Among the various new products announced at CES 2024 in Las Vegas this year, Garmin unveiled the Lily 2 series of smartwatches. Rather than being made exclusively for a specific sport or task, as some of the brand’s models are, the new Garmin Lily 2 is designed for everyday life and various health/activity tracking. Featuring a compact metal case with a sleek and elegant overall aesthetic, the real detail that distinguishes the new Lily 2 model from other smartwatches in the field is the lens that covers the display. Instead of a standard screen, the Garmin Lily 2 series features a patterned crystal with an illuminated LCD display that glows from below.
The Garmin Lily 2 series is essentially an update of the original Lily model. The original Lily was the first to introduce the patterned crystal concept and was the most sophisticated and elegant model in the brand’s catalog. From a design perspective, the Lily 2 is a bit sportier than the original Lily, and instead of having integrated lugs (similar to the Cartier Pasha), the new Lily 2 models feature traditional lugs. However, their shape is rather dressy and ornate, with a profile more like that found on vintage dress watches. The main benefit of this update to the lugs is that straps can be easily replaced, allowing owners to modify their Lily 2 to fit their lifestyle.
The new Garmin Lily 2 lineup is offered in two models – the Lily 2 and the Lily 2 Classic – with the main difference between the two versions being the straps and color options. With that in mind, aside from these physical differences, the more premium Lily 2 Classic models also include Garmin Pay, allowing users to make contactless payments directly from the device. While the standard Garmin Lily 2 watches come with a two-piece silicone strap, the Lily 2 Classic is designed to be the more premium option between the two, with these models coming with two-piece straps made from either nylon or Italian leather.
Color options for the standard Garmin Lily 2 watch include a cream gold case with a coconut-colored silicone strap, and a metallic lilac case with a matching lilac strap. Meanwhile, the Garmin Lily 2 Classic is available in four different configurations: one model combines a silver case with a sage gray nylon strap, and another with a bark bronze case with a mulberry-colored leather strap. Additionally, two other colorways of the Lily 2 Classic both have a cream gold case, but one comes with a coffee-colored nylon strap and one with a tan-colored leather strap.
The new Garmin Lily 2 smartwatch case is made from anodized aluminum and is 35.4mm in diameter with a thickness of 10.1mm. The lugs are fairly small compared to the size of the case itself, and its compact size, combined with a notched profile, creates a sleek overall look. Like most other Garmin smartwatches, the Lily 2 series caseback houses multifunction sensors and charger contacts, and is water resistant to 50 meters, making it sufficient for wearing in the ocean or pool. This is backed up by the fact that the Garmin Lily 2 also includes a dedicated activity tracking mode for swimming.
All Garmin Lily 2 models are fitted with a crystal made from Corning Gorilla Glass 3, but each version has a different metallic pattern on its surface, giving it a distinctly different look from the black or gray screens of traditional smartwatches. The LCD display shines through the surface of the crystal, with the metallic pattern acting as a backdrop, similar to how a traditional watch face acts as a background for the hands. The only drawback to this approach is that it doesn’t allow for a color display like you’ll find on many other modern Garmin smartwatches. However, it does create a more polished, uniform look, making the Lily 2 feel a bit different from the myriad other screens and devices you encounter in your daily life.
In terms of features, the new Garmin Lily 2 series offers the usual health, sleep, and fitness tracking features, as well as the smartphone connectivity and GPS tracking that come standard on all of the brand’s current smartwatches. The Lily 2 has a decent battery life of five days, and like other entry-level models from the brand, such as the Garmin Vivoactive 5 that we previously reviewed, the new Garmin Lily 2 smartwatch can’t perform some of the more advanced functions like making calls or replying to texts directly from the device itself, although it can display text messages and notifications.
Now that the Garmin Lily is in its second generation, it will be interesting to see if the brand takes this patterned crystal approach to other models. While the practical benefits of smartwatches are undeniable, one of the main reasons some people shy away from them is that they feel a bit too tech-oriented for everyday wear. The patterned crystals help differentiate them from the “black mirror” look of phone and laptop screens. Also, integrating patterned crystals into the case design and pairing them with a custom display screen could create a completely different feel to traditional smartwatches and connected devices.
Pricing for the new Garmin Lily 2 series starts at $249 for the standard Lily 2 model with a silicone strap, $279 for the Lily 2 Classic model with a nylon strap, and $299 for the Lily 2 Classic model with an Italian leather strap. This is a slight increase compared to the original Lily model with a plastic case, but the new Garmin Lily 2 series is at a more affordable end of the brand’s catalog, especially considering that some models from the brand’s top-of-the-line MARQ series cost several thousand dollars. The original Garmin Lily featured elegant integrated lugs, while the new Lily 2 is less striking in appearance, but it does benefit from a practical interchangeable strap system, bringing the series closer to the rest of the brand’s catalog. For more information on the Garmin Lily 2 smartwatch collection, visit the brand’s website.
