To really get a sense of the pros and cons of a product it’s best to have something to compare it to. Prior to picking up the Garmin Venu 2 Plus, my initial foray into either smart or fitness watches began with the Galaxy Watch 4 and then the original Garmin Venu.For me buying a smart watch is a dicey proposition from the jump. They have some gee-whiz appeal and they can be convenient. Much information is conveyed without me having to dig my phone out of my pocket. However, the problem with these watches is that technology moves so fast that they’re several generations old in just a year or two. The Galaxy Watch 6 goes for $300-$400. For that kind of money, I could get a quality “old school” watch. While the smartwatch will be old and approaching obsolescence in just a few years, the old-school watch will likely give service for many years to come. For someone who buys new smartwatches like phones (new models every few years), you’ll soon have spent enough to have purchased a very high-quality timepiece.Where I can make an exception to this general point of view is when it comes to a fitness watch. Let’s face it, it’s sometimes hard to get and stay motivated to exercise as much as we should. However, I’ve always found that when you make it interesting for yourself it’s easier to stay the course. The sorts of metrics I can get from a fitness watch help keep me interested. A fitness watch can also bring more of a social aspect to exercise. Workouts recorded on my Venu 2 are automatically updated to Strava (fitness-oriented social network) where my friends can see them. I can see their workouts as well. A coworker and I, who aren’t particularly close otherwise, often chat about our workouts…. primarily runs.Once again, it just keeps things interesting. I suppose it also gives me an extra bit of motivation because if I take too many days off, my colleague will almost certainly comment.Due to the sorts of metrics, you can get from these watches (e.g. body battery, sleep monitoring, etc) the tendency is to wear them all the time. It’s been easy for me to do this with the Venu 2. I find it quite comfortable. One of the surprising things about this watch is just how similar it is in functionality to a dedicated smartwatch. At least for my casual smartwatch uses, it pretty much checks those boxes as well.To me, one of the very best features of this watch is the battery life. I don’t use the always-on display, I allow the display to go off when I’m not actively using the watch. The watch does do a pretty good job of sensing the motion of me bringing my wrist up to check the time and automatically activates the display. If that ever fails, a quick tap of any of the buttons brings the display on. In this mode, battery last for days! I recently went on a week-long vacation and forgot my charging cable at home. By the time it was over I still had ~30% remaining. Just amazing. I’d be lucky to get much more than a day on my Galaxy watch.If I were to mention all the features of this bad boy, this review would be huge. However, I’ll hit a couple of highlights.- I find the 1.3-inch AMOLED display to be bright and easy to read even in bright sunlight.- I’m an introvert so I don’t often take calls using only the watch. However, it is occasionally handy in a pinch.- I’m one that prefers a huge mobile phone. That means it’s not at all convenient to take on a run. I love the fact that I can load my music directly on the Venu 2. I then pair with my earbuds and I’m off, no bulky phone needed.