The Garmin vívoactive 5 is here, but is it really as attractive a budget Venu 3 alternative as it seems? A closer comparison is needed.
The Garmin Vivoactive has an aluminium bezel, the Venu 3 a stainless steel one. Steel is a lot harder, more scratch-resistant, but is also heavier. This may account for the higher weight in the Venu 3 series.
The speaker can also play music, where the Vivoactive 5 only streams to Bluetooth headphones/speakers. And it can fire out workout updates as you go, typically per km when running.The Garmin Vivoactive 5 lacks a barometric altimeter, found in the Venu 3 series. This is what lets a wearable passively record how many flights of stairs you ascend, or the equivalent of that on other terrain.
The additional four outer green LEDs are used when you track an exercise. It gives the light sensors more to work with, the aim being to compensate for the difficulties introduced when motion comes into the picture. Both watches support music streaming, one of the most important features if you want to be able to head our for a run without your phone.There are no major wins for the Venu 3 on battery life. It’s all about size here. The 42mm Vivoactive 5 lasts up to 11 days, the smaller 41mm Venu 3S up to 10 days and the 45mm Venu 3 up to 14 days.