Garmin Venu 4 vs Vivoactive 6: I walked 9,000 steps with both - here's the one I recommend

Launched this year, the Garmin Venu 4 and Vivoactive 6 are two of the best Garmin watches to buy right now. They look great and have the features to match, with premium fitness, sleep, and health insights.

But, if you're wondering 'which Garmin is right for me?', I don't blame you. At first glance, these two fitness trackers are very similar. You might think that design and price are what set them apart, but there's a lot more going on under the hood.

If you're into gym workouts, running, walking, and generally improving your fitness (with no desire to be on the start line of an ultramarathon anytime soon), the Garmin Venu 4 or the Vivoactive 6 will have you covered. To help you decide between these two excellent fitness trackers, I've laid out the basics and taken them with me on my regular early morning walk to provide a detailed overview of the need-to-knows.

Garmin Venu vs Vivoactive

Specifications

Design of the Garmin Venu vs Vivoactive

There's no denying that the Garmin Venu 4 is the better-looking smartwatch of the two. It has a stainless steel casing and bezel with a thick AMOLED screen. Together with the strap, which is made from premium silicone, it weighs 56g. While much weightier than the Vivoactive 6, the design gives the Venu 4 a real day-to-night feel that makes it the more versatile option. It's also a quality that I've otherwise only seen in the Apple Watch.

I wear the 41mm Venu 4, which I personally wouldn't choose again. I have slim wrists, and I still felt the scrolling menus were a little cramped on the screen, with little benefit, as the 45mm isn't bulky enough to be an eyesore on the wrist for most people. Of course, some people will prefer the smaller size for a more stylish fit or find it's a better option for their wrist, so that's down to personal preference.

The Garmin Vivoactive 6 comes in just one size - 42mm. While it's only a millimetre larger, it has a thinner aluminium bezel that gives the screen more space in the watch, so I didn't have the same problem. However, it feels noticeably cheaper, thanks to the polymer materials (i.e. plastic) that make up most of the watch and the regular silicone wristband. Unlike the Venu 4, it stands out clearly as a fitness tracker as well, making it harder to blend the watch into your regular wardrobe.

If you've come down on the Garmin side of the Garmin vs Apple Watch debate but you still want something stylish, then I'd always recommend the Venu 4 over the Vivoactive 6.

Winner: Garmin Venu 4

Tracking workouts

On starting my walking workout, the Venu 4 and Vivoactive 6 looked very similar. They have the same navigation route on the screen to find the workout, and even look the same during the session. I could see my step count, heart rate, estimated calorie burn, distance, and pace.

Overall, I found that the Venu 4 was slightly more in line with my Coros Pace 3, the watch I used as a baseline. I've worn it for the past six months and log about 9,100 on this particular walk every day. The Vivoactive 6 logged 9,098 steps and and the Venu 4 logged 9,123. While this isn't dead on the same, it's still considered very accurate given that the watch sits on the wrist.

However, the Garmin Venu 4 has two key features that make it a step above the Vivoactive 6 when it comes to walking, running, and other cardio exercise. The barometric altimeter, which is a 'floor' or 'elevation-counter' to you and me, is the first one. Basically, this records inclines and stairs during your regular day and your workouts, which is key for trail runners, walkers, and anyone who loves getting on the stairclimber at the gym. The Vivoactive 6 comes without this sensor.

The Venu 4 also has multi-band GPS, which the Vivoactive 6 does not. This is a serious consideration between Garmin Venu vs Vivoactive if you live or exercise in a city or dense woodland. As I do, this feature alone is enough to justify paying more. Without this, you're unlikely to see completely accurate data in these built-up areas.

Importantly, the Vivoactive 6 is also missing the Training Readiness widget, the Training Status feature and HRV Status, which deliver more advanced insights into how our activity and stress impact our recovery and ability to exercise. The Garmin Venu 4 has all of these. While not essential, especially if you're a beginner, I find these features very useful to see how recovered I am from exercise. It helps me understand how hard to push myself in the next workout to see results while not compromising on my ability to go about my daily life.

Winner: Garmin Venu 4

Of course, to get the barometric altimeter and multi-band GPS, you're not restricted to just the Venu 4 when buying from Garmin. You'll also find these two features on the Garmin Forerunner 265 or Forerunner 165.

