Garmin
Venu 3S vs vívoactive 6
Size, specs & wrist fit compared
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Which one fits you
Both need much the same wrist — roughly 43–60mm across the flat of the wrist. Neither will fit where the other won't, so decide on thickness, weight and features instead.
The vívoactive 6 wears larger than the Venu 3S (42.2mm vs 41mm case), giving it more wrist presence — and needing a wider wrist to sit cleanly.
The vívoactive 6 is the slimmer of the two (10.9mm vs 12mm), so it slides under a cuff more easily.
On the wrist the vívoactive 6 feels lighter (23g vs 40g, case only).
The Venu 3S is middle-of-the-pack for thickness among the 374 41mm watches in the database.
Among the 695 42mm watches we hold thickness for, the vívoactive 6 is thinner than 84%, so it wears flatter than its width suggests.
The vívoactive 6 is 1.2mm wider, 1.2mm longer, 1.1mm thinner and 17g lighter than the Venu 3S. Both are circular.
Venu 3S
vívoactive 6
Case width
41mm
42.2mm+1.2mm
Lug-to-lug
41mm
42.2mm+1.2mm
Thickness
12mm
10.9mm−1.1mm
Weight
40g
23g−17g
Switch or add watches
Garmin
Venu 3S
Garmin
vívoactive 6
2D Dimension Schematics
Every case drawn to scale on a shared centre — from above, and in profile against the wrist.
Highlight
- Garmin Venu 3S41mm · 12mm thick
- Garmin vívoactive 642.2mm · 10.9mm thick
3D preview
Venu 3S vs vívoactive 6 on a wrist
Sized to your own wrist, turned any way you like.
Shapes are built from published measurements, not manufacturer 3D models — accurate proportions, generic dial.
Battery life compared
Runtime for every power mode either watch publishes, 1 of them directly comparable.
Venu 3Svívoactive 6
Battery Saver
480 hours—Smartwatch
10 days11 daysGPS
21 hours—
Specifications
The short version
6 key specs| Spec | GarminVenu 3S | Garminvívoactive 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Case Width | 41mm | 42.2mm |
| Thickness | 12mm | 10.9mm |
| Weight | 40g | 23g |
| Shape | Circular | Circular |
| Display type | OLED/AMOLED | AMOLED (optional always-on mode) |
| Released | 2023 | 2025 |
Every specification
316 specs| Spec | Garmin Venu 3S | Garmin vívoactive 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Design | ||
| width | 41 | — |
| height | 41 | — |
| volume | 20.17 cm³ | — |
| weight | 40 g | — |
| thickness | 12 | — |
| ATM rating | 5 ATM | — |
| resolution | 390 x 390 px | — |
| screen size | 1.2 inches | — |
| Display type | OLED/AMOLED | — |
| Has a display | Yes | — |
| pixel density | 459 ppi | — |
| width of band | 18 mm | — |
| water resistance | Waterproof | — |
| Always-On Display | Yes | — |
| has a touch screen | Yes | — |
| is designed for kids | No | — |
| Gorilla Glass version | Gorilla Glass 3 | — |
| waterproof depth rating | 50 m | — |
| Watch band is replaceable | Yes | — |
| Has sapphire glass display | No | — |
| maximum operating temperature | 50 °C | — |
| has branded damage-resistant glass | Yes | — |
| lowest potential operating temperature | -20 °C | — |
| Battery | ||
| charge time | 1 hours | — |
| battery life | 10 days | — |
| has wireless charging | No | — |
| has a removable battery | No | — |
| battery life with GPS on | 21 hours | — |
| Has a solar power battery | No | — |
| has a rechargeable battery | Yes | — |
| battery life in power save mode | 480 hours | — |
| Sensors | ||
| has GPS | Yes | — |
| has a compass | Yes | — |
| Has a barometer | Yes | — |
| has a gyroscope | Yes | — |
