The Garmin Lily is the latest fashion focused wearable from Garmin. It offers a beautiful design, together with an excellent selection of fitness features.
The Garmin Venu is one of the most well-rounded sports watches in the Garmin family. It has an excellent selection of sports modes, a beautiful AMOLED high-resolution screen, and it is packed with all the fitness features that Garmin has to offer.
Now that we have a high-level understanding of what each watch is all about, it’s time to dive into the details of this comparison.
Table of Contents
Key Similarities - Garmin Lily vs Venu
Garmin Lily
Garmin Venu
Key Differences - Garmin Lily vs Garmin Venu
Garmin Lily
Garmin Venu
Reasons To Choose The Garmin Lily
1 Price
If you just want a stylish activity tracker and you aren’t really into running or cycling, the Garmin Lily could potentially be the better choice.
It might not have as many features as the Venu, but it will serve you well if you burn most of your calories in the gym, and you just want a watch that keen keep tabs on your physical stats in the process.
2 Style
The style of the Garmin Lily is arguably its best feature. The combination of a thin band and circular watch face should suit the eye of many women that want a fitness watch that can pass as an attractive timepiece.
In many ways, the Garmin Lily is basically a slimmed-down version of the Garmin Vivomove. Everything about it is sleek and sophisticated. Garmin have done a great job with the overall design of the Lily.
Reasons To Choose The Garmin Venu
1 Built-in GPS Capabilities
The biggest difference between the Venu and the Garmin Venu is GPS capability. When using the Venu, there is literally no need to take your phone when you go running or cycling outside. All the features you need to track every move during your training session is effectively built into the watch.
Unfortunately, this is not the case with the Garmin Lily, which relies on your phone’s GPS in order to track runs and cycles. To put this in perspective, you could actually leave the Garmin Lily behind, and just use an app on your phone to track running, cycling or hiking.
2 High Resolution Screen
The key selling point of the Garmin Venu over similar models in Garmin’s line-up (like the Vivoactive 4) is the high-resolution screen. While the Garmin Lily and the Garmin Venu both have color touchscreens, the size and quality of the Venu’s screen sets it apart from the Lily.
- Garmin Venu: 390 x 390 pixels, 1.2″ * 1.2″
- Garmin Lily: 240 x 201 pixels, 1.00” x 0.84”
3 Music Storage
Music storage is another massive advantage if you choose to go with the Venu over the Lily. In addition to being able to store up to 500 songs directly on the Garmin Venu, you can also use popular music apps like:
- Spotify
- Deezer
- iHeart Radio
- Amazon Music
4 Payments From The Watch
The ability to pay using the Garmin Venu provides a great reason to leave your phone and your wallet at home when you go for a training session.
Once your card is loaded to the Venu, you can use NFC payment technology to transact at most stores that accept electronic payments in the US. Just be mindful of the $50 spending limit.
5 Animated Workouts
The Venu includes easy-to-follow cardio, strength, yoga, and pilates workouts that are preloaded on the watch. Importantly, if you work through all recommend workouts you can simply download more from using the Garmin Connect app.
6 Additional Sports Modes
To gain a better understanding of just how many extra sports and activities:
Garmin Venu Sports Modes: 20
Garmin Lily Sports Modes: 11
7 Barometric Altimeter & Built-In Compass
The main purpose of the barometric altimeter is to help calculate your vertical movements during training. It should provide you with a more accurate representation of your elevation stats during runs and cycles.
The altimeter also makes it possible to monitor how many flights of stairs you tackle during the day.
Advanced Golf Tracking
If you enjoy playing golf, there is literally no comparison between the Garmin Lily and the Garmin Venu. By opting for the Venu, you essentially unlock a dedicated golf watch that can measure:
- Yardage front, middle and back of green
- Yardage to layups and doglegs
- Measure shot distace automatically
- Identify hazards
- Green view with manual pin position
- Round timer (odometer)
Sports Modes Comparison
Garmin Lily Sports Modes
- Strength Training
- Cardio Training
- Elliptical Training
- Stair Stepping
- Yoga
- Pilates
- Breathwork
- Running (outdoor)
- Treadmill Running
- Cycling
- Pool Swimming
Garmin Venu Sports Modes
- Strength Training
- Cardio Training
- Elliptical Training
- Stair Stepping
- Floor Climbing
- Indoor Rowing
- Yoga
- Pilates
- Running
- Treadmill Running
- Indoor Track Running
- Skiing
- Snowboarding
- XC Skiing
- Stand Up Paddleboarding
- Rowing
- Cyclings
- Indoor Cycling
- Pool Swimming
- Walking
- Golf
Final Thoughts
In the end, it should be fundamentally clear that the Garmin Venu absolutely dominates this particular product battle. With that being said, if you’re still on the fence, these final buying tips may help:
Go for the Garmin Lily if:
- You want a slim and attractive activity tracker with great fitness features
- You do very little outdoor running and cycling
Go for the Garmin Venu if:
- You like listening to music while you training
- You want a beautiful high-res AMOLED screen
- You play golf regularly
- You’re into running or cycling outdoors, and will benefit from the built-in GPS
- You want more advanced swimming metrics
- You want to measure your heart rate underwater using the wrist-based heart rate monitor
- You want access to considerably more sports modes
- You like the convenience of being able to pay for things using your watch
- You want the better spors and fitness watch overall