Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

Garmin Vivoactive 4, Venu 2 or Apple Watch series 7. These are the three that most suit my lifestyle but can’t really decide on which one to buy.I do a lot of running and cycling with a lot of tennis in between. Thanks for any help. from GarminWatches

At some point, all of us want to listen to our music on our smartwatches without lugging around our phones!

To clarify, when we say onboard music, we mean that you can download and store music on your watch for offline listening. It’s very different than streaming music from the internet.

Onboard music plays even when you don’t have an internet connection–because that music is stored offline inside your device. 

Strangely, it’s often not clear if a smartwatch or tracker allows you to store music. 

And that’s precisely why we’re here to help you out with this task!

So, without any further ado, let us get right into it!

  • Don’t like the bouncy blue musical note on your Samsung Galaxy watch? Get rid of it for good
  • How to listen to music offline on your Apple Watch without your iPhone
  • How to add music to Fitbit Versa 3, Sense, and older Versas
  • How to remove downloaded music from your Apple Watch
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Contents

Things to keep an eye out for

When checking out smartwatch reviews, the easiest way to find out if that watch or tracker stores music is by looking at the features list and technical specifications (tech specs.)

When reviewing a watch’s technical specs, take a close look at the descriptions for music and storage. 

So let’s take a closer look at smartwatches with onboard offline music storage.

Music Storage

One of the first things to check out in the technical specs is how much dedicated storage the smartwatch offers.

The exact amount of storage space that you need for music depends on the size of your music library and its audio quality.

Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit
Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

And while there is no precise number for everyone, we recommend a minimum of a gigabyte or two (1 to 2 GB,) preferably more!

Ideally, the more storage that you get, the better.

Music Sync

Most of us aren’t going to play our music only on a smartwatch or on a smartphone.

Usually, people switch back and forth between devices depending on the situation – and that’s where music sync can come in handy.

Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit
Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

Music sync means that the watch automatically refreshes its music library and continues the same music playback on your other devices.

Most premium smartwatches support it. But it’s still something to keep an eye on.

Supported Music Streaming Platforms

What good is a smartwatch that plays music but it doesn’t support your favorite music streaming platform?

Let’s clarify what music streaming is.

  • When you stream music, you listen over the internet, through WiFi, or using your mobile data. You can only listen when you have an active internet connection.
  • When you have onboard music, it’s stored locally on your device, and you don’t need to be connected to the internet to listen. That means you can listen to music, even when offline.

Most modern smartwatches allow both streaming and storing music.

Watches, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch 4 come packaged with Spotify’s music streaming service support out of the box.

Others, like the Garmin vivoactive 4, also offer support for subscriptions like Deezer and Amazon Music. Or Fitbit watches which offer a choice of Pandora, Deezer, and Spotify access (subscriptions required for use of these music services.)

And, there are even some smartwatches that don’t offer music streaming at all and can only play songs stored locally – such as the Amazfit Stratos.

Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit
Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

So, before buying a smartwatch, make sure that it supports your favorite streaming platform – or local and offline playback if your music library is DRM-free.

Ideally, if you’re looking for a watch that can play music without your phone and without a data connection, you want a watch with onboard music storage for offline listening.

Battery Life

Last but not least, you don’t want your smartwatch to run out of battery life mid-session.

So, pay attention to what the manufacturer claims and what reviewers report, but also keep in mind that battery life can significantly differ depending on usage.

For example, LTE and GPS typically consume more battery than local music playback.

And with all that out of the way, let us check out the best smartwatches with onboard music storage!

1: All Apple Watch models: most consistent

The good news for folks that love Apple products is that all Apple Watch Series models allow offline music storage! The only limitation is that you have sufficient storage space on your Apple Watch to store music (Apple allows you to use about 25% of your total watch storage for music.)

Both new and old Apple Watch models also allow you to stream directly from Apple Music, Spotify, and other apps if you have the cellular version of the Apple Watch.

These watches are a little pricy but worth owning, especially if your mobile phone is an iPhone.

