Garmin Venu X1 Smartwatch Review: Sleek Design Meets Garmin Functionality (Mostly)

I remember strapping the original Apple Watch to my wrist way back in 2015 and being amazed that I could track my heart rate, read a text, or listen to music with the tiny device. It set the standard for smart watches, and it looked pretty damn cool with its understated, minimalist design. Since then, I’ve owned several versions of the Apple Watch, but I converted to Garmin’s more adventure-focused smartwatches a couple of years ago. Of the dozens of smartwatches in my drawer, I choose to put on the Garmin Fenix 7 everyday because it’s easy to use, has a lengthy battery life, and contains a suite of features I rely on every day. There have been times when I missed the understated design of the Apple Watch—Garmin’s bulky designs don’t pair as well with wedding guest attire. Enter Garmin’s new Venu X1.

The Venu X1 is a fully featured smart watch that comes equipped with Garmin’s signature approach to tracking adventure, fitness, and overall health, but has the understated style of the Apple Watch. Sounds perfect, right? Not quite. While the Venu X1 nails the sleek aesthetic that allows it to be worn in almost any situation, it falls short on a couple of key factors that made me fall in love with Garmin in the first place.

Garmin Venu X1 Smartwatch

$800 at REI

$800 at Garmin 

What I Like about the Garmin Venu X1

Big, Beautiful Display In a Sleek Package

The Venu X1 has a durable, titanium case and scratch-resistant, sapphire crystal screen, for a thin and lightweight package. Coming from the much thicker Garmin Fenix with a full bezel and five buttons, the lack of weight and size was really noticeable when I first started wearing it. And the simple black design means you can wear it to a dinner party or work meeting and nobody will ask you how your Everest training is going. The two-inch display is bright and easy to read, and the sapphire cyrstal screen appears to be bombproof—I’ve banged it around during testing and the screen doesn’t have a scratch on it.

While the Venu X1 has two buttons on the frame, one button is really all it takes to navigate the watch’s features; the second button just operates a flashlight, which, don’t get me wrong, has proven infinitely useful for locating the right beer inside a cooler at night.

The Usual Smartwatch Capabilities with Garmin Bonuses

As for features: the Venu X1 can do the things that most other smartwatches do, like connect to your phone via bluetooth for calls, texts, and music. But it also does what Garmin does best: it gives you a barrage of health tracking options and metrics. The watch knows everything you do in a given day, from how many calories you’ve burned, to how hard you pushed it at the gym, to whether you need to take a nap or go for a walk. Like other Garmin watches, it gives you a “Body Battery” score, which tells you if you need an intense workout or should take it easy, and a “Sleep Score” so you know how rested you are. Most smart watches offer some sort of health tracking, but Garmin’s user interface and its ability to give your training status and sleep status a numerical score is what sets it apart for me.

Handy, Built-In Map That Lets You Explore

Other features that distinguish Garmin from competitors: the built-in map and navigation features,  which are especially great on the Venu X1 because of the watch’s massive and bright screen. Open up the map on your watch and you get a colored visual of your surroundings, whether you’re in the middle of downtown Atlanta or in the depths of a national forest.  I was recently in Congaree National Park without a paper map and was able to navigate the trail system with the built-in topographic map on this Venu X1. The map’s  “Explore” feature even helps you find bathrooms, bike shops, coffee shops, bars, breweries—and then help you navigate there. A watch that tells you how to run to the closest craft beer is my best friend. You can also download a suite of topo maps (from $99) for the region you’re exploring to  use when you’re completely offline.

Customize Your Workout Plans

If you want to do more than just track your workout, the Venu X1 syncs with Garmin’s Connect app so you can build a workout in the app to follow via prompts on your watch. I like this feature because it allows me to take all of the bite-sized training tips and moves I find on social media and compile them into dedicated workout plans I can follow on my watch. Or, you can tap into Garmin Connect’s built-in workout plans with specific goals in mind, like building muscle mass or increasing cardio fitness—all of which you can customize and then send to your watch, turning your watch into your trainer when you’re at the gym.

It’s also the most comfortable smart watch I’ve ever worn—so comfortable that I forget it’s on my wrist. Sounds like the perfect smartwatch, right? Not quite.

What I Don’t Love about the Garmin Venu X1

Touchscreens Are Great, Until They’re Not

Many people will like the Venu X1’s one-button/touchscreen interface system, but I actually miss Garmin’s typical five-button design, which allows you to choose between the touchscreen or buttons to navigate. Being able to use buttons to toggle between features is handy, especially during a workout when your fingers are sweaty. There is no “back” button on the Venu X1, so you have to use the touchscreen to switch between features. That’s only a problem if it’s raining or your fingers are really sweaty from a workout. When moisture enters into the equation, touchscreens become less reliable. For instance, I’ve accidentally called my wife from my watch while I was in the shower—the water pressure worked its magic on the touchscreen and made the call.

Limited Battery Life

But the main issue I have with the Garmin Venu X1 is its battery life. The Apple Watch battery life is notoriously bad, requiring charging every night. That’s one of the main reasons I moved away from Apple years ago. The Garmin Fenix I typically wear has insane battery life and will last for a week or longer without needing a charge (depending on how much GPS tracking I’m doing). The Venu X1 battery is somewhere in between. Garmin claims the watch can last for a week between charges if in “raise to wake” mode; but I found myself having to charge this watch at least every three days, even after turning the “always on” display off and opting for the “raise to wake” mode.

Getting three days out of your watch is way better than a lot of the competition, but not good enough to be considered an adventure watch in my opinion, because you can’t rely on it during a multi-day excursion. I can wear Garmin’s Fenix on a multi-day bike packing trip and track each daily ride without ever having to worry about the battery running out. I can’t do that with the Venu X1.

Final Verdict: A Worthy Apple Watch Competitor

But maybe that’s ok? Garmin already has robust adventure watches in their lineup. The Venu X1 is supposed to offer something different. It’s Garmin’s first  daily-driver that prioritizes aesthetics, and it was designed with one goal in mind: to win over Apple Watch fans. If you’re an Apple Watch user who loves sleek style, but want a bit more battery life and the ability to navigate with your watch without relying on third-party apps, the Venu X1 might hit the sweet spot..