Garmin Venu 2 Plus Software Update
Tinisha
Yesterday I went on a walk I've done dozens of times; it's a little over 2 miles. Using the Venu 2 Plus as usual, I got the one-mile notification on the watch at the usual place and didn't look at it again until I finished. At that point the watch recorded my total distance as 1.16 miles, which is about half what it actually was! I thought maybe I had somehow paused it, but clearly it was still recording GPS points since it correctly showed the trace of the entire loop. In the summary it showed a total activity time of about 34 minutes at a 17 min/mile pace, but only came up with 1.16 miles??
Looking at the activity on the Connect website, it looks like there is a discontinuity in the track just after the 1.16 mile point, after which the GPS track picks up and goes to the end but my distance travelled stays stuck at 1.16 miles.
This all started with my first activity after the 13.14 update. I'll try another walk in the next day or two and see what happens, but this is the first bug of this kind that I've had in 20 years of using Garmin sports watches!
I do have a similar problem since a few days... my distance somehow freezes during the activity... I was running over 15km .. but the venu 2 plus somehow stopped recording the distance after 1.4km ..... gps and duration have been recorded correctly.... this also is since software update to V13.14...
I haven't had the problem on the two activities I've recorded since I did a restart of the watch (hold the upper button in for 15 seconds until it turns off, then hold it for a second to turn it back on).
I experienced the same thing with the original Venu and again the Venu 2. At the request of Garmin, I did exhaustive testing on these units using a measured indoor track and actually wore my old Garmin Vivosmart HR on the same wrist for comparison. Also, I did numerous walks outside using GPS tracking. The GPS steps were counted correctly on both, but never did the device count them accurately inside or with the GPS turned off (as verified by the measured track and compared with the Vivosmart HR). I sent jpg photos of the device comparisons, spread sheets and written reports to Garmin. I had an ongoing discussion with them about this and even spoke with the Garmin product manager among the CS reps. I spent over 6 months working on this. The Garmin people were all very nice and acknowledged there was a problem and assured me they would fix this. I waited for a firmware update for over a year, but it never happened. They finally agreed to refund me the money I spent on the devices.
I'm sad to learn they still have not fixed this problem; it seems to me like it should be a very simple tweak to the firmware code. It does beg the question, if such a simple function does not work properly on a high-end device, how well/accurate do the complex functions of the watch work?
@gordonwd thanks for posting your results. I was about ready to buy and try the Venu 2 Plus but thought I'd first check the forum for user "issues". I'm really a big fan of Garmin and especially their ecosystem. But the simple stuff has to work or at least come close to reality. I'm waiting patiently for the Venu 3, maybe it will work.
I have exactly the same problem, already happening for my last 3 consecutive runs. the distance just stops around 2.5 kilometeres while the time/hr/steps are still progressing. even the map generated after the workout is kinda accurate but distance ist showing unrealistic low number.
I am having a consistent issue with my Garmin Venu 2 Plus, specifically its distance tracking. After approximately 2.5 kilometers, distance tracking halts/stops, although time, heart rate, and step count etc continue correctly. Post-workout map matches the route but shows a much lower distance.
In my testing, those numbers hold up. Most of my focus has been on always-on testing with Epix, and that 6-day number is incredibly consistent, even inclusive of roughly 1-hour workouts one-time per day (some outside with GPS, some indoors).
Based on my testing, I actually think the Epix numbers are too conservative, and underestimate the real battery levels of the hardware by a fair chunk (see my Epix vs Fenix 7 comparison post for my battery testing). Garmin does have a history of updating battery claims if need be (they did it for the Edge series a few years ago). So it would not surprise me to see them increase these data points (and, rightly so).
I asked Garmin whether they would be adding the sleep mode to the Venu 2 Plus, especially given that Apple does have a dimmed sleep watch face at the same price point. They said they are considering it, but there are no guarantees at this point, or even timelines.
When it comes to structured workouts, they both support downloadable structured workouts from Garmin Connect or 3rd party services. However, the Epix also supports on-device interval workouts (that you can tweak on the watch), as well as PacePro plans for racing, Strava Live Segments, and Lactate Threshold testing.
