When Garmin introduced its new product Venu X1, surprised many. After all, it is not a typical model of its production, which is mainly determined by the rectangular shape of the watch case. At first glance, it screams to the world that it is a killer Apple WatchAnd in some ways, he succeeds.
Garmin has tried this before, for example with Venu SQ 2, but if you look at Venu X1, you have no doubt that this is the model produced by the company that most closely resembles the most popular smartwatch in the world. And it offers several features that clearly surpass them. But they had to save money somewhere.
If we look at the new models that Garmin is currently releasing, they are largely based on its standard lines. However, one thing they all have in common is the AMOLED display, because the company has understood that beauty matters and transflective MIP technology is slowly clearing the field. It is actually only a matter of time before this happens.
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At the same time, we see how they are trying to implement advanced functions in their higher-end products, but not in the health sector. This is mainly about phone and voice functions. This is again pressure from customers who want to use the functions that their competitors have in their Garmin watches. Although in the case of phone calls, they still do not have LTE and need to have a paired phone nearby, which is also the case Garmin Venu X1.
They want to build on popularity Apple Watch, but at the same time clearly outperform them in certain areas. They should be the first choice for all users Apple world who don't want to experiment so much, but want something different after all the boredom. And Venu The X1 is different not only for them, but also for Garmin fans. We haven't received this from them yet.
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Two "best" at once
First of all, it's about the case. Although we've already had some rectangular attempts here, this is something much different and premium. This is evidenced by the titanium lid on the bottom and the thickness that Venu The X1 beats all the big smartwatch manufacturers in the world. It's 7,9mm thick. You won't find anything this thin from Garmin, nor from Applu or from Samsung. Garmin is therefore riding the current trend of thinning in the field of smartwatches, which we have heard so far mainly with regard to smartphones.
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And even though the slim line is to be commended, it has two drawbacks. The watch's dimensions are directly dependent on the literally giant AMOLED touchscreen display. It has two screens with a resolution of 2 × 448 pixels, which is larger than anything from Garmin, anything from Applu and anything at Samsung, although it is true that with regard to Apple Watch Series 10 are just "small". They have a 1,96" display, Apple Watch Ultra a Ultra 2 have a 1,92" display.
So yes, it's a great view for your eyes and a great range for your fingers, but it must be admitted that the display has somewhat larger bezels, especially at the top and bottom, which are simply visible, no matter how much Garmin tries to mask them with black dials. This is especially visible in the graphics around activities, where the entire bezel lights up green or red and you can see how much time is left on the sides.
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The dimensions of the fiber-reinforced polymer case itself are 41 × 46 mm. For some, it may be too much, for others it is ideal. I belong more to the first group, but I can live with this. Although I could imagine a height of a few mm less, considering the thin case, it is acceptable. By the way Apple Ultra 2 are 44 × 49 × 14,4 mm.
Garmin has achieved such a thin case partly because the watch has no bezel. There is only really miniThe display is slightly curved at the edges, which already flows into the polymer case, which means only one thing - the absence of ECG measurement. Even though there is an Elevate 5 sensor, you cannot measure ECG with it, because you cannot close the electrical circuit of the body. However, the display glass is covered with sapphire, so even though it is not sunk in the case, it should not suffer from damage - which we did not manage to do in three weeks of intensive testing.
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What about battery life?
Garmin Venu X1 so they have the thinnest case and the largest display, which logically leads to the fact that there may be a problem with endurance. The thinnest case means a small battery, the largest display, in turn, equals a significant power consumption. Garmin u Venu X1 gives the following paper endurance values:
- Smartwatch mode: up to 8 days (2 days with the display always on)
- Battery-saving smartwatch mode: up to 11 days
- GNSS mode with GPS only: up to 16 hours
- GNSS mode with all systems: up to 14 hours
- GNSS mode with all systems and music playback: up to 7 hours
How is it realistic? Logically, it depends on your usage and settings. Once you have the AMOLED, you don't want to hide it completely, but those two days with Always On without any walking around in hot mud are tragic. But these are not Apple Watchwhere you need to constantly look at all the information they show you (and which will last you 18 hours, which is Applem given value).
In the factory settings they have Venu X1 display at medium brightness, which burns the retina quite a bit anyway. So my first steps were to reduce the display brightness to minimum, but there are only three options. The second option was to turn off the display with a gesture, which I really don't need. I can see everything important on the always-on display, when I activate it either with a button or by tapping the display with my finger. And this saves more battery than you would expect.
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I can easily get to a more acceptable 3 days – it is important to say here that without restrictions. It is not a miracle, but it is better than with Apple Watch even than at Galaxy Watch. This is how I really want the watch to be set up, and it wouldn't change anything if it had a bigger battery. Besides, I have it on the 51mm AMOLED anyway Fenix 8 with incomparably longer battery life. During the test, I actually lived with it without any problems, but it is clear that this may bother many users of some older watches, especially those with MIP displays. Owners of competitors will be grateful for this. By the way, in 8 hours of sleep, my battery dropped by only 5%, in one whole day of normal use and with 30m of activity it was around 35%.
