An Android phone opens up a world of possibilities for tracking your workouts, steps, sleep and everyday wellbeing. If you're looking for your first fitness tracker or an upgrade, you've probably weighed up a Garmin vs Samsung Watch.
Recent releases from both mean there's even more of a reason to. The new Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 is officially on sale and ready for shipping, while the Garmin Venu 4 is less than a year old but it's knocked many of the best Garmin watches out of the water in features and design already.
I've taken both of these devices for a spin recently, wearing them for at least a week each across all my walking, running, and gym workouts, sleep-filled nights, and everyday activities. Both are worth buying, but one may be a better choice for you.
Garmin vs Samsung Watch
Specifications
Garmin Venu 4 |
Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 |
|
Size |
41 x 41 x 12 mm (41mm) or 45 x 45 x 12 mm (45mm) |
42.7 x 40.4 x 8.6 (40mm) or 46.0 x 43.7 x 8.6 (44mm) |
Weight |
46g with band (41mm) or 56g with band (45mm) |
31.5g (40mm) or 34g (44mm) |
Materials |
Stainless steel and polymer |
Aluminium, glass, silicone |
Battery life |
Up to 10 days (41mm) or 12 days (45mm) |
Up to 40 hours (without always-on display) |
Waterproof |
Resistant up to 5ATM (50 meters) |
Up to 5ATM (50 meters) |
GPS |
Dual-band (in-built, leave your phone at home) |
Dual-band (in-built, leave your phone at home) |
Only released this month, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 is an everyday wellbeing companion with advanced insights to rival most smartwatches. Runners and walkers will particularly benefit from new features, but anyone looking to make a change to their lifestyle will find things to love.
Read my full review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 here
Pros
- Flush design is very comfortable
- Bright display to view in all weathers
- Very easy to use
- Blood pressure and ECG monitors
- Extensive smartwatch features
Cons
- Only 40 hours battery life
- Similar features can be found on cheaper devices
The Garmin Venu 4 has been a woman&home favourite since its release. The advanced workout and sleep features combined with the premium design and long battery life makes it ideal for all fitness fans.
Read my full review of the Garmin Venu 4 here
Pros
- Sleek design
- Premium yet comfortable feel
- Lifestyle logging feature
- Multi-band GPS
- Bright screen
Cons
- No full-colour maps
Design of the Garmin vs Samsung Watch
Both smartwatches are sleek and stylish. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 is more futuristic, with its contrasting, soft-square aluminium bezel and bright, round AMOLED screen. The Garmin Venu 4 is more discreet, with the AMOLED screen flush with the round, thin bezel. They both have a silicone band that can be swapped for alternatives, purchased individually.
The Garmin Venu 4 feels weightier - perhaps down to the stainless steel materials, versus the Samsung's lightweight aluminium. This should be a consideration if you're a longer-distance runner looking for a running watch, but otherwise I've found it doesn't make much of a difference.
If you go trail running or bouldering, I'd be cautious of the Samsung Watch's design. As far as I know, the metal bezel hasn't been made particularly scratch-resistant, and it's a large space open to scratches and bumps.
They both have a visible screen in all light conditions. I've tested both these devices in the scorching summer sun at about midday, and all the data is totally readable, which is very important for any outdoor workouts - and not a guarantee.
Winner: Preference
Activity tracking on Garmin vs Samsung
Garmin is top of the class for activity tracking, but Samsung has come on leaps and bounds in recent years. It's now a real competitor in this area. Both devices track the usual metrics: live heart rate, steps, active minutes and calories burned. There are hundreds of activity profiles to choose from on both, and the Samsung Watch even allows you to break your strength workout into individual exercises (e.g., press-ups) and record them as separate activities.
For strength workouts, the Garmin is my favourite of the two, however. In Garmin's strength workout mode, you can log individual sets and reps and time your breaks between them with a stopwatch-style counter. The Samsung 'Weight Machines' profile is like any other, recording heart rate and predicted calorie burn only. I find this really helps me keep equal breaks between my exercises, which is important for building strength. On Garmin, you'll also find animated workouts you can follow along with on your screen, making it even easier to get a strength workout done as a beginner.
My favourite new feature as a runner was the Nutrition Tracking on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9. This alert reminds you to eat and drink while walking, running, or cycling. It's a feature that nearly all Garmin watches have had for a while, and it comes in very handy for longer distances.
