Garmin Venu X1 vs Apple Watch Ultra 2 - Which One Deserves Your Wrist?

The Garmin Venu X1 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 are two of the hottest high-end smartwatches in 2025, each reflecting distinct design philosophies and target users. The Venu X1 features a lightweight titanium body and a large AMOLED display, focusing on health tracking and everyday comfort, while the Ultra 2 stands out with its powerful sensor array and deep integration within the Apple ecosystem, catering to outdoor adventurers and comprehensive health management.

For those deciding between these two models, the key lies in understanding their differences in functionality, battery life, and use scenarios. Whether you’re looking for a long-lasting fitness companion or an all-around device offering extensive health monitoring and smart interaction, this article will provide an in-depth analysis from multiple perspectives to help you find the smartwatch that best suits your needs.

Also Read:

Apple Watch Ultra vs Ultra 2

Apple Watch Ultra 2 vs Garmin Fenix 8

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra vs. Apple Watch Ultra 2

Apple Watch Series 9 vs Ultra 2

Garmin Venu X1 vs Apple Watch Ultra 2 - Specifications

Garmin Venu X1 vs Apple Watch Ultra 2 - Design

The Garmin Venu X1 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 take different approaches in design to meet various user needs and usage scenarios.

Similarities:

• Premium Materials: Both watches use titanium, offering a lightweight, strong, and corrosion-resistant build that ensures durability and comfort.
• Water Resistance: Both provide high-level water resistance, suitable for swimming and outdoor activities.
• Band Variety: Each offers multiple band options in different materials and colors to cater to personal style preferences. You can also check Apple Watch Ultra 2 bands and Garmin Venu Watch straps.

Differences:

• Case Shape and Size: The Venu X1 features a square case with clean, sharp lines, measuring 41×46×7.9mm, making it compact and slim. The Ultra 2 has a round case, larger and thicker at 49×44×14.4mm, with a more rugged presence.
• Weight and Wearability: The Venu X1 weighs around 40g with a nylon strap, extremely lightweight and comfortable for extended wear; the Ultra 2 weighs 61.4g with a full titanium body, offering a solid and secure feel.
• Button Layout: Venu X1 focuses on touchscreen interaction with few physical buttons for flexible operation; Ultra 2 includes a digital crown and multiple side buttons designed for tough outdoor use.
• Band Attachment: Ultra 2 uses a proprietary quick-release system for easy band swapping across styles, while Venu X1 supports sportier band options with a different attachment design.

Winner: Garmin Venu X1

Reason: With its ultra-lightweight and comfortable design, the Venu X1 is better suited for everyday wear and sports, meeting the needs of users seeking a sleek and stylish smartwatch.

Garmin Venu X1 vs Apple Watch Ultra 2 - Display

The Garmin Venu X1 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 both deliver excellent OLED displays with sapphire glass and always-on functionality, ensuring durability and clear visibility in various lighting conditions.

Similarities:

• Both use OLED technology, providing vibrant colors, deep blacks, and high contrast.
• Both screens support always-on display and feature scratch-resistant sapphire glass.
• Both maintain good visibility under bright outdoor light.

Differences:

• Screen Size and Resolution: Venu X1 offers a larger 2-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of approximately 448×486 pixels, allowing for more detailed and spacious content. Ultra 2 has a slightly smaller 1.9-inch Retina OLED screen with around 368×448 pixels, delivering slightly less sharpness but smooth visuals and seamless integration with its interface.
• Brightness: Ultra 2 claims a peak brightness of 3000 nits, optimized for extreme sunlight environments, while Venu X1’s 2000 nits screen is reported to appear more vivid and clearer in real-world bright conditions.

With the release of the Apple Watch Series 10, Apple has introduced further refinements in display brightness and UI fluidity. In the comparison of Apple Watch Series 10 vs. Ultra 2, the Series 10 offers a more compact form factor and improved daily usability, whereas the Ultra 2 remains the go-to for rugged, outdoor-focused users. Meanwhile, when looking at Garmin Venu X1 vs Garmin Venu 3, the X1 takes a clear lead with its expanded screen real estate and visual performance enhancements.

Winner: Garmin Venu X1

Reason: Its larger and more vivid AMOLED display provides better clarity and visibility, especially outdoors, making it the superior choice purely on screen performance.

