The Garmin Venu X1 gives the Forerunner 970 a flashy run for your money

I've been testing the Garmin Venu X1 for months, but my initial impression never changed: it's an incredibly comfortable, painfully expensive fitness watch that prioritizes display space over battery life and traditional style. I love it, even while acknowledging its conspicuous flaws.

Resembling an Apple Watch Ultra on GLP-1, the Venu X1 outshines most smartwatches for battery, weight, and training guidance but falls well short for smarts like messaging or commands.

The Venu X1's 8-day capacity will underwhelm those who typically spend smartphone-level money on a fitness watch. However, if you disregard longevity, it still matches the Garmin Fenix 8 and Forerunner 970, offering 95% of the same features.

The question then becomes, does the Venu X1's gorgeously bright 2-inch display make it a better purchase than a Fenix or Forerunner?

Garmin Venu X1: Price and specs

The Garmin Venu X1 launched on June 18, 2025, and costs $799 / €799 / £679 / CAD $1,159. It's much more expensive than the Venu 3 ($449), in the same price tier as the Forerunner 970 ($750), and cheaper than the Fenix 8 ($1,000+).

It ships in two colors: Black with Slate Titanium Caseback and Black ComfortFit Nylon Band, or Moss with Titanium Caseback and Moss band.

The Venu X1 ships with a nylon strap; if you prefer silicone, Garmin sells compatible Black and Moss silicone bands for $39, or you can search for third-party, 24mm Quick Release straps.

Garmin Venu X1: What you'll love

Most Garmin watches I've reviewed fall into the 50–60g (2oz) range, while premium models like the Fenix 8 weigh anywhere from 70–100g. Lighter watches like the 1.2-inch Vivoactive 6 (36g) sacrifice display space for slightness.

That's what makes the 40g, 2-inch Venu X1 so unique: it prioritizes comfort while still offering unrestricted visual space. I've grown so spoiled by the Venu X1's thin, light design that I get annoyed every time I have to review a heavier watch.

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I hate wearing bulky Garmin watches for sleep tracking; the Venu X1 is the exception. It's 7.9mm thick, about 4–5mm skinnier than your typical Venu or Forerunner. There's less surface area to get caught between wrist and pillow, so you avoid any uncomfortable pressure or your watch sensors getting pushed off your wrist.

During workouts, the Venu X1 sits so comfortably flat that it doesn't encumber or distract me when bending my wrist fully. This mindless flexibility helps me when doing push-ups or pull-ups, or using trekking poles on hikes.

In particular, golfing with the Venu X1 is a blast. The large, 2,000-nit display makes it easy to check my mileage to the pin with a glance, sparing my playing partners from watching me fumble with a rangefinder. It has no crown or buttons to jut into my wrist, nor enough weight to affect my swing.

Having that extra square space on your wrist feels odd initially as a circular watch wearer. Once that becomes normalized, though, you'll forget it's there during your workday. And while pumping your arms mid-workout, it's so skinny and flat against your wrist that it doesn't wobble and disrupt your HR data — especially because the nylon strap keeps it snugly secure.

I'm surprised that Garmin managed to squeeze its LED flashlight into such a skinny design. Its max setting isn't brighter than my phone flashlight, but the dim red LED is great for navigating a dark house or tent without waking someone, and the default or strobe settings help others see you at night to avoid collisions. It's a great backup option if you forget your headlamp.

The Garmin Venu X1 has virtually every Garmin feature you'd ever want, now that the August 2025 update has added all of the Forerunner 970's exclusive running tools and evening report.

Garmin restricted past Venus from getting the more specialized training tools like training status or training load. The Venu X1 outshines the Venu 3 software with perks like personalized daily run and cycling workouts; I depend on premium tools like lactate threshold HR and ClimbPro, while others like Endurance Score offer useful long-term benchmarks.

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Most recently, the Venu X1 stole the Forerunner 970's running tolerance tool that quantifies how hilly or fast runs have a higher "impact load" on your body. Basically, it can distinguish between cardiovascular tiredness and biomechanical (muscular) strain, helping you avoid injury from overtraining.

This is only scratching the surface; the Venu X1 has other helpful tools beyond running, like exercise animations for the gym, cycling dynamics, or pool swim workouts.

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The most important Venu X1 upgrade, however, is its offline maps. While following a course, you can get topographical details and see nearby trails, making it easier to figure out if you're taking the wrong path at a confusing junction.

A few other expensive Garmins allow map downloads, but their circular displays cut off edges that the Venu X1 can use to show more detail at a closer zoom, or place useful button shortcuts without blocking too much info. Text and menu details are larger, while leaving more room for your route to remain visible while searching through options.

Overall, the Venu X1's 2-inch display is the clear selling point: it's twice as bright as the Fenix 8, has sapphire glass protection, and still hits an industry-standard 328ppi so that your main watch face can fit a bunch of tiny complications, all fully readable. Otherwise, most widgets are blown up so that even the most short-sighted person can glance mid-workout and have no trouble reading the details.

Garmin Venu X1: HR and GPS accuracy

The Garmin Venu X1 uses the latest-generation optical HR sensor and All-Systems GNSS mode, which triangulates your location with GPS and other satellite systems simultaneously. It's more accurate than GPS-only mode, but not as perfectly precise (or battery-draining) as dual-frequency GPS.

