I am testing the Vivoactive and Venu series of gamin for generations, and in the past, each line clearly meets the needs of different -different users. Vivoactive line was my recommendation for budget-conscious athletes. Venu stood as the best option of gamin for a goal smart watch Experience. With the release of germining vivoactive 6, however, the line between the two series seems to be more blurred than before, and for the first time, I am struggling to differentiate clearly between them.

Half route through test Vivoactive 6I realized that the difference between it and Venu 3 is less clear than my expectation. Both watches boast of each AMOLED display and use the same design language evenly. Both feature smooth, light polymer construction, comfortable, quick-proves silicone straps and 5atm water resistance. I wear either one without a second idea about durability or comfort. Vivoactive 6 is small and light, with an aluminum bezel instead of a stainless steel, but I still find it relatively elegant accessory, such as Venu 3.

Under the hood, both watches provide battery life over a week, so I have never been trapped with a dead device, as well as access to music storage, NFC support, and Garmin’s Connect IQ App Store. At her top, they share almost identical core health and Fitness tracking features. Venu 3 includes a new heart rate The sensor and a barometric ultimeter, but in my test, both devices proved to be remarkably accurate than my chest lease.

On both devices, users will get advanced sleep tracking, SPO2 monitoring, strong fitness tracking toolkit and highly reliable GPS. Each also offers a complete suit of gamin protection and tracking features, my phone and watch, sleep coaches and nap detection, and germin-specific favorite such as body batteries and morning reports. In short, both cover all locations.

This overlap product increases concerns about line discrimination and, for me, serves as a knock against the Venu line. The price of Vivoactive 6 is much less than $ 299, but it contains a variety of features that were once exclusive to the Venu series. Meanwhile, Venu 3 asks shopkeepers to leave $ 499. This is a hard sale when the Vivoactive 6 provides a comparable experience at the 6 more accessible price point. The cheap device is also not found in some training-specific devices, such as not found on Venu, such as additional sports mode, root and course tracking, smart wakes, and daily suggested workouts.

Of course, it is not to say that Vivoactive 6 has everything that shopkeepers may like Venu. I was the most disappointed to see that the ECG app is still missing from Vivoactive 6 (due to the old heart rate sensor). There is also additional button, metallic detailing and microphone/speaker package for Voice Assistance and Bluetooth phone call support. Still, those differences are not equal to a markup of $ 200, are they?

The positive spin is that the proximity to the feature set of Vivoactive 6 and the proximity to the offerings of Venu 3 can promote development for the Venu series. To maintain the premium status of the line, the gamin needs to be rebuilt the lineup as a true smartwatch. I, for one, I would like to see LTE support and expand the third-party app integration. This will make the Venu series more competitive with devices such as Pixel Watch 3 or Apple Watch.

Among all, Garmin Vivoactive 6 and Venu 3 are both great watches, but the line between them is getting blurred. As Vivoactive is leveled, Venu has to develop not only in price, but also in purpose. Garmin does not need to scrap either the lineup. The company needs to give a clear reason to the shopkeepers to choose only on each other.