Apple Watch is one of the most versatile options for offline music storage. You can download music to your Apple Watch from a variety of sources, including Apple’s Music app, Apple Music subscription, Pandora, Spotify, and other apps. 

The major downside of the Apple Watch is its relatively short battery life–most people need to charge their watches every day.

Additionally, you must connect a set of wireless headphones to listen to music on the Apple Watch. You cannot play music through the onboard watch speakers.

Pros:

  • Lots of storage depending on watch Series 
  • Access to all of Apple’s ecosystem
  • Offers both GPS-only and Cellular models 

Cons:

  • Bad battery life

Sale

Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit
Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

Apple Watch Series 8 [GPS 41mm] Smart Watch w/ Midnight Aluminum Case with Midnight Sport Band - S/M. Fitness Tracker, Blood Oxygen & ECG Apps, Always-On Retina Display, Water Resistant

  • WHY APPLE WATCH SERIES 8 — Your essential companion for a healthy life is now even more powerful....
  • EASILY CUSTOMIZABLE — Available in a range of sizes and materials, with dozens of bands to choose...

$369.00

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2: Amazfit Stratos: good value for offline music storage

The Amazfit Stratos series of smartwatches offer great value for what it is. With the Stratos, you can store and play your music directly from your watch and listen offline via Bluetooth earphones.

If you are looking for a smartwatch that can play DRM-free songs locally with built-in GPS, this is a great pick!

Battery life: Up to 14 days (using endurance mode)
Storage: 2 gigabytes (Stratos 3) and 4 GB (original Stratos)
Music streaming: Local only
Features: GPS and 5 ATM water resistance

Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit
Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

Its 2GB of free space available for music should be more than enough for most people.

But, one thing to keep in mind is that the Amazfit Stratos series doesn’t offer any form of cellular connectivity.

So, if you plan on going fully smartphone-free now and then, you should probably look elsewhere.

Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit
Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

Amazfit Stratos 3 Sports Smartwatch Powered by FirstBeat, 1.34” Full Round Display, 80-Sports Modes, Standalone Music Playback, GPS, Bluetooth, Water Resistant, Black

  • Powered by FirstBeat Analytics: Amazfit Stratos 3 provides in-depth analytics of the sport you play...
  • Transreflective Professional Sports Display: Amazfit Stratos 3 adopts a 1.34-inch full round...

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Needless to say that it also supports step tracking, VO2 max, and other basic features that smartwatches come with.

Plus, for those that love tracking your exercise routes, the Stratos supports four different global positioning systems: GPS, GLONASS, BEIDOU, and GALILEO, so you get accurate location information!

Pros:

  • Plenty of memory for the price
  • Fitness analysis is a welcome addition

Cons:

  • It doesn’t support music streaming or music sync

Amazfit also offers other models with great offline music storage, including the Amazfit GTS 2 and Amazfit GTR 3.

3: Garmin vivoactive 4: great for health tracking with offline music storage

If you want to both stream music and get a lot of health features in one package, we’d recommend looking into Garmin’s offerings.

Many of Garmin’s smartwatches offer offline music storage for phone-free and data-free listening. You can download hundreds of songs to your Garmin watch and even download playlists from some of the premium subscription music apps like Spotify, Deezer, and Amazon Music.

Garmin offers music storage on a variety of its premium watches, including many of the Fenix, Venu, Forerunner, Legacy, Marq, and Quantix models.

The Garmin vivoactive 4, in particular, is one of the best and most affordable smartwatches with onboard music storage right now. With the vivoactive 4, you can store up to 500 offline songs on your watch!

Battery life: Up to 8 days
Storage: 3.5 gigabytes
Music streaming: Local, Amazon Music, Deezer, Spotify, (Subscription may be required)
Features: GPS, Pulse Ox sensor, stress tracking, menstrual cycle tracking, Garmin Pay, and 5 ATM water resistance

Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit
Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

It supports most of the popular streaming platforms, including Spotify, Amazon Music, and Deezer.

