Like the original Venu 2, the Venu 2 Plus is an excellent all-purpose smartwatch and a solid choice if you’re looking for a single device that you can wear all day, whether you’re working out or not. Thanks to its stainless steel case and sharp, bright display, it looks smart enough for pretty much any occasion, and while it only comes in one size, its mid-sized case should fit most wrists. As you’d expect from a Garmin watch, it excels at fitness monitoring, measuring heart rate, SpO2, sleep cycles, skin temperature, respiration, and stress. The GPS has Garmin’s typical accuracy, and the Venu 2 Plus tracked our measured 5K run distance to within a few meters. Garmin’s latest optical heart rate monitor is also very reliable and responds quickly to changes during interval training. Garmin has also made the most of the watch’s bright, high-resolution display with on-screen muscle maps that show the most recently worked muscle groups, as well as guided workout animations for yoga and Pilates. This smart addition makes the Venu 2 Plus ideal for anyone starting a new activity and looking to supplement their existing workouts with strength and flexibility training. Garmin may add more guided workouts in the future, and the company is known for supporting its devices with software updates long after launch, so we expect this feature to get even better in the months and years to come. If you want the most advanced tools like live navigation with turn-by-turn directions or workout load rating on your wrist, you’re better off with a watch like the Forerunner 955 Solar, Forerunner 945, or Fenix 6, but for everyone else, the Venu 2 Plus is easily recommended. The Garmin Venu 2 Plus is almost identical in design to the Venu 2, but while the original watch was available in 40mm and 45mm versions, the Venu 2 Plus is only available with a 43mm case. It’s a good compromise: large enough to accommodate the additional components of the new watch, but not so large that it overwhelms smaller wrists. The new components are the watch’s new microphone, which is located on the left edge of the case. On the right edge is a new button that serves as a shortcut to your phone’s voice assistant.
