Garmin Venu 3S review: is this the best fitness tracker for most people?

Telegraph

24-03-2025

£355.97
Buy now
Price at
Amazon
What is the Garmin Venu 3S?
This fitness tracker is the 41mm version of the Garmin Venu 3, which is slightly bigger at 45mm. Launched in August 2023, it follows the brand's Venu 1 and 2 watches, with upgrades including a slightly larger display and new health features such as heart rate variability (HRV), which helps to better determine your sleep quality and fitness levels.
An all-rounder watch, the Venu 3S tracks your vitals, fitness and sleep – giving you a fuller picture of your health. It's also our Best Buy in our guide to the best fitness trackers.
Why you can trust Telegraph Recommended
Our thorough, real-world tests will always help you find the best product. No manufacturer ever sees copy before publication and we do not accept payment in exchange for favourable reviews. Visit our Who We Are page to learn more.
How we test fitness trackers
I wore the Garmin Venu 3S day and night for more than a month, testing as many of the fitness tracking features as I could, to see if it could help me create better health habits.
I assessed how well it worked when I ran, cycled and stretched. I also wore it while I slept, testing the accuracy of the sleep tracking and coach functionality. I tracked the battery life too, and considered how easy it was to use and incorporate into my daily life.
Set-up and usability: 8/10
It was easy to set up straight out of the box, taking me through a quick process that included setting goals and giving it access to my health data and other apps such as Strava. There's also the option to connect to your contacts, which is useful if you're using it to text or make phone calls.
The watch works differently to the Apple Watch and Fitbit, with three buttons on the side and a touchscreen. It took me a week to figure out how to use it properly, which included turning to Google for help on how to switch off notifications – turns out you have to turn them off on both your phone and watch.
It does, however, connect easily to the Garmin Connect app, finding your watch via Bluetooth, which takes you through to your dashboard. Here, you'll find more detail on your activity metrics and sleep data, as well as a body battery feature that tells you about your daily energy levels. This is particularly helpful on days where you feel drained and want to know why.
Design and display: 10/10
You shouldn't have to sacrifice on looks when investing in a fitness tracker. I don't want anything chunky on my wrist, which can be difficult to find in this category.
Thankfully, the Garmin watch is just right. The flat design of the watch face means it sits neatly on the wrist, while its clear colour touchscreen display, with silver trimmings, gives it a well-polished finish.
The watch is light, at just 40g, while the silicone strap is comfortable and comes in nine colours, ranging from pink to black. I tested the off-white colour, which stayed fairly clean despite using it daily to track sweaty HIIT classes and runs.
The touchscreen display is 'always on' and you literally have to move your wrist slightly to see the date and time, while reminders (to move or when you're active) aren't too obtrusive.
There is a lot of colour on the watch, which gives it a vibrant look and makes the data stand out as you scroll, and it reacts easily to touch – unlike cheaper competitor watches.
Health and fitness features: 9/10
If, like me, you're into your fitness or take part in a variety of sports, you'll be impressed by how the watch tracks your activity and pulls in data to the app. By pressing the top right button, you can quickly find the sport you want to track and from there, all it takes is a few taps to begin.
In the past, I've found other Garmin watches, such as the Lily 2, more complicated to start the tracking, which can feel frustrating. I took the watch out on multiple runs and it was quick to find GPS too, which made my mileage more accurate. It also showed various statistics throughout my run, such as pace, distance and power, and notified me when I'd completed each mile.
After a couple of weeks (and a bit more research on Google), I was also able to change the settings, meaning when I stopped running it automatically paused – a feature runners will appreciate, especially if you're doing laps on a track.
Although I found it accurate and useful, it's not a dedicated running watch. I would have loved more running options, such as for trail running and intervals, so if you need more detailed stats, consider the Forerunner range instead.
I also used the watch to track a 12-mile cycle and loved the stats provided, which included a map of the route, calories burned and average speed – informing me that, thankfully, my hard work wasn't for nothing.
The watch is also waterproof, with a five ATM water resistance rating (meaning you can wear it for 10 minutes in 50m deep water), so I used it to track an open water swim. I also tracked a few Pilates and strength classes, however, for these modes it counts sets and reps, meaning you have to tell the watch when you're doing another set, which is not easy to do in a class situation.
