Are you an outdoor enthusiast seeking a reliable companion for your adventures? Look no further than the Garmin Instinct!
This rugged GPS watch is designed to withstand the most challenging conditions while providing essential tracking and navigation features.
Whether hiking in the mountains, exploring remote trails, or conquering challenging terrains, the Garmin Instinct is built to keep up with your adventurous spirit.
Join us as we dive into a comprehensive review of this remarkable outdoor smartwatch and discover why it’s the ultimate companion for all your outdoor pursuits.
Garmin Instinct, Rugged Outdoor Watch with GPS, Features Glonass and Galileo, Heart Rate Monitoring and 3-Axis Compass, Graphite
User reviews
Excellent field watch, disappointed in Garmin Concur App. I purchased this watch for use in geologic field work, and it has been an excellent choice. It is light weight, has excellent battery life of over 2 weeks when paired to the phone, but not using the GPS, and even longer when you turn off phone pairing. I have not used it extensively in GPS mode for tracking courses, but I have a dedicated GPS for that. I use the GPS on the watch for the occasional location.The biggest selling point for me was the battery life, heart rate monitor, and smart watch phone pairing.My recent use case was ~3 weeks in remote Greenland at 76 North. The GPS coverage that far north was spotty on this watch, but that is not a major fault in my opinion. The watch was excellent for use in the field with the timer, alarms, and stop watch. I found I utilized the barometer a lot when planning weather related activities. The altimeter is based on the barometric pressure and was reasonably precise with elevation change, but needs to be calibrated to be accurate. I was not able to test if the altimeter could be calibrated on the GPS fix though, and I don't believe that it is. The temperature sensor is too close to skin and was effected by layers, so I did not rely on the temperature. The compass worked pretty well.The heart rate monitor worked well for me, but I don't have anything to compare it to for accuracy. I found it worked well with both tight and loose wrist band settings.The user interface was fairly straight forward to learn.I have found since getting this watch that I have been more active to see how to get better numbers. The Garmin Connect app is interesting and helpful, but my biggest announce is the app requires an internet connection in order to sync data from the watch to the app. While in remote areas without internet, I was unable to look at the trends in data I was hoping for. That is a problem with the app and not the watch, however, and I have confirmed that with Garmin.I elected to get the older version of the watch rather than the newer Instinct 2 because of the cost difference. I have been happy with it so far, and for my purposes the Instinct has fit my needs well.
Does Everything A Normal Person Needs. Bought this watch on a bit of a whim. Have been a big Casio G-Shock fan (like the styling) and still love them. Prior to this watch, I'd been primarily using a Casio Rangeman (not the expensive Navigation one) and Apple Watch.Things I find useful in a watch:1) Heart Rate Monitor (I'm not a serious athlete, but hey why not).2) Solid ABC (alti, baro, compass) watch. I hike in the Colorado mountains every now and then. Finding my way home can sometimes be handy.3) Can control music4) Shows my texts/notifications5) Battery Life.Again, love all my G-Shock watches. Really loved the Rangeman watch, but also liked the tech that the Apple Watch had to offer. Unfortunately, the Apple Watch lasts about a day between recharges and this ruined it for me. Sometimes I go to sleep with the watch on and have a dead watch. The regular Rangeman is great as far as battery life goes (solar), but no smart feature to speak of.Enter the Casio Rangeman Navigation watch....looks.....okay. Price....$800? WOW!!! Must do everything!!! Well it looks a bit gaudy, uses a smartphone app, and for Pete's sake....$800.While reading reviews for that watch, someone mentioned this watch. Looks good, good reviews, doesn't cost 1/2 a paycheck. Decided to order.Well, I love it. Have only had a month or so but can easily get a week's long battery life. I don't doubt the claim of 10+ days battery life, but have charged it weekly. Everything on my checklist is met:1) Heart Rate Monitor. It has one, seems to work. I'm not a superman athlete, just a regular dude.2) ABC features. Again, seems to work. The Altimeter (based on barometric pressure readings) is fairly accurate, but if you feel it's off can be set via GPS. This was a feature of that was of course missing in my regular Rangeman.3) Controls music. I mostly use this feature on vacation at the beach or at parties. Can control my phone (which is paired via Bluetooth to a speaker) via the watch. Don't have to bring my phone in the ocean and can skip songs around the campfire without messing with my phone.4) Texts come in fine. No issues. Can dismiss them via the watch, no more pulling the phone out of the pocket all the time.5) Battery life again, is great. The Apple Watch is fantastic and I love it, but it's a huge deal to have to charge the Apple Watch daily vs. this every 7-10 days.Lastly, the controls are well thought out and logical. If you can use a Casio watch, this will make sense. Just the right amount of features that this watch is not overly complex, but not too stupid either.Yeah, it's not super colorful and probably won't wow your friends, but it just works. I'm no Garmin fanboy (owned the Fenix 1, 2, and 3) which I thought were all mostly just meh, but am super impressed with this product. If your priorities in a watch are similar to mine, I think you'll be really happy with this. When the Apple Watch starts lasting a week+ between charges, I can see myself switching back to that, but until then.....
