With sports in life: five fresh Garmin smartwatches

The first specialized Garmin smartwatches for fans of water sports entered the arena in 2012. The model had a prosaic name Swim. Today, the second generation of these "smart" watches rules the market.

Garmin Swim 2 are designed for swimming in pools and open water bodies. They monitor the frequency of contractions of the heart muscle (including underwater), track the pace of overcoming the distance, the number and type of strokes, draw graphs based on the results of training. In the traditional role of a sports watch, the gadget keeps track of the steps taken, records the jogging track according to the GPS satellite system, monitors the stress level of the body.

The watch is sharpened in a plastic case with dimensions of 42 mm. The display of the model is transflective without touch control support. The image is broadcast on it in a resolution of 208x208 pixels. Taking into account wasteful energy consumption, the device "lives" on a single battery charge for 7 days in normal use and up to 13 hours in a row with the GPS tracking function active.

Of course, smartwatches are not afraid of water, duplicate notifications from a paired smartphone, and allow you to control a music player. That's just there is no own memory on board the model, as well as there is no support for the Garmin Pay payment system due to the absence of an NFC. Garmin Swim 2 is a real godsend for amateur swimmers and has the necessary arsenal of smart functions that will be useful in everyday life.

At the beginning of 2021, the range of Garmin smartwatches was replenished with an interesting Lily model, which is addressed to the fair sex. This is an elegant watch for sophisticated women's wrists with a bet on an elegant appearance.

The model is made in a round form factor with a front panel diameter of about 34.5 mm. It has a monochrome TFT screen with 16 shades of grey assigned to the role of the dial. For the future, the display is supported by touch control. Gorilla Glass 3 protective glass is installed on top of it. The watch is presented on store shelves in the versions Sport (aluminium case, silicone strap) and Classic (stainless steel case, leather strap to match it).

In terms of smart functions, Garmin Lily registers the number of steps taken, workouts (running, swimming, cycling, yoga, etc.), monitors sleep quality, determines stress levels and blood oxygen saturation, tracks menstrual cycles and pregnancy. The watch is paired with the Garmin Connect branded application.

In comparison with the "classmates" from the Garmin portfolio, the watch still lacks "smart" functions. So, the model does not have an NFC, a built-in GPS module and an internal storage device for storing music tracks. All this is present on board the related Garmin Venu Sq Music smartwatch from the same price category of wearable devices. The last point of the programme of a close acquaintance with the gadget is battery life. The watch stays "afloat" without recharging for 4-5 days. The emphasis in the model is put on feminine style, and the developed functionality is relegated to the background here.

With the appearance of the Sq prefix in the expanded naming, the Garmin Venu smartwatch has been radically transformed — instead of a round dial, the model has got a square AMOLED screen at its disposal and has acquired a built—in audio player (only in the Music modification).

The focus of the redesigned case of the smartwatch is a colour touchscreen display with a diagonal of 1.3" and a resolution of 240x240 pixels. Switching between desktops on it is done by swipes. The user has the right to add the most frequently used sports activities to the main screen, view heart rate charts, and control music playback. Fortunately, the model has the ability to broadcast audio tracks from an internal storage device to Bluetooth headphones in everyday use when connected to a smartphone.

The electronic brain of a smartwatch recognizes over two dozen activities. These include walking, running, cycling, swimming in the pool, strength training, rowing, etc. A separate item of the programme is navigation — the registration of user location data is "managed" by the built-in GPS geolocation module. In the active GPS tracking mode, coupled with music playback, the battery life of the model reaches 6 hours. In general, the watch can last up to 2 weeks in a row without recharging.

In everyday life, the "carriers" of the gadget will positively evaluate the possibility of making contactless payments in the Garmin Pay system. But what the device lacks in the context of the same previous generation is additional training metrics and drawing exercise animations. Moreover, all this was in the first model from the Venu line.

Garmin Instinct Tactical Tactical watches are designed to work in the most difficult conditions. They are not afraid of thermal and shock effects, withstand dives to a depth of 100 m and accurately track the location of the "carrier" according to GPS satellites. But about everything in order.

The sturdy case of the watch made of polymer plastic is protected in accordance with the requirements of the American military standard MIL-STD-810G. The main character of the model is a non—touch monochrome screen with diagonal dimensions of about 0.9". The display has a special night vision mode, in which the backlight brightness settings are reduced to the level when the backlight does not interfere with the operation of night vision goggles.

Garmin Instinct Tactical has a dual-frequency GPS receiver with a stealth mode function to protect against data transmission about the user's location. Also, in stealth mode, all active wireless connections are disabled. A 3-axis compass and an onboard barometric altimeter help to keep the right course. Another notable feature is the TrackBack function for building a return road.

In a more traditional role, the model tracks the intensity of the user's training, measures his pulse, monitors the stress of the body. The charge of the watch lasts for 14 days in daily use and 16 hours with active GPS monitoring of coordinates. But there are no excesses in the manner of support for the Garmin Pay payment system in smartwatches — this prerogative was left to more mundane instances of wearable devices from an American manufacturer.

The Vivomove 3 model is very popular in the Garmin hybrid smartwatch shelf. Its improved version is a designer modification of Style, which boasts a double AMOLED screen under the arrow dial and support for contactless payment for purchases in the Garmin Pay system.

The watch has a hybrid dial with mechanical hands and a dual touch screen as a substrate. The display lights up when you touch it with your fingers. For the convenience of reading information from it, the arrows automatically become "9:15" at the time. After performing the necessary manipulations with the screen, they automatically return to their original position, showing the current time. The watch is made in a round aluminium case.

The skills of the model are reduced to duplicating notifications from a smartphone, round-the-clock tracking of user activity parameters, monitoring energy and stress of the body. Garmin Vivomove Style also monitors the quality of sleep, water balance and women's cycles. The recorded indicators are transmitted to the Garmin Connect mobile application for a smartphone.

The watch is compatible with 20mm quick-release straps, is characterized by autonomous operation for 5 days, is not afraid of deep diving at 50 m. An even more stylish version of them is the luxury modification Luxe, the body of which is coated with a 24K gold coating.