Garmin Lily 2 review: Should you buy it?

The Garmin Lily 2 delivers iterative enhancements to the unique Lily, together with an upgraded construct and streamlined band design. Nonetheless measuring in at 35mm, the machine’s case is now a steel one, appropriate with commonplace 14mm bands. The influence of this materials change is a extra elevated really feel on the wrist. For $249, the bottom mannequin Lily 2 ships with a silicone band in Lilac or Coconut. Beginning at $279, the Lily 2 Traditional fashions include a Espresso or Sage Grey nylon band or a Tan or Mulberry leather-based band — every of those choices pairs with an aluminum case in numerous colours.

I’m at all times grateful when corporations drop proprietary designs, like band attachments, providing customers extra flexibility and customization. The nylon band that shipped with my Lily 2 Traditional is comfy and enticing, and the Grey Sage is a really stylish hue. I might have preferred to see the pricier fashions ship with a secondary silicone band for coaching, however I didn’t have any points carrying the nylon choice all through this evaluate.

I additionally discovered the watch completely light-weight for in a single day put on and am pleased to report the addition of Sleep Rating and Sleep Particulars on the machine. As is the case with most Garmin units, my sleep information aligned with what I skilled (sleep and wake occasions) and the way I felt (scores) all through my testing. The machine additionally provides a sleep mode that retains the watch face from illuminating and blinding you into wakefulness. Whereas in sleep mode, the Lily 2 received’t reply to boost to wake, a easy however appreciated mode.

This brings me to extra normal particulars in regards to the Garmin Lily 2’s touchscreen show. The machine doesn’t provide an always-on show; nonetheless, the raise-to-wake performance is far more constant than within the earlier era. In the meantime, on or off, the lens nonetheless includes a refined background sample harking back to high-end watch manufacturers. The lineup consists of quite a lot of patterns starting from botanicals to graphic dots. I personally didn’t discover the sample distracting or arduous to learn round, however it does give the watch a really particular impression.

My solely gripe is that I miss facet buttons. On the most effective days, the pseudo-home button was sufficient to maintain me mollified. The machine includes a small circle on its display that gives haptic suggestions when used to navigate the machine. On my worst days, swipes and faucets solely bought me to this point earlier than frustration set in, and I discovered myself jabbing on the display like a baby. I think about anybody buying this machine would alter to the dearth of buttons over time, however I can’t say I’d comfortably tailored by the tip of my evaluate. To not belabor the identical level, however the lack of buttons solely reiterates that that is an on a regular basis accent, not a sports activities watch. From beginning exercises to reviewing stats mid-set, I longed for tactile interplay.

And but, the Lily 2 is just not with out enhancements on the health monitoring entrance. The brand new era provides a couple of well-liked sport profiles, together with HIIT, Meditation, and Stroll Indoor. It additionally provides Row Indoor, simply in time to guilt me into really utilizing the rowing machine I bought over the vacations.

For these with rhythm or an absence of inhibition, the Lily 2 provides Dance Health, with the choice to interrupt a sweat to a number of genres. Sadly, the machine doesn’t pair this with music storage or playback, however you’ll be able to management music in your paired cellphone from the wrist. Nonetheless, it’s good to see the game profiles elevated to cater to extra customers’ pursuits. I used to be shocked to not see an indoor bike exercise profile, contemplating how well-liked biking is amongst ladies. Sadly, the watch doesn’t provide Bluetooth connection to gear like a Peloton Bike.

Past particular exercises, the watch precisely tracks all of the fundamentals of well being and health, together with steps, distance, energy, respiration, stress, sleep, and sleeping SpO2. It additionally options Physique Battery, one in all Garmin’s hottest wellness instruments. Devoted to feminine customers, the watch additionally options feminine well being monitoring and being pregnant monitoring, providing helpful notifications and predictions.

To trace 24/7 coronary heart price information, all Lily 2 units function Garmin’s Elevate Gen 4 coronary heart price sensor, which isn’t the latest era accessible. I hoped the road would improve to the Gen 5 and probably provide extra superior well being metrics. You received’t discover ECG recordings or temperature monitoring, each of which might have been helpful on a female-focused tracker. Nonetheless, the sensor proved dependable throughout the board, recording correct readings at relaxation and through exercises. I wore the watch rowing, biking, and operating, and the machine stored up nicely with my Polar H10 chest strap and Apple Watch.