| Has a cadence sensor | No | — |
| has an accelerometer | Yes | — |
| Monitors perspiration | No | — |
| Has a heart rate monitor | Yes | — |
| Has a temperature sensor | Yes | — |
| Monitors blood oxygenation levels | Yes | — |
| Stocks | — | Yes |
| Calendar | — | Yes |
| Passcode | — | Yes |
| Calculator | — | Yes |
| Connectivity | — | Bluetooth®, ANT+®, Wi-Fi® |
| Garmin Share | — | Yes |
| Find My Phone | — | Yes |
| Evening report | — | Yes |
| Morning report | — | Yes |
| Red shift mode | — | Yes |
| Weather forecasts | — | Yes |
| Smart Notifications | — | Yes |
| Smartphone compatibility | — | iPhone®, Android™ |
| Controls smartphone music | — | Yes |
| On-device Connect IQ™ Store | — | Yes |
| Plays and controls watch music | — | Yes |
| Find My Phone during GPS activity | — | Yes |
| Pairs with Garmin Connect™ mobile | — | Yes |
| Compatible with Garmin Messenger app | — | Yes |
| Find My Garmin (helps locate lost device) | — | Yes |
| Battery saver (customizable low power watch) | — | Yes |
| Realtime settings sync with Garmin Connect™ mobile | — | Yes |
| View images from notifications on watch (Android™ only) | — | Yes |
| Text response/reject phone call with text (Android™ only) | — | Yes |
| Connect IQ™ (downloadable watch faces, data fields and apps) | — | Yes |
| Features | ||
| release date | 2023-08-30 | — |
| Has a stopwatch | Yes | — |
| Has smart alarm | No | — |
| warranty period | 1 years | — |
| Has call control | Yes | — |
| Has silent alarm | Yes | — |
| has HRV tracking | Yes | — |
| internal storage | 8GB | — |
| measures VO2 max | Yes | — |
| Has notifications | Yes | — |
| Has ECG technology | Yes | — |
| Locates your phone | Yes | — |
| has a front camera | No | — |
| has fall detection | Yes | — |
| has voice commands | No | — |
| Acquires GPS faster | Yes | — |
| Has vibrating alerts | Yes | — |
| shows readiness level | No | — |
| Can be used to answer calls | Yes | — |
| measures resting heart rate | Yes | — |
| has irregular heart rate warnings | Yes | — |
| has fast/slow heart rate notifications | Yes | — |
| Has a built-in camera remote control function | No | — |
| Connectivity | ||
| has NFC | Yes | — |
| supports ANT+ | Yes | — |
| supports Wi-Fi | Yes | — |
| supports Galileo | Yes | — |
| has a cellular module | No | — |
| Is compatible with iOS | Yes | — |
| Is compatible with Android | Yes | — |
| Miscellaneous | ||
| has aptX | No | — |
| Has auto pause | Yes | — |
| Available on PC | Yes | — |
| Is compatible with Windows | Yes | — |
| Is compatible with Mac OS X | Yes | — |
| has an external memory slot | No | — |
| Compatible with smart scales | Yes | — |
| has a battery level indicator | Yes | — |
| has a socket for a 3.5 mm audio jack | No | — |
| Compatible with external heart rate monitors | Yes | — |
| App & Software | ||
| Ad-free | Yes | — |
| Free app | Yes | — |
| Tracks BMI | Yes | — |
| Has coaching | Yes | — |
| Includes maps | Yes | — |
| Supports routes | Yes | — |
| Has achievements | Yes | — |
| Has goal setting | Yes | — |
| Has live tracking | Yes | — |
| Has exercise diary | Yes | — |
| Predicts ovulation | Yes | — |
| Can be personalised | Yes | — |
| Has weight tracking | Yes | — |
| Predicts start date | Yes | — |
| Tracks water intake | Yes | — |
| Has inactivity alerts | Yes | — |
| Has period notifications | Yes | — |
| Has temperature tracking | Yes | — |
| Doesn’t require account | No | — |
| Provides activity reports | Yes | — |