One of its few downsides is that while Garmin Pay makes it much easier to pay on certain occasions, it’s still not supported in most places.

Sale

Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit
Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

Garmin 010-02174-01 Vivoactive 4, GPS Smartwatch, Features Music, Body Energy Monitoring, Animated Workouts, Pulse Ox Sensors and More, Silver with Gray Band

  • Keeps track of your energy levels, Pulse Ox (this is not a medical device and is not intended for...
  • Easily download songs to your watch, including playlists from Spotify, Amazon music or Deezer (may...

$179.99

Buy on Amazon As an affiliate, we earn a commission if you purchase through this link

Pros:

  • Plenty of health-related features
  • Supports some of the most popular streaming platforms
  • Garmin Pay is a welcome addition

Cons:

  • The “Garmin Pay” feature only works with newer NFC terminals and selected banks, cards, and shops

4: Garmin Forerunner 645 Music: made for music

For those of you who are looking specifically for a smartwatch that’s made for music and don’t care a lot about other health-related features, we can’t think of anything better than the Garmin Forerunner 645.

Battery life: Up to 7 days
Storage: 3.5 gigabytes
Music streaming: Local, Amazon Music, Deezer, Spotify, iTunes sync with Garmin Express, and iHeartRadio (Subscription may be required)
Features: GPS, fitness tracking, menstrual cycle tracking, Garmin Pay, and 5 ATM water resistance

Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit
Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

It lacks a few advanced fitness tracking features, such as a Pulse Ox sensor.

But, other than that, this is more or less another premium smartwatch with extensive support for music services and an attractive UI.

Sale

Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit
Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

Garmin Forerunner 645 Music, GPS Running Watch With Pay Contactless Payments, Wrist-Based Heart Rate And Music, Black

  • Easily download up to 500 songs to your watch, and connect with Bluetooth headphones (sold...
  • Syncs music from select streaming services for offline listening (May require premium subscription...

$328.00

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Pros:

  • Unique-looking UI for music
  • Supports every popular music streaming platform

Cons:

  • It lacks a few health-related features compared to some of its other siblings (Garmin vivoactive 4)

Other great Garmin watch options for offline music listening include the Garmin Forerunner 245 Music, Garmin Forerunner 945, and Garmin Fenix 7.

5: Fossil Gen 5 or Gen 6: most stylistic wearOS music watch with offline music storage

As you probably already guessed by the title, one of the coolest things about the Fossil Gen 5 and 6 is that it gives you plenty of styling options.

So, if you find looks to be just as important as features, the Fossil Gen 5 or 6 should be one of your first go-to smartwatches – be it for music or not.

Plus, Wear OS gives you access to more apps than any other watch can offer, thanks to Google Play.

Sale

Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit
Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

Fossil Unisex Gen 6 44mm Stainless Steel and Leather Touchscreen Smart Watch, Color: Black, Brown (Model: FTW4062V)

  • Smartwatches with Wear OS by Google are compatible with phones running the latest version of Android...
  • Automatically tracks activity goals, steps, sleep, heart rate, cardio, and SpO2 (blood oxygen)....

$179.99

Buy on Amazon As an affiliate, we earn a commission if you purchase through this link

Battery life: From 1 up to a few days (depending on battery mode and overall usage)
Storage: 3.5 gigabytes for music. 8GB total storage on the Gen 6 and 5 (4GB of storage on the Gen 5E.)
Music streaming: Google Music, Spotify, plus everything else that’s available on Google Play. To store music on your Fossil smartwatch, you must have a paid music subscription.
Features: GPS, Google Voice Assistant, Google Tiles, Nike Run Club, fitness tracking, Google Pay, and 5 ATM water resistance. The Gen 6 model will also get an update to the newer Wear OS 3, while the Gen 5 will not get this update.

The Fossil Gen 6 smartwatches run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 4100 Plus platform, so it’s much faster and more responsive than the Gen 5 ( powered by the older Snapdragon Wear 3100 SoC.)

