Apple Watch Series 11 vs Garmin Venu 4: I've tried both smartwatches - here's the one I'd buy with 22% off today

When thinking about smartwatches, you wouldn't be alone if the Apple Watch was the first to come to mind. For iPhone users, it doesn't get much better for keeping an eye on your health and as an aid in daily life, for everything from making phone calls to mapping a route.

The Garmin Venu 4 is one of the best Garmin watches around. It was top-rated by woman&home after a few months of use, and it's always the one I recommend to people looking for a fitness tracker.

How does it compare to the Apple Watch for fitness tracking and smartwatch features? I've worn them both for a few months recently.

Garmin Venu 4 vs Apple Watch Series 11

Specifications

What it like to wear the Garmin Venu 4 vs Apple Watch Series 11?

Discreet and stylish - two words, both applicable to the Apple Watch Series 11 and Garmin Venu 4. Both have a stainless steel casing (though there is also a titanium casing option for the Apple Watch) and a premium-feeling silicone strap with a toughened glass screen.

The smaller versions (41mm) of both watches weigh the same, although I found the Garmin Venu 4 felt heavier on the wrist than the Apple Watch. This could be the rounder face, which is one of the only design differences between the two. While the square-faced Apple device sits flush on the wrist, the Garmin is slightly raised.

The other key difference is the buttons. Both are touchscreens (which you can turn off if you want), but the Apple Watch has a scrollable crown on the side for easy navigation to and from the homepage and additional screens, as well as a button underneath. The Garmin has two side buttons. Overall, there aren't any major advantages of one over the other. It's down to preference.

Winner: Either - they have very similar designs

What are the smartwatch features like on the Garmin Venu 4 vs Apple Watch Series 11?

The Garmin Venu 4 is billed as one of the most lifestyle-friendly of all Garmin watches. With it, you can plug in your exercise headphones and listen to music directly from Spotify, Amazon Music, or Deezer without taking your phone. You can also send and receive WhatsApp and text messages, make and receive phone calls with the built-in speaker and microphone, and use Garmin Pay to make purchases on your wrist. There's a remote shutter button to take pictures from your phone at a distance and an in-built LED torch, which I've mostly used in dark cupboards in my house, but you could use it to light your way on the trails or as a way to stay visible at night.

If you want your favourite walking app, for example, you can also download it from the Connect IQ store, although I've found the options and compatibility to be limited.

While these options will be enough for most people, it's no match for the Apple Watch's flawless foundation of interconnectivity. I've been taking mine out without my phone recently. It has all the same features of the Garmin Venu 4, including music playback, payment, text and call capabilities, remote picture taking, and many more.

The third-party connectivity is where this device stands out among the two. Whatever app you have on your phone, you can find it for on your Apple Watch, and you can use it in much the same way. Be that your airline app to view and scan your boarding pass at the airport, your workout app to follow along with your favourite Pilates class, or your favourite social media platform.

Winner: Apple Watch

Fitness tracking with the Garmin Venu 4 vs Apple Watch Series 11

At heart, both of these watches are fitness trackers. In testing, I learned that the key difference is that the Apple Watch Series 11 is more beginner-friendly, prioritising simple daily habits (like moving more throughout the day) over progressive workouts and plans. The Garmin Venu 4 is also suitable for beginners as it's easy to use, but it's loaded with serious data for those looking to dive deep into the specifics of their routine and chosen activity, whether that's running, cycling, or going to the gym.

One way the Garmin Venu 4 wins in this area is the Training insights, including Training Readiness, Status, and Effect, and predicted recovery times after a strenuous session, borrowed from the Forerunner range. This makes it easy to see how all your health data intersects. For example, I can see how my sleep affects my recovery and my ability to exercise. While the Apple Watch does have a Training Load feature that compares your workouts over the last seven days to your monthly average, it doesn't take other scores (like your sleep) into account.

So, for example, on my Garmin Venu 4, I can see how a bad night's sleep has impacted my recovery from a recent half-marathon in the heat. My watch will tell me to take it easy, ranking my recovery and current fitness against my baseline. While I don't always follow it, it's a very useful metric to have to find balance between work and rest.