| Displays fertile window notifications | Yes | — |
| Counts how many calories you've burned | Yes | — |
| Activity tracking | ||
| Measures pace | Yes | — |
| Tracks distance | Yes | — |
| Tracks elevation | Yes | — |
| Designed for golf | Yes | — |
| Tracks your sleep | Yes | — |
| Tracks steps taken | Yes | — |
| Designed for diving | No | — |
| Has a route tracker | Yes | — |
| Has exercise tagging | Yes | — |
| Has multi-sport mode | No | — |
| Tracks calorie intake | Yes | — |
| Provides sleep reports | Yes | — |
| Detects activities automatically | Yes | — |
| Has a stroke counter for swimming | Yes | — |
| General | ||
| Timer | — | Yes |
| Stopwatch | — | Yes |
| Time/date | — | Yes |
| Alarm clock | — | Yes |
| Touchscreen | — | Yes |
| Display type | — | AMOLED (optional always-on mode) |
| Water rating | — | Swim, 5 ATM |
| GPS Time Sync | — | Yes |
| Garmin Pay™ | — | Yes |
| Music storage | — | Yes |
| Wheelchair mode | — | Yes |
| Smart wake alarm | — | Yes |
| Sunrise/sunset times | — | Yes |
| Pulse Ox blood oxygen | — | yes (spot-check, and optional all-day and in sleep) |
| Sleep score and insights | — | Yes |
| Automatic daylight saving time | — | Yes |
| Battery life (smartwatch mode) | — | Up to 11 days (5 days display always-on) |
| Variant | ||
| Color | — | Lunar Gold with Bone Band |
| Available Colors | — | Slate with Black Band; Metallic Pink Dawn with Bone Band; Cream Gold with French Gray Band; Lunar Gold with Bone Band; Metallic Jasper Green with Jasper Green Band; Metallic Pink Dawn with Pink Dawn Band; Slate with Pebble Gray Band |
| Product Info | ||
| Price | — | 299.99 USD |
| Clock Features | ||
| Sleep | — | yes (advanced) |
| Hydration | — | Yes |
| Breathwork | — | Yes |
| Meditation | — | Yes |
| Fitness age | — | Yes |
| Sleep coach | — | Yes |
| Health status | — | Yes |
| Nap detection | — | Yes |
| All-day stress | — | Yes |
| Women's health | — | Yes |
| Health snapshot | — | Yes |
| Sleep alignment | — | Yes |
| Respiration rate | — | Yes |
| Lifestyle logging | — | Yes |
| Resting heart rate | — | Yes |
| Breathing variations | — | Yes |
| Relaxation reminders | — | Yes |
| Abnormal heart rate alerts | — | yes (high and low) |
| Relaxation breathing timer | — | Yes |
| Body Battery™ energy monitor | — | Yes |
| Heart rate (constant, every second) | — | Yes |
| Cycling Features | ||
| Time and distance alerts | — | Yes |
| Auto rest (pool swim only) | — | Yes |
| Underwater wrist-based heart rate | — | Yes |
| Basic rest timer (up from 0) (pool swim only) | — | Yes |
| Stroke type detection (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly) (pool swim only) | — | Yes |
| Pool swim metrics (lengths, distance, pace, stroke count, swim efficiency (SWOLF), calories) | — | Yes |
| Open-water swim metrics (distance, pace, stroke count/rate, stroke distance, swim efficiency (SWOLF), calories) | — | Yes |
| Golfing Features | ||
| Sun and moon information | — | yes (via Connect IQ™) |
| Running Features | ||
| PinPointer | — | Yes |
| Tournament legal | — | Yes |
| Digital scorecard | — | Yes |
| Garmin AutoShot™ | — | Yes |
| Round timer/odometer | — | Yes |
| Yardage to layups/doglegs | — | Yes |
| Hazards and course targets | — | Yes |
| Pairs with Garmin Golf app | — | Yes |
| Green View with manual pin position | — | Yes |
| CT1 Automatic club tracking compatible (requires accessory) | — | Yes |
| CT10 Automatic club tracking compatible (requires accessory) | — | Yes |