The watch and app also has detailed sleep tracking and data, giving you a sleep score when you wake up. I found the sleep coach section useful too, as it personalises how much sleep you need every night by assessing your activity and sleep debt.
If you love the stats, the app allows you to delve into more detailed information about the quality of your sleep, which I found useful when wanting to know if I should be going to bed earlier. However, the sleep tracking was slightly off when I compared it to my Whoop.
As well as the basics, such as step counting, calorie burn and notifications, I also appreciated the morning report, which flashed up on my watch once night mode was switched off, giving me a summary of my sleep and my body battery.
Other lifestyle features and app: 8/10
The Garmin Connect app has everything in its 'at a glance' section, from body battery to steps and calories burned. Body battery, similar to your recovery score on the Whoop, estimates your energy levels based on heart rate, stress, sleep and how much activity you've done.
It creates a score between five and 100, with anything below 33 being low. My body battery tended to sit around average, declining as the day went on due to movement or exercise. I really liked this measurement, as it gives you a realistic look at how your day should pan out, in terms of movement and what time you should contemplate going to bed.
It also calculates your fitness age, which is something I hadn't seen before on a smartwatch, measuring your BMI against how much you exercised. In order to reach your target age, it also gives you recommendations, which is a great incentive.
The watch measures your Vo2 max, which is the maximum rate at which your body can consume oxygen during intense exercise, and can assess stats like how your stress levels change and how activity impacts your body battery and heart rate zones. Overall, it's a well laid-out app and I appreciated how it detailed your progress over the week, month and year.
You can also take calls from your wrist (with its built-in microphone), set up menstrual tracking, listen to music, view photos and set up Garmin Pay.
Battery life and charging: 9/10
Garmin claims the battery life for this smartwatch is up to 10 days. I found at most it lasted for six days, particularly if you're running the battery down with lots of activity and wearing it as you sleep. Six days is impressive for a smartwatch though, especially if you're used to an Apple Watch which needs charging every 24 hours.
The watch comes with a USB-C charging cable that attaches to the back of the watch. It's quite tricky to attach at first, but charging only took around an hour before it was back up to 100 per cent.
Technical specifications
How does the Garmin Venu 3S compare to the Apple Watch Series 10? Although they are similar in price, they differ when it comes to battery life and sports tracking.
Telegraph verdict: 9/10
I'm a Garmin convert. Having been attached to my Apple Watch since I got it, the Garmin Venu 3S is just as good, if not better. With a longer battery life, I didn't have to worry about taking it off at night to charge, like I do with my Apple Watch, while the fitness tracking, style of the watch and activity reminders were all spot on.
I did find it tricky to navigate at first, which is important when considering ease of use, but once you've conquered this you'll love the functionality.
The morning report was particularly useful, while the running and HIIT class stats helped me improve my performance from week to week. It has over 30 preloaded sports and activities and although I didn't try them all, I appreciated the choice. Some of the ones I did try worked better than others, though.
If you're a dedicated runner and want running-specific data then this may not be the smartwatch for you. Instead, we'd advise a Garmin Forerunner watch, which will provide a more in-depth look and wider variety of different running stats.
The sleep tracking was slightly off by a few minutes but I liked the extra features, such as the sleep coach and advice on how much sleep I needed. The app is easy to navigate and gives you detailed data on sleep, activity and other health metrics.
It doesn't come cheap. At nearly £400, it's over double the price of a Fitbit smartwatch, similarly priced to the Apple Watch 10 and more expensive than Garmin's other models (such as the 9 or SE).
Most importantly though, it helped me to create realistic goals and maintain good habits over the month I tested it. It didn't hurt that it looked and felt great on my wrist.
Garmin Venu 3S FAQs
What is the difference between the Garmin Venu 3 and the Venu 3S?
The Venu 3 is 4mm bigger in diameter that the Venu 3S and it has a longer battery life at 14 days.
Can I reply to texts on the Garmin Venu 3s?
Only Android users can reply to texts on the Garmin Venu 3S – including the use of preset replies and voice commands. If you're an iPhone user, you won't be able to send texts from the watch.
Can I listen to music on the Garmin Venu 3S?
Yes, you can listen to music via Spotify and Deezer, plus download music to listen when you're offline.