When it comes to workouts like strength training, the Garmin shines. Like other watches from the brand, the Venu 4 automatically counts your repetitions and allows you to record set and rest time. I've found this very useful to make sure that I'm having the same amount of rest time between sets, and it's something the Apple Watch doesn't offer. While you'll be able to record the workout, it's not so specific.

That being said, the Apple Watch Series 11 will be more than enough for most people. If you're looking to track your workouts live and record your distance, speed, elevation, and so on, with insights available in the Apple Health app afterwards, this is still an impressive option.

Some advanced insights put the Apple Watch in line with the best running watches, too, including a feature (first found on the Apple Watch Series 9) that allows you to choose the exact lane you're running in during a track session. This makes the insights a lot more accurate than on some other fitness trackers.

All workouts are available to view on the Garmin Connect or Apple Health app. Of the two, for beginners, I do prefer the one from Apple. The Garmin Connect app is loaded with data and insights, but it is harder to navigate if you're not already familiar with relatively complex insights, like vertical oscillation or ground contact time for running.

Winner: Garmin Venu 4 - but the Apple Watch is still a great option for most people

Sleep and health tracking with the Apple Watch vs Garmin Venu 4

The Apple Watch has come on leaps and bounds in recent years with its sleep insights. Users can now get a Sleep Score and a personalised Sleep Schedule, linked to the iPhone's clock, so you'll get a notification when it's time to start winding down for bed. This is one of the small ways the Apple Watch can improve general wellbeing, and I think it's very underrated.

When comparing the Apple Watch vs Oura Ring, for example, the sleep data on the Apple Watch does look more basic. Yet its easy-to-read data in the Health app makes it an accessible and genuinely useful device for most women.

The Garmin Venu 4 also delivers advanced sleep insights and stress insights, linking them together with your exercise metrics in the Readiness score. It's an impressive set-up that can certainly help you change your ways and improve your health. However, the Apple Watch goes that one step further, linking up with your phone to help install those habits into your lifestyle.

The Apple Watch also shines in other health tracking features. While they both have an ECG sensor, a wrist-based pulse oximeter that measures blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), and breathing variations (that may be a sign of sleep apnea), the Apple Watch actively looks out for differences from your baseline and warns you about them. For example, if you have any instances of high blood pressure, it will flag them and encourage you to manually log data for a week to share with a doctor, who will be able to diagnose you. The Venu 4 simply records the data, and it's up to you to look at it.

Winner: Apple Watch

Apple Watch vs Garmin Venu 4: Price and alternatives

The Garmin Venu 4 sells for £469.99 at full price, but there are a large number of discounts available at the time of writing, thanks to the Amazon Prime Week sale. The same goes for the Apple Watch Series 11. It is £100 cheaper than the Venu 4 as standard, but right now, you can also save 22%.

Here's where you can save on both watches:

There are a couple of alternatives to both that could be a better option for you, depending on a few factors. If you have an Android phone, you can't use the Apple Watch. In this case, I'd recommend having a look at the Google Pixel 4. It's a smartwatch with big similarities to the Apple Watch, but suitable for Android users.

For those interested in the Garmin Venu 4 but without the budget, it's worth weighing up the Garmin Venu vs Vivoactive ranges, as the new Vivoactive 6 has many of the same features and insights as the Venu 4, but you trade in the premium low-key design for a sporty, polymer-based design.

Winner: Depends on budget

Garmin Venu 4 vs Apple Watch Series 11: The w&h verdict

Taking price and suitability for most people into account, the Apple Watch Series 11 wins out overall. If you are an iPhone user, it's a no-brainer. The range of fitness, sleep, and general health-tracking features is not to be sniffed at, because the Garmin Venu 4 has more advanced options.

The only real downside to this watch is the battery life. At 24 hours with normal use, it's far below the Garmin Venu 4's 10-day estimate, which I've found to be very accurate. Over the last few weeks, I have found charging to be an issue. At one point, I went to check my sleep data, only to find the watch had run out of battery overnight.

If you're looking for advanced fitness and wellbeing insights, want a few smartwatch features but don't need a replacement for your phone, and you have a higher budget to spend, then the Garmin Venu 4 may be the more suitable option for you.

The Training metrics make it a touch more advanced and allow you to dig deep into the data and your personal fitness, giving you the insights to improve them with a view of your wellbeing from all angles.

Overall winner: Apple Watch