neutral

I’ve had the Garmin Venu 3 for about six months. It tracks a lot of cool things, none of which appear to relate to any of my symptoms or help predict a crash. Useful as a HR monitor for pacing though.

YouTube▼ don’t recommend

the only concern about this device is the launch price: 500 euros is a bit too much considering other brands...

Reddit— neutral

I retired my GTR 4 for a Garmin Venu 3 as I have a desire to use the tools they offer to analyze my data

YouTube▲ recommend

Absolutely I will use this watch. It will actually be my next activity watch

YouTube▼ don’t recommend

500$ for plastic watch with great features what you cant find in other brands is still to much . 325 is the max

YouTube▲ recommend

It honestly is the best lifestyle tracking+fitness watch that I've had and it's also the best looking one.

YouTube▼ don’t recommend

These are a year old and the forums say they have had problems from day 1.

Reddit— neutral

My Venu 3 is actually quitea accurate at sleep monitoring, but then again my sleep schedule is fixed daily 23:00-07:00. Regular but off course it’s impossible to make it spot-on.

YouTube▲ recommend

I can’t believe that the UI looks 10x better than in top models that are 2x more expensive!! And it also have more features!

Reddit▼ don’t recommend

imho the software and the build quality are not worth the initial release price of 500€. Loved the fitness tracking and so but the software and build quality were a no go for me.

Reddit▼ don’t recommend

Although I am sure all the stats are on the Garmin app, the UI is horrible. It just doesn't surface and display the data in a quick informative way like the Whoop app.

YouTube▲ recommend

I love my Venu3, just an average cyclist using the venu3 to supplement my bike computer. I like the health features to see what's going on with HRV, etc.

Reddit— neutral

I've owned a Garmin Venu and just got a Garmin Venu 3. Bother purchases have been rooted almost entirely in regards to fitness, but I do prefer to receive notifications through my watch

Showing 124 of 240

Common problems & things to know

Practical notes owners raise — setup, quirks, and issues to watch for. They don't say whether the person likes the product, so they're not counted in the score, but they inform the pros, cons, and who it's for.

Redditⓘ good to know

Heart rate and oxygen sensors are as accurate as my Garmin.

Redditⓘ good to know

The Fitbit and Venu would register between 500-1000 steps before I even got out of bed and a lot even washing dishes while the Amazfit shows about 70 steps before getting out of bed.

Redditⓘ good to know

I have a Garmin venu 3 and since the day I got the watch I’ve used a screen protector. I wouldn’t advise using a smartwatch without, because you can scratch it so easily.

Redditⓘ good to know

I use my Garmin Venu 3 turned off every notification except calls.

Redditⓘ good to know

GPS lock slower, well same as Garmin venu 3.

Redditⓘ good to know

It works with my Spotify, I'm able to download albums/playlists and such to my watch and connect my earpiece so I don't need to walk with my phone on my walks/runs.

Redditⓘ good to know

My Venu 3 voice assist just shows "Connecting to voice assistant" when I trigger it but voice commands work after waiting for 1-2 seconds.

Redditⓘ good to know

it doesn't seem very accurate to me. When compared to a finger pulse oximeter, V3 was more inconsistent and gave me lower values.

Redditⓘ good to know

I also found it confusing to use three (or at least two) apps