Tag Archive | Venu
September 26, 2020  

Garmin ‘Venu SQ (Music)’: GPS Distance, HR, Pace etc. Very Accurate. Very Slight Overcounting Of Steps.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE.


I have done two walks with the Venu SQ with it side-by-side (on my left wrist) next to my Fenix 6 Solar PRO.

One walk last night was just under a mile; this morning’s walk was 5.45 miles.

GPS distance was within 0.03-mile. 5.45 on the Fenix vs 5.48 on the Venu SQ. That is not bad. On the short night walk the Venu was out by just 10-steps! Over the 5.45-miles it overcounted by 320 steps. That, from my experience, is not bad at all, at all.

GPS distance on the Fenix 6 is fairly reliable. I have checked it against multiple other Fenixs, a MARQ, Fitbits, Polars, AMAZFITs not to mention phones & cars. Difficult to ever get two devices to be exactly spot on re. GPS, but my Fenix 6 is within the acceptable band. I test all other watches against it – at least to start with. I am happy with the Venu SQ. I have seen some HOWLERS this year – though not from Garmin. SMILE. So, that is all good & encouraging. 3% overcount is tolerable. I am sure I could optimize it if I messed around with stride length. Started using the Venu SQ as my primary (& thus only) watch as of this afternoon. I have tried some new watch faces & a very FINE all-in-one Data Field for walking. With that one Data Field I get all the data, on one screen, as I was with a customized screen on my Fenix 6. More on that on a later review. For now – thumbs up.

Please click to access the “Heart Rate Monitors USA” (HRM USA) product page. You will not regret it. ONLY place to buy Garmins & Fitbits in the U.S. Honest.

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by Anura Guruge

September 25, 2020  

Garmin ‘Venu SQ (Music)’ Side-by-Side On My Wrist With Garmin ‘Fenix 6 Pro Solar’.

by Anura Guruge

My friends at ‘Heart Rate Monitors USA‘ (HRM USA) again did me proud. I got a Venu SQ via UPS this afternoon.

Definitely a good looking, very attractive, CUTE watch. Much smaller & lighter, of course, than my Fenix 6. That has to be a given. Very different watches for two very different audiences. One, the Fenix is a rugged, AWD SUV, the Venu SQ a refined, luxury car.

I haven’t put the Venu through its paces yet. That will start tomorrow. I will first check distance & steps against the Fenix 6. I will keep you posted, of course.

Please click to access the “Heart Rate Monitors USA” (HRM USA) product page. You will not regret it. ONLY place to buy Garmins & Fitbits in the U.S. Honest.

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by Anura Guruge

September 23, 2020  

Garmin Finally Announces ‘Venu SQ’.

by Anura Guruge

Click to access Garmin product page for the ‘Venu SQ’.

Click to ENLARGE. From Garmin’s product page above.

YouTube videos from Garmin.

Well given all the leaks there are NO surprises. Looks a nice watch. I am hoping that my friends at ‘Heart Rate Monitors USA‘ (HRM USA) will send me one shortly for evaluation. I will let you know. Check out the videos. They are GOOD.

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by Anura Guruge

September 22, 2020  

Garmin ‘Venu SQ’ Leaked — Already On Sale — At ‘HSN.com’, Ahead Of Announcement.

by Anura Guruge

Click image to access the ‘hsn.com’ product page.

Would appear they jumped the gun. That they are only offering grey is another clue that they somehow did NOT wait for Garmin’s announcement. Maybe they were confused given that it was supposed to be announced last week.

Garmin’s announcement of the ‘Venu SQ‘ is said to be towards the end of this month, i.e., September 2020.

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by Anura Guruge

September 16, 2020  

Garmin Delays Announcement Of ‘Venu SQ’ (for Square) — Just Unveils ‘Forerunner 745’!

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE & view here. Google for more.

The ‘Venu SQ’ was SUPPOSED to be announced September 16, 2020, alongside the ‘Forerunner 745’. Well that did NOT happen. Instead Garmin just announced the latest ‘Forerunner’.

The ‘Venu SQ’ is supposedly delayed until month end (if not longer). Not good. Usually Garmin would have gone ahead & announced & then stated a 6-9 week shipment delay.

Maybe they realized that they have to go back to an AMOLED screen! WOW.

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by Anura Guruge

September 13, 2020  

Garmin’s New ‘Venu SQ’ (for Square) Abandons AMOLED Display & Reverts To LCD; A Shame.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE & view here. Google for more.

What set out the Venu from all other Garmins was the bright, beautiful AMOLED display. And yes, AMOLED is a battery hog & that did not sit well with Garmin. Garmin likes to provide longer battery life at the expense of more striking screens. That is a problem.

