Customer reviews from bestbuy-ca
Garmin - Refurbished Excellent - Venu 3S GPS Smartwatch 41 mm Fiber-reinforced polymer - Stainless Steel and French Gray - (2023)
Average customer rating
3.6
(7 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 7 reviews
5 Stars
3
4 Stars
2
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
0
1 Star
2
71%of customers recommend this product.
(
5 out of
7)
Customer Reviews for Garmin - Refurbished Excellent - Venu 3S GPS Smartwatch 41 mm Fiber-reinforced polymer - Stainless Steel and French Gray - (2023)
Customer Rating
1
Awful
on February 3, 2025
Posted by: Disappointed
from Canada
Doesn't count flights of stairs accurately at all - misses close to 3/4 of them.
Struggles to count steps and distance on walking pad. Fitbits had no issues when in the pocket or on the ankle, but those devices have gone downhill in too many other ways to purchase now.
No way to control smart devices. No SmartThings app, no Alexa, no built-in Google Assistance. Connected Google Assistance is garbage.
Can't write custom texts from the watch, only canned responses.
This is in no way a smartwatch whatsoever.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Written by a customer while visiting bestbuy-ca
Customer Rating
5
Great watch
on November 25, 2025
Posted by: Little h
from Toronto
I am enjoying the features of this Garmin. It’s doing everything I need it to do attached to my iphone
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting bestbuy-ca
Customer Rating
4
First Garmin
on December 3, 2025
Posted by: SS
from Calgary
I am enjoying my first Garmin. trying to learn and start using all the features. The battery life is insane. I have worn the watch over 5 days without recharging is which is awesome. My apple watch used to die in middle of day.
I thing I wish it does is once you are doen doing an activity like walk or training , it should have smart to stop recording based on stats instead of keep going and relying on manual stop.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting bestbuy-ca
Customer Rating
4
Reliable Sleep Tracking & Battery, Set-up Not Easy
on January 7, 2026
Posted by: Nbee
from New Westminster
I purchased a Garmin Venu 3S for myself and a Garmin Venu 3 for my spouse. We wear them 24/7, mainly for sleep tracking, brief wake-ups, and basic notifications.
We enabled:
1. Advanced health tracking (heart rate, Pulse Ox, sleep + nap detection)
2. Body Battery™, HRV status, and recovery metrics
3. Safety & Tracking (manual SOS and automatic hard-fall/crash detection during certain activities; phone required nearby)
4. Smart notifications (one email account and Facebook Messenger)
We did not activate Garmin Pay, GPS, phone calls, or music storage.
Even with continuous wear (24/7), battery life has been good. Venu 3S: ~9 days and Venu 3: ~10 days. Though we were hoping we can achieve 12 days and 14 days, respectively, as advertised.
Initial setup was not very user-friendly. I needed 1 day to search online for guidance to configure several settings, which could be frustrating for less tech-savvy users.
We bought both watches on sale last December for CAD 490 (retailed at $659.99 ), and at that price they offer good value. They meet our needs well, especially for accurate sleep tracking (including short wake periods) and long battery life.
At the price we got them, however, a few things would have been appreciated:
1. A slightly longer band for the Venu 3S
2. Charging adapters, a screen protector, and a spare longer band included in the box (similar to Fitbit)
These watches replace our Fitbit Versa 3 (purchased May 2021). So far, we’re satisfied, but long-term durability and performance remain to be seen. I will update my review after extended use.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting bestbuy-ca
Customer Rating
1
Do not buy
on January 23, 2026
Posted by: Venu
from Gloucester
The Garmin Venu 3S offers strong fitness tracking, a vibrant display, and reliable battery life, but it is held back by significant technical flaws. The voice assistant is essentially non-functional due to known software glitches and persistent "connection failed" errors that Garmin has yet to fix. Furthermore, while the phone call feature works, the speaker volume is far too low, forcing you to hold the watch directly up to your ear to hear anything. Given these software and hardware limitations, it fails to deliver on its promise as a true smartwatch.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Written by a customer while visiting bestbuy-ca
Customer Rating
5
Great Battery Life
on February 9, 2026
Posted by: Jas
from Calgary
This watch has surpassed my expectations so far! Battery life is fantastic, accuracy of the health monitoring apps and sleep are great! So far so good!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting bestbuy-ca
Customer Rating
5
Fabulous watch.
on February 25, 2026
Posted by: Mark
from Jasper
Super comfortable to wear both day and night. Great display with bright colour screen.
Easy to navigate and monitor fitness etc
Easy to navigate and monitor fitness etc
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting bestbuy-ca