El mejor reloj para deporte , su precio es accesible supongo por la pantalla monocromática, pero buenas funciones
A quantidade de funcionalidades é bem grande, com sensores precisos. Pulseira confortável, construção geral bastante robusta mas ainda assim muito leve. Bateria dura mais de 30 dias no modo smartwatch. Aplicativo fácil de usar e intuitivo. Muito feliz com a compra, recomendo.
I've always used G-Shock watches in the past so it's no surprise I like the style of this one. The Garmin Instinct is like a smart g-shock. If that appeals to you, then this is your watch.Due to the more traditional "digital watch" style of screen you get outstanding battery life -- up to 2 weeks without using GPS. Using GPS drains more battery so your total life will really depend how much you use that function. Speaking of the GPS, it works great. You can either use it with tracking an activity (like walking, hiking, running, biking, rowing, swimming, etc.) or simply tell it to track you. Once you're done you will get a basic map on the screen showing where you went, and if you load up the Garmin Connect app for your phone you get the detailed map and history of where you went including your speed and steps.One of the coolest GPS features is the track back, which takes you back to your starting point. It has you retrace your steps exactly rather than just pointing you in the general direction. Pretty handy if you're in the wilderness.The heart rate monitor is accurate and always keeps track of your maximum and resting heart rates, and gives you a long term history of it in the app. It's always recording this in the background, and you can also have it constantly shown on the main screen.The compass is handy and also accurate (much more than the compass in my old g-shock). The barometric pressure sensor also seems consistent. It can even warn you of potential storms due to sudden pressure changes. The temperature sensor is less useful because it is affected by your body temperature.One feature I really liked was the easy access to sunrise/sunset times and the current moon phase and rise/set times. You can even have the watch warn you if sunset is approaching.It keeps track of your steps and floors climbed at all times and dynamically updates your daily goal based on your activity.In terms of smart features, they are very basic but they get the job done with no extra fluff. Once paired with your phone, you can show notifications on the watch (it can also vibrate). You can ignore notifications from certain apps if you want, or turn them off entirely. The Garmin Connect app is easy to use and your watch stays synced without you having to open the app. I've had no bluetooth issues. You can also have the current weather and forecast on the watch.Another smart feature I appreciated was how Garmin Connect can interface with MyFitnessPal which is the app I use to track calories and my weight. It can automatically add your steps and calories burned to the MyFitnessPal app, and other things like your current weight will be transferred back to the Garmin app. My only complaint there is it seems Garmin is a bit too generous with the extra calories (even if your activity level in the MyFitnessPal app is set to sedentary).There was 6 different watch faces, with dark and light versions for each. I preferred the default one. You can completely customize the watch face and choose what you want to display on it. Date, heart rate, steps, sunrise/sunset, battery level, barometric pressure, etc. I am impressed how much useful data you can get displayed on one screen at a glance. The backlight has adjustable brightness and you can also set it to automatically turn on when you raise your wrist.The band is comfortable and fits any size wrist, even very large ones. Overall I am thrilled with this watch and wish I got one years ago when they first launched. This is the smart/fitness watch for someone who doesn't want a smart watch.
