If you’re looking to get a smartwatch that can help you track your fitness metrics and reach more fitness goals, Fitbit Sense and Garmin Venu are most likely to be recommended. These two are some of the best fitness smartwatches you can buy. While Fitbit Sense was recently released alongside Versa 3 and has more health tracking features that include ECG, EDA stress, and body temperature sensor, Garmin Venu features incidental fall detection, blood oxygen tracking, and a host of other fitness tracking features. These two share a lot in common and in this comparison post, we compare the differences between Fitbit Sense vs Garmin Venu to help you make the right choice.
Fitbit Sense vs Garmin Venu Full Specifications Compared
| Fitbit Sense | Garmin Venu | |
|---|---|---|
 |  | |
ABOUT DEVICE | ||
| Device name | Fitbit Sense | Garmin Venu |
| Device type | Sport/Fitness smartwatch | Sport/Fitness smartwatch |
| Predessesor | __ | Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music |
| Successor | Fitbit Sense 2 | Garmin Venu 2 |
| Released date | September, 2020 | September, 2019 |
| Ideal for | Unisex | Unisex |
DISPLAY | ||
| Display type | AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Display size | 1.58 inches | 1.2 inch |
| Display resolution | 336 x 336 pixel | 390 x 390 pixels |
| Pixel density | 300.74 PPI | -- |
| Input type | Touchscreen Haptic button | Touchscreen plus 2 physical button |
| Always-on | Yes | Yes |
| Customizable watch face | Yes | Yes |
BODY | ||
| Shape | Square/curved | Circular |
| Dimension | 40.5 x 40.5 x 12.4 mm | 43.2 x 43.2 x 12.4 mm |
| Weight | -- | 46.3 grams |
| Casing material | Aluminum | Fiber-reinforced polymer with polymer rear cover |
| Strap/band material | Silicone | Silicone |
| Bezel Material | Stainless steel | Stainless steel |
| Strap size | 140 - 180 mm (small) 180 - 220 mm (large) | 20mm |
| Interchangeable band | Yes | Yes, 20mm |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | Corning Gorilla glass 3 |
| Water resistant/Protection | Yes, 5ATM | Yes, 5ATM |
| Swim-proof | Yes, recommended | Yes, recommended |
| Color(s) | Carbon/graphite Lunar white/soft gold | Gold/black Rose gold/tan Silver/dark gray Black/black |
MEMORY | ||
| RAM | -- | -- |
| Internal storage | About 4GB | 4GB |
| Memory card slot | No | No |
CONNECTIVITY | ||
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth v5.0 LE | Bluetooth smart v4.2 LE, ANT+ |
| Bluetooth calling | Yes | No |
| Wi-Fi | Yes | Yes |
| NFC | Yes | Yes |
| Payment system | Fitbit Pay | Garmin pay |
| GPS | GPS/GLONASS | GPS/GLONASS/Galileo |
CELLULAR TECHNOLOGY | ||
| Technology | No | No |
| SIM | No | No |
| Band | No | No |
NOTIFICATIONS | ||
| Email alert | Yes | Yes |
| SMS alert | Yes | Yes |
| Calls alert | Yes | Yes |
| Event reminder | Yes | Yes |
| Weather | Yes | Yes |
| Third-party apps | Yes | Yes |
| Text response | Yes | Yes |
FITNESS TRACKING | ||
| Sleep apnea | No | No |
| Sleep tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Steps | Yes | Yes |
| Floors climbed | Yes | Yes |
| Heart rate monitoring | Yes | Yes |
| Calories | Yes | Yes |
| Distance | Yes | Yes |
| Stress | Yes | Yes |
| VO2 Max. | Yes | Yes |
| Blood oxygen | Yes | Yes |
| Blood pressure | No | No |
| Menstrual cycle tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Swim tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Under-water heart rate tracking | No | Yes |
| Preloaded maps | No | No |
| On-screen workout modes | Yes | Yes |
| Triathlon mode | No | Yes |
| ECG Tracking | Yes | No |
| Preloaded sport modes | Yes, 20 | Yes |
| Safety tracking | No | Yes |
MEDIA | ||
| Audio | mp3/mp4 | mp3/mp4 |
| Music streaming | No | Yes |
| Bluetooth music | Yes | Yes |
| Radio | No | No |
| Loudspeaker | Yes | No |
| Microphone | Yes | No |
| Camera | No | No |
SENSORS | ||
PLATFORM | ||
| Operating system (OS) | Fitbit OS | Proprietary OS |
| Chipset | -- | -- |
| CPU | -- | -- |
| GPU | -- | -- |
BATTERY | ||
