I’ve always believed my Garmin smartwatch to be the most superior wearable tech known to humankind. However, when smart rings (read: Oura) entered the space, I started trying them out, too, and to my surprise, they do a fine job at health tracking as well.
But then came the obvious: Given a choice between my Oura Gen3 and Garmin Venu 3, which device would I like better? That’s a tough question to answer, mind you. To arrive at an answer, I kept my biases aside, wore both wearables side by side for over a month, and compared them across several metrics.
My Verdict
I am a fan of the Oura Ring, but I still liked the Garmin Venu 3 better. The watch looks quite sleek and stylish, is super durable, and the fact that it comes with customizable bands makes everything even better. The watch lasts me around 9-14 days and only takes an hour to charge fully which is perfect for me.
Venu 3’s sleep tracking accuracy is not just at par with what Oura offers but also one of the best I have seen in any smart wearable in the market. The watch offers more health and fitness tracking features than what I know what to do with, but the bottom line is that it can track almost everything I do VERY accurately.
Sure, the app ecosystem needs a little more work, but hey, it’s free to use, and that’s why I can’t really bring myself to complain about it as much. Probably the only thing I find a little unreasonable about the watch is its whopping $450 USD price tag.
Specifications
| Specifications | Oura Ring 3 | Garmin Venu 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Material | Durable titanium, PVD coating | Lens- Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 Bezel- Stainless steel Case material- Fiber-reinforced polymer Strap- Silicone |
| Weight | 4-6 grams | 30 g (47 g with included band) |
| Dimensions | • Thickness- 2.55mm • Width- 7.9mm | • 45 x 45 x 12 mm • Watch band- 22mm • Display- 1.4″ (35.4 mm) diameter |
| Sizes Available | 6 to 13 | 45mm (Fits wrists with a circumference of 135-200 mm) |
| Colors Available | Brushed titanium, Rose Gold, Gold, Stealth, Silver, Black | • Silver Stainless Steel Bezel with Whitestone Case • Slate Stainless Steel Bezel with Black Case |
| Customizable | No | Yes |
| Free Sizing Kit | Yes | N/A |
| Charger | Wireless Charging dock | Garmin proprietary plug charger |
| Battery Life | Up to 7 days | • Smartwatch mode: Up to 14 days (5 days display always-on) • Battery Saver Smartwatch mode: Up to 26 days • GPS-Only GNSS mode: Up to 26 hours • All-Systems GNSS mode: Up to 20 hours • All-Systems GNSS mode with music: Up to 11 hours |
| Charging Time | Up to 80 minutes | Around one hour |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth Low-Energy (Bluetooth Smart®) | Bluetooth®, ANT+®, Wi-Fi® |
| Compatible With Other Apps | Yes | Yes |
| Water Resistance | Upto 100m/ 328 ft., IP54 | 5 ATM |
| EMF – Safe | Yes | Yes |
| Airplane Mode | Yes | Yes |
| GPS | Yes (via Phone) | Yes (in-built) |
| GNSS | No | GPS, Galileo, GLONASS |
| Flashlight | No | Yes |
| Control Buttons | No | Yes |
| Online Pay | No | Yes (Garmin Pay) |
| Music | No | Yes |
| Alarm Clock, Timer, & Stopwatch | No | Yes |
| Smart Notifications | No | Yes |
| Time and Date | No | Yes |
| Find My Phone/Find My Watch Tracking | No | Yes |
| FSA/ HSA Eligibility | Yes | Yes |
| Memory | 7 days of data (also depends on the frequency of use) | 8 GB |
| Compatibility | • iOS devices running on iOS 15 or above • Android devices running on Android 9.0 or higher | Works with both iOS and Android devices |
| Warranty | One year from the date of purchase | One year from the original date of purchase |
| Operating Temperature | -10–52°C / 14–125°F. | -20º to 45ºC (from -4º to 113ºF) |
Design & Colors
My Oura ring looks just about like any other ring on my finger, and that’s how I prefer it; I don’t want it to stand out as something unnatural. While the Venu 3 doesn’t stand out like that either, it still manages to look a little too big on my slender wrists. The watch comes in two different sizes: 41mm (Venu 3S) and 45mm (Venu 3).
I have the Oura Ring in silver Horizon variant, and it’s stunning. The ring is round, smooth, and oh-so-shiny. Similar to Oura, the Garmin Venu 3 is round and sleek, too. Its departure from the traditional rectangular design is a breath of fresh air to me.
