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Fitbit Charge 5 vs Apple Watch SE vs Garmin Venu 2 Plus

Fitbit Charge 5 vs Apple Watch SE vs Garmin Venu 2 Plus — Which GPS Watch Should You Buy?

In this article, we compare three popular fitness wearables: the Fitbit Charge 5, the Apple Watch SE, and the Venu 2 Plus.

Each offers a unique experience. We'll show you how they are the same and how they differ in several important categories: price, product specs, display and design, battery life, fitness and training features, and smart features.

While the Fitbit tracker may be limited in what it can do, both in the sport and smart features areas, it has the advantage of being lower cost.

The Apple Watch SE shines in the smartwatch space (for iPhone users) in this comparison—but does it have sufficient health and fitness oomph?

The Venu 2 Plus provides Garmin's robust health and fitness monitoring, but it is the most expensive option here—and for some pretty cool reasons.

Read on to find out which device will meet your fitness tracking needs and budget!


Apple Watch SE vs Fitbit Charge 5 vs Garmin Venu 2 Plus | Table of Contents

Fitbit Charge 5 vs Garmin Venu 2 Plus vs Apple Watch SE Price Comparison

Budget is often a major consideration when deciding which fitness tracker or smartwatch to choose. In this fitness device comparison, we've included a variety of price points. Read on to find out what features you get for the price.

Fitbit Charge Fitness Tracker Price: $149.95

Apple Watch SE Smartwatch Price: Starting at $249.00 (non-cellular model)

Garmin Venu 2 Plus Fitness Smartwatch Price: $449.99


Apple Watch SE vs Venu 2 Plus vs Charge 5 Quick Specs

Venu 2 Plus Product Specs

  • Case Size/Weight: 43.6 x 43.6 x 12.6 mm / 51 g
  • Display Size/Type: 1.3” AMOLED color touchscreen
  • GPS: Built-in multi-frequency positioning (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS)
  • Maps & Navigation: No maps or breadcrumb navigation; Back to start features using compass
  • Saftety features: Livetrack, Incident Detection during select activities, Incident Detection alert on phone for wearables, Assistance
  • Water Resistant: Yes

Apple SE Product Specs

  • Case Size/Weight: 40 x 34 x 10.7 mm case & 44 x 38 x 10.7 mm case / 30 g & 36 g
  • Display Size/Type: Retina LTPO OLED display, 1000 nits brightness
  • GPS: Built-in multi-GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and QZSS0)
  • Maps & Navigation: None built-in
  • Saftety features: Emergency SOS, Crash Detection
  • Water Resistant: Yes

Fitbit Charge 5 Product Specs

  • Case Size/Weight: N/A
  • Display Size/Type: 1.04" diagonal x 0.86" (H) x 0.58" (W)
  • GPS: Built-in GPS        
  • Maps & Navigation: None
  • Saftety features: None
  • Water Resistant: Yes

Venu 2 Plus vs Charge 5 vs Apple SE Display and Design

A crystal-clear AMOLED display brings the Venu 2 Plus watch to life, even under bright sunlight. Always-on mode to keep the display visible at all times. From durable Corning Gorilla Glass 3 to the sleek stainless steel bezel and comfortable silicone band, this Garmin watch is solid and stylish. Available colors include: Silver/Powder Gray, Slate/Black, Cream Gold/Ivory.

The Fitbit Charge 5 is 2x brigher than the Charge 4 and also has always-on display mode to check your progress with just a glance. The color display is housed in glass, an alluminum case, and has a silicone band. Available colors include: Black/Graphite Stainless Steel, Lunar White/Soft Gold Stainless Steel, Steel Blue/Platiunm Stainless Steel.

The 2022 Apple Watch SE maintains the same case design, but features a redesigned matching back case made of a nylon composite material, making it lighter than before. This Apple Watch is available in 40mm and 44mm aluminum cases, in midnight, starlight, and silver finishes, and is compatible with all bands.