Questo non è un orologio ma uno strumento. Comodo, leggero, robustissimo. Usato in uscite complicate, fa egregiamente quello che deve. Due parole riguardo le tarature alti e baro: Vanno fatte bene, secondo le indicazioni della casa produttrice. Se pensate di accenderlo e avere misurazioni straprecise iniziate male. Non è semplice tararlo, come per tutti questi strumenti, ma va fatto e una volta fatto è molto preciso.
I used to have apple watches series 1 and 4. I am using this Garmin for one month now and I am very amazed by the quality products.It has all the cool stuff I used to like with Apple Watch and which are really useful:- watsapp messages, all notifications mirrored from an iPhone- call and ID notification, though you cannot speak through the watch (which honestly I hardly never used)- music control from the watch (any app, Spotify, Deezer, music app) so you can change a song and control the volume in a shower or from your sofaIn addition it is better:- battery life, this is really great not to charge it for 8 to 10 days in my experience and usage, especially if you travel for 2 / 3 days, no need to bother for a charger,- stronger, no worries if any shock while doing outside activities,- time is always on display (no need to lift the harm),- water and shockproof, can go deep and in the sea,- strong / rugged design- internal sensors (temperature, altimeter).Of course it has no coloured / touch screen, so you have to do everything with the buttons but honestly it is less fragile / sensitive and i prefer it like this. It sometimes loses Bluetooth connection, but I restart it and it is fine. It restart very fast anyways (20s).
Key Takeaways
The Garmin Instinct stands out from the vast majority of fitness trackers with its unique circle window, providing a clear, readable screen that adjusts perfectly to different light conditions. This smartwatch covers all the bases, from monitoring your stress levels and blood oxygen levels with the pulse ox sensor and Body Battery feature to providing weather updates through the Weather widget.
Enjoy endless days in smartwatch mode thanks to the device’s impressive battery life. Never fret about losing power during your outdoor activities, as the battery level is always displayed in the circular window. This robust smartwatch comes in a tactical edition, complete with third-party apps available through Garmin Connect IQ.
Garmin goes above and beyond with Garmin Instinct’s outdoor features. Track your current elevation and barometric pressure in real-time, and navigate unfamiliar terrain with breadcrumb navigation. The device also syncs seamlessly with Garmin Explore and Garmin Connect Mobile, providing an integrated experience across devices.
Basic features such as receiving phone calls and Bluetooth connection are also covered, not to mention advanced capabilities like golf mode with cadence sensors and barometric trend tracking. For music lovers, the Garmin Instinct matches up to devices like Vivoactive 3 Music with its music storage feature.
The Fenix 5 Plus series, including Fenix 5, Fenix 5 Plus, and Fenix 5x, may have set a high bar in the realm of smartwatches. Still, Garmin Instinct rises to the challenge with its unique features and durability. Whether you’re a sweepstakes entry enthusiast looking for promo considerations or a mountain hut dweller needing a reliable gadget, this review will show you why Garmin Instinct is worth considering.
Garmin Instinct Overview
For outdoor adventurers who want to unleash their spirit of exploration, having the right gear can make all the difference between an epic journey and an exercise in frustration. In sports watches, the Garmin Instinct aims to strike the ideal balance between hardcore data tracking and bombproof durability so users can focus on the thrill of adventure instead of babying finicky electronics.
This rugged GPS smartwatch was designed from the ground up with activities like hiking, climbing, trail running, and watersports in mind. The Instinct combines essential sensors like GPS, heart rate monitor, compass, and altimeter with smartwatch features into a tribal and tactical design built to military standards. No matter how far off the beaten path your exploits take you, the Instinct promises to keep up while standing up to the elements.