| Type of battery | Non-removable lithium polymer | Non-removable Li-ion battery |
| Battery capacity | -- | -- |
| Battery life | Mixed usage: up to 6 days+ | Smartwatch mode: Up to 5 days GPS mode with music: Up to 6 hours |
| Charging type | USB based charging dock | USB charging cable |
| Charging time | About 1-30 mins | About 1-2 hours |
| Battery saver mode | Yes | Yes |
| Solar power | No | No |
| Rapid charging | Yes | No |
CLOCK FEATURES | ||
| Time/Date | Yes | Yes |
| Stopwatch | Yes | Yes |
| Alarm | Yes | Yes |
OTHER FUNCTIONS | ||
| Control camera | Yes | Yes |
| Music control | Yes | Yes |
| Find phone | Yes | Yes |
MISC | ||
| Compatibility | Android 8.0+, IOS 14.0+ Check supported devices | Android and iOS Check if your device is compatible |
| Companion app | Fitbit App | Garmin connect IQ |
| Voice command | Yes (Alexa & Google Assistant) | No |
BOX CONTENTS | ||
| Fitbit Sense | Garmin Venu | |
| Strap (small and large) | Straps | |
| Charging cable | USB charging cable | |
| Quick start guide | Quick start guide | |
| NOTE: We can't guarantee that all the information on this table are 100% correct. Read full disclaimer. Please, report an error. | ||
| Official Site | Official Site | |
The Differences?
- Design
- Fitness and Health Tracking
- Battery Life
First, let’s start with the design, I can tell you that each of these two smartwatches is very compact and lightweight which is a major attribute of a fitness-focused smartwatch. Although, Fitbit Sense is slightly more compact than Venu.
Both smartwatches also have a durable and sturdy design, while Fitbit Sense has a case made of aluminum combined with stainless steel bezel, Venu has a polymer case paired with a stainless steel bezel. AMOLED powers the display of both smartwatches which is very colorful and easy to read, although not the best experience to read under direct sunlight.
Both smartwatches are rated 5ATM which represents 50 meters waterproof rating. So it’s safe to wear any of these two while swimming. I tested how the Versa 3 reacts to water, and it didn’t disappoint.
Talking about navigation, I would say Venu offers better navigation than Fitbit Sense. You can interact with the Venu through the touch-sensitive screen in addition to physical buttons, while Sense is also touchscreen in addition to a haptic button which I find very frustrating as it tends to be unresponsive oftentimes.
Each of these two is well loaded with lots of fitness tracking features that certainly make any of these two comprehensive fitness tracker. Each of these two will track your sleep in stages; light, deep, and REM, although, Sense tracks also track your sleep in the awake stage which makes it four stages.
Both smartwatches will track your resting heart rate and heart rate zones, calories, help you manage stress through a guided breathing session as well as feature 20 preloaded sports modes. There are also animated workout modes on each of these two that can coach you through some of your favorite moves.
Each of these two also features food and water intake logging as well as menstrual cycle logging. Other similar features include the inbuilt GPS in each of these two that allows you to track outdoor activities such as your routes and real-time pace.
Fitbit has added mindfulness sessions that can help your return to calm after a stressful day which is also available on Venu. Both smartwatches also have temperature sensors that can help you monitor your body temperature changes.
Now the differences in fitness tracking, Fitbit Sense features an ECG app that allows you to take ECG directly from your wrist which can help detect irregular heart rhythms such as atrial fibrillations, Venu lacks this feature.
On the other hand, Venu features incidental fall detection that can help you get help real quick as well as a more complete blood oxygen tracking feature that tracks your blood oxygen day and night unlike Fitbit Sense that only tracks your blood oxygen at night.
