Garmin Venu® 3, Premium Fitness Smartwatch, 45mm, Black

Why it's worth it

The Venu 3 is for people who want Garmin's health tracking and multi-day battery without the bulk or complexity of a fēnix. It has a bright AMOLED screen, excellent sleep and nap detection, wheelchair activity modes, and a speaker for calls.

Garmin's sleep tracking is the best reason to pick this one. You get a sleep score, personalized coaching on how much rest you actually need, HRV status, and nap detection that catches the afternoon crash most watches ignore. Body Battery pulls all of it together into a single number for how charged up you are. It's the clearest way to see the connection between a bad night and a rough workout the next day.

This is the rare smartwatch that takes wheelchair users seriously. Garmin introduced wheelchair-specific profiles — push tracking and sit-time alerts — and they remain exclusive to Garmin's lineup. If you use a chair, most of this category simply doesn't count your activity properly. That alone can make the decision for you.

From our review of 8 smartwatches, by Ben Carter, Tech Editor

What we like

• +Garmin's sleep tracking is the best reason to pick this one
• +This is the rare smartwatch that takes wheelchair users seriously
• +Battery runs up to 14 days in smartwatch mode, and owners generally report a week or more with the screen and features they…
• +Heart rate accuracy is solid — Tom's Guide put the Venu 3 at 91% of readings within 2 BPM of a chest strap, close behind the…

What to know

• –The Garmin Connect app is dense and takes real effort to learn
• –It's a fitness watch first
• –No ECG app here, so if atrial fibrillation screening is your priority, look at the Apple, Samsung or Fitbit options instead