I can’t say enough about how excited I am that someone finally made a smart fitness watch for people with tiny wrists! I’ve been wearing Fitbit smartwatches for years, but it’s always bugged me how bulky they look on my arm. See the side-by-side comparison picture of the Fitbit Sense and the Garmin Lily... enough said. So when it felt like time for a change, I just had to try the Lily! And I’m so glad I did. I absolutely adore it. Here’s my quick list of pros and cons after a couple of weeks of wearing it:

Pros:

- GORGEOUS. I can’t stop staring at the beautiful pattern on the lens. I feel like I’m wearing a piece of art on my wrist!

- SO lightweight. I didn’t realize how heavy my old fitness watch (the Fitbit Sense) was until I put on the Lily! I was blown away by how light it is.

- Does everything I need in a smartwatch – can wake me up in the morning with an alarm, provides notifications for texts/calls, tracks fitness activities, and more.

- Garmin has an excellent app that provides very detailed information at no extra cost to the user (unlike Fitbit, where you need a monthly subscription to take advantage of all of the features that watches like the Sense offer). Garmin’s tracking results are a lot more extensive, and their fitness tracking in particular blows Fitbit away. For example, you can track specific movements with Garmin. You can tell it you were doing deadlifts or sit-ups or leg raises and how many reps you did of each – the list of options is huge. It will even auto-populate what muscle groups you worked in strength training. At one point, the exercise recognition feature figured out I was doing push-ups and jumping jacks without me telling it, which was neat!

Cons:

- The Lily has a silent (vibrating) alarm, and if you hit snooze it goes off again 10 minutes later. When it goes off again, it shows your original alarm time rather than the actual time (e.g., if the alarm goes off at 6 am and I hit snooze, it still shows “6 am” when it goes off again despite the actual time being 6:10).

- Because the screen is small (which I love) this means that sometimes the notifications for texts get partially covered up by the options to clear or respond to them. So you kind of have to guess what some words are.

- Doesn’t sync with phone Do Not Disturb or silence settings. If my phone is on DnD or silent, I have to set the watch to be on DnD/silent separately, or it will still vibrate when my phone gets notifications.

- And the vibrations are LOUD. It’s pretty noticeable in a quiet room, so if your phone is blowing up and you’re in a meeting it’s a little awkward. I’m also not sure how good the actual vibration sensation is… Sometimes I feel like I hear it going off more than I feel it.

So there you have it! The Fitbit Sense addresses all of these cons (updating the alarm time after snoozing, more room on the screen to read notifications, syncing with phone Do Not Disturb/silent settings, more subtle vibrations). Fitbit also does better with sleep tracking, and you can use the Fitbit Sense to talk on the phone and send tailored text message responses through voice-to-text (the Lily doesn’t have a microphone, so it can only send a few stock text responses). But despite all of that, I’m glad I switched from the Sense to the Lily. The pros are just so good -- they easily outweigh all of the cons, at least for me. I’ll be sticking with Garmin’s line of smaller watches moving forward!

Lengthy review warning:

I purchased the Lily a couple months ago, right when it first came out. I originally had the Garmin 45S, and when the Lily came out I was excited to try it out since it has a pulse oximiter and looks so classy. It was a seamless transition to add it to the app, and switch the Lily over to my 'default' device. I wear it pretty much all the time. I haven't had much of an issue with the GPS being connected through the phone- that's been fine.

Pros: looks amazing, comfortable, easy to use with the touch screen; I like the simple text replies built-in. Loving the emergency alert and pulse oximeter, as I have medical issues and these features make me feel safe. I like the hydration widget. The touch screen is excellent and intuitive. The manual activity tracker (when you tell it to record at the start of an activity such as walking or yoga) seems pretty accurate on distance, etc.

Cons: pulse oximeter takes probably 2 minutes of standing still and is picky - doesn't always read you. The battery doesn't last very long - my 45S lasted around 3 days, and the Lily lasts about 24-36 hours for everyday use in my experience. No onboard GPS, if you're needing that. And there are minor issues when it aromatically starts to record an activity (when you tell it to record an activity manually, it's great). For example, when you've been walking for 5-10 minutes, it tries to start an activity (walking) and incorrectly saves the distance. For instance, I walked 2.5 miles and it recorded 1. I walked half a mile and it recorded 125 ft. if it doesn't attempt to record anything, it at least gets your steps right. At least on my particular device, if you try to cancel the automatic activity recording, it buzzes repeatedly at you that it didn't save the activity, for a few hours every few minutes. Seems like it might be a software glitch that will hopefully phase out in future updates.