In this in-depth review, we’ll closely examine how the Instinct performs in real-world conditions to see if it lives up to the promise for outdoor enthusiasts. Key factors we examine include:
- Build quality and durability – Does the rugged polymer case and special lens treatment really hold up to abuse?
- Activity tracking – How accurate is the GPS, altimeter, etc., and how in-depth are the metrics?
- Battery life – Does ultra power-saving mode really extend it for weeks?
- Smart features – Are notifications and smartwatch capabilities useful or just gimmicks?
After putting the Instinct through its paces for hiking, climbing, running, swimming, and everyday use, we weigh in on who this watch is best suited for and where it offers the greatest value. Read on to see if the Garmin Instinct could be the ultimate wingman for your next adventure.
Key Features
Now that we’ve covered the overall concept and mission of the Garmin Instinct smartwatch let’s dive into the core features that set this rugged GPS tracker apart. The Instinct squeezes an impressive array of sensors and technology into its tactical chassis built to stand up to hardcore adventures.
Rugged Design and Durability
The “tactical” look of the Instinct gives it a bit of a military vibe. Still, more importantly, it’s ruggedized to meet U.S. military standard 810G for resistance to thermal, shock, and water hazards. The polymer case reinforced with fiber resin bumpers can take more abuse, while the chemically strengthened glass lens shrugs off scratches. Buttons are textured for easier operation while wearing gloves.
In real-world testing, the Instinct lives up to its durability billing. The watch emerged unscathed from rock scrambling, cliff jumping into water, and all-day hikes. For adrenaline junkies, it provides confidence in tracking data, even on hardcore pursuits.
Built-in Sensors and Navigation
Packed into the rugged shell, the Instinct offers an array of sensors tailored for outdoor adventures:
- GPS/GLONASS/Galileo – Utilizes multiple global navigation satellite systems for tracking in more challenging environments than GPS alone.
- 3-axis compass – Aids navigation when out of mobile range.
- Barometric altimeter – Essential for hiking and climbing for tracking elevation gain and descent.
- Optical heart rate sensor – Monitors intensity level during activities and all-day stress.
- Accelerometer – Tracks cadence, distance, and intensity for running and biking.
Combined with navigation features like TracBack routing and waypoint marking, these sensors equip the Instinct as a formidable adventure partner.
Activity Profiles and Tracking
The Instinct comes preloaded with activity profiles for all-day use, running, biking, swimming, skiing, and more. The sensors and GPS provide detailed metrics for each sport, like distance, pace/speed, heart rate zones, elevation, and more.
With robust tracking capabilities packed into a durable shell, the Instinct has the potential to be the ultimate go-anywhere, do-anything Garmin watch. But how well does it deliver when you’re far from civilization? Let’s find out in our performance testing.
Garmin Instinct Specifications
- 45mm watch with interchangeable 22mm straps
- 128 x 128-pixel monochrome display
- Up to 16 hours of GPS battery life
- GPS / GLONASS / Galileo
- Works with iOS and Android
- 24/7 activity tracking
- Heart rate monitoring
- Multisport (running, cycling, swimming, hiking, skiing, and much more)
- Let’s start with the basics. The Instinct comes in three colors: Flame Red, Tundra, and Graphite.
Garmin Instinct: interface
Although the Instinct is very easy to use, its five-button control system takes some getting used to.
Like activity selection or forward / backward / up-down, some are relatively simple to ‘memorize’ after half an hour of use. But delving into the options can be a bit more complicated.
The Instinct has a wide range of display options that provide heart rate information in the last four hours, top-of-the-line activity statistics, phone notifications, events, weather, and a compass.
Access to each of these is via simple up and down buttons, and for the most part, most are what you would expect from a Garmin.
The real superiority of the Instinct comes from the customization options. First, you can customize the top-level displays (12 standard clock displays from the beginning).
Each visible information acts as a small modifiable block. Once selected (using the top right customization button), you can scroll through other options to replace it, depending on your needs.
You can customize heart rate, cadence, temperature, elevation, goal, intervals, and stress data.