The one exercise throughout which the Lily 2 struggled was an indoor HIIT session. As you’ll be able to see within the chart above, the machine stored up fairly nicely with my chest strap for the primary twelve or so minutes. As soon as I launched burpees, rowing, and pushups, issues went haywire. Then, across the begin of my cooldown, it realigned with the chest strap. Wrist-based wearables can wrestle with actions that put pressure on the wrist. Nonetheless, given how nicely the Lily 2 carried out in different exercises, it’s additionally doable I wasn’t carrying the watch at fairly the precise match for this particular exercise.

Nonetheless, this watch is just not geared toward high-performance athletes as a lot as people fascinated with informal (albeit very correct) monitoring. That is made clear in that the Lily 2 doesn’t provide built-in GPS. As an alternative, it leverages the GPS information of your paired cellphone for out of doors runs and rides. Accuracy is, subsequently, fully dependent in your cell relatively than the machine itself. As you’ll be able to see within the map above, the Lily 2’s GPS route, derived from my smartphone, is sort of similar to that of my Apple Watch Collection 9. Nonetheless, I used to be pleased to see GPS lock on shortly and preserve a powerful connection all through my exercises. Moreover, Garmin added incident detection to the Lily 2, emphasizing customers’ security throughout the Garmin secure.

Oddly sufficient, the Traditional fashions of the Lily 2 additionally add Garmin Pay to the lineup in order that customers could make funds with out a cellphone available. I’d discover this addition extra helpful together with built-in GPS (eliminating the necessity to take a cellphone on lengthy walks or runs), however it’s undoubtedly good to see extra smartwatch options added. Except for smartphone notifications and music controls, the Lily 2 continues to be fairly lean on that entrance.

Lastly, the battery life on the Garmin Lily 2 is listed at 5 days. The machine lasted simply over 4 days between costs for me, with a number of exercises per day and above-average utilization. The machine ships with a proprietary charger that ought to look acquainted to anybody with an authentic Lily. The chip clip model finish aligns with the pins on the again of the watch case. The charger is, nonetheless, USB-C relatively than USB-A, which is sweet to see.

Whereas there isn’t one other particularly female-focused machine accessible for direct comparability, loads of further wearables provide the same person expertise. The trackers and smartwatches under characterize the most effective Garmin Lily 2 options.

• Garmin Venu 3 ($449.99 at Amazon): From Garmin’s personal secure, the Venu 3 affords the most effective smartwatch expertise Garmin has to supply, plus built-in GPS, and ECG capabilities. It’s a well-rounded machine now accessible in two sizes, although neither choice is as small because the Lily 2.
• Garmin Vivomove Sport ($179 at Amazon): Garmin’s vivomove Sport affords another hybrid expertise with a hidden show and actual ticking palms. Just like the Lily 2, the machine is proscribed on good options however packs a lot of Garmin’s highly effective wellness instruments under the floor.
• Apple Watch SE 2 ($269.99 at Amazon): Apple’s funds wearable packs practically the identical function set because the flagship Collection 9, however drops a couple of sensors in favor of a a lot cheaper price tag. Sometimes, when evaluating Garmin vs Apple wearables, the previous takes the lead in health monitoring; nonetheless, within the case of the Lily 2, an Apple Watch SE 2 is probably going a greater exercise companion for many customers because of built-in GPS and different good options.
• Withings ScanWatch 2 ($349.95 at Amazon): A sexy health-focused hybrid watch, the Withings ScanWatch 2 packs an ECG for atrial fibrillation detection in addition to SpO2 monitoring. Due to its tiny show window, this watch additionally boasts 30-day battery life.
• Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional ($299.99 at Samsung): Although barely pricier, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional mannequin includes a rotating bezel for a standard aesthetic just like that of the Garmin Lily 2. The smartwatch expertise on this decide is extra strong than that of Lily 2, however the machine can be bulkier on the wrist.
• Fitbit Cost 6 ($159.95 at Amazon): A band model tracker rounded out by integration with Google’s high apps, the Cost 6 is the most effective health tracker from Fitbit and affords a small, although sporty, type issue. When evaluating the Garmin and Fitbit experiences, customers in search of extra informal, primary monitoring information will probably discover the Fitbit ecosystem greater than passable.