Right in front of you is the Versa 2, Galaxy Watch Active 2 and Venu – all recent smartwatches from some of the biggest names in the industry. Each of these three has got a remarkable design, lots of features and an impressive long battery life, prices are also very related. Which should you buy? We compare the Fitbit Versa 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 vs Garmin Venu specs and features, so you know the differences and which is the right choice for you.
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Fitbit Versa 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 vs Garmin Venu Specifications Compared
| Product Info |
 Fitbit Versa 2 Specifications, Features and Price |
 Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 (44mm) (LTE) Full Specifications and Features |
 Garmin Venu Specifications, Features and Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $175.99 | $207.72 | $233.99 |
| ABOUT DEVICE | ABOUT DEVICE | ABOUT DEVICE | ABOUT DEVICE |
| Device name | Fitbit Versa 2 | (LTE), Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 (44mm) | Garmin Venu |
| Device type | Fitness/Sport smartwatch | Standalone/Fitness smartwatch | Fitness/Sport smartwatch |
| Gender | Unisex | Unisex | Unisex, Women |
| Release date | September, 2019 | September, 2019 | September, 2019 |
| Predecessor | Fitbit Versa | Samsung Galaxy Watch Active | Garmin Vivoactive 3 |
| Successor | — | — | — |
| Versions | — | Bluetooth only, LTE | — |
| BODY | BODY | BODY | BODY |
| Dimension | 40 x 40 x 12 mm | 44 x 44 x 10.9 mm | 43.2 x 43.2 x 12.4 mm |
| Weight | 40 grams | 30 grams (aluminum), 42 grams (stainless steel) | 46.3 grams |
| Shape | Rectangular | Circular | Circular |
| Case material | Aluminum | Aluminum, Stainless steel | Fiber-reinforced polymer |
| Strap material | Silicone | Fluoroelastomer (Aluminum), Leather (stainless steel) | Silicone |
| Bezel material | Aluminum | Bezeless | Stainless steel |
| Strap size | 140 – 180mm (small), 180 -220mm (big) | 20 mm | 20 mm |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass | Corning Gorilla glass DX+ | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Water resistance | Yes, 5ATM | Yes, 5ATM | Yes, 5ATM |
| Durability test | — | MIL-STD-810G | — |
| Swim-proof | Yes, recommended | Yes, recommended | Yes, recommended |
| Color | Black, Bordeaux, Grey, Petal/copper rose, Stone/mist grey | Aqua-black, Black, Cloud-silver, Gold, Pink-gold, Silver | Black, Gold, Rose-gold |
| DISPLAY | DISPLAY | DISPLAY | DISPLAY |
| Display size | 1.4 inches | 1.4 inches | 1.2 inches |
| Display type | AMOLED | Super AMOLED, Full color | AMOLED |
| Display resolution | — | 360 x 360 pixel | 390 x 390 px |
| Pixel density | — | — | — |
| Always on | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom watch face | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Input type | 1 Physical button, Touchscreen | 2 Physical buttons, Digital rotating bezel, Touchscreen | 2 Physical buttons, Touchscreen |
| CONNECTIVITY | CONNECTIVITY | CONNECTIVITY | CONNECTIVITY |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth v4.0 | Bluetooth v5.0 | ANT+, Bluetooth v4.0 |
| Bluetooth calling | No | Yes | No |
| GPS | No | Yes, GPS/GLONASS/BEIDOU | Galileo, GLONASS, GPS |
| NFC | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Wi-Fi | Yes, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n | Yes, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac | Yes, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n |
| MEMORY | MEMORY | MEMORY | MEMORY |
| RAM | — | 1.5GB | — |
| ROM | 4GB | 4GB | 4GB |
| Memory card slot | No | No | No |
| CELLULAR CONNECTIVITY | CELLULAR CONNECTIVITY | CELLULAR CONNECTIVITY | CELLULAR CONNECTIVITY |
| Technology | None | GSM / HSPA / LTE | None |
| SIM type | None | Nano-SIM | None |
| Band | — | — | — |
| NOTIFICATIONS | NOTIFICATIONS | NOTIFICATIONS | NOTIFICATIONS |
| SMS alert | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Calls alert | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Email alert | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Event reminder | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Third-party apps alert | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MEDIA | MEDIA | MEDIA | MEDIA |
| Audio | mp3/mp4 | mp3/mp4 | mp3/mp4 |
| Bluetooth music | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Loudspeaker | No | Yes | No |
| Microphone | Yes | Yes | No |
| Camera | No | No | No |
| Radio | No | No | No |
| SENSORS | SENSORS | SENSORS | SENSORS |
| Accelerometer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Altimeter | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ambient light | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Barometer | — | Yes | Yes |
| Compass | No | — | Yes |
| ECG | No | Yes | No |
| Gyroscope | — | Yes | Yes |
| HRM | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pulse oximeter | Yes | No | Yes |
| Thermometer | No | No | Yes |
| Other sensors | Vibration motor | — | — |
| ACTIVITY TRACKING | ACTIVITY TRACKING | ACTIVITY TRACKING | ACTIVITY TRACKING |
| Blood oxygen | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Blood Pressure | No | Yes | No |
| Calories | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Distance | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ECG tracking | No | Yes | No |
| Fitness Level | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Heart rate monitoring | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sleep tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Steps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Stress | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Incidental fall detection | No | No | Yes |