Garmin Instinct – Outdoor Tracking
As we have said before, with Instinct, you can measure a wide range of sports. Running, biking, and swimming is basic modes, but it will also cater to outdoor activities like hiking, climbing, and even skiing.
For many sports watch companies, incorporating activities like hiking into a standard list of activities has been a problem with most sports watches.
Hikers or trail hikers want very different information mainly because the things that concern us are issues like getting lost in the middle of the night or falling off a cliff because of the fog.
Overall, the Instinct is a sleek compass that accurately tells you your direction and tracks your route.
Unlike the Phoenix, the monochrome display doesn’t allow for a map. Instead, the route you follow is drawn via GPS markers in a very simple line drawing.
Map
At first glance, and without messing with the zoom settings, the “map” appears utterly useless as it is labeled. The first time I tried to get information, I thought I broke it. However, it is not a map but a device to track your location.
It does not offer the ability to see landmarks, but you can use topography and direction data to get plenty of exercise. It would be best if you spent a little time on it.
This may lack the apparent benefits of a more sophisticated map, but it makes finding routes much easier. The information it gives you goes a long way in solving most problems you will likely encounter.
Compass
In addition to a magnetic compass, something not always present in smartwatches, the Instinct includes elevation profiles, the ability to have specific coordinates, storm alerts, Galileo support (to use multiple satellites for optimized accuracy), Site and Go (which essentially allows you to set a direction to follow) and routes (the ability to download a route to follow using a breadcrumb trail).
After getting used to the route tracking features, I suddenly realized how useful it would have been on the previous hikes, where I ended up walking in circles for a long time.
Garmin Instinct: Sports tracking
The Instinct is aimed at hikers and outdoor activity (especially climbers or trail runners). However, if you want a watch for a specific sport, that doesn’t mean the Instinct isn’t a multi-sport watch. It just means that for the price, you’d probably be disappointed if you were using it primarily for city running.
Hikers do other things, though, and luckily I got to try the Instinct for a half marathon. Like a general racing Garmin watch, it did the job.
Like almost all Garmin watches, the Instinct offers 24/7 activity tracking.
So we’re talking about counting steps, monitoring sleep, and displaying that bar to quickly indicate your activity level throughout the day.
There are also stress tracking and adaptive step goals to motivate you a little more each day. Garmin’s fitness tracking capabilities align with Fitbit’s regarding striking the right balance between features and insights.
I didn’t have many complaints from an accuracy standpoint, though sleep tracking tended to attribute more sleep time than the Garmin Forerunner 935.
Smartwatch Features
The Garmin Instinct is an adventure-ready smartwatch that provides outdoor enthusiasts with a wealth of information at a glance. This includes GPS coordinates, altitude, air pressure, sunrise and sunset times, and more. It also comes equipped with a barometer, altimeter, and compass. The display is full color, sunlight-visible, and compatible with Garmin’s Connect IQ app market.
In terms of smartwatch features, with the Instinct, you can see notifications on the watch screen. There is the possibility of answering text messages and answering/rejecting calls (if paired with an Android phone).
You can also control music playback, connect to the Garmin Virb Action Camera, and view calendar and weather information.
Garmin Connect App
The display is full color, sunlight-visible, and compatible with Garmin Connect App (Garmin’s Connect IQ app market).
To use the Instinct device’s connected features, you must pair it directly through the Garmin Connect app instead of from the Bluetooth settings on your smartphone.
You won’t have Garmin Pay, the ability to listen to music with Spotify or Connect IQ support. You can’t add custom fields, widgets, and apps to the watch.
While you can review much Instinct data on the watch, you are more likely to explore it once it syncs with Garmin Connect. Whether it’s the phone or the web app, there’s a lot to look at here, and of course, you can send data to third-party services like Strava once the two accounts have been linked.
There is nothing significant to say when offering a different experience than what you would get by combining a Fenix watch or a Forerunner watch.
Much of what you’ll see will be very familiar if you’ve used a Garmin device. It’s packed with data, and it can take a little time to understand where everything is.