8) Sensors & Data Metrics: And as you transition into sensors and advanced data metrics, the divide gets deeper. For example, both units support ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart cycling speed and cadence sensors, as well as heart rate straps. And both even support cycling radar and cycling lights. And they can both broadcast your heart rate to apps as both ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart, so you can pair to Zwift or a Peloton bike/app.
Keep in mind also that for sensors like the smart trainer, it can control that from a structured workout standpoint. And in the case of power meters, it can also record advanced Cycling Dynamics metrics (from multiple companies).
A simple example of this was a run two nights ago I did around some semi-tall buildings, the two watches on opposite wrists, the Epix clearly produced crispier tracks around these buildings whereas the Venu 2 meandered a bit. Once away from the buildings, the two tracks were basically identical.
12) The Heart Rate Sensor: This is another quick and easy one: Both have the same Garmin Elevate V4 optical HR sensor. This sensor gets all the same core metrics including 247 heart rate, workout heart rate, respiration rate, and other features like stress. And in fact, both have PulseOx to get blood oxygen levels on-demand, 247, or just during sleep. And both have the new Health Snapshot feature to collect all this data into a tidy report. The main nuanced difference with the Epix, is that it can also plot those Blood Oxygen levels over altitude over time, for high altitude climbing.
Does the stress, sleep and body battery data from the Venu impact the recovery and training metrics on a Fenix (or 945/745) if you wear the Venu as your day-to-day watch and the Fenix (or 945/745) for workouts?
3. I saw in another review that in venue 2 you can scroll in the graph on the widgets, back and forth along time on the watch itself, while in epix you cannot. Do you think it is somthing garmin will make possible in epix?
Garmin needs to quit playing games with features like this. Especially given that watches on the low end of the scale like the Forerunner 55 have audio prompts. I probably would have purchased the Venu 2 Plus if it had audio prompts, but I will just stick with my Forerunner 245 as that is a feature I want on my running watch.
Garmin needs to drastically streamline their smartwatch feature set. Both to prevent consumer confusion with features and SKUs, but also to reduce the complexity of supporting/updating their products.
Thanks Ray! Last week I asked you (okay, complained) about the lack of evaluations of instant pace and overall distance. Yesterday I posted my own comparison of instant pace for the Epix 2 & FR-745, using a calibrated Stryd foot pod. You and your readers might be curious to check it out:
What do you think about incorporating this approach in some of your future evaluations? You have access to a much wider range of devices than most. (Lots of people have had complaints about pace and distance on the Fenix 6, it would be nice to see if the Fenix 7 is an improvement)
Have the Bluetooth sensors improved since fenix 6, in terms of connection quality to headphones, phones etc? I tried fenix 6 connected to my AirPods Pro a couple times, which seems like a very clear connection path, and got too many dropouts to ever bother again. Bluetooth always seems very weak on Fenix watches
I think you hit the nail on the head with this comparison. A friend of mine and myself are avid bikers but do others stuff also, a little running, skiing, hiking, etc. We both have had the 935 forever. This is the exact choice we were both looking at, the epix vs the venue2plus. (I also had fenix 7 in my thoughts, but he wanted amoled)
As you stated, the epix is just overkill for my use case. Plus, I tried a fenix on before and that extra 25-30 grams over the 935 is noticeable for all day use, at least to me. I forget I am even wearing the 935 most of the time..
As another long time 935 user, I fully agree. I have tried a Fenix 6 but returned it as the extra mass was noticeable and so just not as comfortable to wear (for me), despite the nice software upgrades.
And especially considering these are watches for just a few years and then both their HW and SW is obsolete. Compared to nice automatic watches that will keep their value and will last for the rest of your life.
Do you see the Edge series going AMOLED anytime soon, or ever? At the prices they sell the high end models for (like 1030), seems viable. I always find bike computer screens hard to read in shadowy light and this would help a lot. Seems it would be trivial to add a beefier battery as well, but I suppose roadies would complain about weight?
how do you rate the raise to wake function on epix compared to venu 2, it is almost a deal breaker while actual using and u have to wait for 1 second for the fade and watch face to appear each time you flip your wrist,
@Ray:
actually the Venu2 does record training effect data to the fit file. Looking at my runalyze database all of my Venu2 sessions offer this data, see the picture attached.
In Garmin Connect this data is not shown, neither on the watch. In Runalyze it actually is.