Overall impression (TL;DR): Awesome watch for price and size. Great for everyday wear, and looks amazing. Only a couple of minor issues.

I love this watch. I had a Fitbit Sense for almost 3 years, but the touchscreen quit working and none of the fixes repaired it. I also wasn't excited about Google absorbing Fitbit and changing things, so decided to look for other options.

I've worn a watch since I was about 9 years old and always liked pretty watches, even when working as a nurse. I always wore a pretty, but dependable watch. That was one of the hardest decisions to go to a smart watch -- they're not small or very pretty. But I did like my Sense.

However, while so many of these watches have lots of bells & whistles, the reality is, how many do you really use? I realized I wanted to be able to get my texts and notified my cell has a call coming in. It's not unusual for my phone and person to get separated at times, so having the watch let me know I need to get to my phone is very helpful. Some have mentioned the type is too small to read, but I don't have any trouble reading the messages on my screen. For reference, I'm 63 and wear 2.5 readers and have no problem.

One of the reasons I purchased the Sense was it recorded flights of stairs. Over time, this became less & less accurate, so I decided that wasn't a priority for me.

I also like to track my sleep, and the Lily seems to be doing a better job than the Sense.

It's a bit frustrating that I can only list 6 activities to track on the watch, and both walking and running are mandatory. This is frustrating, as I will NEVER use the running mode, so I could replace that with another activity I could use. Also when using the treadmill activity, Lily records it as treadmill running. Nope! I walk quickly, but am not running, and never will be!

The other difference is that I could change out the bands in a couple seconds with my Sense. With the Lily, it's a time commitment to change a band. I obviously won't be changing out bands as frequently as I did with the Sense, but the bands are connected much more securely on the Lily. I also never changed out my watch bands before I had a smart watch, so not a big deal. I did have to search awhile to find a yellow gold band that matches the yellow gold rim on my Lily. Everything is rose gold these days. Hope more yellow gold will become available.

I found it took the watch about 12 hours to "learn me" and respond to my movements and gestures. I had a hard time getting it to turn on at first, but 12 hours later, it was working perfectly and no more issues.

I've only had this about a week, so still quite new and I don't have any report on dependability. But, Garmin is a respected brand and I see it is already providing reliable measurements.

I'm very happy with my purchase and love the look of the Lily. I hope in time Garmin will allow running to be removed from activities and provide a selection of yellow gold bands to match the yellow gold trim.

Updated September 2023:

I still like the Lily, but Garmin has been less than interested in resolving the treadmill issue, or to have running a manditory activity taking up space on my phone. I have calibrated my step a couple of times, and yet despite this and walking the EXACTLY same route twice a day for 5 days a week... I always get different distances.

I also really miss being able to set an alarm or timer straight from my watch. Since I have to use my phone to do so, I might as well just use the timer or alarm on my phone. Fewer steps to get what I need.

All in all, it's ok. I'll probably be investing in another smart watch in the next year, and just leave this for "dress" wear. Garmin really needs to address some of these issues to make the Lily more friendly.

I originally bought this to count steps for insurance. It's been an accurate pedometer and counts my steps even when I'm carrying objects and doesn't appear to add steps when I am gesturing with my hands. However, it is terrible at estimating distance for me (I think because it doesn't have GPS independent of a phone).

Appearance-wise, it's truly lovely and fits my petite wrists perfectly. I have the silicone band and it is incredibly comfortable to wear all day. I practice daily yoga, but other than occasional resistance training, no sporty stuff. The apps I use most are the step-counter, the water tracker and the fertility tracker. The biggest drawback for me is that the Garmin app's cycle tracker is extremely basic (it uses a calendar method), but if you track fertility with a sympto-thermal method, there is no way to enter basal body temperature other than adding it as a comment in the app, which was really disappointing to me. I was hoping this could be an alternative to Clue, but it isn't there yet.

I read a lot of reviews about the screen not coming on with the raised wrist gesture, but I don't have it on the "high sensitivity" setting, and it still works great for me. A huge upside is the brightness adjusts and I have no problem seeing the screen indoors or out. Also, the battery life has been good for me (I charge it every 4-5 days, and it charges very fast), but that may be due to personal settings. The Garmin app has lots of interesting data, but the challenges seem particularly geared toward runners and cyclers. My daily activity is yoga, and I would love to see more yoga challenges. It's also a bit annoying while tracking a yoga activity that you have to tap the watch to signal a new pose when you're often supporting yourself or zenned out in a pose.

