The Garmin Venu 2 Sq has launched at IFA 2022, boasting improved battery life over its predecessor and plenty of connected features.
The Venu Sq 2 comes in at a lower price than the full Venu 2 smartwatch, but makes sacrifices in terms of design and features.
It uses a square, AMOLED touch display and less premium case materials to keep costs down.
As you’d expect from a Garmin device, it has GPS-tracking built-in, and more than 25 sports modes, including running, swimming cycling, and new modes such as HIIT and pilates.
Of course, the level of tracking and analysis is basic compared to the likes of the Forerunner 255, and doesn’t include specialist metrics such as VO2 Max, training analysis or cadence.
It does offer access to Garmin’s now standard array of health tracking features.
In terms of hardware, it has an SpO2 on-board, in addition to a heart rate monitor. It will also keep tabs on energy levels (via the Body Battery feature) and stress levels, with basic fertility tracking on board, too.
What’s more, Garmin is one of the few companies to offer a pregnancy mode, which pauses training stats.
Battery life is right up there for AMOLED smartwatches, with 11 days in smartwatch mode, according to Garmin.
However, it’s probably not accurate to call the Venu Sq 2 a budget smartwatch, even if it does sit at the more affordable end of the Garmin watch spectrum. It retails for $249 for the non-music version, which is a fair chunk of change more than you’ll pay for Huawei or Amazfit equivalents.
That makes it $50 more expensive than the new Amazfit GTR/GTS 4 that also launched at IFA.
Arguably, the Venu Sq 2 offers a better experience than those rivals in terms of Garmin Connect, though. Users can access the full range of Garmin HIIT workouts and load them onto the watch to follow, and free personalized coaching to hit goals for 5K, 10K and half marathon distances.
Still, in our testing of the Venu Sq, it felt like a very basic smartwatch experience, and there doesn’t seem to be too much added here.
As a smartwatch, the Venu Sq 2 offers full support for notifications and works with iOS and Android smartphones. Plus, there’s Garmin Pay on board for those whose bank supports it.
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.