| Yardage to F/M/B (distance to front, middle and back of green) | — | Yes |
| Stat tracking (strokes, putts per round, greens and fairways hit) | — | Yes |
| Measures shot distance (calculates exact yardage for shots from anywhere on course) | — | automatic |
| What You'll Love | ||
| Weight | — | 23 g (36 g with included band) |
| Battery life | — | Smartwatch mode: Up to 11 days (5 days display always-on) Battery Saver Smartwatch mode: Up to 21 days GPS-Only GNSS mode: Up to 21 hours All-Systems GNSS mode: Up to 17 hours All-Systems GNSS mode with music: Up to 8 hours See details |
| Battery type | — | Lithium ion |
| Display Size | — | 1.2" (30.4 mm) diameter |
| Case material | — | fiber-reinforced polymer |
| Color display | — | Yes |
| Lens material | — | Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 |
| Physical size | — | 42.2 x 42.2 x 10.9 mm Fits wrists with a circumference of 125-190 mm |
| Bezel material | — | anodized aluminum |
| Memory/History | — | 8 GB |
| Strap material | — | silicone |
| Charging method | — | Garmin proprietary plug charger |
| Large font option | — | Yes |
| Display resolution | — | 390 x 390 pixels |
| Quick Release bands | — | yes (20 mm, Industry standard) |
| Activity Profiles | ||
| Assistance | — | Yes |
| Incident detection during select activities | — | Yes |
| Incident detection alert on phone for wearables | — | Yes |
| Outdoor Recreation | ||
| Back to start | — | Yes |
| Daily Smart Features | ||
| HIIT workouts | — | Yes |
| Yoga workouts | — | Yes |
| Cardio workouts | — | Yes |
| Pilates workouts | — | Yes |
| Strength workouts | — | Yes |
| Garmin running coach | — | Yes |
| Garmin Coach - Strength | — | Yes |
| Garmin running coach experts | — | Yes |
| On-screen workout animations | — | Yes |
| On-screen workout muscle maps | — | Yes |
| Workouts for wheelchair users | — | Yes |
| Garmin Coach - Prebuilt cycling plans | — | Yes |
| Daily suggested workout - Walking (duration based) | — | Yes |
| Mapping & Navigation | ||
| Compatible with Varia™ lights | — | Yes |
| Speed and cadence sensor support (w/sensor) | — | yes (using ANT+ or BLE) |
| Compatible with Varia™ radar (rear-facing radar) | — | Yes |
| Alerts (triggers alarm when you reach goals including time, distance, heart rate or calories) | — | Yes |
| Activity Tracking Features | ||
| % HR max | — | Yes |
| HR zones | — | Yes |
| HR alerts | — | Yes |
| HRV status | — | Yes |
| Manual lap | — | Yes |
| Auto scroll | — | Yes |
| HR calories | — | Yes |
| Voice alerts | — | Yes |
| Physio TrueUp | — | Yes |
| Recovery time | — | Yes |
| VO2 Max (run) | — | Yes |
| Training effect | — | Yes |
| Workout benefit | — | Yes |
| Advanced workouts | — | Yes |
| Interval training | — | Yes |
| GPS speed and distance | — | Yes |
| Customizable data pages | — | Yes |
| Touch and/or button lock | — | Yes |
| Activity history on watch | — | Yes |
| Downloadable training plans | — | Yes |
| Training effect (anaerobic) | — | Yes |
| HRM running pace and distance | — | Yes |
| Customizable activity profiles | — | Yes |
| Auto Pause® automatic timer halt | — | Yes |
| Respiration rate (during exercise) | — | yoga, breathwork and meditation only |
| Auto Lap® interval tracking feature | — | Yes |
| HR broadcast (broadcasts HR data over ANT+® to paired devices) | — | yes (using ANT+ or BLE) |
| Improved interval (includes open repeats, intervals data page, rest screen and auto detection) | — | Yes |
