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CES 2022: Garmin's New Venu 2 Plus Smart Watch Adds Siri Integration

OK, I realize I may come across like an idiot here, but... Can ANY Bluetooth microphone invoke Siri? I didn't know the sort of activation Garmin is doing here was even possible. If any BT mic can do this, that may change how I do some smart home stuff. Anyone know for sure?
 
Mick-Mac said:
9 days of battery life! That sound a WHOLE LOT better than the 1 lousy day offered by some company that shall remain nameless...
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Do you wear your watch 24-7? Honest question. I personally remove my watch at night. Can't sleep with something on my wrist, unless I'm really tired. So when I remove it, it goes on the charger. Fully charged within the next hour or two, well before the next morning.
 
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kirbyrun said:
OK, I realize I may come across like an idiot here, but... Can ANY Bluetooth microphone invoke Siri? I didn't know the sort of activation Garmin is doing here was even possible. If any BT mic can do this, that may change how I do some smart home stuff. Anyone know for sure?
Click to expand...

I'm wondering if you misread that? It's not a "Bluetooth Microphone"... the microphone is built into the watch, and then watch is connected to the iPhone via Bluetooth.

The Watch has "Siri integration", so is sending commands to the iPhone that it understands, and getting back responses that it understands. Not any Bluetooth microphone will do that.

Here's what the article said...
With an added microphone, the Venu 2 Plus is able to work with the Siri when connected via Bluetooth to an iPhone. Siri integration offers all of the same Siri features that are available on the iPhone, so Siri can be asked to send messages, make phone calls, answer queries, and more.
Click to expand...

The Watch is simply being a proxy for (or extension of) the iPhone. Siri would not work on the Watch without the iPhone.
 
Nice watch but I still think the Apple Watch edges out in front. It's not just about the watch but additional integration with iPhone and then of course Apple Fitness+ which brings it all together into something way more meaningful than just a smartwatch. Just my view.
 
I may have been using an inadvisable shorthand when asking. I guess what I mean is: Can any Bluetooth device with a microphone do this? I believe this is the first non-Apple device with Siri integration (other than the new Ecobee thermostat) I've seen.
 
I know most will disagree, but I prefer round watches and wish Apple would make one.

Sure, from a UI perspective a square face makes more sense, but personally I find Apple watches not very attractive.
 
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coolfactor said:
Do you wear your watch 24-7? Honest question. I personally remove my watch at night. Can't sleep with something on my wrist, unless I'm really tired. So when I remove it, it goes on the charger. Fully charged within the next hour or two, well before the next morning.
Click to expand...
I, on the other hand, wear my watch all day every day. i have a Garmin fenix 3 and get annoyed when I have to take it off once a week or so to charge. So everyone is different and the battery life of the AW is the main reason I did not switch. I’m also looking at the new suuntos, which also look very nice, but this is very interesting.
 
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NM, found the answer. Can't reply to text messages on the watch with an iPhone.
 
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This year we will see a number of smart watch offerings from Garmin. Having a good display with at least 36 hour battery life will be the biggest thing for many smart watch users. I returned my Apple Watch S7 as the best I could get out of it was 26 hours.
 
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I wish Garmin had more health stuff. I'd definitely be on board if so. I get it, it's a fitness first watch, not really health, but I like that data. I'm in the market for a watch, so maybe i'll opt for it, but don't know.
 
Garmin Fenix 6 owner here. I absolutely love it, particularly for multi day backpacking or bicycling trips. The Garmin Connect app is solid too.
 
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I've said it before, I'll say it again... round is great for telling time; round sucks at conveying most other information.
 
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I went from AW4 to Venu 1. I have no regrets - get about 4 days' battery life, still use contactless payment, still use offline music storage, still do GPS runs. Parts of the UI are definitely clumsier (you enter a PIN once per day for payments, which is prone to error due to overly sensitive touch). This seems to close the gap with AW quite a bit by adding the workout animations and Siri, plus doubling my Venu's battery life. The Garmin also has training plans that I have started using (builds a workout routine and schedule to attain various goals). I think I'll need to see a 5 day battery from Apple to even consider switching back.
 
kirbyrun said:
OK, I realize I may come across like an idiot here, but... Can ANY Bluetooth microphone invoke Siri? I didn't know the sort of activation Garmin is doing here was even possible. If any BT mic can do this, that may change how I do some smart home stuff. Anyone know for sure?
Click to expand...