Each of these two has an impressively long battery life that lets you go multiple days from a single charge. While Fitbit Sense is tested to last up to 6 days with mixed usage, Venu can last up to 5 days.
Fitbit Sense Features
| Features | Sense |
|---|---|
| SMART FEATURES | |
| Display | 1.58 inches AMOLED |
| Ambient light | Yes |
| Always-on-display Just glance to see what you need during workouts or when your hands are full. (will require frequent charging) | Yes |
| Syncs Wirelessly Automatically sync to most popular iOS and Android devices to show your stats, trends and progress on your Fitbit dashboard. | Yes |
| Amazon Alexa Voice Assistant Check the weather, set timers, control your smart home devices, and more, powered by Amazon Alexa. Amazon Alexa not available in all countries | Yes |
| Google Voice Assistant Check the weather, set timers, control your smart home devices, and more, powered by Google Voice. | Yes |
| Music Storage Store and play 300+ songs on your smartwatch—plus download your favorite Pandora stations or Deezer playlists. Paid subscriptions required. Pandora is US only. | Yes |
| Make Payments Use your credit and debit cards to make secure purchases anywhere that accepts tap-and-pay.See participating banks | Yes |
| Smart Notification See call, text, or calendar notifications on screen & get push notifications from smartphone apps. | Yes |
| Connect With Wireless Headphones Listen to your favorite tunes without the wires. | Yes |
| Connect and Control Music on Spotify Control your music, songs, and browse recent playlists and podcasts all from your wrist. Works with phone nearby; Spotify Premium subscription required. Not available in all countries. | Yes |
| Sleep Mode Use the sleep mode to mute smartphone notifications and stop your screen from turning on at night. | Yes |
| Do Not Disturb Mode Use do not disturb mode when you want to mute call, text, calendar, and app notifications during the day. | Yes |
| Access Apps On Watch Access your favorite apps for fitness, sports, news, travel, transit, and more with a simple tap. | Yes |
| Loudspeaker and Microphone Has a loudspeaker that allows you to play music aloud and as well make and receive calls via Bluetooth connection to the phone. | Yes |
| EXERCISE FEATURES | |
| Real-Time Using Built In GPS See your real-time pace and distance without a phone, then get a map of your route in the Fitbit app. | Yes |
| Real-Time Using Phone GPS See your real-time pace and distance by connecting to your phone's GPS, then get a map of your route in the Fitbit app. | No |
| Workout Intensity Map After outdoor exercise, check your workout intensity map in the Fitbit app to see your heart rate zones throughout your route. | Yes |
| Active Zone Minutes Feel a buzz when you reach your target heart rate zones during exercise and celebrate when you earn extra minutes outside of workouts. | Yes |
| Active Minutes Calculates active minutes through metabolic equivalents (METs). This metric, which factors in your body mass, is used to estimate exercise intensity. | Yes |
| Personalized Reminders Stay on track toward your goals with personalized reminders that remind you to stay active, get hydrated, stick to a sleep schedule and more. | Yes |
| SmartTrack Exercise Recognition Automatically record select exercises like running, biking and more & see detailed workout information in the Fitbit app. | Yes |
| 20 Preset Workout Modes Choose from 20+ exercise modes like run, bike, swim, yoga and more, set a goal, and get real-time stats during your workouts. | Yes |
| Swimproof Water-resistant up to 50M, so you can wear your tracker or smartwatch in the shower, pool, and beyond. | Yes |
| Onscreen Workout Coach Get personalized on-screen workouts that play on your wrist, coach you through each move and adapt based on your feedback. | Yes |
| Sedentary Reminder See how long you've been active throughout the day and get reminders to fit in a few extra steps when you've been sitting a bit too long. | Yes |
| See Your Heart Rate Zones Use your personalized fat burn, cardio, and peak heart rate zones to optimize your effort during workouts. | Yes |