The Garmin Venu 4 is my favourite of the two for recording workouts. The Samsung Watch has Energy Score, a basic reading of how your exercise, sleep, and overall wellness impact your energy levels. Garmin Venu 4 has Training Readiness, Status, and Load. Together, they provide a complete picture of how your workouts and recovery impact your body and fitness, and importantly, where and how you need to improve.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 has better GPS tracking than previous models, like the Galaxy Watch 7 (especially in cities). The Garmin Venu 4 still wins here, though, as it's also more accurate than previous models in dense trail areas. This makes it a winner for runners and hikers in all environments.
Winner: Garmin Venu 4
If you're a runner, I suggest you also weigh up the Garmin Venu vs Forerunner series. The Forerunner is a watch designed especially for cardio activities, with even more to offer.
Sleep tracking on Garmin vs Samsung
Compared to the likes of Oura Ring 5, Garmin and Samsung still have a way to go in sleep tracking. Nevertheless, both offer excellent sleep tracking metrics.
In 2026, fitness trackers have to offer more than the basics (an overview of how long you slept for and the quality of that sleep, broken down into REM, deep, and light, and an overall Sleep Score). Even the oldest of the best Fitbits can do that.
Both Garmin and Samsung offer written overviews of your sleep so you can see the essentials in one sentence. They can also take your overnight data and compare it to your baseline, and flag when something's up. For example, if your oxygen saturation levels are low and your overnight heart rate is higher than normal, you might be getting under the weather. It could tell you you're getting ill even before symptoms emerge.
The new Lifestyle Logging feature on the Garmin Venu 4 means it just clinches the top spot. Every morning and evening, you manually log elements of your day that might impact your sleep, such as any late-night exercise, alcohol or caffeine intake. You'll then be able to see how these impact your sleep. It's quick to do, and I've found it a genuinely useful way to understand how even small habits impact my recovery.
Winner: Garmin Venu 4
Health tracking on Garmin vs Samsung
Samsung has a plethora of new features to help keep an eye on your overall health, including Heart Health Score. This is based on your daily Energy Score, which was also a feature on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7. It measures metrics in the background, such as exercise and sleep, BMI, and cardio load, crunching the numbers through AI to determine how healthy your heart is.
Fitness Index is another. This compares your VO2 max (a measure of overall health), body composition, and heart rate metrics with others in your age and gender group.
Along with the new Vitals tab, these are two serious upgrades worth investing in. However, the Garmin Venu 4 has an established Heart Age metric and can measure your essential metrics against your baseline, so they are very similar.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 wins here because of how the information is presented. Compared to the Garmin Venu 4 (or any Garmin watch), the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is very readable. Each feature is presented in an accessible way, so even if you've never used a fitness tracker before, you'll be able to read and understand all the important information. When it comes to keeping an eye on your health, simple layouts with graphics and further reading in each area are key.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy Watch 9
Battery life on the Garmin vs Samsung
Even though the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 has a longer battery life than some smartwatches, it's still only 40 hours maximum. You'll need to turn off the always-on mode. Otherwise, it's only 30 hours, which is less than the Google Pixel Watch 4, for example. I've also found it takes a while to charge compared with some other fitness trackers, so there'll be times when you'll be without your insights.
The Garmin Venu 4 has a battery life of 10 days. I've found it often exceeds this as well when I only do a few GPS workouts, since this drains the battery.
Winner: Garmin Venu 4
Price of the Garmin vs Samsung
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 is cheaper than the Garmin Venu 4, at £349 RRP compared to £439.99 RRP. However, as the Garmin model is now older than some (like the Forerunner 170), you can often find it on sale for a similar price to the Samsung watch.
That being said, both watches are a serious price investment - and there are cheaper alternatives. For example, the Garmin Vivoactive 6 is very similar to the Garmin Venu 4 aside from a few features and design details. That one is under £270 at full price.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 might offer a unique display of wellbeing metrics that are easy to read, but so does the Huawei Watch Fit Pro 4 - less than £200 at full price.
The new Fitbit Air is also worth considering. It's only £84 but has a full suite of Google excellence, logging workouts, sleep, and other vital metrics automatically with AI integration that makes it very simple to understand. This is missing an ECG, however, which both the Garmin Venu 4 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 have.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy Watch 9
Garmin Venu 4
Samsung Galaxy Watch 9
Which one is better?
It's a difficult decision to make, as most people would be happy with either of these fitness trackers. Unless you're after smartwatch features, where the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 does have the upper hand, I would say the Garmin Venu 4 wins out.
For fitness fans, the plethora of workout features, including better GPS and heart rate accuracy, and the longer battery life make it a winner overall. The higher price would be a point in the 'against' column, but it's likely on sale everywhere given its age.
Overall winner: Garmin Venu 4
