2. Music. So lets talk about design first, and what i will say is that the venue two plus is very similar to the venue two and essentially its very hard to distinguish between the two. Actually, until you really kind of dig in to what they offer in terms of specs um, if we look at the venue two plus first, which has a 43 millimeter case, it has the same size and resolution screen as the venue 2 um. It has the same 20 millimeter interchangeable, straps, um, and you can and garmin offers its own kind of official silicon and uh theres. A leather strap as well that you can also get with this watch as well. Um now on the venue, two plus youre, getting three physical buttons instead of the two physical buttons that you get on the venue two and that is uh connected to the fact that youre getting a microphone and a speaker on the venue two plus, which you dont Get on the venue two and thats because of any two plus officers voice features, so the ability to take uh calls um to act uh to activate and to access your smart assistant on your phone over bluetooth um. In terms of the the case, the bezel um, the kind of heart rate, monitoring kind of setup youre getting here, theyre all very much similar across these two watches youre, getting some kind of different bezel kind of color options, but essentially from a design point of view.
Theyre near identical now for me in terms of experience of having these watches and wearing these watches, while running the difference in case size, i dont think makes a major difference its a little bit extra thickness and heaviness on the venue two plus compared to the venue Too, but i dont think you really notice it if, im being perfectly honest, um, theyre comfortable watches, to wear, i think, theyre a good size to wear if youre tracking your runs, if youre wearing it all day, if youre tracking your sleep as well, theyre, not big Bulky watches to wear so, if youre thinking about how they differ in terms of design, essentially youre getting a smaller case, size or a larger case size on the venue too, compared to the venue, 2 plus um youre, getting the same screen, quality, uh youre, just getting The same always on just display option youll get, i think, youre really gaining a lot in terms of the looks and designs of these watches. If you go for one over the other, obviously youre getting the extra functionality which well get into next, but ultimately from a design perspective very similar, different sizes, but ultimately very similar in terms of looks uh and what they like to live with. So, in terms of features again pretty much identical with these watches theres a couple of key things that youre going to get on the venue 2, plus that you wont get on the venue 2, its highly unlikely you will get on the venue too either as well.
At a later date, so venue 2 plus has the microphone and speaker which enables access to your smartphone um voice assistant and also gives you the ability to um make calls from the watch as well. And those obviously have to be paired to your phone to be able to do that, and you can also make calls through garmins kind of safety and incident detection features as well. Where previously you would only have to be able to do it from your phone. You can now do it from your watch on the venue 2 plus in terms of those software features youre getting the same things in terms of the sports modes that are supported in terms of the metrics you can expect to see in terms of smartwatch features. So things like garmin pay uh the music player, which offers kind of the same kind of storage capacity, so its, i think around 650 songs. It will work with spotify um terms of other things. Oh features like the fitness age that was introduced um on the venue. 2, which kind of is a bit more reliable than what weve got the original venue in terms of assessing your current level of fitness, um kind of vo2 max youre, getting um similar in terms of the battery life? Actually, the venue two plus kind of promises, a couple of days less than the venue two, but ultimately i think youre gon na get a weeks worth of training out of them its the same eight hours, um of um gps permits with music streaming as well.
Um youre still getting the quick charging feature on both of these watches as well um, which is quite nice to have there. Although the battery life is pretty solid, um overall, things like um on the wellness monitoring, so the body battery energy monitor um, the kind of health snapshot feature which which was debited on the venue 2, is also the venue 2 plus stress, monitoring, um respiration rate data. All those things are kind of here, sleep, tracking, the experience and again the experience for me is very similar, i think um, what youre getting similar to similar data similar in terms of presentation of data, i still think from sleep tracking performance, its still a little bit. Um over in terms of capturing duration, but actually the breakdown of sleep is pretty um similar. I think in comparison to the other sleep devices ive compared it to and for those kind of core running uh features that youre getting here or hoping to get here. Theyre near identical, apart from those extras in terms of the voice features and also what youre getting in terms of the ability to handle, calls and take calls from the venue, 2 plus as well Music. So what is it like to run with the venue 2 and the venue 2 plus now? For me, i would say these watches are near identical in terms of the experience that i have had with them, wearing them uh the data that i got from them, where they, where i think they their strengths, are where their weaknesses are as a as watches as Well, youre definitely going to get a richer experience from a garment forum in terms of analytics, but what youre getting here is a mix of smart watch and sports watch features and from that point of view i think youre getting something really strong and i think compelling Here, in terms of what else is out there um, but the big difference is here really um on the fact youre getting a slightly smaller watch case.