| HEALTH FEATURES | |
| EDA Scan App The on-wrist EDA Scan app detects electrodermal activity—which may indicate your body’s response to stress—and reveals a graph in the Fitbit app to illuminate it. | Yes |
| ECG tracking Monitors your heart rate and can help you detect irregular heart rhythms which can lead to AFib is left untreated | Yes |
| Cardio Fitness Score (VO2 Max.) Get a better understanding of your fitness level and see how you can improve over time with a personalized Cardio Fitness Score. | Yes |
| Complete Sleep Tracking See your time spent in light, deep and REM sleep stages and get sleep insights to help you improve. https://www.fitbit.com/us/technology | Yes |
| Female Health Tracking Know your body on a deeper level using your tracker or smartwatch with the Fitbit app to follow your cycle, record symptoms and more. | Yes |
| Guided Breathing Session Find moments of calm throughout your day with personalized breathing sessions based on your heart rate. | Yes |
| SpO2 Sensor Allows you to see how well your blood utilizes oxygen. | Yes |
| 24/7 Heart Rate Tracking Use 24/7 heart rate to better track calorie burn, see your resting heart rate trends and get real-time guidance to optimize your workouts. | Yes |
| Resting Heart Rate Wear your tracker or smartwatch all day and night to record your resting heart rate and track heart rate over time. | Yes |
| 24/7 Activity Tracking Track steps, distance, calories burned, active minutes, hourly activity, and stationary time. | Yes |
| Altimeter Counts floors climbed | Yes |
| Sleep Score Based on your heart rate, time asleep and restlessness, this personalized score helps you better understand your sleep quality each night. | Yes |
| Sleep Tracking Understand your rest with automatic sleep tracking and silent alarms on your wrist & bedtime reminders and helpful tips in the app. | Yes |
| All Day Calorie Burn Better understand the total number of calories you burn—all day and during workouts—to manage your weight and stay on track toward your goals. | Yes |
| Battery Life | 6 days+ |
| Fast Charging | Yes |
Garmin Venu Features
ACTIVITY TRACKING FEATURES | Garmin Venu |
|---|---|
SMART FEATURES | |
| Connect IQ (Downloadable watch faces, data fields, widgets, and apps) | Yes |
| On-device Connect IQ store | No |
| Text response/reject phone calls with text (Android only) | Yes |
| Calendar | Yes |
| Weather | Yes |
| Real-time settings sync with Garmin Connect™ mobile | No |
| Battery saver - customizable low power watch | No |
| Controls smartphone music | Yes |
| Plays and Control Watch Music | |
| Find my phone | Yes |
| Find my watch | Yes |
| Virb remote | Yes |
HEALTH MONITORING FEATURES | |
| Wrist-based Heart Rate tracking | Yes |
| Daily resting heart rate | Yes |
| AbNormal heart rate alert | Yes (high and low) |
| Respiration Rate (24/7) | Yes |
| Fitness Age | |
| Blood oxygen (SpO2) monitoring | Yes (spot-check, and optionally all-day and in sleep) |
| Battery energy monitor | Yes |
| Stress tracking | Yes |
| Relaxation reminders | Yes |
| Relaxation breathing timer | Yes |
| Sleep monitoring | Yes |
| Advanced sleep tracking/Sleep Score | Yes |
| Menstrual cycle tracking | Yes (in Garmin Connect) |
| Hydration tracking | Yes (in Garmin Connect) |
| Health Snapshot | |
SAFETY AND TRACKING FEATURES | |
| Livetrack | Yes |
| Group Livetrack | No |
| Live event sharing | No |
| Incident detection during select activities | Yes |
| Assistance | Yes |
| Spectator Messaging (New) | |
| Assistance Plus (New) | |
TACTICAL FEATURES | |
| Stealth mode | No |
| Night vision mode | No |
| Dual Grid Coordinates | No |
| Kill switch | No |
ACTIVITY TRACKING FEATURES | |
| Steps Counter | Yes |
| Move bar (displays on device after a period of inactivity; walk for a couple of minutes to reset it) | Yes |
| Auto goal (learns your activity level and assigns a daily step goal) | Yes |
| Sleep monitoring (monitors total sleep and periods of movement or restful sleep) | Yes |
| Calories burned | Yes |
| Floors climbed | Yes |
| Distance travelled | Yes |