Solar Panel
Garmin Instinct has a solar charging panel on its screen. The watch does need to be exposed to light to charge, and it is not a very powerful one, but if you are going to be in the sun anyway, you can just let your watch charge.
Garmin Instinct – Heart Rate Accuracy
If you’re going to make fair use of the built-in heart rate monitor, I’d say it works similarly to other Garmin watches that include the same technology.
Overall, it’s okay, particularly for 24/7 monitoring, but not exceptional once you start putting it through the high-intensity training test.
Against a Garmin chest strap, the live data appeared to be quite inconsistent, with the chest strap reacting quickly to fluctuations in inactivity and rest periods. The Instinct tends to lag briefly before reaching the chest strap.
On the other hand, if we talk about lower-effort training sessions, the highest heart rate in interval training came in one or two beats per minute and the average of only three bpm, which is quite good.
But more variations appear once you start increasing your training and quickly changing your pace and intensity.
When tested against a more consistent bpm activity, such as a 10k run, the Instinct noticeably fits the chest strap but still registers a higher maximum heart rate reading.
It seems well-equipped to do a pretty good job for more endurance-based activities like trail running or hiking.
However, suppose you plan to use the Instinct as your primary training watch. In that case, I recommend purchasing a compatible chest strap to give you the most reliable information on your heart rate.
Garmin Instinct: battery life
The battery is an essential factor for outdoor watches when you plan to spend a lot of time away from civilization and not carry that charger with you.
Garmin claims the Instinct gives you 16 hours with GPS on, 40 hours using UltraTrac optimization mode (worse GPS but better battery), and two weeks if you only use it as a smartwatch.
In my experience, these data make the price worth the right one. It is well equipped for a long day of trekking or hiking with all those sensors that are used well and without worry.
This is your best option if you are willing to sacrifice your mapping data’s accuracy for a longer tracking time. For most users, the Instinct’s battery life is more than enough.
More Than Just Outdoor Tracking
So far, we’ve focused on how the Instinct performs as an outdoor activity tracker, but it also offers helpful smartwatch capabilities for daily life. While the monochrome display and basic UI aren’t as stylish as a Garmin Fenix or Apple Watch, it gets the job done for notifications and convenience features.
Smart Notifications and Customization
With the Instinct connected to your smartphone, you can receive calls, texts, app alerts, and calendar reminders on your wrist. The notifications are basic but helpful for screening what’s worth pulling out your phone.
The watch face is also customizable with various layouts and data fields, so you can see the most important metrics to you at a glance. There are also free apps and widgets to tailor the experience further.
All-Day Activity Tracking
Even when not doing hardcore workouts, the Instinct provides all-day activity tracking to motivate you to stay active. It monitors steps, intensity minutes, calories burned, and sleep. The move alert reminds you not to stay sedentary for too long.
Music Control and Payments
Like most Garmin watches, the Instinct lets you control phone music playback and supports Garmin Pay contactless payments when connected to a compatible smartphone. These conveniences let you potentially leave the phone behind on runs and workouts.
Battery Life
The Instinct delivers on its long battery life claims, easily lasting a week or more of everyday use. The UltraTrac mode extends it to a month using activity tracking and sleep monitoring. This allows multi-day excursions off the grid.
While smart features aren’t the main appeal, they make the Instinct more versatile as an everyday watch in addition to the rugged performance.
Bottom Line of Garmin Instinct Review
After testing the Instinct across various outdoor pursuits and daily life, I can confidently say it lives up to its promise as a rugged GPS sports watch ready for adventure. The tactical design isn’t just for show – it can take a beating while continuing to log accurate data.
The wealth of sensors like GPS, altimeter, compass, and navigation features provide outdoor enthusiasts with helpful tracking and mapping right on their wrist. Whether you’re trail running, hiking, climbing, or getting wet, the Instinct has the metrics and durability to keep up.
Battery life is also a highlight, and it is able to keep going in expedition mode for weeks. The smart notifications, music controls, and Garmin Pay give it versatility for daily use.