For a 12-mile run and a hike with satellite-blocking foliage, I tested the Venu X1 against the Forerunner 970 and my Garmin HRM 200 chest strap as control groups. These were the results:

As I'd expect from a premium smartwatch, the Garmin Venu X1 stayed within range of the chest strap, delivering the same end results. The HR graph from my 12-mile run shows how (like most wrist-based sensors) it trailed behind the chest strap for rapid changes, but stays close enough to be reasonably accurate, even at near-max HRs where other watches struggle.

You can check out my Forerunner 970 fitness test for more examples of how Garmin's 5th-gen sensor performs for different types of workouts. Functionally, the Venu X1 delivers the same level of accurate results, so more tests would've been redundant.

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In terms of GNSS accuracy, the Venu X1 is as accurate as other dual-band GPS watches, despite lacking the L5 frequency, in normal conditions. Multiple GNSSs help it run parallel or overlap with my Forerunner 970 line across most of the 12-mile run, only occasionally struggling more with tree foliage.

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During a tougher hike, the Venu X1 coasted in uncovered areas. On tree-lined paths, the X1 line zig-zags more than the 970, more affected by signal blockage. But again, all this wavering only changed the final result by about 28 meters or 0.01 miles. Serious hikers might resent the missing dual-band GPS, but most people can accept these results.

Garmin Venu X1: What you won't love

To be blunt, you won't love the battery life. Even cheaper Garmins like the Lily 2 Active and Forerunner 165 outlast its eight-day capacity. And don't bother with always-on display mode. While the Forerunner 970 and Fenix 8 last a week with AOD, the Venu X1 dies after two days.

Garmin claims the Venu X1 lasts 14 hours with all-systems GNSS tracking. My testing was less optimistic: an hour of tracking typically burns about 10% capacity. It'll easily survive a marathon, but an all-day hike will have it running on fumes. And GPS combined with the flashlight will kill your battery in two hours, tops.

Should Garmin have made the watch slightly thicker to counterbalance the brighter display? Maybe! As it is, charging the Venu X1 every 6–8 days is still better than the daily charging you get with most smartwatches.

It's a shame the Venu X1 doesn't have dual-frequency GPS, but it would kill the battery for minimal gains, so I don't mind its absence. You may also resent the missing ECG readings; Garmin couldn't fit the metal components necessary for it to work (per DCR).

I'm more disappointed that Garmin didn't give the Venu X1 a third button for shortcuts. You can find most apps and settings quickly by swiping left from the home screen, but it'd still be nice to pull up Garmin Pay or voice assistant with a single press.

Plus, like other Venus, you're fully touch-dependent. This makes the Venu X1 less bulky and sporty-looking, but no crowns or buttons means more sweaty, unreliable swipes.

More generally, I have the same complaints about the Venu X1 as the Fenix 8 and Forerunner 970: The new voice assistant isn't smart enough to recognize every command, the maps can be too laggy, and most fitness watches cost half as much.

Garmin Venu X1: Competition

The Venu X1 reminds you of the 1.9-inch Apple Watch Ultra 2 at first glance, but it's about 6.5mm thicker and weighs an ounce more. You get a full app ecosystem, a better assistant, and cellular calling, plus training load data and Workout Buddy voice prompts. But its 36-hour battery life is significantly worse.

The Venu X1's closest competitor is the $750 Forerunner 970; it's 16g heavier, but swap in a nylon band and the gap narrows considerably. Its 1.4-inch display is smaller but equally bright, and it lasts a week (or several GNSS-tracked hours) longer. You get Up/ Down button controls, ECGs, dual-band GPS, and ski maps.

The Fenix 8 can last up to a month, depending on the model size, with a more striking titanium case and dive-proof buttons. But it's so heavy and expensive compared to the Venu X1 that I think the 970 is the better alternative.

Garmin Venu X1: Should you buy it?

You should buy the Garmin Venu X1 if...

• You're a serious athlete who'd actually use its premium training tools.
• You want the most comfortable Garmin watch ever.
• You frequently use maps/ routes that benefit from a 2-inch screen.

You shouldn't buy the Garmin Venu X1 if...

• You're not a fan of squircles.
• You need more dependable battery life.
• You can wait for a more affordable Venu 4 with no maps or training load.

Having reviewed the Forerunner 970 and Venu X1 back-to-back, I've come to the odd conclusion that the 970 is a much better watch... but that I'd sacrifice its perks and battery for the Venu X1's fit and feel.

It's better suited to sleep tracking and a wider range of sports activities than just running. I have to charge it more often, but extra battery is a luxury when most of my workout activities only last 1–2 hours.

Should you buy the Venu X1? If you're a typical Garmin fan who hates how squircles look and will buy a bulkier design to get extra battery, the Venu X1 will either be a transformational experience or a total bust. At least you know what to expect in terms of features, but the Forerunner 970 is a safer choice.

For non-Garmin fans, I'd say the $799 price tag is way too high for first-time buyers. Start out with a cheaper Venu or Vivoactive and see if you like the fitness tools before considering an upgrade with every bell and whistle.