Based on how my Samsung Galaxy watch and previous Bluetooth headsets have worked, I think the answer is Yes. (They were also junk).

coolfactor said:
I'm wondering if you misread that? It's not a "Bluetooth Microphone"... the microphone is built into the watch, and then watch is connected to the iPhone via Bluetooth.

The Watch has "Siri integration", so is sending commands to the iPhone that it understands, and getting back responses that it understands. Not any Bluetooth microphone will do that.

Here's what the article said...


The Watch is simply being a proxy for (or extension of) the iPhone. Siri would not work on the Watch without the iPhone.
Click to expand...

I’m not sure if you misunderstood the question or the answer but I think you may be incorrect. The watch would send the audio to the iPhone over regular old Bluetooth, most likely after you press a button. It’s not shown as a MFi device and I doubt it’s listening for Hey Siri. Sending audio commands to Siri does not require anything special other than standard BT mic as per my understanding.
 
I got ‘stuck’ with a Vivoactive 4 over the holidays. After getting over the lower resolution screen and accepting it for what it really is meant for (fitness watch vs a smart watch), it’s a decent product.

And as others have alluded to, their Connect App is solid with all the information on one location.
Battery life is decent with bluetooth and GPS turned on, I get 4-5 days.

If only it could stream Apple Music. Instead Apple music is controllable via my tethered iPhone.
But the thing I like most about it, is it’s shape.
Round > Squircle
Aesthetically, the round shape just looks so much nicer on a wrist. But I know Apple won’t go there.
 
AW1-6 user here, currently Fenix 6 Solar ;)
Looking forward to see Fenix 7 as since I switched to Garmin my life becomes less complicated (One less device to charge) I wear my watch 24/day and still get up to 14 days of battery life. I use it to monitor my fitness health and training.
The only chance for me to go back to AW is 7 days battery life. Peace ;)
 
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This is probably the best effort yet by Garmin. It's always going to be tough going for them though because of iOS limitations on third-party hardware. As long as I cannot act on notifications/texts, it's a hard sell for me. Now, if the always on mode had 9 days of battery life, I'd happily give up all the other integration.
 
coolfactor said:
Do you wear your watch 24-7? Honest question. I personally remove my watch at night. Can't sleep with something on my wrist, unless I'm really tired. So when I remove it, it goes on the charger. Fully charged within the next hour or two, well before the next morning.
Click to expand...
Actually yes. The Garmin watches track sleep, rest and what they call "body battery", which is defined as a combination of physical activity, stress and sleep. Please see the following link: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/garmin-technology/health-science/body-battery/

There is a correlation between all of these things and keeping healthy, especially with the recent covid surge in the US.
 
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Martinocycling said:
AW1-6 user here, currently Fenix 6 Solar ;)
Looking forward to see Fenix 7 as since I switched to Garmin my life becomes less complicated (One less device to charge) I wear my watch 24/day and still get up to 14 days of battery life. I use it to monitor my fitness health and training.
The only chance for me to go back to AW is 7 days battery life. Peace ;)
Click to expand...
I have the Fenix 6X Pro Sapphire and keep every sensor on with brightness jacked up to 70%. I get 5 days out of it wearing it continuously. My next smart watch is going to be the Fenix 7 Pro Solar when it comes out later this year.
 
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That actually looks really good, and I’m kinda considering it.
But he one thing I have against getting one of these is that I don’t want 2 smartwatches, tried that before. Apple Watch does what I need it to when it comes to smart features and health features, and it works pretty well with iPhone, so I’ll probably stay with my series 4 until Apple releases a new model that justifies upgrading.

But still I’m going to have to give it a little more thought.

Edit: Just saw the price of that thing, and nope ain’t gonna happen. If it was 50% lower then maybe, at its current pricing it would have to be an Apple Watch replacement and for me it is not.
 
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MacCurry said:
I have the Fenix 6X Pro Sapphire and keep every sensor on with brightness jacked up to 70%. I get 5 days out of it wearing it continuously. My next smart watch is going to be the Fenix 7 Pro Solar when it comes out later this year.
Click to expand...

I went the other route on mine. Low power mode while sleeping.

I get 20+ days on my Fenix 6X Pro between charges.
 
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