There’s not much going on with the Oura Ring. It looks like a normal ring but is actually smart. But, when it comes to Garmin, you can already imagine it standing out on my wrist. However, in comparison to the Garmin Fenix 7 Pro, the Venu doesn’t come with big round buttons on all sides that make the watch stick out even more.
Don’t get me wrong, though. The Fenix 7 Pro did look pretty rad, it’s just that I quite like the sleek look of Venu 3. It goes well with almost all my outfits, while the rugged look of the Fenix 7 Pro makes it inappropriate for formal events. So, quite happy with the fact that both the Oura Ring 3 and Venu 3 manage to go well with almost all my outfits.
I have the Venu 3 in Silver Stainless Steel Bezel with a Whitestone Case, and I can change the straps of the watch to my liking to make it suit my different outfits even more; I quite like the customization freedom that Venu 3 gives me.
The Oura obviously doesn’t give me such customization options. Plus, in case I have to switch the color or finish of my Oura Ring, I’d have to pay around $100-$200 more depending on what I get, like Stealth or Rose Gold, colors I’ve liked for the longest.
No such case with the Venu 3. It comes in one just finish, i.e., the black one, and I already don’t want it since most of the smartwatches I have are black.
Materials, Comfort & Durability
My Oura ring is made up of durable titanium and comes with a PVD coating on top. Naturally, you’d think it is super durable, and well, it is. However, if I have to compare it with the durability of Garmin, I will still say that Venu 3 is much more durable.
Its case is made up of fiber-reinforced polymer, and the bezels are stainless steel. This doesn’t just make the watch light to wear (it weighs around 47 g with the strap) but also quite scratch-resistant.
I had expected the watch to start showing scratches after I fell off my bike the other day, but no. Neither the case nor the lens that’s made of Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 showed me any scratches, and I was just so relieved.
However, I have always felt uncomfortable wearing smartwatches with Silicone straps, and that is what the Garmin Venu 3 offers. Which is why in terms of comfort I do tend to prefer Oura. It’s not just lightweight (barely around 4-6 grams) but also doesn’t irritate me at all.
But even though I find Oura more comfortable than the Venu 3, I have to say that Venu 3 is one of the best-designed Garmin watches out there. I will choose it comparison to other Garmin watches I have like the Fenix 7 Pro.
Battery Life & Charging
| Charging Details | Oura Ring | Garmin Venu 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Official Charging Time | Up to 80 minutes | Around one hour |
| My Charging Time | 80-100 minutes | 60-70 minutes |
| Official Battery Durability | Up to 7 days | • Smartwatch mode: Up to 14 days (5 days display always-on) • Battery Saver Smartwatch mode: Up to 26 days |
| My Battery Durability | 4-6 days | 9-14 days |
As someone who seriously dislikes charging her devices frequently, I’d obviously want a health-tracking device that lasts. And well, Garmin Venu 3 is one of the wearables with the longest battery life I have seen.
My Oura ring can go on for 4-6 days without being charged, and the promised claim is up to 7 days, so it’s close enough. Meanwhile, the Garmin Venu 3 promises a stellar battery life of 14 days in smartwatch mode (which is the one I use), but the actual battery life is around 9-14 days, depending on my usage.
I don’t like having the on-display feature enabled at all times, so I turn it off, which leads to a longer battery life. However, when I have all notifications enabled and I am also using GPS at the highest GNSS setting possible, the battery has only lasted up to a week, quite similar to what Oura offers.
But, that is not something I usually do. So, if I have to pick a wearable on the basis of battery life, I am going to choose Garmin Venu 3.
Charging both devices is a pretty easy thing to do, but the Garmin Venu 3 still gives me a better charging experience in comparison to the Oura Ring.
With Oura, I have to place the ring on the wireless charging dock and connect it to a power source using a USB-C cable. A complete charge takes around 80-100 minutes, and I don’t really mind waiting that long.
When it comes to charging my Venu 3 watch, all I have to do is connect one end of the Garmin cable plug to the charging port present on the back of the watch and the other end of the cable to a power source. I could use a computer, a wall charger, a laptop, or even a car charger, and the charging duration depends on what I use.
Given that I mostly use a wall adapter, I can tell you that, my watch charges to a 100% in under an hour and that’s such a relief to me. But what I usually do is to place my watch on charge while I am in the shower after coming back from an evening run. Because I do this regularly, I don’t usually have to wait for the watch to hit a low battery before I charge it completely.
