2022 has been a big year for Garmin. The company released several new devices, including the Garmin Venu 2 Plus (Jan 2022), Instinct 2 Series, Fenix 7 Series, Forerunner 255, and Forerunner 955 and we have covered them on this website. Right when we were expecting that the company will take a break in 2022, it came out with two new smartwatches: The Garmin Venu SQ 2 and Venu SQ 2 Music.
Just like its predecessor, the original Venu SQ, the Garmin Venu SQ 2 offers two additions: one that has Music support and one without. Apart from this, there is no difference between Venu SQ 2 and Venu SQ Music.
However, the new edition in the Venu lineup has several improvements over the original Venu, including an upgraded display, new sensors, and more. In this guide, we will do a Garmin Venu SQ Music vs Venu SQ 2 Music comparison and look for key differences between the two wearables.
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Venu SQ Music vs Venu SQ 2 Music Comparison: 5 Key Differences
Price:
To give you a perspective, Venu SQ came in 2020 and was available for around $200. Later a music edition was released and the price was hiked to $250.
Given the targeted audience of the watch, we were expecting the same price tag for the Garmin Venu SQ 2. However, the company surprised us by pricing it at $250 for the base model, and around $300 for the Music edition. This steep hike in price has landed the watch in direct competition with its other Garmin siblings including Vivoactive 4 and Venu 2.
Design and Display:
Venu SQ 2 has an upgraded display as compared to the original Venu SQ. The transflective MIP (Memory in Pixel) LCD panel has been replaced by an AMOLED panel. This change results in significantly improved screen clarity and brightness, both indoors and outdoors. Of course, the resolution jumped from 240x240pixels to 320 x 360 pixels.
Another significant improvement can be seen in the bezels. The new watch has traded the bezel with a larger screen size, which makes the watch look more modern. The screen size has been increased to 1.41-inch from 1.3-inch which translates into bigger and better watch faces. You can now also see more tiles on the main screen as compared to before.
The overall dimensions are the same except for the thickness which has been reduced from 11.5 to 11.1 inches in the Garmin Venu SQ 2. If you count 1g weight reduction as an improvement, then there is that as well.
Battery Performance:
Garmin wearables are well-known for their amazing battery life and the new Venu SQ 2 has been designed to further improve on that front.
The company claims a battery life of up to 11 days in smartwatch mode and 26 hours in GPS mode. These figures are almost doubled what the original Venu SQ used to offer.
This has been a groundbreaking achievement for the company. It neither increased the size nor retained the LCD screen of its predecessor and yet managed to double the battery performance.
On the software side, the ‘Battery Saver’ and ‘Battery Manager’ features that were first introduced in the Venu 2 has been carried over to the new watch. If you haven’t heard of them yet, here is a brief intro.
The ‘Battery Saver’ feature limits the resolution and brightness of the display to eke out more battery life.
The ‘Battery Manager’, on the other hand, gives you complete control over which features you want to use and when.
Health Monitoring:
All 2022 Garmin releases came equipped with the latest Elevate V4 optical heart rate sensor, and we can firmly attest to its accuracy from our experience with the Venu 2 Plus and Forerunner 955. We were expecting the same from Venu SQ 2 to feature the same sensor, and it doesn’t disappoint.
Both Venu SQ and SQ 2 tracks almost the same set of health metrics including heart rate, sleep, blood oxygen saturation, and more. However, Venu 2 SQ offers better accuracy and more details thanks to its latest sensor.
On the software side, there has been a significant transfer of features from the Venu 2 Series. For instance, take the ‘Sleep Score’ and ‘Health Snapshot’ features. Venu 2 SQ will give you a sleep score (0-100) and give you actionable insights. Similarly, the ‘Health Snapshot’ feature gives you an overview of your cardiovascular status in one place.
Navigation:
Venu SQ 2 comes equipped with the latest GPS chipset just like the FR 955, and FR 255. What does it mean for average users? Well, the new chipset is not only more accurate but also more power-efficient.
This means that you can now track your location with better accuracy without worrying about the battery life too much.
Garmin has also added ‘All Systems GNSS Mode’ that allows for better accuracy but put a serious dent in the battery performance. It works by receiving more than one satellite signal as opposed to GPS-only to better track your location in harsh environments.
The company has purposefully not added advanced features like (Dual-frequency positioning) perhaps to not undercut its more expensive Forerunner lineup.
Garmin Venu SQ Music vs Venu SQ 2 Music Comparison: Is the upgrade worth the money?
If we consider the differences between these two generations, and then in the light of our findings, the $50 premium is not huge. Especially if you consider the advantages you get.
First, there is a bigger, sharper, and a vibrant display on the Venu Sq 2 and Sq 2 Music, which itself is enough to convince many to upgrade. Next, and that is truly jaw-dropping, is almost double the battery performance offered by the new edition. And even if that fails to impress you, consider the new Elevate V4 sensor in the package.