Instinct 2 Solar, Smaller-Sized Rugged Outdoor Watch with GPS, with Solar Charging Capabilities, Built for All Elements, Multi-GNSS Support, Tracback Routing and More, Graphite

I got this watch after being frustrated by my Apple Watch's 6-8 hour battery life. Yes, out of the box. Yes, it was sent in for repair and they said it's working as designed. No more Apple Watches for me. In fact, no more new Apple products. Nice job, Tim Apple. I digress. The Garmin watch does what I need it to do and has a real-world battery life of around 19 DAYS for me. That's constantly monitoring my pulse rate, keeping Bluetooth on, and getting notifications from my phone. NINETEEN DAYS! Is it perfect? No. The monochrome screen is functional and high resolution. It is very readable in bright sunlight, unlike the Apple Watch. But the backlight leaves something to be desired. Even at its highest brightness, it's a bit dim for my eyes. The user interface takes some getting used to. Pressing buttons is different than holding buttons. So each of the 5 buttons has two functions. Once you get the hang of it, though, it's pretty intuitive, but do expect a learning curve. Garmin Pay works... if your bank is supported. None of mine were supported until I changed banks. (Not for the watch alone, other reasons too.) Even then, it was a manual process on my bank's side, causing me to have to call them up. Apple Watch just works better in this case. The solar panel does function, but do not expect to reach 100% battery, even outside all day in the direct sun. You may see several percent increase, but unless you turn almost everything off except the time, the solar cell will not provide significant charge. With nearly everything off, however, you can attain "unlimited battery" being in the bright sun for several hours a day. The app was just updated recently. It works well, but isn't as intuitive as the previous version. Learning curve again, I think. I manually sync my watch daily (or when I remember). This works well. There are ways to customize many watch faces, and there are a few apps available on the Garmin store to add functionality to the watch. It's a little challenging as it is a separate app for the Garmin store on your phone, and you have to look for apps that run on your specific model of watch. I wish it could filter by the watch you own, but alas they haven't done that yet. Overall, this is an excellent watch with a wealth of features. Just expect to study the manual and memorize buttons and other functionality. I highly recommend this watch.

let me start out by saying hands down one of the best watches I Owed very durable great quality, battery life is amazing. I work with metal 8 to 10 hours a day. This is my first week with the watch and then take some punches screen is great

I cannot say enough good things about this watch. I wear it constantly for health data tracking. I had to stop wearing my apple watch a few years ago because the battery just wouldn't last anymore and the price was crazy for a battery life that was less than a day. Then I discovered the Garmin Instinct. I first spotted one being worn by a colleague. I inquired about it and he shared his thoughts, after some deliberation, I decided to buy one. I picked one up from Amazon on a deal so I ended up with the solar model. The battery life on this thing is unreal. 17 days of regular use on a single charge and the ability to go unlimited days with enough solar exposure. It's a lightweight, tactical looking watch that is perfect for a man that likes to have manly things. It connects to the phone easily and needs to be synced daily to keep the relevant weather data up to date on the face. Even for the Instinct, there are multiple options for watch faces on the ConnectIQ app. Do yourself a favor and get a Garmin watch now.

This is the smart fitness watch that I have been waiting for. Watch is very comfortable, lightweight, good size, includes all the features any fitness/outdoorsman would want, and incredible battery life. I upgraded from a solar G-shock watch that I have been wearing for years waiting for a decent solar fitness watch. I have had lots of recommendations to consider Garmin fitness watches for tracking workouts and health, and I am grateful for their recommendations. this watch has it all. The user interface is very simple to navigate, and there are so many features and customizable options built in. I have only had it a week, so I have only used it for indoor rowing, hiking, and mountain biking, and the built in sports applications are excellent. My friends and family with Apple watches are all envious of the battery life, plus it has solar charging that actually works! While playing at the park with my kids this weekend, I could literally watch the battery life increase. It also charged while I was driving the car. Prior to purchasing, the only negative reviews that I saw online were regarding the difficulty in seeing the watch face in the dark or lowlight settings. First of all, the watch has a backlight button so you can get instant light at anytime of day. Secondly, there are backlight settings which can automatically turn on the backlight anytime you bring the watch up to view and will turn it off when you lower the watch; this setting can be set to all day or only at after sunset (which is the setting I have mine set to). Bottom line, there is nothing to not like about this watch.

