If you are an outdoors enthusiast then you might be considering a smartwatch to match your passion. Wearables such as the Apple Watch Ultra 2 are geared towards movement and adventure, with beefed up specs, extra sensors, and better battery life compared to cheaper alternatives.
But that particular watch can also only manage a couple of days of battery life and is quite chunky on the wrist, so may not be suited to your needs. So steps in outdoor gadget maker Garmin with its latest smartwatch, the Garmin Venu X1, which builds on the company’s storied history in GPS trackers, pilot equipment and its recent successful foray into smartwatches.
The X1 is a stark-looking smartwatch that, to be honest, made me think of some of the earliest examples of wearables, when they were square and still sort of looked like prototypes. But the Venu X1 isn’t here to win any beauty contests, it’s here to deliver on the specs that matter to outdoors fanatics.
It boasts a 2-inch AMOLED scratch-resistant sapphire lens screen that’s larger than the 1.92-inch one on the Apple Watch Ultra 2, attached to a body Garmin describes as “ultrathin” – 8mm, certainly thin compared to the Ultra 2’s 14.4mm casing. Just like Apple’s watch, the X1 is made from titanium, so it should be light but nice and strong.
The thinness has not apparently affected the longevity though, and Garmin says you can eke up to eight days of battery life from the X1. Add to that a built-in LED flashlight, more than 100 sports you can track and Garmin’s excellent mapping features all on the wrist, and this seems like an adventure watch that can certainly give Apple a run for its money. After all, it’s really brands like Garmin that Apple is trying to compete with by launching the Apple Watch Ultra series in the first place.
The Venu X1 includes a speaker and microphone so you can take calls on your wrist if you really need to, plus the mic is open to voice controls.
But it’s really the battery life, detailed fitness data and insights, and the advanced on-wrist mapping that sets the Venu X1 apart from the Ultra 2, and much of the competition. You can pre-load maps so they are accessible without a phone signal, and the multi-band GPS makes sure you always know exactly where you are on the map. You can even download more than 43,000 golf courses to view, too.
And because this is a high-end wearable, all the best sensors come as standard, to track heart rate, heart rate variability, stress, blood oxygen levels and more. There’s even a jet lag adviser and altitude and heat acclimation guides. Garmin has thought of everything here.
The Venu X1 looks fully featured and comes in at £679.99, £120 less than the Apple Watch Ultra 2. What it lacks in third-party apps and tight integration with your iPhone, it makes up for with better battery life and debatably more advanced outdoor tools. Plus, it works with Android phones.