I originally wanted the bronze one (based on appearances), but after trying one, the leather was stiffer and less comfortable than the silicone band, and I had concerns (from reading reviews) about the leather wearing out because I'm a busy girl and a delicate watch would show wear fast. I'm so glad I went with the sports edition because it's still beautiful, is more comfortable and does nearly everything I need it to do. I'm not sure it would be enough for a hard-core sports person (e.g. no GPS and can't send workouts to the watch like you can for other Garmin watches).

The watch works well for tracking simple biometrics like sleep and heart rate. It isn’t feature-heavy, but it syncs reliably to my iPhone and it’s comfortable. The battery lasts for multiple days without needing to charge it, and charges quickly when it does. The face is smaller than an Apple Watch, and despite my very small wrists, it sits comfortably on the flat part of my wrist without impeding my movement. GPS tracking works well on walks/runs. The find my phone feature is super helpful. It does tend to disconnect from my phone at around 20-25 feet, but will sync its data and reconnect to the phone easily once I am back in range. I do wish it was able to send texts and receive calls as well with an iPhone as it can with an Android, but that was a sacrifice I was willing to make when I bought it. Also can be a little hard to read in the sun, although adjusting the brightness up helps some. For the price, if you have small wrists or don’t like the bulk of traditional smart watches and are looking for something elegant and simple, it’s a good purchase.

I have had it for two years now. Clearly I like it enough to keep using it

The good:

- It's the most petite smart/sportswatch out there with heart rate monitor that looks like a real watch and not a fitness tracker. It doesn't bulge too much under long sleeves which is my problem with most fitness tracker watches because they are just too thick.

- Not always on screen, but very good at displaying the screen when you look at it.

- The battery life is several days with daily workouts and constant heart rate monitoring.

- Actually tracks quite a bit for being so small! Auto starts on some types of exercise.

- Can swim with it!

But there are flaws:

- Sleep tracking was better on my Pebble Time Round (which i would keep using if it had heart rate monitor and was waterproof). It never knows when I'm awake. It needs a nap setting.

- Distance tracking without connected GPS is off by about half the distance. The Garmin Vivosmart 4 I replaced with this wasn't perfect either, but was way closer in the estimate than this. Make sure to have your phone on you for accurate readings.

- After a workout, the summary screen does not clear unless you tap the screen. I will finish, double tap to pause, tap again to tell it I'm finished, then have to tap a fourth time to get back to the clock screen. If I forget, hours later I'll go to look at the time and the summary is still there! That's a lot of taps to end a workout. It would be great if after 10 minutes, the screen clears itself or something.

- Watch vibrates every 24 hours after removing it from the charger. I look at the watch and there's no notifications. I reached out to Garmin support and two years later, there's still no fix. Others also commented on my post that they have this issue too, so it's not just me.

- After two years, the rose gold has faded. I needed a replacement band and now the face and buckle do not match.

- It is too sensitive. Don't wear it in the shower. Water landing on it will tap the screen and I've had it accidentally send texts, lol.

I will keep using it until it dies or a better petite watch is released.

Edited to add: the safety feature is fantastic! I can tap several times and it will send information to my emergency contact (up to 3 contacts) with my location. That's slick and makes me feel even more secure.

This is a fantastic tracker/smart watch for small wrists. It's marketed for exactly that. My wrist is 5 1/8". It's small yes. Thus, I have extreme difficulty finding a tracker that is comfortable, not bulky, and yet meets my needs. For size comparison, the first photo (from left to right- all garmin: lily, vivosmart 4, vivofit 3). You can see how the other two won't curve around my wrist properly. The benendability of the band is only so much. Part of it is rigid. Now, they're both adequate less expensive choices. However, the lily fits my wrist beautifully. It's sooo comfortable and truly goes around my wrist. Could the face be smaller? Yes, I'd love to see this. However, for right now, this is fantastic. It fits wonderfully, is comfortable, and has more features than the previous trackers I had, all while looking great. No tracker is going to be complete perfection, but personally, I think this is close. With one swipe, several icons are at the ready. No more searching and scrolling for icons. Manually or not manually track activity. Also, regarding battery life...yes, of course it's not suuuper long lasting. But if you have tons of alerts, pulse ox, and other things going all day and night, of course it's going to drain the battery faster. Go into your settings and change up a few things. Personally, I like to charge it while I shower and get ready so I'm never without a charge. Find a routine that works for you. If you have a small wrist, take the plunge. This is beautiful and a great fit. Pictures don't even do it justice.

