Garmin’s Venu 2 Plus and Vivomove Sport watches offer new phone, hybrid features | ZDNet

Garmin is known for offering watches that are targeted across its extensive spectrum of users. The Venu 2 was released last year and is a fantastic GPS sports watch with a brilliant AMOLED display, while the Vivomove series offers a hybrid watch/sports watch experience. Today, Garmin announced an innovative upgrade to the Venu 2 alongside an intriguing new hybrid watch.

We have been running, cycling, sleeping, working, walking, and more with both of these watches for the past couple of weeks. In short, these watches prove Garmin already has a strong start to the new year. 

Check out our Venu 2 Plus and Vivomove Sport reviews for more details on these two new Garmin wearables. The Venu 2 Plus is priced at $449.99 and the Vivomove Sport at just $179.99.

Also: The best sports watches in 2022: Garmin, Coros, Polar, and more

Venu 2 Plus

The
Venu 2 Plus

builds upon the great features found in the Venu 2, adding the ability to make and take phone calls from the watch when paired to your smartphone, much like the non-cellular Apple Watch models. You can also now use your smartphone’s voice assistant to send text messages, ask questions, and more from your wrist.

Users can expect up to nine days of battery life, as well as core Garmin features such as sleep scores, stress tracking, Body Battery, pulse oximeter readings, animated workouts, and more. Garmin’s safety and incident detection functions are also supported with a connected smartphone. Garmin Pay, subscription music downloads, Connect IQ apps, and more are also supported.

The Venu 2 Plus is available in three colors with a 43mm watch case and 20mm standard quick release band. I also appreciate the new rapid charging capability, where 10 minutes of charging adds up to one day of smartwatch use or one hour of GPS and music. This means even if the watch is dead, I can charge it up while I get my running gear on and start stretching before a typical 35-45 minute run.

Vivomove Sport

The Withings ScanWatch was the first hybrid watch I ever tested, and it convinced me there is something to these hybrid options. The newest Garmin hybrid, the
Vivomove Sport

, looks like a standard watch with two hands and six numbers on the face. A small OLED touchscreen is centered under the middle of the watch, however, and is extremely functional and informative.

The Vivomove Sport is great for those who prefer to wear analog watches and yet want their wearable to capture essential health and wellness data. It looks like a regular watch, but it’s well-supported by the extensive Garmin ecosystem.

This watch captures data and provides support for advanced sleep monitoring, stress tracking, Body Battery recovery, blood oxygen levels, 24/7 heart rate, women’s health features, and more.

GPS is provided by your smartphone, but step counting, intensity minutes, integrated sports apps, and more are provided by the watch itself. It has a battery life of up to five days in smartwatch mode and even supports smartphone notifications.