DUEL: Garmin Venu 2S vs Huawei Watch GT 3 42 mm

Tags: Fight | Garmin | Huawei | Women's | Smart | Fashion

30.12.2022 | 8 MIN

A duel breaking all know and done – America versus China – this is exactly what you're about to witness. Do you think you know the winner? Because both the Garmin Venu 2S and the Huawei Watch GT 3 42 mm bring a lot of things to the table, and I can't decide who the overall winner is.

Although today is all about women's watches, I do believe that men should start paying a bit of attention. At least if they wish to gift the right watch to their partner.

Both models are designed elegantly, and both add to this by the smart features. Right from the start, I can tell you that Huawei leads with the option of calling using your watch, while Garmin's the option of paying is well-known. Other features are pretty similar.

Design – Two different model peas in one pod

About both of the models, we could say that they are beautiful and, well, kind of models. But both of these models is a different kind of a model.

When looking at the Huawei watch, everyone thinks to themselves that it is a lovely watch with a nicely done case. The PVD coating in gold colour gives the watch shine, just like the steel case. It is a 42-mm of thorough, well-done work. On the case, there are two buttons. One of them was made into a rotatable crown, which can be used to scroll down the menu for example. The watch holds onto your hand with either a white leather strap, or Milanese loop in the colour of the case. Both come as Quick Release 20 mm straps, meaning you will have no problems switching them.

Venu 2S is trying to have the perfect case which combines the best of both worlds. The worlds being the world of modelling and the world of sport. In order to do that, the bezel, buttons, and claps are made from metal, the 40-mm / 1.57" case is plastic, and it is combined with a silicone or a leather strap.

Comparing the beauty of cases (pronounced: models) is never easy. Garmin's advantage is the wider choice of colours while Huawei released only two models – on metal and on leather. Huawei is also a bit heavier (70 grams with a metal bracelet, less with a leather one). Garmin weighs 38 grams with the silicone strap.

Were I to choose a pure city guy out of these two, it would be the Huawei Watch GT3. But if we wanted elegance with sporty charm, it would be the Venu 2S. For me, the winner of the category of design is Huawei.

Display – AMOLED all the way

Both displays are AMOLED and both are amazing to look at. The size of the Garmin display is 1.1" with the resolution of 360 x 360 pixels. With a case bigger only by 2 mm, Huawei managed to fit in the resolution of 466 x 466 pixels into the case of 1.32". It is very nice to look at, indeed.

If I had to choose the winner, I would give bonus points to Huawei watches for the display. It is truly amazing. Plus, in my opinion, the interface is somewhat smoother than the Garmin's.

I would protect both of these glasses with a screen protector as both protrude from the case, and it would be a pity to scratch them.

Sensors – 8 + 1 bonus

When it comes to the sensors, it is a tie. The tiest tie. Both models have the same exact number of sensors – accelerometer, barometer, gyroscope, compass, SpO₂, heart rate, thermometer, altimeter, and GPS. There is not much I could say to that. If you're waiting for the moment when I say that Huawei is less precise, you would be waiting for a long time.

Both models measure both the GPS and the heart rate extraordinarily accurately. It was confirmed in a video by The Quantified Scientist, in which Huawei was said to be a bit better than Garmin. However, I see them as equals in this matter, that's why this category doesn't have a winner. Or, if you will, it has two winners.

Battery – Great in both

Although according to the manuals and written data the Venu 2S lasts longer, both models have excellent battery life. Especially taking into account the features these watches use and the size of their displays.

Huawei's side seems to be a bit empty as unfortunately, as they do not provide the battery life when using GPS. Huawei only stated under which circumstances the battery life is 7 days.

What I should bring up in connection with battery, is that Huawei will nicely surprise you with a magnetic charger and quick charging, which will get your battery at 100 % in under one hour. In all Garmin's model, the charger will get you at 100 % in hour and a half.

To sum up, Garmin is the winner when it comes to battery life.

Sport – Both will get you moving

Although the watches are more suitable for the city, the producers still thought about sport features. Even though Garmin puts all of its greatest sport features only into the sport models, Venu 2S still has something for you. All the features that a mortal needs, only without trail running, all the basic metrics. This all is topped with a muscle map to show you what parts of the body were used most when running and animated exercises.

Huawei is trying to go more into depth, but without the animated exercises. The watch can offer, for example, a detailed analysis of your workout, regeneration time, rate of aerobic and anaerobic time, VO₂ Max and other metrics. You can also use the navigation by track and tens of useless sports which only show the time, heart rate, and calories. This is what brings down the attempt at seriousness on Huawei's side.