| Intensity minutes | Yes |
| Trueup | Yes |
| Move IQ | Yes |
GYM & FITNESS EQUIPMENT | |
| Available gym activity profiles | strength, cardio and elliptical training, stair stepping, floor climbing, indoor rowing, pilates and yoga |
| Cardio workouts | Yes |
| Strength workouts | Yes |
| HIIT workouts | |
| Yoga workouts | Yes |
| Pilates workouts | Yes |
| On-screen workout animations | Yes |
| Automatic rep counting | Yes |
| On-screen workout muscle maps | |
TRAINING, PLANNING & ANALYSIS FEATURES | |
| GPS speed and distance | Yes |
| Customizable data pages | Yes |
| Customizable activity profiles | Yes |
| Auto Pause | Yes |
| Interval training | No |
| Improved interval (Includes open repeats, intervals data page, rest screen and auto detection) (New) | |
| Advanced workouts | Yes |
| Downloadable training plans | Yes |
| Power modes - customizable in-activity battery settings | Yes |
| Auto lap | Yes |
| Manual lap | Yes |
| Rest timer (New) | |
| Configurable lap alerts | No |
| Heat and altitude acclimation | No |
| VO2 Max. (Run) | Yes |
| VO2 Max. (Trail run) | No |
| Real-Time stamina | |
| Training status (lets you see if you're training effectively by tracking your training history and fitness level trend.) | No |
| Training load (your total training load for the last 7 days calculated from estimated epoc) | No |
| Training load focus | No |
| Training effect (aerobic) | No |
| Training effect (anaerobic) | No |
| Primary Benefit (training effect labels) | No |
| Improved Recovery Time (New) | |
| Daily Suggested Workouts (New) | |
| Custom alerts | No |
| Audio prompts | No |
| Finish time | No |
| Virtual partner | No |
| Race an activity | No |
| Auto multisport activities | No |
| Manual multisport activities | No |
| Course guidance | No |
| Garmin Live Segments | No |
| Strava Live Segments | No |
| Round-Trip course creator (running/cycling) | No |
| Trendline Popularity Routing | No |
| Touch and/or button lock | Yes |
| Hot keys | No |
| Auto scroll | Yes |
| Activity history on watch | Yes |
| Noopener Noreferrer">Physio Trueup | Yes |
HEART RATE TRACKING FEATURES | |
| HR zones | Yes |
| HR alerts | Yes |
| HR calories | Yes |
| % HR max. | Yes |
| % HRR | No |
| Recovery time | No |
| Auto max HR | No |
| Morning report (New) | |
| Race glance/widget (New) | |
| HRV status (New) | |
| Training readiness (New) | |
| HRV stress test (measures your heart rate variability while standing still, for 3 minutes, to provide you with an estimated stress level; the scale of this is 1 to 100; low scores indicate lower stress levels) | No |
| HR broadcast (broadcasts HR data over ANT+ to paired devices) | Yes |
| Respiration rate (during exercise) | Yoga and breathwork only |
RUNNING FEATURES | |
| Available run profiles | Running, indoor track running, treadmill running |
| GPS-based distance, time and pace | Yes |
| Running dynamics | No |
| Vertical oscillation and ratio (the degree of 'bounce' in your running motion and the cost-benefit ratio with stride length) | No |
| Ground contact time and balance (shows how much time, in the running motion, your foot is on the ground rather than in flight and lets you check your running symmetry) | No |
| Stride length (real time) | No |
| Cadence (provides real-time number of steps per minute) | Yes |
| Running power (New) | |
| Performance condition (after running 20 minutes, compares your real-time condition to your average fitness level) | No |
| Lactate threshold (through analysis of your pace and heart rate, estimates the point where your muscles start to rapidly fatigue) | No |
| PacePro pacing strategies | No |
| Run workouts | Yes |
| Race predictor | No |
| Course and weather-specific race predictor (New) | |
| Foot Pod Capable | Yes |
| Run/Walk/Stand detection | |
GOLF FEATURES | |
| Preloaded with 42,000 courses worldwide | No |
| Yardage to F/M/B (distance to front, middle and back of green) | Yes |
| Yardage to layups/doglegs | Yes |
| Measures shot distance (calculates exact yardage for shots from anywhere on course) | Automatic |
| Digital Scorecard | Yes |
| Custom targets | No |
