I wore the Garmin Lily 2 day and night for over a month – here’s what I learned

Best Prices Today: Garmin Lily 2

Back in 2021, Garmin surprised everyone with the Lily, a smartwatch designed specifically for women. It stood out for offering a more stylish and compact build compared to the usual unisex options, many of which have a tendency to simply offer a smaller screen on a chunky and unforgiving body.

Nearly three years on from that female-focused activity tracker, Garmin has introduced the Lily 2 from £249/$249. It retains the elegance and core features of its predecessor, but the upgrades are somewhat modest.

Does a slightly refined design, a couple of extra workout options and the addition of a Sleep Score make it a good buy? That depends on what you’re after and while this activity tracker isn’t for everyone, there are some who will benefit from its offering.

if you prioritise comfort, style, and reliable fitness tracking in a compact package, the Garmin Lily 2 is a great option to consider

Design & Build

• Anodised aluminium
• 5ATM waterproof rating
• Monochrome LCD display

Coming from years of wearing Apple Watches, both the 45mm and 41mm variants, the Garmin Lily 2 initially felt like a huge departure in size, and not in a good way. But despite not having particularly dainty wrists, several weeks of testing saw its small and elegant design grow on me.

Even while tracking my (often elusive) 8 hours of sleep, the Lily 2 went pretty much unnoticed

The Lily 2 is incredibly lightweight and discreet, a welcome change from bulkier smartwatches and trackers and particularly, the rest of Garmin’s portfolio. The anodised aluminium casing feels premium and well-built, and while the underside is plastic with a slightly raised heart rate sensor, it contours nicely into the wrist for a very comfortable wear.

Even while tracking my (often elusive) 8 hours of sleep, the Lily 2 went pretty much unnoticed. And you can wear it just about anywhere with its 5ATM waterproof rating which means it can go as deep as 50 meters.

The colour of the Mulberry Leather Band on my review unit isn’t my favourite and it hasn’t grown on me over time, but it’s a pretty quick fix with a simple swap of the now standard 14mm strap – the original Lily used proprietary straps making it more restrictive to change its look. 

What is less of a simple fix is the patterned Gorilla Glass 3 lens that the watch face sits beneath. The lens is an interesting touch, offering a more visual appeal than plain glass but I’m not sure it’s entirely necessary, especially since it’s not customisable like the watch faces. A plain lens option alongside the patterned ones in the six-strong line-up would have been nice to appeal to those of us who like things a little more simple.

The LCD display itself offers a 16-level grayscale and a 240 x 201 pixel resolution. The lack of colour can be forgiven given the Lily 2’s focus on minimalism, but it does feel a bit flat. It doesn’t give you the same vibrant and punchy experience you would get from the AMOLED screens on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 or the Apple Watch Series 9, for example, but for some, this will be one of the main appealing features of the Lily 2. 

The patterned lens contributes to the flatness, keeping the screen slightly recessed and away from the surface and that results in a brightness issue too, with the Lily 2’s screen sometimes struggling to cut through the pattern. The responsiveness of the touchscreen also leaves something to be desired – it works well enough but lacks the smooth, fluid feel of other smartwatches.

Fitness & Tracking 

• Connected GPS
• 18 activities
• Body Battery, stress tracking and Sleep Score 

The Garmin Lily 2 prioritises wellbeing over hardcore training and if that’s what you’re looking for, it does a good job of delivering.

Where the Lily 2 shines brightest is its execution of Garmin’s Body Battery feature

The heart rate sensor provides accurate metrics, on par and sometimes bettering the Apple Watch Series 9 by a fraction of a second. That accuracy applies during HIIT workouts too, where some fitness trackers struggle to keep pace with the peaks and troughs of rapidly changing heart rates, the Lily 2 keeps up without an issue. 

Automatic exercise detection worked well for walks, including leisurely strolls, and there are plenty of features on board beyond basic step counting with fitness age, blood oxygen saturation and respiration monitoring offering decent insights into your overall wellness.

Adapting hydration goals based on the workouts you’ve done is a particular highlight as this is something that is genuinely useful rather than a feature for feature’s sake.

Where the Lily 2 shines brightest is its execution of Garmin’s Body Battery feature. As its name suggests, this metric reflects your body’s energy levels, or its prediction of them based on your stress levels, exertion and how well you’ve slept. It encourages rest when your levels dip and celebrates healthy sleep habits with a recharge.