But, abandoning AMOLED, in late 2020, on this type of watch is a mistake. With its shape it is going after the Fitbit Versa 2 & Apple. The Versa 2 has a great AMOLED display.

To compound matters there is also the new Samsung Watch 3 — with another v. attractive AMOLED display further augmented with a rotating bezel.

The Venu SQ will face stiff competition from these two. I will keep you posted.

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by Anura Guruge

December 9, 2019  

Garmin’s $10,000 MARQ 5-Watch, ‘Signature Set’, IF You Have A Rich Girlfriend Who Wants To Impress YOU.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE. E-mail I got from Garmin today.

Click image to access the Garmin product page — to forward to girlfriend.

Click to access my post.

I am sure I am on solid ground here. I can’t be 100% sure BUT I don’t think a wife, irrespective of her wealth or access to funds, will buy you this. She will just know, innately, that it is dumb.

Plus, do NOT excuse me of semism — i.e., a father of three daughters (one of who is a big Garmin fan). The MARQ is not for ladies. It is big and heavy. There is NO MARQ S. It is unashamedly a man’s watch.

So, what do you think.

I did the sums. You are paying $450 for the wooden box and the limited-edition exclusivity.

The five MARQ watches — and I priced them out for you — are: Driver ($2,500), Aviator ($1,950), Captain ($1,850), Adventurer (which used to be the Expedition) ($1,750) & Athlete ($1,500). So, the five watches come to $9,550.

What is NOT included is the Commander ($1,950).

What do YOU think.

I had to smile. Yes, $10,000 is NOT much for 5 watches. Plenty of folks that can afford this without thinking twice. In a world where a person will pay $125,000 for a banana duct taped to a wall, this is quite a BUY!

Click to access article. Google for more.

I have three Garmins right now: two Fenix 6s and a Venu. So, I am NOT in a position to disparage 5 Garmins — though five maybe is overkill.

Why do I have three. Well, I needed TWO — one as a hot backup if one failed. Didn’t want to go even a day without recording my data. The Venu was a bonus — because I like AMOLED screens.

But, 5 MARQs. That would get old pretty quickly I would think.

I am a long-term Garmin shareholder. So, I do care how Garmin spends MY money! Not too thrilled about this. But, Garmin is a Billion dollar company and this is but bagatale.

A friend of mine, another HUGE Garmin fan, asked whether Garmin will really sell any of these Sets. I think they will. In the scheme of things, on a global basis, 100 sets isn’t much. I wouldn’t be surprised if they sell them all.

SMILE.

Enjoy.

Merry Christmas.

Hope your girlfriend buys you one. Please send pictures. All the best.

I do keep track of my Activity Trackers.

Click to ENLARGE.

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by Anura Guruge

October 8, 2019  

The New AMOLED Garmin ‘Venu’ — Delays, Issues & Concerns.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE. From U.S. ‘garmin.com’.

Folks are claiming that it is available in Australia.

Garmin AUSTRALIA does have a shorter delivery period.

Click image to access the ‘VENU Forum’ @ ‘Garmin Forums’.

ISSUE: The U.S. availability for the new Garmin VENU is still stated as being 5 — 8 weeks, the SAME it was when it was announced 4-weeks ago, on September 5, 2019. Ideally it should now be saying, worst case, 3 — 5 weeks. Yes, Garmin could change this tomorrow to say ‘1 — 3 Days’. It does happen.

The Garmin Forums, however, have had an active ‘VENU’ Forum for at least the last couple of weeks. There are some interesting posts on that Forum. There are those that claim that they already have a VENU. At least one claims he got it from Australia. As you can see, above, I checked. Plausible. But, it doesn’t make sense UNLESS Garmin is using Australia as a big beat-site.

And to add further credence, on the Forum, ‘Garmin’ has announced that they are rolling out v.3.40 of the software.

CONCERNS: There is also a post, on the Forum, from what looks like a Garmin ‘insider’ that speculates that the delay may be due to the US-China trade war and tensions. They are not sure, but there is a concern. YIKES! Not good. This could hit all of us hard.

At this rate it is going to be touch and go whether the VENU will be available for Black Friday. Maybe that is not a bad thing. You don’t really want it discounted that soon.

In terms of the availability being stuck at ‘5 to 8 weeks’, it reminds me of the infamous Vivoactive 3 roll-out exactly 2-years ago. Same scenario. Makes me nervous because I had a lot of bad luck with the Vivoactive 3.

