Garmin Venu 4 tested: a smart combination of sport and health
5.11.2025
Translation: machine translated
The Garmin Venu 4 covers all your heart's desires for leisure sports and everyday life. However, the seemingly endless possibilities of the sports and smartwatch make it difficult to use.
My old Garmin Venu 3s is my daily companion for sports and sleep analysis. However, there are a few things that annoy me, such as the unreliable night mode or the poor music operation during sport. That's where the new Venu 4 comes in handy. It tops its predecessor with a whole host of new sports, a significantly longer battery life and an illuminating gimmick: a built-in LED torch.
Display and design: elegant and varied
One visual innovation immediately catches my eye. In addition to the stainless steel bezel, the case is now also partly made of stainless steel instead of pure polymer. This makes the Garmin Venu 4 look more elegant than its predecessor, the Garmin 3(s), but also a little chunkier. The weight remains the same: my version with a diameter of 41 millimetres weighs 46 grammes including the strap. Previously it was 40 grammes. I don't notice the slight difference.
Garmin has also adapted the buttons. The Venu 3 had three, now there are only two: one round and one oval. This is good enough overall, as both buttons are used twice - depending on whether I press short or long.
The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. This is already installed in the Venu 3, but unfortunately scratches quickly. The angular frame also shows signs of wear quickly. So if you want to be on the safe side, I recommend a film or a protective case.
The AMOLED display has the same good resolution as before with 390 pixels on the 41mm version. However, it appears a little brighter. The design of the watch face can be customised via the app «Connect IQ» on the smartphone. I don't understand why Garmin uses a separate application for the design and watch apps than for the health data. To make matters worse, the second app has almost the same name: «Connect».
The plastic wristband supplied is comfortable. However, the one on my predecessor looked pretty ugly after a few months. At least they are compatible with each other and with other Garmin models. This extends the choice extremely, from silicone to textile to leather.
Hardware: more battery life is always good
A new, practical feature is the physical LED torch. I activate it using the oval button on the side. A white light then shines at the top edge, which I can adjust in intensity or switch to red as required. This LED light is much brighter than the solution of the Garmin Venu 3 with a white display as a torch.
The Garmin Venu 4 lasts two days longer in everyday use than the Venu 3. With my 41mm version, this means a battery life of around eight to ten days. With the always-on display, it's three to four. According to Garmin, I could even manage around 18 days in energy-saving mode. Previously, it was two days less on average. I am satisfied. According to Garmin, the 45mm versions manage another two days on top of that.
I recharge the watch with Garmin's 4-pin connector on the back in around one and a half hours. I don't particularly like the connector because the deep notch likes to collect dirt. So far, however, I've got away with rinsing it out regularly in the shower.
Other than that, the hardware remains true to its predecessor. For example, with the eight gigabytes of internal memory for apps and music. In terms of water resistance, Garmin has again rated the watch at 5ATM. This means that it can withstand a static pressure that theoretically exists at a depth of 50 metres. In practice, I can therefore shower, bathe and swim on the surface without any problems. However, the Venu 4 is not intended for diving.
Garmin has improved the software here
The Garmin Venu 4 offers over 80 sports, which is 50 more than the Venu 3. For me, that's far more than I ever need. My sporting ambitions are mainly limited to fitness, swimming, yoga, skipping and squash. If I want to combine several sports in one training session, I can easily do this by selecting «Multisport».
The results after my workouts provide similar values to its predecessor, but it now also shows me the training effect in the diagrams. In other words, how long I trained in the aerobic and anaerobic zones.
Garmin has also worked on other minor issues. For example, the night mode now finally works reliably and ends automatically when I get up in the morning. This also favours a more accurate sleep tracking result. I can also now see if my breathing pattern has changed - if I want it to be recorded.
A second example is the improved timer. With the old watch, I often didn't set it by mistake because I had to confirm it twice.
Garmin has made the software worse here
For each activity, Garmin adjusts what is shown on the display. The displays are comparable to the predecessor, Garmin has revised the menus with more text instead of icons. More options are cool, but it looks cluttered.
Operation has often become more cumbersome because I have to select too much even for simple things. If I just want to end the training and save, I have to confirm this three times.
If I sit around being lazy for too long, my old Garmin Venu 3 notices this and reminds me to get moving. The new reminder on the Venu 4 doesn't work as well and reminds me to move while I'm tidying up or doing something else. It misses the mark and I deactivate the function for the time being.
I'm still not satisfied with Garmin's solution for music during training. To upload music via a streaming service, I have to load Spotify, Deezer or Amazon Music onto the watch. Youtube Music or (my subscribed service) Tidal are not available.
In addition, I now have to explicitly set which source the watch should use (internal memory, app, smartphone) instead of automatically recognising when music is playing on the smartphone. During training, I still don't see the music on the watch. Suppliers such as Polar automatically add a slide with the music playing in training mode.
Better habits with lifestyle logging
The Garmin Venu 4 measures heart rate, steps and sleep and gives me information about my results. With the Venu 3s, I was annoyed by the regular flood of information. At some point, for example, I no longer needed any explanations about my results. Garmin has now cleverly solved this problem: I can display information about my measurement results via an info button. Otherwise, I am only shown the measured figures.
In addition to my measurement results, the watch now provides me with a summarised report on sleep, energy levels and appointments in the morning. In the evening, there is a review of the body battery and whether I have already activated an alarm clock. I find the reports practical, but I can simply skip them or switch them off completely if I want.
With the new lifestyle logging, I enter daily habits that I want to change or manifest. To do this, I choose a few items from Garmin's seemingly endless list. I decide on coffee consumption, reading in the evening and migraine logging. Now I can enter how much coffee I've drunk, whether I've had a headache today and remind myself to read a book in the evening instead of scrolling through Instagram. If I forget to enter something, I get a reminder in the evening report. Garmin has not yet implemented this function properly: it mixes German and English.
By making daily entries, I have an overview of my behaviour and how my body might react. For example, Garmin shows me in a diagram how much coffee I drank and whether I slept more restlessly afterwards. On average, the Garmin recorded a lower stress level when I read before going to bed - unsurprising but good to know.
In a nutshell
Definitely an upgrade
The Garmin Venu 4 has become noticeably better in many respects. With two more days of battery life, more accurate tracking and a stylish user interface, it is superior to its predecessor. The extensive options are also great, but make operation complex and require familiarisation. In some respects, Garmin has taken a step backwards in terms of operation and design. The display should also be more robust.
In addition to the more extensive sports functions, it also performs well in everyday life with the smartwatch functions of its predecessor, as well as new lifestyle logging, a better timer and a new physical LED light.
If you want a stylish companion for hobbies and everyday life alike, the Garmin Venu 4 could be a good option. However, as an all-round package, it is not particularly cheap. It currently costs 450 francs or 500 euros.
Its predecessor, the Garmin Venu 3(s), has slightly fewer options and sports, but is also less overloaded. It also saves you around 100 francs or euros.
Pro
- Practical morning and evening reports
- Lifestyle logging for good habits
- Over 80 sports to choose from
- Built-in LED torch
Contra
- Operation often cumbersome
- overloaded design
- Two smartphone apps required
- Scratch-prone display
Header image: Michelle Brändle
In my world, Super Mario chases Stormtroopers with a unicorn and Harley Quinn mixes cocktails for Eddie and Peter at the beach bar. Wherever I can live out my creativity, my fingers tingle. Or maybe it's because nothing flows through my veins but chocolate, glitter and coffee.
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