| Stat tracking (strokes, putts per round, greens and fairways hit) | Yes |
| Garmin Autoshot | Yes |
| Full vector map | No |
| Auto Courseview updates | No |
| Green view with manual pin position | Yes |
| Hazards and course targets | Yes |
| Pinpointer | Yes |
| Playslike distance | No |
| Touch-targeting (touch target on display to see the distance to any point) (New) | |
| Handicap scoring | No |
| Truswing compatible | No |
| Round timer/odometer | Yes |
| Automatic club tracking compatible (requires accessory) | Yes |
| Tournament Legal | |
OUTDOOR RECREATION | |
| Available outdoor recreation profiles | Skiing, sNowboarding, xc skiing, stand up paddleboarding, rowing |
| Point-to-Point navigation | Yes |
| Bread crumb trail in real time | No |
| Back to start | Yes |
| TracbacK | No |
| Ultratrac Mode | No |
| Around me mode | No |
| Up ahead | |
| Elevation profile | No |
| Distance to destination | No |
| Barometric trend indicator with storm alert | No |
| ClimbPro ascent planner | No |
| Trail run auto climb | No |
| Vertical speed | No |
| Total ascent/descent | Yes |
| Future elevation plot | No |
| Preloaded Topographical maps | No |
| Preloaded road and trail maps (New) | |
| Preloaded Ski resort maps | No |
| Downloadable cartography support | No |
| Compatible with Basecamp | No |
| GPS coordinates | No |
| Sight 'N GO | No |
| Area calculation | Yes (via Connect IQ) |
| Hunt/fish calendar | Yes (via Connect IQ) |
| Projected waypoint | No |
| Sun and moon information | Yes (via Connect IQ) |
| Xero locations | No |
| Expedition GPS activity | No |
| Tides | No |
CYCLING FEATURES | |
| Available cycling profiles | Biking, indoor biking |
| Alerts (triggers alarm when you reach goals including time, distance, heart rate or calories) | Yes |
| Courses | No |
| MTB Grit & Flow | No |
| Cycle map (routable cycling-specific street map) | No |
| Bike lap and lap maximum power (with power sensor) | No |
| Race an activity | No |
| FTP (Functional Threshold Power) | No |
| Compatible with Vector (Power Meter) | No |
| Power Meter compatible | No |
| Advanced cycling dynamics | |
| Compatible with Varia Vision (head-mounted display) | No |
| Compatible with Varia Radar (Rear-Facing Radar) | Yes |
| Compatible with Varia Lights | Yes |
| Speed and cadence sensor support (with sensor) | Yes (ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart sensors) |
SWIMMING FEATURES | |
| Available swim profiles | Pool swimming |
| Open-water swim metrics (distance, pace, stroke count/rate, stroke distance, swim efficiency (SWOLF), calories) | No |
| Pool swim metrics (lengths, distance, pace, stroke count, swim efficiency (SWOLF), calories) | Yes |
| Stroke type detection (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly) (pool swim only) | Yes |
| Drill logging (pool swim only) | No |
| Basic rest timer (up from 0) (pool swim only) | Yes |
| "Repeat on" rest timer (pool swim only) (New) | |
| Auto rest (pool swim only) (New) | |
| Time and distance alerts | Yes |
| Pacing alerts (pool swim only) (New) | |
| Countdown start (pool swim only) | No |
| Pool swim workouts | No |
| Critical swim speed (New) | |
| Underwater wrist-based heart rate | Yes |
| Heart rate from external HRM (real-time during rests, interval and session stats during rests, and automatic heart rate download post-swim) | No |
Which is Better?
The choice is yours to make, I think each of these two is a fantastic smartwatch that is well equipped to track your active life and help you stay connected to all that matters to you with a battery life that lets you go long from a single charge.
Personally, I will go for Fitbit Sense.
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Hi! I’m Jude, the chief editor at Smartwatchseries.com
I’m a graduate of biochemistry, a 3D artist and a passionate fitness enthusiast. On here, I and other smartwatch fans work hard to help you find the right smartwatch for you with our guides, reviews, and comparisons.
Our aim is to become better at providing useful content, please let us know via the contact us form if there is any way we can improve.