I’m a serial napper. Even if it's just a 20-minute snooze, a good nap is often the solution when I’m drained. But with most of the smartwatches I wear, my naps aren’t credited in my daily sleep tracking and energy scores, creating a divide between what my data tells me and how I actually feel.
The new flagship Garmin Venu 3 looks to offer a solution for me and my fellow nap-lovers with a dedicated nap detection feature. Nap detection automatically detects when you’ve fallen asleep and logs those minutes with your sleep data. Depending on the quality of your nap, you could earn back some points on your Body Battery score, too.
With the new sleep coach system on the Garmin Venu 3, the smartwatch can even recommend what time you take a nap and how long the nap should be. I know I feel more refreshed after a shorter nap than a longer one, so timing advice could come in handy.
As a more extensive feature, the sleep coach on the Garmin Venu 3 generates daily personalized sleep guidance based on your sleep trends and recent activity. Of course, if you’ve had a great nap on a given day, the amount of recommended sleep you should get that night could be lowered. Otherwise, users will be able to view their sleep stages, overnight pulse ox, and HRV, while Garmin’s Body Battery feature will put the results into context.
Garmin estimates up to a two-week battery life for the Venu 3, up from nine days on the Garmin Venu 2 Plus which is currently one of the best smartwatches we recommend. The Venu 3 adopts the built-in microphone and speakers from the Venu 2 Plus, but now they can be used for audio meditation sessions — not just on-wrist calls.
The Venu 3 also has a refreshed Gen 5 optical sensor, morning reports, and a wheelchair mode. It borrows the recovery time feature from the Fenix and high-end Forerunner Garmin watches, too.
But will that be enough to justify the watch's $449 price tag? I'll have to conduct a full review of the Garmin Venu 3 to see how compares against other flagships such as the Apple Watch Series 8 and Galaxy Watch 6.
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