Sale

Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit
Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

Fossil 44mm Gen 5 Carlyle Stainless and Silicone Touchscreen Smart Watch with Heart Rate, Color: Black (Model: FTW4025)

  • Smartwatches powered with Wear OS by Google work with iPhone and Android Phones. Case size: 44mm;...
  • Battery: 24 Hr plus multi day extended mode Varies based on usage and after updates install. USB...

$260.00

Buy on Amazon As an affiliate, we earn a commission if you purchase through this link

Pros:

  • Plenty of apps to choose from
  • Lots of stylish variants

Cons:

  • Short battery life 

6: Samsung Galaxy Watch 5/4 or 3: Best LTE Watch with offline music storage

The built-in GPS and onboard music storage that other smartwatches offer are no doubt features that help you use a smartwatch as it is without a smartphone.

However, if you truly want to leave your phone behind, you’ll also need wireless connectivity at all times.

And this is where the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5/4 (or the older model Watch 3) comes in! The big difference between the two, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and 5+ run Google Wear OS 3 while the older Watch 3 runs Samsung’s Tizen OS.

With Wear OS 3, the Samsung Galaxy 4+ Watch gives you access to a lot more apps via Google Play.

Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit
Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

SAMSUNG Galaxy Watch 4 Classic 46mm Smartwatch with ECG Monitor Tracker for Health, Fitness, Running, Sleep Cycles, GPS Fall Detection, Bluetooth, US Version, Silver

  • BODY COMPOSITION ANALYSIS: Galaxy Watch4 Classic is the first smartwatch to off body composition...
  • BETTER SLEEP STARTS HERE: Wake up feeling refreshed and recharged with advanced sleep tracking; When...

$379.99

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Battery life: Up to 2 days
Storage: 16GB of internal storage on Watch 4 and 8 gigabytes on Watch 3.
Music streaming: Spotify and the onboard music player on both models. On the Watch 4, you can also download music from the YouTube Music app for offline playback (premium account required.)
Features: GPS, LTE, Bixby (Google Assistant also available on the Watch 4,) SpO2 tracking, Samsung Pay (No MST), advanced running metrics, and 5 ATM water resistance

Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit
Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

The Samsung watches offer a lot more music storage than almost every other smartwatch has on this list.

So, if you are willing to spend a premium and you are okay with either Spotify or DRM-free songs, this is the best smartwatch with onboard music storage that you can get.

At this point, it’s also worth noting that as a Samsung Galaxy device, this smartwatch also pairs very well with Samsung’s ecosystem.

Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit
Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

SAMSUNG Galaxy Watch 3 (41mm, GPS, Bluetooth, Unlocked LTE) Smart Watch with Advanced Health Monitoring, Fitness Tracking, and Long lasting Battery - Mystic Silver (US Version)

  • STYLE YOU CAN COUNT ON: Galaxy Watch3 combines style—2 sizes, 2 finishes, three colors and, 50,000...
  • LEAVE YOUR PHONE BEHIND: Leave your phone at home. Galaxy Watch3 gives you the freedom to call,...

$124.93

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Pros:

  • All-around a powerful premium watch
  • Lots of storage
  • Plays well with Samsung’s ecosystem while the Watch 4+ works with both Samsung and Google’s ecosystems thanks to Wear OS 3!
  • LTE is a huge plus for some people

Cons:

  • Bad battery life

If you want the latest Galaxy watch model, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 both store music internally, so you can play music when you’re offline. Another advantage over Samsung’s Galaxy 3 is that the Galaxy 4+ models include 16GB of internal storage.

You can also store music from third-party apps like YouTube, Spotify, and many others on board for offline playback. And unlike the Galaxy 3, which limits offline music to Spotify Premium and its onboard music app, with the Galaxy 4+ watch, you can store music from any app that supports offline playback. 

The only downside is that Samsung’s Galaxy 4+ watch does not include speakers or an audio jack, so you need wireless headphones to listen to your music.

