Garmin Lily 2 – Revamped fitness watch for women

Garmin has just unveiled the Lily 2 – a revamped version of its fitness watch primarily designed for women due to its design and size. In addition to a few visual adjustments and updated technology, the Lily 2 is equipped with new functions.

Garmin Lily 2 | Source: Garmin

Almost 3 years ago, Garmin introduced the first-generation Lily. With only 34 mm, it is the smallest smartwatch in Garmin’s portfolio. The successor Lily 2 doesn’t change that much, as Garmin equips the current model mainly with updated technology and a couple of new features.

Garmin Lily 2 – Specs

As you can see, not much has changed. With a case diameter of 35.4 mm, the Lily 2 has become slightly larger, though it maintains the weight and display size compared to its predecessor.

The 1″ display is still among the smallest in Garmin’s lineup. The resolution of 240 x 201 pixels results in a pixel density of 240 PPI. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass 3.

Anyone hoping that Garmin would replace the monochrome 16-level greyscale display with a colour OLED display will be disappointed. The Lily 2 will continue to use a greyscale display hidden behind the patterned watch face.

New and noteworthy

The development of the Lily 2 is somewhat reminiscent of the vivomove Trend, which was released last year. Here too, Garmin has equipped the watch with the latest technology, while at the same time keeping the number of new features to a moderate level.

• Aluminum Case

  Lily 2 gets an upgrade in the material used for the case and bezel. Both parts will be made of aluminum. The first-generation Lily offered aluminum only with the Sport Edition. The Classic Edition featured a stainless steel bezel.

  	Lily 2	Lily	vívomove Trend
  Material (bezel)	Aluminum	Stainless Steel	Stainless Steel
  Material (case)	Aluminum	Fiber-reinforced polymer	Fiber-reinforced polymer
  Material (back)	Fiber-reinforced polymer	Fiber-reinforced polymer	Fiber-reinforced polymer

• Garmin Elevate Gen 4 Sensor

  Garmin also equips the Lily 2 with a more recent version of the PPG sensor. Though it’s not the ECG-capable sensor of the 5th generation, the Lily 2 features the previous Gen 4 Elevate sensor.

  The new sensor primarily benefits the battery life, which Garmin continues to claim is up to 5 days. Unlike the first-generation Lily, Garmin no longer mentions the limitation of this battery life when measuring SpO2 at night.

• Contactless Payment with Garmin Pay

  Users of Lily 2 no longer need to forgo contactless payments at the gas station or supermarket. Thanks to the built-in NFC chip, Garmin Pay can be used with Lily 2.

• Training Mode

  Lily 2 also receives a moderate update in the available sports or training modes. Users will now have access to HIIT training sessions. The Lily 2 also offers a “Dance Fitness” sports mode.

• New Patterns on the Watch Face

  A unique feature of the Lily series is the display that is completely hidden behind the patterned watch face when not active. In addition to new colors, Lily 2 also offers newly patterned watch faces, including small diamonds, dots, waves, and large floral patterns.

Otherwise, Lily 2 strongly resembles its predecessor. I haven’t identified a compelling reason to switch from the predecessor to the current model.

Unfortunately, Lily 2 still seems to lack an integrated GPS chip. For those who still want to record the route and pace along with heart rate and step data, Connected GPS allows accessing GPS data from a paired smartphone.

The inability to create an ECG is acceptable. I would have preferred a bit of onboard storage for storing and playing music.

Assessment

If one were to consider the vivomove series and the Lily series as one big family, the Lily 2’s update to the second generation comes a bit late. Most of the improvements that Lily 2 experiences were already observed last year with vivomove Trend.

The one-year gap between the release of the vivomove Trend and the Lily 2 results in the Lily 2 already having the more up-to-date “Elevate Gen 4” sensor.

The bottom line is that with the Lily 2, Garmin continues to offer a balanced and style-oriented product that should appeal to many women, dispenses with extensive sports functions, but offers insights into fitness, health and well-being.

Availability and Prices

The Garmin Lily 2 is available in two editions: The standard edition features a silicone band, while the models of the classic edition come with leather or textile nylon bands.

The watches with a silicone strap have a retail price of €279.99. The Classic models with a textile/nylon strap are slightly more expensive and cost €299.99. The Classic models with a leather strap will be available for €349.99.