Sensors
| Sensors | Oura Ring | Garmin Venu 3 |
|---|---|---|
| PPG Sensor |  |  |
| Elevate Wrist Heart Rate Monitor | |  |
| Skin Temperature Sensor | | |
| Thermometer | | |
| Accelerometer |  | |
| Gyroscope | | |
| Barometric Altimeter | | |
| Pulse Ox Blood Oxygen Saturation Monitor | | |
| Infrared LED | | |
| Red LED | | |
| Green LED | | |
| Photodiodes | | |
| Ambient Light Sensor | | |
| Compass | | |
| GLONASS | | |
| GPS | | |
| GALILEO | | |
Features
| Features | Oura Ring 3 | Garmin Venu 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Heart Rate | | |
| HRV & RHR | | |
| Abnormal Heart Rate Alerts | | |
| ECG | | |
| Blood Oxygen Levels (SpO2) | | |
| Sleep Analysis & Nap Detection | | |
| Sleep Guidance/Sleep Coach | | |
| Jet Lag Advisor | | |
| Respiration Rate | | |
| Skin Temperature | | |
| Steps | | |
| Calories | | |
| Floors Climbed | | |
| Active/Inactive Minutes | | |
| Distance Traveled | | |
| Maps | | |
| Automatic & Manual Activity Tracking | | |
| Activity Intensity | | |
| Move Alerts | | |
| Auto Goal | | |
| Workouts | | |
| Wheelchair Mode | | |
| Workouts for Wheelchair Users | | |
| Cycling Power | | |
| Interval Creation for Workout | | |
| Audio Prompts for Activities | | |
| Daily Suggested Workouts | | |
| Fitness Age | | |
| Period Prediction | | |
| Menstrual Symptoms | | |
| Fertility & Ovulation Prediction | | |
| Pregnancy Tracking | | |
| Energy Monitoring | | |
| Body Battery | | |
| Readiness Score | | |
| Endurance Score | | |
| Rest Mode | | |
| Health Reports | | |
| Morning Report | | |
| Hydration Reminder | | |
| Set Personalized Goals | | |
| Stress Tracking & Recovery | | |
| Guided Sessions | | |
| Meditation | | |
| Chronotype | | |
| Cardiovascular Age (CVA) | | |
| Body Clock | | |
| VO2 Max | | |
| Illness Detection | | |
| Incident Alert Detection | | |
Accuracy
Steps & Activity Tracking
Sure, both the Oura ring and the Garmin Venu 3 can track my steps and activity. However, if I had to choose between the two, I would pick the Garmin watch with a heartbeat. It has taken my fitness game to the next level and made me a more active person overall.
For any activity I can do, the watch can be relied on to track it. It would track my steps, assign me daily goals to accomplish based on my activity levels, track the number of floors I have climbed (I already skip the elevator whenever possible), and provide detailed analysis of my runs, HIITs, strength training workouts, laps in the pool, and the list goes on.
While the Oura ring also does a lot of these things, I have seen that the Garmin presents more detailed data that is way more accurate than what Oura shows me.
Take step counting, for example. I am quite serious about hitting the 10k mark, but I only want to see those numbers on my screen when I actually walk them. One fine Sunday, I was working all day long at my desk, and the Oura Ring still somehow managed to show me around 3-4k steps, whereas the Garmin actually asked me to get up and move around.
I have noticed similar inaccuracies in the data of the two devices when it comes to my post-run insights, HIITs, and dance workouts. So, obviously, I prefer Garmin over Oura in terms of steps and activity tracking.
Sleep
When it comes to sleep tracking, I found the accuracy of both Oura and Garmin Venu 3 to be just about the same. Both of them provided me with similar sleep-related insights, but what I liked about Garmin a little more here was that it didn’t just give me a certain sleep score like Oura but also broke it down for me; it told me how it arrived at that number.
Both the Oura and Venu 3 let me know what I can do to make my sleep better on the days it isn’t ideal, too. But there’s one big difference in the sleep-tracking capabilities of the Oura and Venu 3.
Oura records my naps quite correctly, whereas Venu doesn’t; in fact, at times, the watch doesn’t register them at all. Yes, the watch does give me the option to manually log a nap beforehand, but you see, as someone who can sometimes *ahem* fall asleep at her desk while working, the manual logging feature just doesn’t come in as handy.
Moreover, Oura is more likely to track more REM sleep than Garmin for some reason. I know for sure REM sleep is very beneficial for the human brain and overall recovery, but I really don’t want exaggerated data about the quality of my sleep.
