The Story of How Garmin Nearly Made an Apple Watch Competitor

My review of the Garmin Venu X1

Courtesy of the author

I have a complicated relationship with Garmin watches.

I want to wear them more than I feel I have any right to. This is silly, obviously, but it stems from the fact that I only ever run 5K — and ninety-nine percent of the time, that’s on a treadmill. Garmin watches are built for people who run further, and within far more interesting and adventurous locations.

I feel like a bit of a fraud, basically. But they are lovely watches if you’re into your health tech and love a good-looking timepiece on your wrist.

This makes the Venu X1 particularly interesting. It features Garmin’s biggest ever display and its slimmest ever profile. And it’s square, not circular.

The Venu X1 appears to have one particular smartwatch firmly in its sights, doesn’t it?

Garmin Venu X1 specs and pricing

The Venu X1 costs £679.99/$799.99, which doesn’t put it in the ‘no-brainer’ category, unfortunately. That means it immediately has some work to do in terms of specs, and thankfully, it looks good on paper.

As noted earlier, the Venu X1 features Garmin’s largest ever display with a 2” AMOLED unit that benefits from…