Fitbit Charge 5 vs Garmin Venu 2 Plus vs Apple Watch SE Battery Life

Garmin watches are known for their long battery life, and the Venu 2 Plus is no exception. As you can see, it can go days longer than the Fitbit and Apple Watch.

Fitbit Charge 5 Battery Life: Up to 7 days

2022 Apple Watch SE Battery Life: Up to 18 hours

Garmin Venu 2 Plus Battery Life:

  • Smartwatch Mode: Up to 9 days
  • GPS Mode: Up to 24 hours

Fitness Tracking, Sport Apps, and Training Training

The Venu 2 Plus is the perfect fitness watch for those who want to do more, track more, and know more about their health and wellness—right from the wrist. This Garmin watch has a full suite of health-monitoring feautes, including wrist-based heart rate, body battery, advanced sleep tracking, stress tracking, and more. The Venu 2 Plus has more than 25 preloaded GPS and indoor sports apps—including walking, running, cycling, pool swimming, and golf. Plus, it has really cool animated on-screen workouts, and you can choose from more than 1,600 exercises to build your own workouts in the Garmin Connect app—then download them to the watch. Garmin Coach puts a free personal coach on your wrist to help you train for your next marathon, and you can track your moderate and vigorous activity minutes and see when during the day you earned them and during what activity. The GPS on this sport smartwatch is the super-accurate, supported by multiple satelites.

The Fitbit Charge 5 provides basic activity and health tracking, such as heart rate information, steps, distance, calories, sleep data, stress managment, and menstrual health tracking. Additionally, you can access an ECG app for your heart and an EDA sensor for your stress. This advanced fitness tracker also has built-in GPS so you can get real-time pace and distance on walks, hikes, and runs without needing to take your phone.

The Applw Watch SE is fast and fashionable, has the well-known activity rings, and you can pair it with the Apple workout app to get personalized metrics (you will have to purchase the Apple Fitness+ membership). You also get heart rate information, sleep stages, and the option to have cellular on your wrist. This smartwatch can strap a veritble iPhone to your arm, but the fitness and training tools are limited compared to Garmin—little more than data that does not get compared to your history or make recommendations about how to improve, adjust, or recover.  


Garmin vs Fitbit vs Apple Watch Smartwatch Features

It's hard to beat an Apple Watch in the smart features area. You practically get an iPhone strapped to your wrist, plus it offers a cellular model option so that you can use it like a phone without the need of your phone. It's latest enhanced feature is Crash Detection, which will contact emergency services when you've been in a severe car crash and do not respond to your watch. The sky is kind of the limit in terms of smart features with this watch, and it is king of this category.

The Venu 2 Plus fitness watch let's you make and take calls and texts on your watch—so you can keep your phone in your pocket. This Garmin watch has an excellent quality built-in speaker and mic, allowing you to use your smartphone’s voice assistant. Built-in music storage lets you bring your 650 of your favorite tunes along for phone-free listening. And get even more functionality on the wrist with Garmin Pay contactless payments in supported countries and payment networks, advanced safety tracking features, and more!

Smart features are pretty limited on the Fitbit Charge 5, but you will get call, text, and app notifications when paired with your smartphone. And you can use Fitbit Pay.


Which GPS Smartwatch Is Right for You?

If low cost is high on your list when shopping for a fitness device, the Fitbit Charge 5 might be your option on this list. It provides all the basics in activity tracking and the minimum smart feartures. However, we recommend taking a look at Garmin's fitness tracker, the vívosmart 5, if this kind of device is your speed.

Are you looking for more of a smartwatch experience with a nod to fitness tracking? If you are an iPhone user, then the Apple Watch SE might be what you are looking for. As the lowest cost Apple Watch, it is somewhat affordable too.

But if you want the watch that perfectly blends the smartwatch experience with sport GPS watch savvy, the Garmin Venu 2 Plus might be the fitness wearable you are looking for. You're going to get a lot of valuable health and workout support built into one device, plus the ability to make calls and texts without pulling out your phone and phone-free music right on your watch!

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