It’s a valuable tool for understanding your body’s needs, and while Fitbit offers a similar Daily Readiness Score, Garmin’s version is brilliant now having improved over the years. It picked up on several occasions when I needed to rest – some due to late nights and others due to a couple of unexpected colds – and on each of those occasions the data in the Garmin Connect app knew before I did.

Stress tracking is also great on the Lily 2, with it highlighting days you may not even have considered stressful. The data is presented in an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand format in the app, and while it could improve by identifying patterns and triggers and joining the dots for you, the data is there for you to do that yourself.

It isn’t all rosy though. The absence of built-in GPS necessitates carrying your phone for distance and map data when walking, running or cycling and the lack of a dedicated indoor cycling option is a curious omission, especially considering the popularity of spin classes. Activities like dance and stair climbing are included, but those of us who like an indoor cycle – and the Peloton users out there – are left with the generic “cardio” option.

Women’s health tracking could be better too, especially given this is a female-focused device. The Lily 2 caters to women’s health with period tracking, but it is basic compared to competitors. Missing a temperature sensor, the period predictions rely solely on user input during setup and while you can log symptoms and period details, it lacks sophistication. You could easily use an app on your phone instead.

Sleep tracking also has room for improvement, despite the introduction of Sleep Score over the original Lily. The score is based on sleep duration and various metrics, providing a general picture of sleep quality and it’s a nice feature to have.

In my testing, however, sleep duration often seemed inaccurate when compared to the Apple Watch Series 9 worn simultaneously, missing off at least 30 minutes in some instances and resulting in a lower score. That then impacts other metrics like Body Battery so it’s frustrating. The Lily 2’s sleep graphs are also less user-friendly compared to competitors like Fitbit and Apple Watch.

Overall, the Lily 2 gathers a wealth of data and while improvements can be made and it lacks the advanced features of Garmin’s Forerunner series or the Vivoactive line, such as recovery time estimates, it offers a compelling package for those who enjoy staying active without needing in-depth metrics.

Software & Features 

• Smartphone notifications
• Find my Phone
• Garmin Pay (Lily 2 Classic only)

There are two variants of the Lily 2 – the standard model and the Lily 2 Classic. The latter not only offers posher straps as standard, including leather, but perhaps more importantly, boasts Garmin Pay. Don’t get too excited though. Currently, support in the UK is scarce – major banks like Barclays, Natwest, Lloyds, and HSBC are missing so check your bank before you choose the Lily 2 Classic solely to pay on your wrist.

Thankfully, other features are less restrictive. The Lily 2 offers weather forecasts, a Morning Report (a feature found on higher-end Garmin devices), and a “Find my Phone” function. The Morning Report provides a convenient, digestible summary of weather and sleep data, while the Find my Phone function is great if your phone has a habit of disappearing between sofa cushions, though it is loud when it goes off unexpectedly. 

When paired with Android devices the Lily 2 can respond to texts and reject calls with pre-written messages

The Lily 2 also displays smartphone notifications, but they mirror your phone settings. You can’t customise which apps trigger notifications on the watch itself like you can with Fitbit or Apple Watch – you have to disable them on your phone entirely. The Do Not Disturb mode silences them, but you are limited to controlling notifications specific to Garmin, such as new connections, which means the Lily 2 buzzes more than I’d like.

When paired with Android devices the Lily 2 can respond to texts and reject calls with pre-written messages, but these features are unavailable on iPhone. It makes notifications somewhat pointless – and even annoying on iPhone – you see an alert on your wrist, know your phone is ringing, but still need your phone to take any action.

Battery Life & Charging 

• Up to 5 days
• Rechargeable, built-in lithium-ion battery
• 30% charge in 30 minutes

the Lily 2 consistently hit the 5-day mark, occasionally going slightly over

The Garmin Lily 2 holds up well to its five-day battery life claim. It’s not the best on the market, with some of Garmin’s own devices more than doubling that offering, but it’s far from the worst, especially when it comes to smartwatches. 

I wore the Lily 2 day and night for over a month, tracking daily activities and sleep, with constant notifications from my phone and even music controls in use. I also activated Pulse OX during sleep, which even Garmin highlights as being a battery drain.

Despite this, the Lily 2 consistently hit the 5-day mark, occasionally going slightly over, and other weeks perhaps half a day under.