Update: I have further downgraded my review to one star. The VO2 max estimate does not work now…along with all of my previous criticisms. If you want to spend a good bit of money on a pretty watch, go for it. That is all it is good for. Just purchased a Fitbit inspire 2 that should arrive this afternoon. Should do everything I expect for one-third the price of the Lily. Garmin lost a customer.

Original review: I have had this for about 6 months so I think I can give a fair review. Some features are flat out not working…and they haven’t since I bought the watch. When I check online, some of these issues have gone on for 2 years! You’d think the company would do a software/firmware update to correct, but they haven’t. List of issues, that I know of:

1. The body battery does not work. It perpetually stays around 5. It only increases if it is on the charger. Yikes! I reached out to Garmin support, and their response is to wear it all the time and it would eventually figure out my patterns. Well, that was what I was doing…and have kept doing it. It still doesn’t work. I previously had a Vivosmart 4 and, though the body battery worked, I never saw much value with it.

2. You can (theoretically) set up activity options that are visible on the watch. In other words, if you run on a treadmill but don’t swim, you should be able to add treadmill and remove swimming. It doesn’t work. When I googled it, it looks like it is a common problem dating back 2 years! Their answer: reset the watch. It is a pain to do and takes time to reset. I followed their instructions anyway. It seemed to work for others but mine continues to be missing the option despite resetting. Also, despite me removing the “body battery” widget on my phone (since it doesn’t work), it is still somehow on the display. It just increases my aggravation. Ugh.

3. Random vibration. It vibrates with no rhyme or reason. It is not a “get moving” alert, a heart rate alert, or notification. It just vibrates, doesn’t indicate why. It is annoying.

4. The nice feature of emergency alerts. You definitely don’t want it crying wolf. It randomly decided to bring up the alert on my watch face this morning - without me even touching the watch face. That alert would go to my son who is sleeping because he’s working a late shift today. Not good. So it looks like I will be trying to deactivate a nice feature. Hope I don’t encounter a creeper on the trail later.

4. Battery life: I can go only a couple days without charging… it seems to lose battery pretty quickly. One positive is that it charges pretty quickly as well.

At this point, you might be thinking that I clearly loathe it and why am I still bothering with it. It is because a) I spent the money and don’t have the energy to fight Garmin on a defective product. b) the stuff that really needs to work, does. It gets my steps right, heart rate and VO2 max seem accurate. It will log my runs on the treadmill, but I have to fiddle with it a lot so it doesn’t think I ran 0.2 miles in 30 minutes.

Do I recommend it? No. Would I buy one again? Also, likely no. Their main competitor has better customer service…so for that alone, I will probably go back to them. When I had one of their competitor’s watches years ago, I contacted them over a battery issue and had a new watch in my mailbox within a week.

I’ll update this if anything changes, but yep…really disappointed in the watch and Garmin.

Had to order a charger separately.

Liked the watch so much that almost wearing everyday to work.

The seller is respectable from first day till delivery.

When I was buying it, I knew that features-wise Lily is not as good as my other Garmin watch, Solar instinct. So for the features Lily comes with, it is the best.

Battery was an issue, it lasted for only 2 days maximum. But after the software update and after turning off the sleep SpO2 tracking, it's good.

Charging is fast.

Connecting to the Android & iOS apps like Garmin connect, MyFitnessPal, etc is simple and smooth.

The strap isn't purple, it's more of greyish aubergine. Quality of the silicon strap is good. The display is good on a bright day as well. Though it has menstrual tracking and is marketed as a women's watch, it can be worn by men too.

No muestra todas las notificaciones ni reconoce el gesto de la muñeca, tampoco es compatible con las rutinas de ejercicio de Connect.

I've had this watch for just over a week now and abdolutely love it. It is the size of just a regular watch and could definitely pass for a regular watch, so I'm not worried about wearing it with a nicer outfit. The screen is good even in sunlight. Battery lasts quite some time, though I did turn off all the phone notifications such as texts and emails. The menu is fairly user friendly; I've had to google one or two things only. It's lightweight, waterproof. Meets my needs.