Garmin releases new Venu 2 Plus smartwatch that answers calls from your wrist

By Jack Evans

Published: Tuesday, 04 January 2022 at 12:00 am

Garmin’s new Venu 2 Plus GPS smartwatch enables you to answer calls and send texts without delving into your jersey pocket.

Garmin says its new device syncs with your smartphone’s voice assistant to reply to messages, and you can pick up calls by pressing a button.

Starting at £399, the Venu 2 Plus costs almost twice as much as its predecessor, the Venu Sq smartwatch.

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Without navigation and route storage, the watch is equipped for day-to-day usage rather than adventures.

The Venu 2 Plus is claimed to be compatible with both Apple and Android.

And as you’d expect from the best cycling watches, the Venu 2 Plus has more than 25 indoor and outdoor activity modes. These include cycling and cross-training options such as pilates, yoga and strength work.

In addition to voice control, other upgrades include automatic incident detection, five more activity modes and extra song storage.

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The Venu 2 Plus can monitor your breathing before, during and after sessions.
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If you hit the deck, the watch can send out an alert to emergency contacts, according to Garmin. The brand’s LiveTrack technology is designed to let loved ones follow your location.

Many of the watch’s 24/7 health and performance-tracking features, such as sleep score, will interest cyclists.

But without route storage and GPS breadcrumb navigation, the Venu Plus 2 is more of a lifestyle and health monitoring device.

Garmin says its Body Battery technology monitors your energy levels, taking account of the impact of stress and exercise.

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The Venu 2 Plus looks like a lifestyle watch and can be used to track recovery.

The watch has some women’s-specific features, such as menstrual cycle and pregnancy tracking.

The Venu 2 Plus’ heart rate alerts are meant to warn you if your heart rate is abnormally high or low.

Garmin claims you can pick from pre-loaded workouts, or create and upload your own with the Connect app. Free training plans can be obtained from the brand’s Coach app.

Garmin says the Venu 2 Plus can store up to 650 songs, including playlists from the likes of Spotify.

Garmin Pay and contactless payment capability should allow purchases to be made at the wrist.

Smart notifications for calls, texts, calendar reminders, social media updates and breaking news stories can be enabled, according to Garmin.

Claimed battery life is nine days in smartwatch mode and eight hours in GPS and music mode.

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The battery should have enough juice to last a week without a charge.
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Garmin claims 10 minutes of rapid battery recharging boosts battery life by a day in smartwatch mode and an hour in the GPS setting.

The brand says three side buttons are made from stainless steel and the same material surrounds the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 touchscreen.

The Venu 2 Plus comes in white, black and light grey, with matching straps as standard and the option to customise.

Garmin has also released the vivomove Sport hybrid, costing £159, with fashionable looks and smartwatch technology.