Review on Garmin Venu: Rose Gold GPS Smartwatch with Music, Body Energy Monitoring, and Animated Workouts by Stanley Molden

I have been using the Fitbit Surge for several years. When the built-in strip failed, they supplied a refurbished replacement unit. I found the sleep and movement tracking very motivating, but the native range and unstable syncing process were disappointing. As the second streak started to subside, I thought about the Fitbit Charge 3, but then the Google acquisition was announced. I was looking at a few clean trackers but decided to give this smartwatch a try. My first impression is that it can do a lot more but requires some learning. But my main issues with my previous Surge aren't an issue as it uses default ranges and syncs automatically without prompting. As an avid hiker, I was pleased to see a much more extensive list of activities being tracked. The device itself looks very clean and stylish, and has a lower profile on my wrist so it's less of a drag on my sleeves. Sleep tracking is more detailed, showing the time of each perceived level of sleep: deep, REM, and light. It also shows the frequency of breathing and movement. Adding more monitors drops the battery life from great to a little less, but regular charging in the shower provides a performance boost. I try to run 10k on days I'm not in the gym and Venu has a lot of activities to track including walking. You can use the Garmin website to join a random group with similar interests, track your activity, and post your results. The ranking can be a motivator for many. I am very happy with this Venu, it will take me some time to learn how to use it and I will update issues such as battery life, bluetooth and Spotify playlists.