For the price point, it’s impressive how much technology Garmin packed into this rugged build. The Instinct punches far above other watches in its budget-friendly price range.
While the monochrome display and basic UI won’t win any fashion awards, the Instinct isn’t about flashy style. It’s function over form.
For hikers, climbers, runners, swimmers, and outdoor explorers who want robust tracking without babying a delicate smartwatch, the Garmin Instinct is a trusty companion ready for adventure. It can truly unleash your spirit of adventure without compromising on data.
Garmin Instinct 2X Solar, Rugged GPS Smartwatch, Built-in Flashlight, Solar Charging Capability, Multi-Band GNSS, Graphite
User reviews
High Functionality Watch. This is a backcountry and athletic watch. Much deeper functionality that it appears. The watch gets more use than expected, all the time use. Great watch for off trail hiking. Physical design with rubber surrounding the face makes it hard to scratch the crystal. Completely waterproof, worn in rain, in the shower, pool, at the beach. Zap an azimuth with the watch pointed at a landmark, and the watch will guide you to the landmark. You can set waypoints along the way. You can mark your car in case you get lost, and the watch will lead you back, but it's almost impossible to get lost with its accurate gps. Nice ongoing interface with your phone/tablet, and the free app is comprehensive, still discovering new information 3 months later. Flashlight is great, use all the time. Solar could be better, needs direct sun. Lots of great free watch faces from another free app, and now with a new watch face, about 20 metrics all the time, so this watch is sucking a lot of juice. Battery is pretty good, but needs a charge every 10 days even with solar. Haven't tried battery save or expedition modes. Altimeter could be more accurate +/- 100 ft. isn't too impressive. Too much to review in short space. Sunrise/Set times, Barometric Pressure Drop alert, great monitor of body vital signs and sleep. Ongoing picture of body readiness, exertion, recovery. Tracks trends, gives recommendations and warnings, customizable, integrated with phone and in-reach, can send tracking info to someone at home. weather reports, guided breathwork, community support, can remind you x minutes before sunset/moonrise, among other unusual features, good timers and alarms, accurate time of day all the time. can be a little hard to read, lotta info in monochrome on a small watch, no touch screen. garmin, what's the difference between a walk and a hike? overall, Great Watch. Recommended.
Great Middle Ground Smartwatch. This is the perfect activity watch/smartwatch for me. It can’t call or text from the watch itself, but those are features I rarely used on my Apple Watch anyway. It’ll still show you if you have a text, call, or any other notification but is geared toward being more of a great activity watch than a phone on your wrist.What’s great about this is how jam-packed with features it is. They took a ton of stuff that previously was only available in the fenix and epix watches and brought it to this instinct 2x solar. It has sleep tracking, activity tracking (with customizable screens for each activity), training readiness, heart rate, vo2 max, blood oxygen level, etc. Most apps charge money for the amount of detail this watch and app give you about your day to day and activities, but there’s no subscription on this. It’s all freeAnd it constantly checks heart rate. My old Apple Watch would check periodically but you could never glance down and see what the current hr was without tapping on the icon and waiting. With this watch it constantly is reading heart rate and keeps a graph showing the history (which you can have show on the watch face if you want).The battery is awesome, something like 40 days with how I have mine set up. And the solar charging actually works. I’ve heard that past versions it didn’t help all too much, but this one it really makes a difference. I added 2 days to my battery life from just a few hours in direct sunlight.The only places where this watch is lesser are the display and the navigation. If detailed maps and touch screen/oled screen are important to you, then go with the fenix or epix models. The navigation on this watch can be useful as it includes the trackback feature where it’ll guide you back on the path you came in on, line-of-sight tracking (keeps you on path if you have to go like down in a valley or around an obstacle where you might lose sense of direction), and you can even pre-load courses to follow later. However, it’s a pretty bare-bones navigation map. It has a pointer for your watch and a line showing the path and that’s about it. The epix and fenix watches have nicer displays, color, touchscreen, and more detailed maps which help a lot with navigation but you also sacrifice a significant amount of battery life for those features. And they’re double the price of this one.All in all, I think this is the perfect middle point for a watch. It has all the features from the top of the line ones that I need, along with crazy battery life and a decent price. If you don’t need detailed navigation but want great gps and activity tracking at half the cost of some of those other watches, this is a great option.