Sleep and health tracking on the Garmin Venu vs Vivoactive

When it comes to tracking your sleep and stress, the best watches have a skin temperature sensor and overnight HRV tracking, which takes readings of your base temperature and how your heart rate (hopefully) lowers overnight. The Garmin Venu 4 is the only one of the two with these features, making it the better option.

These two features add an extra layer of information to the basic sleep and stress tracking data that comes complete on all Garmin devices, and I've found them very helpful over the last few months. It's helped me to see how my sleep, stress and recovery impact my longer-term wellbeing. For example, if I have an elevated HRV overnight for a few days in a row, it could be a sign that I'm getting a cold or something needs to change in my bedtime routine, as I may not feel as rested as the hours I've slept would suggest.

However, that doesn't rule out the Garmin Vivoactive 6 as a good choice for sleep and health tracking. Much like the Venu 4, you can see how long you slept for, the quality of your sleep, and sleep stages (light, deep, and REM).

It also has Garmin Sleep Coach, a feature unique to only the newer Garmin watches. This coaching recommends your sleep schedule based on factors like activity levels, age, and recent sleep, and highlights room for improvement. For example, after my 9,000-step day and a gym workout that evening, I received a low sleep score, having exercised too late in the evening. The next day, my watch told me I needed almost eight hours to recover and suggested I nap if possible.

Winner: Garmin Venu 4

Smartwatch features

The Garmin Venu 4 is the go-to smartwatch of the two. While neither the Venu 4 nor the Vivoactive 6 measure up to the Apple Watch 10 or 11 or the Google Pixel Watch 4 in terms of smartwatch features, the more premium device does offer more.

For example, I found the microphone on the Venu 4 a significant improvement from the Garmin Venu 3, as it allows voice assistance with a tap of a button. When I was walking, this was the way I changed tracks on my playlist and rejected a phone call. If it were colder, I could have used just one button on the watch to tell me my distance or speed without having to fish my wrist out of my layers. I'm looking forward to using this more in winter.

The Venu 4 also has an LED torch, which may be a useful feature for late-night walkers, runners, and cyclists, but I only used it twice in the month I was testing the Garmin Venu 4 vs Vivoactive 6.

However, the smartwatch features on the Vivoactive 6 aren't to be sniffed at. Much like the Venu 4, you'll get call and text notifications, timer and alarms, and Spotify (or other music streaming service) connectivity. There are similarities here, so it's worth considering if these are worth the extra spend to you.

Winner: Both options are similar

Price of the Garmin Venu vs Vivoactive

If your main consideration in the Garmin Venu vs Vivoactive debate is budget, then the Vivoactive is the watch for you - and that's no bad thing. At £279.99, the Vivoactive 6 is one of the best-priced fitness trackers I've seen, packing real premium fitness and health features into a design that's sleek and lightweight, if a little cheaper-feeling than the Venu 4.

The Venu 4 retails at £469.99, making it one of the most expensive fitness trackers I've tried. Even the newest Apple Watch is cheaper. While the design and suite of health and smartwatch features make this a perfect watch for those looking to invest in their fitness tracker, it'll be a serious consideration for most people.

Winner: Garmin Vivoactive 6

Garmin Venu vs Vivoactive: Which is better?

The Garmin Venu 4 is the better option, on paper and on the wrist. It not only looks more premium and stylish, blending in just as well at the gym as at the office, but it also offers a suite of premium health and fitness sensors and features not seen on the Vivoactive 6. While you can get impressive fitness trackers for less than the almost £500 price tag this one sells for, it's undoubtedly worth the investment if you have the budget to spend.

The multiband GPS, lifestyle logging feature, skin temperature sensor, and design are the main standouts for me that justify the investment.

The Garmin Vivoactive 6 isn't a bad option by any means, however. In fact, it's my favourite for anyone who doesn't have the budget for the Venu 4. In its own right, it's a fantastic fitness tracker, complete with advanced fitness, sleep, and stress tracking features for genuinely useful insights into your health and wellbeing. The connectivity with music streaming services is a rare feature these days, too, with other Garmin watches without the feature entirely.

Winner overall: Garmin Venu 4