Garmin's next big Apple Watch rival leaks out in high-quality renders
Even though it doesn't generally get the same kind of media attention as Apple, Samsung, or even Fitbit, Garmin is a pretty successful smartwatch vendor, ranking fifth overall in global shipments during Q2 2021, for instance.
While the company is perhaps best known for catering to professional athletes and outdoor addicts with premium "multisport" devices that are typically available at extravagant prices exceeding $500 or $600, the Venu family includes a host of lower-cost smartwatches aimed squarely at rivaling the more "mainstream" Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch lineups.
Just eight months after the announcement of the Venu 2 and 2S battery life champions, Garmin is apparently looking to unveil a Venu 2 Plus model at some point in the undoubtedly near future.
First leaked by Dave Zatz early last month, this undeniably elegant intelligent timepiece stars in a trio of freshly (ev-) leaked press-friendly renders today, revealing not only its front panel, but the rear cover and profile as well.
As the name suggests, the Garmin Venu 2 Plus is set to incrementally upgrade the "regular" Venu 2 rather than bringing a radical redesign or a very long list of meaningful changes to the table. The only obvious addition to the Venu 2 design seems to be a third side-mounted button, expected to support microphone functionality for the making and receiving of voice calls on your wrist (presumably in tandem with a connected smartphone).
That almost certainly means the Venu 2 Plus will feature a built-in speaker as well, and perhaps more importantly, a mysterious voice assistant is also expected to be present and help you out with various tasks.
Keep in mind that Garmin's existing smartwatches come with a proprietary software platform rather than Wear OS, which means Google Assistant support is unlikely for the Venu 2 Plus.
The only other details revealed here are the inclusion of GPS and multi-GNSS technology for super-accurate tracking of future users, water resistance up to 50 meters deep, stainless steel build materials, and a 43mm case diameter that squeezes perfectly between the 41 and 45mm case sizes of the Venu 2S and Venu 2 respectively.
It remains to be seen exactly when the Garmin Venu 2 Plus will be released and how much it will cost, although we can probably safely assume its starting price will circle the $400 mark, thus competing directly against the Apple Watch Series 7.
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