Garmin takes on Apple Watch with new square version of Venu smartwatch

(Garmin)

Garmin has launched new smartwatches that aim to take on the Apple Watch.

The Venu Sq – which, as the name suggests, is a square version of its existing Venu watch – includes a host of health and fitness tracking features.

The watch starts at £179.99 in the UK, or $199 in the US. A more expensive “music” version that can connect to streaming services without a phone will also go on sale.

Garmin has launched square-shape watches before. But the Venu Sq – with a colour screen, and a pulse oximeter that provides the same function as the blood oxygen sensor in the new Apple Watch Series 6 – seems to be aimed squarely at taking on Apple’s wearable.

Apple launched its new Apple Watch Series 6 last week, with the blood oxygen sensor among its most heavily promoted features. While the company was somewhat criticised for the rounded square shape of the Watch when it was first released, its influence has spread across much of the wearable market.

It also arrives at the same time as the latest of Fitbit’s square watches, the Sense. That watch has received mixed reviews and complaints of problematic bugs.

The new Venu Sq includes GPS tracking for runs and other activities, a colour display, a battery that can last up to six days when used as a smartwatch, as well as the blood oxygen sensor. It also includes many of Garmin's health metrics, which include tools that track how often its wearer is breathing, how fast their heart is beating, their menstrual cycle as well as watching for when a person may be experiencing high amounts of stress.

That information is sent to the Garmin Connect app – the same one that was hit by outages in July – as well being viewable on the watch through menus that are controlled using buttons on the side and a touchscreen.

The launch of the new Venu Sq follows Garmin’s announcement of the Forerunner 745, a more expensive running and triathlon focused watch.