I think um on the venue two plus, but i dont think it makes a major difference from a running experience. Um for me and then youre getting those voice features which you can access during your run, um, which im not gon na, be a big deal for most people. It wasnt a big deal for me. I didnt feel i needed to have to kind of access. My smart assistant readily during my runs but its there. If you want it, and i think it works well, but also, i think, the safety and incident detection integration, which means you can make those calls if you get into you, know a situation where you cant reach. For your phone, then thats good to be able to have that on the venue, 2 plus and its something you care about, and obviously its offering that kind of support. You know on the venue 2 plus, but from a kind of running performance in terms of data. I still think gps and tracking is solid. I still think heart rate monitoring, still struggles at higher intensity and even kind of steadier runs, but you do have the capacity and the capability to pair it with external heart rate, monitors and and other sensors as well. So from a kind of round performance, i think you can cant really separate these two watches and i think if you go for one other, the other youre gon na get similar performance on the other um watch as well.
For me and thats what i found in my experience, the watches kind of spit out similar data um, the good stuff and also the bad stuff, so yeah from a running performance. I think these two watches are pretty much identical. The only real difference is, you are getting access to that voice, support features and if you care about that, then great go for the venue, 2 plus, but ultimately from a running performance, theyre pretty much identical Music. Okay, so which one do you pick? Do you go for the venue 2 or the venue 2 plus now? For me, it really kind of boils down to a couple of things. Do you really care about the size of the venue 2, which its a 45 millimeter case and i think its quite a nice size watch the benny 2 plus is 43 millimeters, but i dont think it makes a major difference because you get because youre getting the Same screen on there same uh resolution i think similar in terms of the weights and what its like to wear day in day out and for running uh and then theres those voice features. Now, if you really care about being able to kind of access, siri, bixby or a google assistant from your watch – and you run with your phone as well, because you dont have that extra cellular connectivity, then thatll be another reason to go for the venue. 2. Plus. The venue 2 on paper does give you a little bit more battery life in terms of kind of smart watch mode, but essentially youre getting something thats worth a week on both of these watches youre, getting the same kind of quick charging here as well um, if It was me picking, i would probably go for the venue 2.
I think the running performance is pretty much identical to what youre getting the venue two plus, and it is a bit cheaper as well, and you can probably pick it up for a lot less as well. Now as well. Now the venue two pluses here um its also probably worth worth mentioning the venue sq as well, which which is the cheapest option in the venue range it doesnt, have that um amoled display it loses some of the functionality youre getting on the venue too. And if i was looking at that in comparison to these two, i would probably still go for the venue too. I think its worth kind of going for that paying for that extra kind of screen resolution the size and i think the tracking performance and also kind of small watch feature youre getting so the venue 2 plus isnt a bad watch it just its really boils down Those couple of things i think, which are not going to be a big deal for most people, but if i had to pick, i would probably still go for the venue too, with any two plus is a lovely kind of watch as well, and you know youre Paying extra for those kind of voice features um, ultimately, which will be a big deal for some people for a lot of people. It wont um, but a nice addition to the family. I guess itd be interesting to see how um garmin develop uh those kind of um voice features and what else it kind of brings to the table in terms of that support.
So there you have it thats how the garmin venue 2 plus compares to the garmin venue too.l_yFNqU3n2Q
