Garmin launches Vivomove Sport hybrid watch and long-awaited Venu 2 Plus at CES 2022

(Image credit: Future)

For a long time, Garmin has been synonymous with the big, mesomorphic sports watch adorning the wrists of adventures and marathon runners. Still over the past couple of years, Garmin has been quietly trying to change this perception, releasing fettle-first smartwatches that expect dainty enough to clothing to the function, or for drinks with friends.

Today, the tech brand launches 2 new watches at CES 2022, both heading in the same direction. The Vivomove Sport and the Venu 2 Plus are both hybrid smartwatches designed to look peachy, while still tracking your steps, heart rate, and calories burned.

If the pandemic taught united states anything, it'due south that health is well-nigh far more than the steps you lot take every day, or how hard y'all worked on that i tempo run. Both of these watches are aimed at the fettle fanatic who wants to wear their sports watch 24/7, to get a full moving picture of their overall wellness — from how well they slept, to how much h2o they've managed to sip. It's an encouraging move and a nod to the bigger changes we're seeing in the fitness world right now.

Keen to get to the good chip? We've been wearing the Vivomove Sport and the Venu ii Plus for the past few weeks to bring you lot hands-on feedback on Garmin's latest releases. Read our Garmin Vivomove Sport review here, and our Garmin Venu 2 Plus review here.

Garmin Vivomove Sport

The Vivomove Sport is an entry-level fitness tracker that looks like the kind of sentry y'all used to wear earlier y'all cared well-nigh fitness. It's got the ticking hands of a traditional lookout, also as a smart display. The Vivomove Sport is as well packed with health-tracking features commonly reserved for Garmin'due south more expensive smartwatches, such as claret oxygen levels.

I like to recall of the Vivomove Sport as an upgraded version of the Vivomove HR Sport version — information technology's smaller, lighter, and has more health tracking features. Not just a pretty confront, the Vivomove Sport gives you the ability to track ten different activities, also every bit your sleep, hydration, and menstrual bike from your wrist. The spotter doesn't take in-congenital GPS, so is definitely aimed at beginners rather than marathon runners, and on-the-run, I establish it fiddly, just this, in my opinion, is a fault with the unabridged Vivomove line, non the Vivomove Sport.

That said, the affordable price point (the watch retails at $179.99) makes this a brilliant cheap fitness tracker, which easily competes with the likes of the Fitbit Charge 5. The watch is available on the Garmin website at present, and comes in four unlike colors — chocolate-brown, white, mint green, and black.

Garmin Venu two Plus

Garmin Venu 2 Plus review — (Image credit: Hereafter)

This one was a little unexpected, as the Garmin Venu 2 only launched last April, but with the Garmin Venu two Plus, Garmin has aimed to solve one of the biggest omissions from the Venu 2 — voice assistant.

To amend challenge its large-name competitors, the $449 Garmin Venu 2 Plus introduces on-wrist calls and voice assistants. While information technology maintains Garmin's reputation for thorough fettle tracking and accurate GPS, the Venu 2 Plus is now a stronger sell for those who want their smartwatch to act as an extension of their smartphone.

Garmin Venu 2 Plus calling — (Image credit: Future)

Our Senior Writer Kate Kozuch writes, "The Garmin Venu 2 Plus promises a more connected smartwatch experience than most other Garmin watches. With Android and iOS phone phone call back up, making and answering calls from my wrist was a breeze. In add-on to being able to make a phone call without earthworks for a phone, the Venu ii Plus pairs with smartphone assistants. A long printing of the watch'south eye button summoned Siri, letting me send texts or control the best HomeKit devices using my vocalisation. Those with Google Assistant- and Bixby-enabled smartphones should benefit from the aforementioned convenience."

The Venu ii Plus tin can hold upward to 650 songs, including playlists from Spotify, Amazon Music, and more. Garmin Pay, mirrored notifications, and tools like timers are also integrated into the user experience.

The Venu 2 Plus retails at $499 and is available on the Garmin website at present in all blackness, white and gilded, and greyness and silver.

See our CES 2022 live blog for all the latest product news

Jane McGuire is Tom's Guide'due south Fettle editor, which means she looks after everything fitness related - from running gear to yoga mats. An avid runner, Jane has tested and reviewed fitness products for the past 4 years, and then knows what to look for when finding a good running sentinel or a pair of shorts with pockets large enough for your smartphone. When she's not pounding the pavements, you'll notice Jane striding round the Surrey Hills, taking far besides many photos of her puppy.