LED and only two buttons
If Garmin hadn't managed to fit an LED flashlight into such a thin body, we probably wouldn't be mad at them for it and would just accept it. But, surprisingly, they did. Subjectively, it doesn't have as much brightness as the Fenix 8, but damn it, the main thing is that it's there. To activate it, just hold down the Back button, it's in the bottom right. Then there's just Start.
Even though there is a system Fenix 8 is very similar, it took me a while to get used to the absence of those three buttons. After all, I am also Fenix 8 was controlled more by buttons and the display only in certain situations. However, here the display plays a primary role and it actually doesn't matter that much. The reason for this is the fact that it is huge, rectangular, and above all, it is not sunken in any way, it doesn't even have any sharp corners. Yes, just like with Apple Watch.
Garmin Venu X1 vs. Apple Watch Series 10
Classic gestures work here, with which you can control practically everything, even if you need to go back a step. You just need to press the Start button (top right) to access the activities and applications menu. Garmin has also learned to make eye-catching animations, or rather transitions between menus, so it actually looks quite good. It doesn't reach the variety watchOS ani Wear OS, but it's a bit further away.
There's probably no point in listing one function after another. You'll find practically everything important here, except for the aforementioned ECG. For example, 100 sports activities, pre-installed TopoActive maps of the whole world (which look simply great on that display), but also CourseView with more than 43 thousand golf courses. You'll be pleased with advanced running metrics, such as hill running score, running dynamics, power measurement in watts, etc. There's also Music, Garmin Pay, accident detection, and also the Stocks application. Interesting features include the Calculator or the advanced watch face editor. By the way, there are a lot of watch faces, and they are quite nice. However, the main one, with which the watch is presented, is the most practical.
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Who will buy them?
When Garmin model Venu X1 introduced, my jaw dropped. First of all, I didn't expect it, and secondly, they surprised me with practically everything. And I simply had to try them. Every review should end with a recommendation as to whether or not the product is worth buying. But here it comes down to which user group you belong to.
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They are the clear choice for owners Apple Watch and other "square" watches who don't want round displays with cropped text. In the case of Samsung Galaxy Watch will appeal to you if you want something á la Apple Watch but compatible with your Android device, while you want to try a completely different world outside Wear OS (but here it might be worth thinking about Fenix 8). For Garmin watch owners, this is probably the hardest decision. Who are they actually intended for? If you are a tech enthusiast, then this is for you!
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Take it, for Fenix 8, give them a fundamentally larger and rectangular display, reduce water resistance, remove three buttons and stomp on them to make them really flat, like Venu The X1 are. I'm actually excited about them. As the owner of a Garmin watch Fenix I won't buy 8 of them, but if I did FenixIf I didn't have one and had to decide between them or this new product, I would choose it. Plus, it's cheaper.
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Garmin Venu The X1 will cost 19 CZK and is available in two colors with a very comfortable nylon strap with Velcro. Garmin has really succeeded in this and it is certainly its most interesting new product of 990 so far.
Has anyone seen them live???
Although I don't have an iWatch and don't want one, this really isn't a killer - miniat least from a design point of view… They are not pretty/elegant at all
Price-wise, it's more like AW Ultra, it lacks ECG, cellular, the ability to install applications, Apple Music and synchronization does not work Apple Health. I don't know which AW owner would buy them in exchange for an AW. The only thing Garmin excels in is durability, but I don't have a problem with mine currently. Ultra 2 put on the charger every night when I go to shower. Anyway, it's not really an AW killer.
It is bought by those who do a lot of sports outside the city, or their activities last longer. The music comes from Amazon music, Deezer, YouTube Music, respectively from internal storage. Garmin Connect is much better than Apple Health.
Same hate as the Nokia XM5800 killer Iphone 😂😂😂😂😂
I've had them for a week now and I'm thrilled with them, they're really nice in real life. The maps and navigation are simply brilliant (I even use free tourist openmaps). And the battery life is different than in the review, I only turned off the hand gesture and left everything on and the brightness at full and it eats up 24% of my battery in 7 hours, including sleep measurement, if I measure the navigation when I have it set to only turn on when I make a hand gesture, it eats up about 7% per hour (I can't even get to this value with mobile navigation). I don't really use activities, I just need the usual heart rate, steps and maybe temperature measurement, I haven't changed anything since I bought it and left it at default.
This watch is not for enthusiastic athletes, but for the ordinary working person and enthusiastic tourist who doesn't like staring at their mobile phone at every intersection, it's a clear choice 😉
Thanks for the interesting perspective and to the author of the article, a nice review.
I see the problem in the contact charging, it's a scam. Salt, moisture (sweat) and electricity never go together. I've seen rotten contacts on watches several times.
And did you know that Gamin watches have been like this for years, and they have no problem with it? Of course, it needs to be rinsed occasionally, but you would probably do that anyway after sweating a lot or swimming in the sea.
I've never had a problem with charging like that.