The TechRadar team has seen plenty of wearables over the years, and if you asked us about the best Garmin watches on the market right now, the Garmin Venu 3 would certainly be involved. It’s an impressive device for all kinds of reasons, but an even better model is on the way in the form of the Garmin Venu 4.
Garmin hasn’t said anything officially about this smartwatch yet, but a few leaks and rumors have emerged suggesting it’s on the way. The Venu 3 launched in August 2023, so the time is definitely right for Garmin to introduce a successor.
In June 2025, we saw the launch of the Garmin Venu X1, which was something of a surprise – but the Apple Watch Ultra 2 competitor doesn’t appear to be the true successor to the Venu 3, despite the branding. Read on to find out everything we think we know so far about what the Garmin Venu 4 will bring with it.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? A flagship successor to the Venu 3
- When is it out? August/September 2025 looks likely
- How much will it cost? Around $450 / £450 / AU$749
Garmin Venu 4: Release date predictions and pricing
- We’re expecting a 2025 launch
- Mid-range pricing is likely
The leaks and rumors we’ve seen around the Venu 4 haven’t specifically referred to a launch date or a price – but we can make some educated guesses on both counts, based on what Garmin has done in the past.
Garmin launched the Venu 3 in August 2023, while the Garmin Venu 2 broke cover back in April 2021 (there was also a Garmin Venu 2 Plus in January 2022, adding a mic). With a two-year gap between previous releases, the year 2025 and the month of August would be the clever guess for the Venu 4.
As for pricing, all we have is what we saw with the Venu 3: that watch originally went on sale for $450 / £450 / AU$749, so it’s in the middle of the pack compared to other Garmin watches. It seems likely that the Venu 4 will take the same approach, sitting somewhere between the high-end Fenix models and the cheapest Forerunners.
Garmin Venu 4: Leaks and rumors
- We’ve seen hints the Venu 4 is coming
- Screen and build upgrades could happen
Now we haven’t been exactly inundated with Garmin Venu 4 leaks and rumors, so this section of our preview is going to be a little sparse. What we can tell you is that a mention of the Venu 4 watch has appeared on the Garmin Japan website – specifically, in a description of the Garmin golf app.
That tells us that the Garmin Venu 4 is almost certainly on the way, that you’ll be able to use it to improve your golf game, and… not much else. Garmin has actually since removed the mention of the Venu 4 from the golf app documentation, so make of that what you will. Clearly, its existence was supposed to be a secret.
While it’s not a leak per se, a report from Garmin Rumors does point out that out of all of Garmin’s flagship smartwatches, the Venu is the one that’s been waiting for a refresh the longest. The Garmin Fenix 8 was unveiled in August 2024, which gives us another indication that August 2025 could be the right time for the Venu 4.
We can also pick up some hints from the recently unveiled Garmin Venu X1, which shows how Garmin as a company is changing. It sports the biggest screen yet on a Garmin watch, and follows the recent Garmin trend of sacrificing battery life for display quality – perhaps hints at ways in which the Venu series may evolve.
Garmin Venu 4 What we want to see
As much as we like the Venu 3, it isn’t quite a perfect smartwatch – and two years is a long time in the gadget industry. With that in mind, here are five improvements we’re hoping to see when the Garmin Venu 4 eventually sees the light of day.
1. An improved design
The Venu X1 has already shown us what Garmin is capable of in terms of design refinements: it’s noticeably thin and lightweight, and that’s something we’re hoping for with the Venu 4, perhaps with upgrades in terms of bezel style and overall durability.
We’ve seen titanium used in watches like the Venu X1 and the Forerunner 970, both launched in 2025, and the Venu 4 may well follow that trend. Given the two-year gap, we’d expect an upgrade on the Venu 3’s 1.4-inch AMOLED, 454 x 454 pixel display too.
2. Upgraded sensors
We’re always looking for new and improved sensors on smartwatches and fitness trackers, whether it’s improved accuracy for measurements or entirely new categories of measurement – and this is something that the Venu 4 could well be able to deliver on.
The latest Garmin smartwatches to launch are still making use of the Elevate v5 sensor that the Venu 3 is fitted with, so you could argue it’s time for an upgrade in this area – even if the Venu 3 is already one of the best models on the market for health and fitness insights.
3. More software features
In our Garmin Venu 3 review, we pointed out that the watch was missing out on some of the more detailed metrics and advanced features that are available on other Garmin models – so Garmin could implement these features on the Venu 4, if it wanted to.
Features such as Suggested Workouts and Training Readiness aren’t found on the Venu 3, but could be transferred over to the Venu 4 from other watches, adding to the appeal. It would be a way for Garmin to increase the value of the Venu 4 relatively easily.
4. On-board mapping
One of the disappointments about the Garmin Venu 3 is that it doesn’t have an integrating mapping or route navigation feature, which puts it behind other models in the Garmin range – no doubt very deliberately, so each series can remain distinct from each other.
While it might create some overlap with the more advanced Garmin smartwatches, integrated maps would be a welcome and useful addition. It’s worth noting that certain Garmin watches were recently upgraded with Google Maps support, which is a good sign.
5. A cellular model
In recent years, Garmin has largely abandoned the idea of watches that can get online independently of a connected phone – no doubt making the calculation that the trade-off in terms of battery life and device price isn’t going to be worth it for most users.
However, there’s a lot to be said for a cellular watch option that can message, call, and update itself independently of any other gadget. It would help the Venu 4 stand out from the Garmin crowd, and mean it was better able to take on the best Apple Watches.
Add comment