I'm going to let Dominik's, my colleague's, opinion decide this category.

If this duel included a Garmin sports watch, that one would definitely win all the way in this category. If the GT 3 was faced by the Forerunner 255 for example, it would stand no chance against it. But this is the Venu 2S we are talking about, which has only a limited selection of sport features (no training status, rate of strain, navigation by track, nothing...). For this reason, the Huawei Watch GT 3 is the winner for me. Never mind that it is a brand focused on the city life, the sport features are better.

High-level fitness features

Let's admit it, most of us wants to know how many steps we've taken, how many flights we've climbed and how many calories we burned only to know how many sweets or salty treats we can eat. Both of the models show the basics, the steps, heart rate (measured every second), minutes of intensive activity, and the level of your stress.

Garmin counts the flight we've climbed, better sleep values, measures your Body Battery (how charged your body is on a scale of 0 to 100) and heath snapshot(which measures the average value of the most important metrics in 2 minutes). To mention other features, you might also use the menstrual cycle calendar or logging how many glasses of water you've drunk so far in a day.

On the other hand, Huawei records the number of steps taken in a kilometre, and the option to help you lead a healthy lifestyle when the watch reminds you to exercise, walk, stay hydrated and so on.

In this category, I would give it to Garmin for more thought-out features and more accurate sleep values.

Smart features? Another tie.

There are usually two types of people who are looking for a watch. One type are those who demand taking calls on their wrist, and the other one are those who want to pay with their wrist. I myself belong to the second group, but I still think the first group has a point.

The watches are as if divided according to the categories just described. Even though the Huawei Watch GT 3 has an NFC chip inside, you cannot pay with it. However, you can use it to call if your phone is nearby. Garmin? Complete opposite. You can't use it to call, but you can use it to pay.

If you want Garmin's best of both worlds, which can manage phone calls and your payments, I recommend you check out the Garmin Venu 2 Plus.

Of course, there are more smart features to be talked about other than calling and paying. I can mention for example the useful storage for music in both watches. Garmin's storage is big enough for up to 650 songs, and my phone tells me that Huawei's storage is 1.7 GB. Garmin's advantage is that you can connect it with a streaming service. That means no more stealing some MP3, just connect it to your premium streaming service!

Another function are responses to texts/notifications. Garmin allows you to respond to almost any type of notification. Messenger, texts, WhatsApp, ... Huawei's approach is a bit strange since from the beginning, you are able to respond to almost anything except for the good ol' SMS. As an old-fashioned guy, it is something that gets me quite angry – when I receive an SMS, I can't respond to it using a pre-set message.

Besides all of these, you can count on the basics like an alarm clock, timer, find my phone feature, weather, and torch.

As I wrote, when it comes to smart features, it is a tie. It's up to you what your preferences are and what you need the most.

To sum up

Looking at both models, and I've been looking for some time now, I see two beautiful models which are suitable to decorate the wrist of any lady.

If we're talking elegance and design, I would choose Huawei as the winner. On the other hand, for someone who is more into sports and needs to pay, but also wants to wear a dress in combination with their watch, why not choose Garmin?

However, we definitely need a woman's input, so let's see what my colleague Agáta has to say about this issue:

When it comes to women's smart watches, the manufacturers seem to forget that there are women (I would say a lot of them) who want not only a smart device on their wrist, but also an elegant device. However, we mostly see purely sporty, or at least sporty/elegant watches.

That's why the Huawei Watch GT 3 42 mm is something like a small watch-miracle. Metal case, Milanese strap, and in a nice golden shade. I could imagine wearing it with a dress or with a more formal outfit.

For sporty women, I would choose the Garmin Venu 2S (or the Venu 2 Plus since the size of the Plus one is still suitable for smaller wrist). It might not have as many smart features in this sense, but if you carry your phone with you all the time, you won't need them anyway. But when it comes to sport activities, the watch handles that with no problem, and I trust Garmin a bit more in this area.

Both models offer only their own finest, so it's hard to choose the clear 100-percent winner. If you're looking for a watch to take to a city with adequate sport features, I would recommend the Huawei Watch GT 3 42 mm. If you want more of a city-inspired look but need some features for your trainings by one of the best brands on the market, go for the Garmin Venu 2S.

So, which ones would you choose?