Garmin Lily 2 review: A beautiful smartwatch that’s lacking in fitness tracking

There are various choices for smartwatches in the marketplace. From extra “conventional” smartwatches from Apple and Samsung to fitness-focused choices from manufacturers like Fitbit and Garmin, selecting your excellent smartwatch will be overwhelming — particularly if you’d like one thing with kind and performance. 

Personally, I’ve been an Apple Watch consumer for a number of years, however — whereas I like the comfort of my Collection 4 — I’m sort of uninterested in sporting it. The looks of my Apple Watch was by no means my favourite, however many different choices in the marketplace sported the identical issues. They’re both too sq., too clunky, too sporty, or too large — which is why I used to be thrilled to see that Garmin had launched its new Lily 2 smartwatch. 

Billed as a fashion-forward smartwatch for girls, the Garmin Lily 2 ticked a whole lot of the bins I didn’t know I used to be searching for. With a smaller watch face, a hidden show, and 6 completely different colour choices accessible, it actually appears to be like higher than many of the smartwatches I’ve seen in the marketplace — however is it definitely worth the $249 price ticket? 

I made a decision to attempt it out for myself, and right here’s what it’s worthwhile to know: 

The Garmin Lily 2 smartwatch appears to be like completely beautiful 

Straight out of the field, the Lily 2 is likely one of the prettiest smartwatches I’ve seen. I selected the Garmin Lily 2 Basic in cream gold with a tan leather-based band, and I used to be impressed by how well-made this watch is. The patterned watch face isn’t one thing I believed I’d admire, nevertheless it’s a refined function that lends an Artwork Deco really feel to what’s already an attractive watch.

The watch face itself is small and durable, with two completely different finishes on the cream gold exterior, and the Italian leather-based band is a far cry from the silicone bands I’ve used previously. The watch itself additionally holds a waterproof score of 5 ATM — as much as a depth of fifty meters — which Garmin says ought to face up to splashes, rain or snow, showering, swimming, and extra. (Nonetheless, the band you select may impression the way you deal with the watch round water.)

The watch additionally incorporates a hidden show, which is gorgeous in concept, however I discovered the dearth of analog watch palms barely disappointing. Different Garmin watches sport bodily watch palms — permitting you to inform the time with out “activating” the digital show — and I felt like this function would’ve given the Lily 2 somewhat bit extra polish. Plus, the show itself is grayscale and considerably pixelated, making the expertise really feel barely much less luxe than the bodily watch.

The swipe features had been additionally somewhat slower than these on my Apple Watch, which meant the expertise of utilizing the Lily 2 didn’t fairly match the best way it appeared. It’s an attractive accent, sure, and it packs a robust punch with well being monitoring — however the smartwatch functionalities had been a bit missing in comparison with different choices in the marketplace. It does embrace Garmin Pay, and it’s suitable with each Apple and Android smartphones, so you’ll be able to obtain texts, emails, and calendar alerts in your watch. Nonetheless, it’s additionally extremely tethered to your cellphone — so that you’ll want to hold your cellphone with you to get options like GPS knowledge on exercises, climate knowledge, and so on. 

Most of Garmin’s monitoring options had been unimaginable

Whereas I used to be impressed by the Garmin Lily 2 out-of-the-box, lots of the monitoring options had been even higher than I anticipated. The Lily 2 boasts a collection of Garmin’s greatest well being monitoring options — together with the sleep rating — permitting you to trace the whole lot out of your coronary heart charge, steps, exercises, respiration, stress ranges, and extra. As somebody new to Garmin watches, I used to be significantly impressed by the “physique battery” rating, which estimates your power ranges all through the day by using your coronary heart charge variability (HRV), stress ranges, sleep high quality, and train exercise. 

In comparison with my Apple Watch — which additionally tracks issues like steps, train exercise, respiration, and coronary heart charge — I discovered that the addition of the stress rating, sleep rating, and physique battery gave me deeper perception into the information I used to be monitoring. Not solely did this assist me monitor my stress and power ranges all through the day, nevertheless it additionally helped me higher interpret my very own well being knowledge.

My Apple Watch Collection 4 in comparison with the Garmin Lily 2.
Credit score: RJ Andersen / Mashable

As a result of the stress rating relies on physiological stress not simply emotional stress, for instance, I began discovering which issues contributed to a high-stress rating — like a heavy meal, an intense exercise, or my tendency to tempo on cellphone calls — which allowed me to regulate my habits all through the day. If my physique battery was depleting sooner than I wished it to, for instance, I’d swap my exercise for a meditation session (or a nap). As somebody who’s an avid proponent of power administration, this made the Lily 2 an unimaginable companion for structuring my day to take care of optimum power. 

