This morning, Garmin rolled out its new Venu 2 Series GPS smartwatch, which has sleep score capability. The Venu 2 gives users specific insights about their sleep, including light, deep and REM sleep. Users can also view information about their pulse oxygen and respiration rate when sleeping.

The new watch is able to give users their body age by using their chronological age, activity, resting heart rate, and BMI or percent body fat.

In addition, users can see their health records over time with a "health snapshot" function, which logs, records and shares health statistics. Wearers can also gain insights into their Pulse Ox2, stress rates and hydration.

The watch has a fitness focus and provides users with more than 25 sports apps. It is listed at $399.

WHY IT MATTERS

According to Pew Research Center, 21% of Americans report using a smartwatch or fitness tracker. The report found that adults making over $75,000 a year were the most likely to own a wearable.

Household brands such as Fitbit, Apple and Amazon have rolled out a slew of consumer-grade wearables. Like Garmin, these companies are pitching the technology as a way to help users boost their fitness and lifestyle.

“At the core of the Venu product line is the belief that when you live healthy, you live better,” Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of global consumer sales, said in a statement. “The Venu 2 series builds on this story with exciting new features that help explain what’s going on inside your body as well as the fitness and wellness tools needed to make healthy choices every day.”

THE LARGER TRENDS

Garmin consistently rolls out new watches multiple times a year. In 2021 alone, it unveiled its Enduro, a watch designed for athletic training with GPS, and a smaller wearable called Lily, which the company pitched as a product “designed by women, for women.”

However, unlike other wearable companies, Garmin has not yet integrated an ECG into its products. In 2018, Apple changed the wearable game when it announced an atrial fibrillation-detecting algorithm and an ECG for the company's Series 4 Apple Watch.

Since then, Samsung, Withings and Fitbit have all pursued ECG features.