| Workout and Training Plans | ||
| Gym | — | Strength, HIIT, Cardio, Elliptical Training, Stair Stepping, Indoor Rowing, Jump Roping |
| Swim | — | Pool Swimming, Open Water Swimming |
| Cycling | — | Biking, Road Biking, Gravel Biking, Bike Touring, eBiking, Handcycling, Indoor Handcycling Indoor Biking, Cyclocross |
| Wellness | — | Walking, Pilates, Yoga, Indoor Walking, Mobility |
| In the ring | — | Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts |
| Team sports | — | Basketball, Volleyball, Field Hockey, Ice Hockey, Football/Soccer, American Football, Lacrosse, Rugby, Ultimate Disc, Cricket, Softball, Baseball |
| Motor sports | — | Motorcycling, Overlanding, Motocrossing, ATVing, Snowmobiling |
| On the water | — | Stand Up Paddleboarding, Kayaking, Rowing, Snorkeling |
| Racket sports | — | Tennis, Pickleball, Badminton, Squash, Table Tennis, Padel, Platform Tennis, Racquetball |
| Indoor running | — | Treadmill Running, Indoor Track Running |
| Outdoor running | — | Running, Outdoor Track Running, Trail Running, Obstacle Running |
| Snow and winter | — | Skiing, Snowboarding, XC Classic Skiing, XC Skate Skiing, Ice Skating, Snowshoeing |
| Outdoor recreation | — | Hiking, Horseback Riding, Golfing, Mountaineering, Disc Golf, Archery |
| Other activity profiles | — | Inline Skating |
| Health & Wellness Monitoring | ||
| GPS | — | Yes |
| QZSS | — | Yes |
| BeiDou | — | Yes |
| Compass | — | Yes |
| GLONASS | — | Yes |
| Galileo | — | Yes |
| Gyroscope | — | Yes |
| Thermometer | — | yes (tempe™ sensor required) |
| Accelerometer | — | Yes |
| Ambient light sensor | — | Yes |
| Pulse Ox blood oxygen saturation monitor | — | Yes |
| Garmin Elevate™ wrist heart rate monitor | — | Yes |
| Safety and Tracking Features | ||
| TrueUp™ | — | Yes |
| Move IQ™ | — | Yes |
| Step counter | — | Yes |
| Calories burned | — | Yes |
| Distance traveled | — | Yes |
| Intensity minutes | — | Yes |
| Weight shift alert | — | Yes |
| Automatic rep counting | — | Yes |
| Wheelchair push tracker | — | Yes |
| Move alert movement options | — | Yes |
| Garmin Connect™ Challenges app | — | Yes |
| Move alerts (displays on device after a period of inactivity) | — | Yes |
| Auto goal (learns your activity level and assigns a daily step goal) | — | Yes |
| Training, Planning and Analysis Features | ||
| Run workouts | — | Yes |
| Race predictor | — | Yes |
| Foot pod capable | — | Yes |
| Running dynamics | — | Yes |
| Run/walk/stand detection | — | Yes |
| PacePro™ pacing strategies | — | Yes |
| GPS-based distance, time and pace | — | Yes |
| Cadence (provides real-time number of steps per minute) | — | Yes |
Wrist Fit
Garmin Venu 3S
Sits best on wrists ~43–59mm wide (≈ 11.5–15.8cm circumference).
Garmin vívoactive 6
Sits best on wrists ~44–60mm wide (≈ 11.7–16.0cm circumference).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Garmin Venu 3S bigger than the Garmin vívoactive 6?
The Garmin vívoactive 6 is bigger — 42.2mm vs 41mm case width.
Which fits a smaller wrist better, the Garmin Venu 3S or the Garmin vívoactive 6?
The Garmin Venu 3S suits wrists around 43–59mm wide, and the Garmin vívoactive 6 around 44–60mm. The one with the smaller lower bound is the safer pick for a small wrist.
Can I see the Garmin Venu 3S and Garmin vívoactive 6 side by side at true scale?
Yes — the schematics and photos above show both watches at matched scale, and our fit tool overlays each on your wrist width.