| Menstrual cycle | Yes | No | Yes |
| VO2 Max | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Swim-tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Swim-heart tracking | No | No | Yes |
| On-screen workout | Yes | No | Yes |
| Sport modes | 15 | 39 | 20 |
| BATTERY | BATTERY | BATTERY | BATTERY |
| Battery type | non-removable Lithium-polymer | Non-removable Li-ion battery | non-removable Lithium-polymer |
| Battery capacity | — | 340mAh | — |
| Battery life | Regular: 5 days+, Standby: 8 days+ | Regular: 2 days, Standby :5 days+ | GPS with music: up to 6hrs, Smartwatch mode: up to 5 days |
| Charging type | Charging dock | WPC based wireless charging | Charging dock |
| Charging time | 2hrs | 1-2 hours | 1-2 hours |
| Solar power | No | No | No |
| PLATFORM | PLATFORM | PLATFORM | PLATFORM |
| Chipset | — | Exynos 9110 | — |
| CPU | — | Dual core 1.15GHz | — |
| GPU | — | — | — |
| Operating system | Fitbit OS | Tizen OS 4.0 | Proprietary OS |
| MISC | MISC | MISC | MISC |
| Companion app | Fitbit App | Samsung Gear app | Garmin Connect |
| Compatibility | Android, iOS | Android 5.0+ & RAM 1.5GB+, iPhone 5+ and iOS 9.0+ | Android 5.0+, iOS 11.0+ |
| Payment system | Fitbit Pay | Samsung Pay | Garmin Pay |
| Interchangeable strap | Yes | Yes | 20mm, Yes |
| Voice command | Yes, Alexa | Yes, Bixby | No |
| Find my phone | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Box content | Charger, Fitbit Versa 2, Manual, Straps | Charger, Manual, Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 (44mm), Straps | Charger, Garmin Venu, Manual, Straps |
| Price | $175.99 | $207.72 | $233.99 |
Fitbit Versa 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 vs Garmin Venu: Which is Better?
DESIGN: From all indications, there has been significant improvement in the design of the most recent smartwatches. It’s evident with these three watches, each of these looks beautiful, sleek and classy. But going by thickness size, the Active 2 is slimmer than the other two, and off course makes it the sleekest. Although, the Versa 2 with a rectangular shape has the highest display size which allows you to see slightly more at a glance.
The Active 2 reintroduced the rotating bezel seen on previous Samsung smartwatches, but this time a digital rotating bezel which is quite innovative and no doubt makes it an easier to navigate device than the other two.
CONNECTIVITY: While inbuilt GPS is present on both the Active 2 and Venu, the Versa 2 lacks inbuilt GPS. This makes the former two better choices for tracking outdoor activities, although the Versa 2 when connected to phone GPS will enable GPS functions, but this can be quite inconvenient while walking out outdoors.
CELLULAR CONNECTIVITY:The stainless steel version of the Active 2 ships with e-SIM which supports cellular connectivity. This makes the Active 2 a standalone smartwatch which is capable of making and receiving calls independently from the device. This feature isn’t supported on the Versa 2 nor Venu.
MEDIAThe Venu lacks both microphone and loudspeaker which is present on the Active 2, while the Versa 2 with microphone lacks loudspeaker. As a result, the Versa 2 features Alexa voice assistant which enable you carry out variety of task using just your voice, same with Bixby on the Active 2.
FITNESS TRACKING: There’s has been significant progress in the fitness tracking department, a lot of resources are been channeled into making more comprehensive and accurate activity trackers. This is as seen with the latest releases from the biggest names in the Smartwatch industry.
With that said, each of the three is fitness-focused and better equipped than their respective predecessors to track your active life comprehensively.
Each of these three will track your sleep, heart rate continuously to help you manage the intensity of your training, steps, distance with GPS that enables outdoor activity tracking.
However, the Active 2 has lots of fitness tracking features with the highest preloaded sport modes and is able to auto track 7 of those, and features ECG tracking which can help you detect irregular heart rhythms.
While the Versa 2 features menstrual cycle logging for women, SpO2 sensor that tracks your blood oxygen, tracks floors climbed, and features 15 preloaded sport modes with onscreen workout coach.
On the other hand, the Venu seems like a more comprehensive activity tracker considering the enormous fitness tracking features such as heart rate tracking while swimming, incidental fall detection, hydration tracking and animated onscreen workout coach (saves you money on subscription) which the other two lacks. Pulse Ox that tracks blood oxygen is also available, menstrual cycle logging, floors climbed, as well as features live event sharing via the Garmin connect community with 20 preloaded sport modes.
BATTERY LIFE: The Venu and Versa have been tested to last up to 5 days on mixed usage which is slightly longer than the Active 2 that’s expected to last about 2 days or more.
VERDICTAll three watches are outstanding in their respective ways, while the Versa 2 is cheaper, yet a comprehensive activity tracker with an impressive long battery life, the Venu is the most comprehensive fitness tracker, and the Active 2 being a standalone smartwatch with more features is the most comprehensive.
Fitbit Versa 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 vs Garmin Venu: Editor’s Pick
