00:00Believe it or not, I've been rocking my Apple Watch Series 5 for almost seven years now,
00:04and I decided it was time for an upgrade.
00:06But instead of getting the new Series 11, I got the Garmin Venue 4.
00:11Wearable tech is having a big moment.
00:13I wanted to see what stepping outside of Apple's ecosystem actually gets you in this episode of Buy or Skip.
00:24Let's start with compatibility because for a lot of people, this is going to be the deciding factor.
00:29While a lot of smartwatches these days lock you in, Google Pixel Watch and Galaxy Watch are Android only,
00:34and Apple Watch is obviously for iPhone only, the Venue 4 works for both iPhone and Android,
00:40and I love not being handcuffed to one ecosystem.
00:43That said, I found pairing it with my iPhone does come with a few drawbacks, which I will get into
00:48in just a bit.
00:51Design is how the Venue 4 won me over, and I've never really loved the square face on an Apple
00:56Watch.
00:56The Venue 4's classic rounded design, stainless steel case, vibes more with my style.
01:01It comes in two sizes.
01:02I went with the larger 45mm, which has a 1.4-inch AMOLED display,
01:07but there's also a 41mm option if you prefer something a little bit smaller.
01:11The Venue 4 does have two side buttons for menu navigation, but no wheel or crown here.
01:18Although, if I'm being honest, I didn't really miss it.
01:20And when you pair it with a clean watch face and a nice band, I'll link a few of my
01:23favorites,
01:24this thing looks pretty slick.
01:27Garmin has always been the gold standard for fitness and health tracking.
01:32Coming from an Apple Watch Series 5, the jump in depth and accuracy was immediately noticeable.
01:38You're getting very accurate GPS workout tracking, a sleep coach, stress monitoring,
01:43recovery time suggestions, training readiness scores, body battery energy, along with HRV status and ECG.
01:50All of this is working together to help you know exactly how hard you can safely push yourself to train
01:56better.
01:57There are over 80 built-in sports apps that it can track, and if you're serious about fitness data,
02:02this watch gives you more to work with than pretty much everything else at this price point.
02:07And here's something that's pretty cool.
02:08If I'm not in my target zone, this is something I haven't actually seen on other watches,
02:12it will tell me I am out of the target heart rate.
02:15So just a moment ago, it told me you're too low, it knows your limitations, it knows your safe workout
02:21zones,
02:21so it wants to push you, yeah, too low.
02:24You see that?
02:25It has a target for how hard it wants me to work out, so that way I know I'm pushing
02:30myself to my limits in a safe way.
02:32So even though I'm doing the same types of workouts that I was with my Apple Watch,
02:36the Garmin Venue 4 is pushing me to train harder.
02:40But now let me tell you the single biggest reason I was motivated to make the switch, battery life.
02:46My Apple Watch was barely lasting a full day, but with the Venue 4,
02:51I'm easily hitting 10 plus days on a single charge with normal use.
02:55And when you compare that to even the newest Apple Watch Series 11, which only gets 24 hours,
03:00I no longer have any battery anxiety here, and I'm maybe charging this thing three times a month,
03:05which really makes us feel more like a normal watch.
03:11So that's what I like about the Venue 4, but here's what I wish were different.
03:15Just sticking with battery, the Venue 4 does not have wireless charging support.
03:19I finally have enough wireless charges scattered around my house now,
03:22but they no longer work with my Venue 4,
03:26and I actually have to go back to charging with a cable.
03:30So if you're thinking of switching from Apple Watch to Garmin,
03:33the biggest limitation I've found is the inability to reply to notifications from your watch.
03:38The Venue 4 receives notifications just fine.
03:40Texts, emails, app alerts, they all show up with the right icons and everything,
03:44but you cannot reply to them from the watch at all if you are using an iPhone.
03:50On Android, this isn't an issue, but on iPhone, you are in, let's call it, read-only mode,
03:56and to be honest, it kind of sucks.
03:58Having to reach for my phone more often isn't a deal-breaker for me personally,
04:02but if you rely on quick wrist replies throughout your day,
04:05this is going to be a real adjustment that you need to know going in.
04:11On a similar note, media controls work pretty well here,
04:14but they're not quite as seamless as what I was used to on my Apple Watch.
04:18The Venue 4 can pause, skip, and go back on whatever's already playing on my iPhone,
04:23whether that's a video or music.
04:25The catch is that the controls aren't surfaced right away on the watch face.
04:28You instead have to open the music widget,
04:30which is going to be an extra step each time.
04:33And two, well, I'll get into two in just a second.
04:36It's worth knowing that the Venue 4 also supports Spotify, YouTube Music,
04:40and Amazon Music for offline playback directly from the watch.
04:43You can either listen straight out of the watch's speakers,
04:45but don't be that person.
04:47And you can, of course, pair it with Bluetooth headphones.
04:49And if you want to, leave your phone at home
04:51and still listen to your music or podcast on the go.
04:54To no surprise, though, Apple Music support is unavailable,
04:57so that sucks for me and everyone else who subscribes there.
05:00But now let's go back to that second point.
05:02If you decide to connect to one of those streaming services,
05:05YouTube, Spotify, whatever, to your watch, guess what?
05:07You can't easily switch back and forth between those different apps,
05:11nor can you switch back to controlling your media from your phone.
05:15You instead have to uninstall those streaming services each time,
05:18which is very frustrating.
05:20Garmin, please fix this.
05:23Now, something I haven't talked about yet is pricing.
05:25The Venue 4 starts at $550 for both sizes,
05:28and yes, that is a lot.
05:30For context, the Apple Watch Series 11 starts at $399 for the GPS
05:34and $499 for the cellular model.
05:36So you are paying a premium for the Garmin experience.
05:39But honestly, for the battery life alone, it's worth it to me.
05:43And if the price is out of reach for this model,
05:45Garmin does offer the Forerunner 55, which starts at $200.
05:49And I think that's worth a look
05:50if you're looking for a more budget-friendly entry point,
05:53but you'll obviously be giving up a few things.
05:59All right, if you just want the quick TLDR,
06:01here's what I found comparing the Garmin Venue 4 versus the Apple Watch.
06:05The Venue 4 is better for dedicated health, fitness, recovery tracking,
06:08and its almost two-week-long battery life is incredible.
06:11The Apple Watch, on the other hand, still has the edge for smartwatch features,
06:15especially if you rely on seamless iPhone integration,
06:18but it's going to come at the expense of needing to charge this daily.
06:21I had a few trade-offs when I left Apple,
06:23but ultimately, the Venue 4 is one of the most practical smartwatches I have ever tested,
06:28and that's why I'm giving it the Tom's Guide Likes badge.
06:30So that's been my experience with the Garmin Venue 4
06:33and why it's convinced me to switch from my Apple Watch.
06:35Make sure you stay subscribed and follow me to see what other cool tech I'm reviewing.
06:38And until the next time, I'll catch you later.
06:53Around here in the park, but we finally hit our target.
06:58BPM.
07:00Yeah, it feels good.
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