Garmin Venu X1 vs Apple Watch Ultra 2 - Health and Fitness Features

Both the Garmin Venu X1 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 are high-end smartwatches covering a wide range of uses, from daily health tracking to extreme outdoor sports. However, their functional focus differs significantly.

Similarities:

Both watches offer essential features that meet daily health and fitness tracking needs:

• Heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen tracking, and sleep analysis: Provide continuous body status monitoring and health trend evaluation.
• Multiple sport modes & GPS: Suitable for running, cycling, swimming, and other common sports, with built-in GPS for accurate route recording.
• Water resistance: Venu X1 supports 5 ATM, while Ultra 2 reaches 10 ATM, suitable for daily use and some water activities.

Key Differences:

Health Monitoring Focus:

• Apple Watch Ultra 2 emphasizes “medical-grade health tracking,” supporting ECG, temperature changes, cycle prediction, and fall detection. Coupled with the WatchOS 11 "Vitals" app, users can easily monitor resting heart rate, respiration rate, temperature, and other key indicators. This makes it ideal for daily health management and older adults.
• Garmin Venu X1 focuses on “comprehensive physiological data management,” powered by Firstbeat analytics, featuring HRV status, body energy, battery recovery, stress tracking, nap detection, and jet lag advice, making it perfect for users concerned with workload and recovery.

Training Capabilities:

• Venu X1 leans more toward “professional training,” supporting over 100 sport modes including triathlon, trail running, and skiing. It offers training readiness scores, recovery time, endurance rating, ClimbPro ascent data, and external sensor support, rivaling the capabilities of Garmin’s Fenix series.
• Ultra 2 supports running, cycling, swimming, and integrates with Apple Fitness+, but focuses more on user experience than in-depth training data, which might be less suitable for professional athletes or serious trainees.

Water and Outdoor Performance:

• Ultra 2 is certified to EN13319 for diving, supporting depths up to 40 meters and can function as a basic dive computer with the Oceanic+ app, suitable for snorkeling and open water swimming.
• Venu X1, although with a lower water resistance rating, excels in outdoor adventure with offline maps, LED flashlight, hiking data, and offline navigation, making it ideal for hikers and outdoor explorers.

Winner: Garmin Venu X1

Reason: It offers superior training features, more precise fitness data, and advanced recovery guidance, making it the better choice for athletes and outdoor enthusiasts who demand comprehensive body management.

Garmin Venu X1 vs Apple Watch Ultra 2 - Smart Features and Connectivity

Similarities:

Both the Garmin Venu X1 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 offer rich smart features including message notifications, music control, contactless payments (Garmin Pay and Apple Pay), and built-in voice assistants (Garmin with Alexa or Google, Apple with Siri). They both support third-party apps and are compatible with iOS and Android (though Ultra 2 is limited to iOS only).

Differences:

• Operating System Integration: The Ultra 2 integrates deeply with the Apple ecosystem, supporting features like unlocking a MacBook, Handoff, iMessage syncing, and more.
• App Ecosystem: The Apple Watch Ultra 2 benefits from the robust Apple App Store, with more refined third-party app support. Garmin’s ecosystem is more fitness-focused and limited in variety.
• Compatibility: Garmin Venu X1 supports both Android and iOS, offering more flexibility. In contrast, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is only compatible with iPhones.

Winner: Apple Watch Ultra 2

Reason: Although Garmin Venu X1 is more versatile in cross-platform compatibility, the Ultra 2 offers a more seamless, intelligent experience for iOS users with deeper system integration, richer app support, and smoother ecosystem connectivity.

Garmin Venu X1 vs Apple Watch Ultra 2 - Battery Life

Both the Garmin Venu X1 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 support multiple usage modes to meet different needs, offering battery life that helps avoid frequent charging interruptions.

Similarities

• Both watches offer smart mode and GPS mode, allowing users to balance battery life and functionality based on their activities.
• Each provides sufficient battery life in their respective modes to support daily use and workouts.

Differences

• Battery Duration: The Venu X1 lasts about 8 days in smart mode and 16–20 hours in GPS mode, making it ideal for extended outdoor use. The Ultra 2 offers roughly 36 hours of standard use, extendable to 72 hours in low power mode, but overall battery life is still shorter than Garmin’s.
• Charging Speed: The Ultra 2 supports fast charging, reaching about 80% battery in 1 hour; the Venu X1 charges more slowly and requires longer to fully charge.

Winner: Garmin Venu X1

Reason: Its significantly longer battery life makes it better suited for multi-day outdoor adventures and users who prefer less frequent charging.