best battery smartwatch i've used. I dunno what the negative reviews are going on about, this watch is greattttttttttt and a huge upgrade over the instinct 1 non-solar, that felt lacking yet this has all the extra things I wanted. I am coming from a samsung galaxy watch 4 classic, and while that was nice at the time, the battery was not whereas for this, it says weeks long battery life makes me at ease of not having charging anxiety every night hahaha phew. Best upgrade over this from the instinct 1 is more battery life, bigger screen, more features overall, but also having the connect IQ watch app store which allows much more customization than you'd ever hope for. Better yet, you can even program your own apps/widgets if you're a knowledgable programmer. Overall, daily driver, love having it on. Better yet, if you have a privacy respecting android rom like calyx OS and have micro G a samsung smartwatch won't work, BUT THIS WILL. Honestly my samsung watch is kinda a paper weight timer/clock now compared to this. The garmin instinct 2x solar is greattttt. I rated value for 4/5 because nearly $500 is a bit much imho but I guess that's the smartwatch market these days. Also rated sleep tracking 4/5 as well because instinct 1 didn't have sleep score and this does, but honestly unless you get an apple watch or a dedicated sleep tracker the sleep stages are never truly that accurate. However, you do get to see your stress level, restless moments, and total time slept, so it's still very useful. Better yet, when you wake up you can see how much you're rested via the body battery, and it roughly gives a feeling of your energy for the day. Like going to sleep almost completely drained physically, waking up with only 50% body battery, you're gonna feel tired today. But, waking up with 100% body battery, you probably slept 9 hours or more hahaha. So overall, love having the watch and the garmin connect app.
La batería dura una eternidad, súper resistente y ligero, lo súper recomiendo
There are lots of good reviews online, so I will just mention what I found better on the Instinct 2X compared to the original Instinct Solar:- it is large but still ok on a small wrist. That was my biggest worry.note: The 2X is solar, even though solar is not in the name- absolutely every feature has been improved in some way- more information on the screen, even when scrolling through items. Whereas before it might be a word,now it is words and a graph and expands out into some useful graph. There higher resolution also gives you a lot more info on the regular display if you want it.- better GPS navigation features if you get lost- more accurate body battery- downloadable faces- useful flashlight- alarms can be weekday rather than every day- vastly more health / athletic features- Garmin Pay (almost useless in Canada)- I haven't had it long enough to comment on battery life, but it does have more solar area and bigger battery, so I expect it will be very good if you keep the watch out of your sleeves.Overall it is a huge upgrade. If you like the original Solar, you will be very happy with this upgrade.
Produto pra quer precisão, robustez, confiabilidade nas medições e uma bateria que não acaba (principalmente quem vive no sol kkk) ..... em avaliação.....
Love the durability and battery life. I can count on it to do the job at all times. Plus the built in flashlight is a lifesaver for toes at night.
Tiene una excelente conexión con el dispositivo móvil, cuenta con métricas de sueño muy precisas, da opción para escoger que apps pueden conectarse al reloj, opción para vibración y sonido al recibir una notificación en el celular (configurable), me gusta el detalle de la linterna, función estroboscopica, y luz roja. Muy buen sensor de pasos, subida de escaleras, bajadas de escaleras, calorías quemadas en movimiento y en reposo, bastante completo, quizá me queda un poco grande y al principio es incómodo para tenerlo puesto al dormir para registrar las métricas de sueño, pero quizá estoy acostumbrado a relojes más Chicos de diámetro, pero en general está perfecto para mis actividades diarias
Alex is a fitness aficionado, empowers others towards healthier, active lives through small, sustainable changes for lasting results. Visit Gearuptofit.com for insightful tips and resources to enrich a balanced lifestyle.