The Garmin Venu SQ is a new arrival in the booming smartwatch market. It is priced at a midrange level to make it an affordable and appealing choice.

Durability is important in any smartwatch, and the Garmin Venue SQ sports a fibre-reinforced polymer case should make it a tough device although the anodized aluminium bezel that surrounds the glass boosts the aesthetic appeal. Overall, the case is compact and comfortable, measuring in at 40.6 x 37 x 11.5 mm, with the ability to support 20 mm bands. It also has a quick-release pin system for attaching new bands.

The menus are easy to navigate, while the operating system delivers fast performance. Activity tracking covers a huge range of sports and exercises. For example, the heart sensor can detect irregular heart rates, and the pulse oximeter function tracks blood oxygen levels. The Venu SQ also promises to be something of a statistics whiz: it will count how many times you breathe each minute, your heart rate, and how much of your blood is saturated in oxygen. Information like this can be used in a variety of ways e.g. to calculate how stressed you are. High stress levels will prompt the watch to remind you to take a moment of mindfulness, or a deep breath!

Obviously, the Venu SQ can’t effectively display all of this info on-screen at once. But that's where one of its most innovative features comes into its own. Widgets are employed to quickly give you the info you require simply by swiping from the top and bottom of the screen, instead of searching through a long menu.

Conclusions

In an increasingly crowded smartwatch field, the Garmin Venu SQ will stand out for its affordability, versatility and functionality. Hence, it is worth checking out. It currently retails as low as $369 inclusive of GST in the local marketplace. More information is available on Garmin's NZ site.