Garmin Venu X1 vs Apple Watch Ultra 2 - GPS & Navigation

Both the Garmin Venu X1 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 come with high-precision built-in GPS and support multiple satellite systems (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, etc.), enabling independent positioning and route tracking to meet basic navigation needs for daily and outdoor activities.

Similarities

• Both watches support multiple satellite systems to enhance positioning accuracy and stability in complex environments.
• Both can record workout routes and provide navigation guidance to help users track their paths and directions.
• Both offer some level of offline positioning capability, useful when there is no network coverage.

Differences

• Positioning Technology & Accuracy: Venu X1 uses single-frequency positioning, which performs well but may have some deviation in urban or complex terrain; Ultra 2 uses dual-frequency technology, receiving both L1 and L5 signals simultaneously, resulting in higher precision and stability, especially in cities and challenging environments.
• Navigation Interface & Maps: Ultra 2 features a colorful built-in map with rich traffic information and supports offline map downloads for a more intuitive navigation experience; Venu X1 has a simpler navigation interface and relies more on the phone’s Garmin Connect app for detailed maps.
• Navigation Features: Venu X1 offers professional sports navigation features like back-to-start routing and multi-mode navigation support, ideal for serious athletes; Ultra 2 provides more comprehensive everyday navigation for walking, cycling, driving, and includes intelligent voice prompts.
• Offline Navigation: Ultra 2’s offline navigation is more robust, suitable for extended outdoor use without network; Venu X1’s offline navigation is more basic and often requires phone assistance.

Winner: Apple Watch Ultra 2

Reason: Thanks to advanced dual-frequency positioning, rich and intuitive map display, and strong offline navigation, it better supports precise navigation and convenient travel across complex environments and diverse scenarios.

Garmin Venu X1 vs Apple Watch Ultra 2 - Price & Positioning

The Garmin Venu X1 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 differ in price and market positioning, catering to different user needs.

Similarities

• Both watches focus on fitness and health tracking while offering smart features to meet users’ demands for activity monitoring and everyday convenience.

Differences

• Price: The Venu X1 is affordable, priced around $350–$450, offering great value; the Ultra 2 is Apple’s flagship, starting at $799, targeting high-end professional users.
• Market Positioning: Venu X1 emphasizes cost-effectiveness, ideal for users focused on health management and fitness features with budget constraints; Ultra 2 targets the premium segment, highlighting extreme sports support, multi-scenario smart experiences, and deep integration with the Apple ecosystem.
• Features & Experience: Ultra 2 includes cellular connectivity, a brighter display, and a more durable design for extreme conditions and professional use; Venu X1 focuses on long battery life and accurate health data, suitable for everyday and serious athletes.

Winner: Garmin Venu X1

Reason: It offers the best balance of price and features, making it the ideal choice for budget-conscious users seeking professional-grade fitness functions.

Garmin Venu X1 vs Apple Watch Ultra 2 - Conclusion & Recommendation

The Garmin Venu X1 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 are both top-tier smartwatches, but they cater to different types of users with distinct strengths and focuses.

The Garmin Venu X1 stands out for its long battery life, precise health monitoring, and rich sports features. With a comfortable, lightweight design and a bright AMOLED screen, it is an ideal companion for outdoor adventurers and endurance athletes. Supporting both iOS and Android, it’s perfect for those who want cross-platform compatibility, extended battery life, and detailed training data. If you value long battery endurance and personalized workout guidance, the Venu X1 will satisfy your needs.

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is Apple’s flagship designed for deep integration with the iPhone ecosystem. It offers comprehensive health tracking (including ECG, temperature, and dive monitoring), seamless smart connectivity, and robust LTE cellular support. Its rugged, durable design and high-brightness display make it not only a powerful tool for everyday health management but also a reliable partner for extreme sports and outdoor exploration. If you seek flawless iPhone integration, premium smart features, and versatile use cases, the Ultra 2 is the ideal choice.

In summary:

• If you need a long-lasting, cross-platform, sport-focused, and comfortable smartwatch, the Garmin Venu X1 is a highly cost-effective option worth considering.
• If you are an Apple user who prioritizes advanced health functions, smart ecosystem integration, and rugged design, and don’t mind daily charging, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is a better fit.
• Whichever you choose, both watches significantly enhance your health management and athletic performance. We hope this comparison helps you find the smartwatch that best suits your lifestyle, empowering you to live healthier and smarter.