Overall, Oura does manage to capture a better picture of my sleep and napping habits than the Garmin Venu 3.
Heart Rate
The Garmin Venu 3 has better heart rate monitoring functionality in comparison to the Oura Ring 3. While both the wearables can track heart rate, heart rate variability, workout HR, and resting heart rates, the Garmin Venu 3 goes a step ahead also to provide the ability to perform an ECG, send out abnormally high and low heart rates, detect AFib and more.
When it comes to tracking my heart rate during workouts, I trust the data that Venu 3 provides me over what Oura shows me. I have often noticed that Oura doesn’t manage to track changes in my heart rate during high-intensity workouts as well as Garmin does. But, apart from this, both the wearables pretty much show the same numbers.
Oura’s inability to detect HR while working out can be blamed on the fact that the ring is worn on fingers and hands are the most movable part of our bodies, especially during workouts. I sweat like an animal, so I know the moisture + the movement will cause inaccuracies.
Moreover, if your ring is even slightly loose, then forget about tracking workout HR altogether. On the other hand, I have never had these struggles with Garmin because A- I don’t sweat on my wrist that much, and B- the fit is quite perfect and adjustable of the watch.
Companion Apps
When it comes to companion apps, the Oura app still steals the show for me. Because while the Garmin Venu 3 has plenty of good things going on in its favor, a well designed and intuitive app-ecosystem is not one of those things.
With the Oura ring, all I need to use is the Oura app. But with Garmin, there are two separate apps that I need to use and manage. The Garmin Connect app is for health-related insights, and the Garmin Connect IQ app for apps that I want to download on the watch and watch faces. I wish both these things could be done from the same app only as that would be more seamless for me.
I have always found the Oura app easy to understand. There’s no learning curve here even if you’re a beginner; health-related data is presented in the form of number, line graphs, and the like. Similarly, the Garmin Connect app is not a flashy app either, and I can manage to navigate my way around it easily.
However, there’s just something about the Oura app that the Garmin app lacks. I still prefer the data presentation of the Oura app in comparison to what the Connect app offers. The Oura app has data spaced out properly, while the Connect app packs a lot of data in a small space.
Next, even though both the apps have a dark theme and use different colors to present different data, I like Oura’s app layout better than that of Garmin Connect.
So, if I have to make a choice between the Garmin Connect app and the Oura app, I will obviously choose Oura.
Price, Subscription & Availability
| Pricing Details | Oura Ring 3 | Garmin Venu 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Official Price | $299-$549 | $449.99 USD |
| Discounted Price | N/A | N/A |
| Subscription | $5.99 a month/ $69.99 a year | Starts from $5.99 USD |
| Availability | Countries in North America, Europe, Africa & Middle East, Asia & Pacific | Continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii |
I got my Oura Ring for $349 USD and the Venu 3 for $450 USD. Yes, the Venu 3 is definitely costlier. But the Oura Ring is not a one-time purchase either. The companion app of the ring is subscription-based, so I can either pay $5.99 a month or $70 a year to use it. For now, I am choosing to pay $6 a month. The Garmin Connect app is free to use, though, and it has subscription plans as well.
Regardless of that, I still think the Venu 3 is a little costlier than other similar wearables out there. In fact, I find Venu 3’s price a little unreasonable if I compare it to Forerunner 265! For the same price, one could also get the Apple Watch Series 9, the LTE version of the Google Pixel Watch 2, or the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6.
Almost all of these wearables could offer me the same things that Garmin does and still offer a better value. So, I really don’t understand what Garmin was playing here.
Sure, Oura, too is costlier than other smart rings in the market. But hey, Oura also performs better than most of the smart rings out there, which makes its pricing slightly more justifiable than Garmin’s.
Should You Buy Garmin Venu 3?
Garmin Venu 3 was already declared the champion of this face-off. But now, the obvious question is whether you should get the Garmin Venu 3 or not. And well, that’s not a simple “yes” and “no” question.
The Garmin Venus 3 looks really good, would go well with most of the outfits you wear, is super durable, and will offer a long-lasting battery life and quick charging. Furthermore, sleep and health tracking accuracy are some of the most important things that people look for in wearables, and Garmin checks those boxes, too.
However, if you’re on a budget and don’t want to spend a whopping $450 on a smartwatch, I would suggest that you don’t get Garmin Venu 3 and explore other options. Downgrading could make you lose a few nice-to-have features, but overall, it won’t really affect your fitness goals.