ISSUE: Because AMOLED displays can be a drag on the battery there is a ‘low-power’ ‘always-on’ display ‘mode’ (which just shows the time) on the VENU. The ‘Fitbit Versa 2‘ has that too. Appears, however, that this always-on mode has issues. Only a few watch faces support it. ‘Crystal’, which I tried on my Garmin MARQ, being one of them. But, I also see that ‘Crystal’ and a few other watch faces are now claiming that they are permanently ON, impacting battery life, even IF they are not your chosen watch face! Yikes. That is bad. I didn’t install ‘Crystal’ on my Fenix 6 because of this.

CONCERN: Will more and more watch faces end up being permanently on because they want to support the VENU always-on display mode? That would be a shame.

ISSUE: I am seeing, on the Forum, sensor (e.g., barometer) and software bug issues very similar to what I saw with the initial roll-out of the Vivoactive 3. That worries me. Yes, the VENU, theoretically, is still in beta-test phase. So, maybe they will iron out these issues. But, I doubt whether they will opt for new sensors this late in the game.

CONCERN: I had two Vivoactive 3s die on me. I just don’t want to go through that with the VENU.

So, those are my issues & concerns.

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by Anura Guruge

September 15, 2019  

Garmin’s ‘Vivomove Luxe/3’ & Vivosmart 4 Now Get ‘Connected GPS’ — Provided You Have Your Smartphone Handy.

by Anura Guruge

Click Images to Enlarge.

All images from garmin.com

What I find here is that these watches did NOT have ‘Connected GPS’ from the get-go.

I have only ever bought Garmin, Fitbit or Amazfit watches with GPS so I have never required ‘Connected GPShttps://www.garmin.com/en-US/blog/fitness/connected-gps-now-on-vivosmart-4/‘.

I know that it has been available with Fitbit for a number of years. I have heard people talk about it. Thus, I had just assumed (incorrectly, of course) that Garmin must also have this capability by default.

The ‘Vivosmart’ is a $130 band. I can just about fathom why it doesn’t have GPS. For $40 more, you can get a ‘Vivosport‘, with GPS and a color display. That is what I got my wife.

The hybride ‘Vivomove’ with fixed hands and hidden color touchscreen is a $350 to $550 watch. You would think Garmin would offer GPS — maybe even as a $50 option. Guess not.

I love GPS on my watch. I use GPS, near daily, if I am doing a serious walk/run or hike. I do it to get (hopefully) a better distance measurement, i.e., GPS rather than accelerometer and gyroscope. Yes, GPS still leaves much to be desired, especially if you double back on yourself or walk in circles. But, I convince myself that the milage it shows is within +/- 5%. Yes, I have tested distnace with multiple watches (given that I have had at least 12 over the last 2-years) and vehicles.

Using the phone GPS is not the same. Yikes. I feel bad.

Garmin!

Very frustrating. And I am a Garmin shareholder to boot. Yikes.

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by Anura Guruge

September 10, 2019  

Garmin’s New Vivoactive 4-Based ‘Legacy Hero Series’ Seems A Bit Mickey Mouse To I.

by Anura Guruge

Click Images to ENLARGE.

All images from garmin.com

Not my cup of tea — BUT I am 66-years old and wear a Garmin MARQ Expedition. Maybe if I was 40-years younger and had $400 to burn on a novelty watch (and thinking back, I probably could have afforded such if I wanted (SMILE)).

Nice bezels and nice straps. Not sure about the watch faces. And the price $400.

Also, they don’t each come in both sizes, i.e., 45mm (standard) and 40mm (small). That surprised I. The 45-mm is the ‘First Avenger’ & the smaller is ‘Captain Marvel’. I am too old to know the difference or those superheroes BUT does that size distinction make sense. I am from the Superman era. So, will Garmin make more of these? The mind boggles and as a long-term Garmin investor this kind of bothers I. Not sure what the market is. Can’t be huge. Pretty sure that by Christmas 2019 these two watches will be available close to $300.

Both based on the new Vivoactive 4 — 45mm & 40mm. But, unlike the Vivoactive 4 it is not available as yet. As with the new Garmin Venu Garmin is quoting 5 – 8 weeks. Think: “just ahead of Black Friday”.

Yes, even Garmin Connect has been updated to cater for these watches.

I am sorry, but I am skeptical. Can you … will you wear this to work … in an office? Can you … will you wear this to the gym? Can you … will you wear this to a fancy restaurant? I wouldn’t. But, then again … (SMILE).

So, what do YOU think? Would you buy one? Would you wear one if one was given to you for FREE? [No, nope … I am not making an offer or any promises.]

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by Anura Guruge

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