Sale

Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit
Garmin Venu 2 vs Vivoactive 4 Reddit

SAMSUNG Galaxy Watch , Bluetooth Smartwatch w/ Body, Health, Fitness and Sleep Tracker, Improved Battery, Sapphire Crystal Glass, Enhanced GPS Tracking, US Version, Pink Gold Bezel w/ Pink Band, 40mm

  • ADVANCED SLEEP COACHING: Manage your overall sleep quality with an advanced sleep tracker that...
  • BODY COMPOSITION ANALYSIS (BIA)**: Galaxy Watch5 provides body composition data right on your wrist;...

$239.00

Buy on Amazon As an affiliate, we earn a commission if you purchase through this link

Best Smartwatches with Onboard Music Storage: Wrapping Up

These are our top picks for now. To summarize:

  1. Apple Watch series: Most versatile watch for offline music listening. All models support downloading music to the watch, with some storage limits (25% of total storage available.)
  2. Amazfit Stratos series: An excellent value for what it offers, but it only plays DRM-free songs.
  3. Garmin Vivoactive 4: Most feature-rich watch as far as health is concerned while offering support for Amazon Music, Deezer, and Spotify
  4. Garmin Forerunner 645 Music: Supports every popular music platform while offering one of the best music player UIs we’ve ever seen
  5. Fossil Gen 6 and 5: One of the best-looking watches with plenty of customization options. It supports Spotify and plenty of other apps on Google Play.
  6. Samsung Galaxy Watch 5/4 and 3: The only watch on this list that offers LTE connectivity. Supports Spotify. The new Galaxy Wear OS watches are also a great choice, especially for folks that listen to offline music using third-party apps.

Additional options include:

Garmin Venu SQ Music is an affordable option with about 3.5GB of storage available for music. Although a paid subscription is required, you can download songs and playlists for offline listening from Spotify, Deezer, or Amazon Music accounts. Pick this smartwatch with music storage for about $250.

Another great affordable option is the TicWatchPro 3, which includes 8GB of internal storage for your music, an onboard speaker, and is available for $250 – $299. The TicWatch Pro 3 also features the 4100 new Qualcomm processor and new bells and whistles, including robust health and fitness monitoring. This watch has an awesome battery life, anywhere from 3 days (smart mode) to 45 days (essential mode), depending on use and features. 

The Fitbit Versa 2 is a solid contender with 2.5 GB of available storage for folks who love Fitbit. You can store your own music via Fitbit’s Music app or download it offline from Pandora, Deezer, or Spotify (paid membership required.)

If you have any questions or other recommendations, shoot a note using the comments. And if you liked this article, you can follow us on social media by using the social media buttons below so that you’ll never miss an article.

We sometimes use affiliate links in our content from Amazon and others. It doesn’t cost you anything but helps us pay our expenses. Thank you for the support! Last update on 2022-12-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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George Kasiouras

Ever since my early teenage days, I have long been passionate about all-things-tech and long-distance running. After graduating from high school and finishing my military duties, I immediately started working as a writer in 2016, and to this day, I still share my passion with everyone online.

Is the Garmin Venu 2 better than Vivoactive 4?

The Garmin Venu 2 also offers a much higher battery life of 11 days in smartwatch mode and 8 hours in GPS mode with music, compared to the Garmin Vivoactive 4's 8 days and 6 hours respectively.

Is Vivoactive or Venu better?

In fact, the only true difference between these two smartwatches lies in the display and size. The Garmin Vivoactive 4 offers a basic transflective display and comes in a size of 45mm. On the other hand, the Garmin Venu offers a gorgeous AMOLED display and has a size of 43mm.

Is the Venu 2 the best Garmin?

Despite all that, the Garmin Venu 2 still comes very highly recommended. It offers everything that we've loved about the Vivoactive and Venu series over the years in a package that's attractive, feature-packed and comfortable.

Is the Venu 2 worth it?

If you're not tied to a specific phone ecosystem and want a tracker that will record almost anything you do that burns calories, the $449 Venu 2 Plus has a lot to offer. But given its overly complex interface and smartwatch functionality, most people are better off with an Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch or Fitbit.