And surprisingly? Many of the knowledge appeared fairly correct. I don’t love sporting watches or bracelets at evening, however I did sport the Lily 2 for per week of bedtimes, and the sleep rating was a useful piece of data. That being stated, I wasn’t fairly health-obsessed sufficient to need to maintain sporting it at evening, however the remainder of my data — like my Stress Rating and Physique Battery — nonetheless felt fairly correct even with out monitoring my sleep. 

What I favored concerning the Garmin Lily 2: Monitoring, aesthetic, connectivity

Clearly, the Lily 2 gave me loads to like. The aesthetic of the watch was unimaginable, except for minor disappointment with the show, and the monitoring options had been an amazing asset. I cherished with the ability to use the watch to handle my power ranges, perceive how completely different decisions impacted my well-being, and alter my habits accordingly. Plus, the battery life held as much as the five-day estimate, and — because it charged extremely quick — I used to be in a position to take the watch off throughout a bathe and put it again on, absolutely charged. 

Not solely is it a shocking smartwatch filled with some nice monitoring functionalities, however the Lily 2 additionally paired simply with my Apple iPhone 11 Professional, which means I might obtain textual content messages, notifications, climate updates, and extra. Whether or not I used to be understanding, going for a stroll, or deep in my workday, the watch was cute, snug, and surprisingly handy — apart from just a few key options.

What I didn’t like about it: Exercise UX and the Garmin Join app

Whereas the Garmin Lily 2 labored nice more often than not, it fell flat in just a few key areas: exercise monitoring and the Garmin Join app. 

With exercise monitoring, the watch usually carried out okay, however sure actions provided some severe points. Treadmill actions, as an example, didn’t log any distance — the whole lot else was monitoring simply nice, together with my step rely and coronary heart charge — however after half a mile on the treadmill, I glanced at my watch and noticed it had registered a distance of zero toes. 

I hopped off, opened the app to troubleshoot, and spent the subsequent thirty minutes battling with the Garmin Join App. I attempted looking for options on Garmin’s assist varieties, restarted my cellphone and watch, and even reset the watch again to manufacturing facility settings, however nothing appeared to work. I might modify the space within the Garmin Join on-line portal to match my treadmill’s studying — and the space appeared to work simply nice on outside walks and runs — however treadmill exercises continued to be a supply of frustration. 

Different actions appeared to perform nice  —  distance logged appropriately on outside walks and runs — nevertheless it felt just like the “actions” function on the app was surprisingly missing for a fitness-focused smartwatch. As soon as I began an exercise, for instance, I used to be locked into monitoring it. I couldn’t entry the rest on the watch with out stopping the exercise, and I couldn’t discover the choice to even pause and resume an exercise as soon as it was began. 

Have a look beneath the hood.
Credit score: RJ Andersen / Mashable

Once more, it felt like the information I used to be receiving was unimaginable — except for my hiccups with the Treadmill exercise — however the precise expertise of utilizing it fell brief. It wasn’t essentially dangerous, nevertheless it simply didn’t really feel fairly as good in comparison with different smartwatches I’ve tried. 

Sadly, my expertise with the Garmin Join app was additionally considerably lackluster. The app labored nice, nevertheless it was cluttered, overwhelming, and complicated — even for somebody who’s pretty tech-savvy. Some settings had been buried beneath a number of menus, whereas others gave the impression to be accessible solely on the Garmin Join on-line portal, not the app itself. 

Whereas I’m hardly ever a fan of companion apps, particularly once they’re pointless, the Garmin Join app is mandatory — which made the dearth of user-friendliness much more irritating. Some days my data wouldn’t seem on the “my day” window in any respect except I refreshed my watch’s connection a number of instances, and making an attempt to know the completely different settings beneath the “extra” part felt inconceivable. That being stated, it wasn’t essentially a deal-breaker for me — the app’s performance didn’t appear to impression my expertise with the watch, except for the problem with distance measurements on treadmill exercises — it simply felt unnecessarily difficult.

Is the Garmin Lily 2 price it?

When you’re searching for a small, stunning watch with some easy on a regular basis health-tracking performance, the Lily 2 could be the proper smartwatch for you. Garmin has clearly constructed a tremendous piece of {hardware} with this watch, however as I discussed above, it’s the software program that feels a bit missing. Nonetheless, not everybody will discover (or care) about these issues, making the Lily 2 an amazing choice for somebody who needs a trendy, easy smartwatch to trace exercise with out a ton of bells and whistles. 

As a smartwatch for the fitness-obsessed, nevertheless, I discovered myself wishing for extra. The watch is fashionable, sure, nevertheless it doesn’t arise in opposition to extra highly effective sports activities watches — and it’s actually not as “good” as different smartwatches. So if you happen to’re searching for an amazing exercise companion — otherwise you need to check out extra superior smartwatch options — you may need to look elsewhere.