As with many smartwatches and trackers, it relies on a proprietary cable with charging pins on the back of the Lily 2’s casing. This means remembering the specific cable if you travel, especially for trips longer than those five days. This isn’t a specific Lily 2 flaw – it’s industry-wide – but it’s something to consider.

Charging time is also something that needs to be considered. It’s not just a case of not losing that cable, but there’s no quick charging on board here either. Unlike the Apple Watch Series 9’s speedy charging that will give you around 70% in 30 minutes, the Lily 2 manages just 30%. It means you need to factor in charging time if you plan on 24/7 wear – which, to fully utilise the features, I highly recommend. 

It’s a trade-off: daily charging for devices like the Apple Watch or planning ahead for the Lily 2’s multi-day battery life. I typically charge the Apple Watch before bed during some evening TV time, but the Lily 2 requires an extra 30 minutes for a full charge, which requires a little more thought. Then again, that extra 30 minutes buys you nearly a week of use, making it more of a planning point than a major drawback.

You do need to remember to put it back on when charging is finished however, which I occasionally forgot to do and that then messes up your Body Battery and stress tracking stats so it really would benefit from faster charging so you don’t have time to forget about it.

Price & Availability

The Garmin Lily 2 starts at £249.99/$249.99. For the Garmin Lily 2 Classic, you’re looking at a starting price of £269.99/$269.99, which tops out at £299.99/$299.99 (and the model in this review).

Both the Lily 2 and Lily 2 Classic are available to buy directly through Garmin, as well as Amazon. As mentioned in this review, the biggest difference between the standard Lily 2 and the Lily 2 Classic is the Classic model offers support for Garmin Pay alongside a more premium strap selection.

The Lily 2 doesn’t have a direct competitor in terms of design but it depends on what your priorities are as to which other devices in the market might make for better options. Some Garmin devices like the Garmin Vivoactive 5 and Forerunner 165 offer more features for the same price, along with richer AMOLED displays, but they have bulkier builds so you sacrifice the Lily 2’s sleek and comfortable design. 

Meanwhile, the Lily 2 is more affordable than the likes of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Garmin Venu range by a considerable margin, but not as fully fledged as either, especially when it comes to the smartphone feature side of things. 

Lastly, the Lily 2 is more expensive than Fitbit’s top-end Sense 2 and trackers like the Charge 6, both of which have some great features on board, like built-in GPS and good sleep tracking, but neither look as good as the Lily 2 on the wrist.

The Garmin Lily 2 is a good option for those who are looking for a comfortable, stylish and elegant fitness tracker with a decent set of reliable core features, delivering on all of those elements in abundance.

Check out our pick of the best smartwatches to see more options.

Should you buy the Garmin Lily 2?

It looks great on – especially with smarter clothing, activity tracking is accurate and the Body Battery and stress tracking features are a delight to use, giving a good insight into overall wellness.

Sleep tracking could be better, as could women’s health tracking, and it doesn’t cater to hardcore athletes with a lack of built-in GPS and some other features like recovery time, both of which are offered by the similar-priced Vivoactive range. 

The Garmin Lily 2 excels for casual exercisers seeking a discreet and comfortable companion for their everyday wellness journey, however. For those with larger wrists or a strong focus on training metrics, the Vivoactive will be a better fit, but if you prioritise comfort, style, and reliable fitness tracking in a compact package, the Garmin Lily 2 is a great option to consider.

Specs 

• 1-inch, 240 x 201pixels, 16-level greyscale Liquid Crystal touchscreen display, 
• Bluetooth
• Wi-Fi
• NFC (Garmin Lily 2 Classic only)
• Support for 18 activities
• Sleep tracking
• LiveTrack
• Music Controls
• Up to 5-day battery life
• Connected GPS
• 5ATM
• 35.4 x 35.4 x 10.1mm
• Fits wrists with a circumference of 110-175 mm
• 20.6g (Fabric), 21.4g (Leather)
• Colours: Metallic Lilac with Lilac Silicone Band, Cream Gold with Coconut Silicone Band, Cream Gold with Coffee Fabric Band, Silver with Sage Grey Fabric Band, Cream Gold with Tan Leather Band, Dark Bronze with Mulberry Leather Band
• Compatible with Android and iOS

Best Prices Today: Garmin Lily 2