So I come from wearing a Casio Solar Atomic (not smartwatch) for over 7 years. At the time of this review I have been wearing the Garmin Instinct 2 Solar (45mm) watch for 11 months. The Casio was a true solar watch and I never replaced the battery, not once in 7 years and when I gave it to a friend after I moved to this watch it still showed full battery. HOWEVER that was NOT a smart watch. There is a point to me bringing that up and it has to do with a previous reviewer. But I will get to that point in a minute. Comparing the size and weight to that old watch I was quite surprised. I expected this watch to be bigger and heavier. However it was neither. This 45 mm Instinct is about the same size as the old Casio but it is much lighter. The band is silicone which is very flexible and comfortable while still being strong. It has two excess band holders which I thoroughly love! Now I have worn a watch since I was about 6 or 7 and could tell time. I am 43 now so you do the math. It all that time my biggest pet peeve about watches is that excess band sticking out and catching on EVERYTHING! The band would come out of those old holders or it would catch on something. it was just a fact of life. Enter Garmin, they give you two excess band holders. one old style slip and slide that you can slide into any position and one on the end that is same type but adds a notch that fits into the excess band and locks it in place! No more catching it anything! OMG I can't get over such a simple and wonderful feature!!!! Now for the watch itself. Lets talk battery/solar and then we will get to features. So the face of this watch is a Solar panel. the outer ring takes in 85% of the solar light while the center watch face itself takes in 15%. The battery has a great capacity compared to other smartwatches. Another reviewer stated that she owned a Casio watch exactly as I had and got this watch, now she has to charge it often and her old watch she didn't that makes this watch trash. How wrong that is. Is it possible to use the solar panel to keep the watch charged and never need to plug it in? YES! However that means shutting off every feature that you want this watch for including smartwatch mode. If you used it EXACTLY like the Casio watch and it got the minimum amount of sun every day then yes, you could achieve an infinity battery. However you wouldn't pay this kind of money not to use it right? so lets be realistic here. I'll tell you how I use MY watch and what kind of battery life I see. I use smartwatch mode which includes receiving text messages from my phone and sending canned replies often. I also have the heartrate monitor on 24/7. However I do have the Pulse ox turned off. I had it on constant the first day I received my watch and I watched the battery go from being measured in days/weeks to hours! it said my battery would be dead in less than 24 hours so I turned that feature off! My watch goes on Sleep/do not disturb mode for bedtime each night so I don't receive texts and have it wake me. Also backlight goes to 5% at night. I also use the gps at least once a week sometimes twice for about an hour during walk/hikes. In the summertime I am outside alot and get way more sun than the wintertime so this timeline is during then. I realistically on my settings see a battery life of 26 days on a full charge. However due to gps and everyday usage I on average have to plug it in to charge it every 21 days. ( I charge it at 15% or 2 days left) Now my sister has the Instinct 2 40mm watch size and she uses hers like mine with roughly the same settings and she has to charge hers typically every 14 days. So an additional 7 days and an additional gps time is the difference between the 40mm version and the 45mm version if anyone is curious. So realistically the solar panel is a subsidiary battery charger not meant to charge the whole battery (though it can be used that way if the watch is turned off and placed in the sun all day during when you cannot charge it via power supply). the panel subsides the need for a full battery charge more often. I do believe the non-solar versions battery life are measured in hours or a few days. not the amount that this one gets. So the solar version really is worth it! I have seen in the summertime when I was in the sun alot, I have seen my watch actually charge an extra day or two. Watchface: Now this watch comes with some chooseable watch faces. However by using a separate program, you can build your very own watchface from the ground up! I love it. I have everything that I want to see at a glance on my watch face. The the rest accessible by sub menus. Gps is very accurate and tracks everything well. No complaints here. Now I could go into detail about every feature and be here for another 10 pages but I do believe I have hit the most questions asked and the high points of this watch. If you are doing research on this watch then you already know about all the features it has. In conclusion this watch is now my favorite. it is very comfortable to wear, very usable and just plain wonderful. I have no idea how I have lived life without it. Sad thing is, I now can NEVER go back to a plain old watch like my old Casio.

Update: I thought I would add a few things after owning it for a while. I wish they would have opted for a proper solar panel instead of "solar glass" since it only charges about 1% per hour in direct sunlight (matching their claims of 3 hours for no battery drain as it uses about 3% per day), and it doesn't charge under indoor light conditions like a traditional solar panel would. It doesn't sync with Android alarms. The step counter IS inaccurate, as doing things like shaking a bottle and even driving where the steering wheel is moving, such as on a rough road, counts as steps. I still don't regret buying it. Great battery life, not too chunky, and priced so that if something catastrophic happens you're not out a small fortune like you are with something like the Apple Watch Ultra. -------- Original: Size: This was one area I thought it would be ungangly, but it's not. I got the 44mm version and it's surprisingly slim, about like a Casio Pathfinder. It's not as slim as a Galaxy or Apple Watch, but it's not huge. Band: The band is good, a bit of give, end to end holes, and a properly angled latch to help prevent it from coming off under pressure. Screen: The screen is easily viewable in the bright sun and in the dark with the backlight. It's only black and white, but it isn't a power sucking OLED screen, though it means the maps are very basic. Battery life: As a smartwatch it's been a week and has used 15% power, with the always on pulse measurement. Granted I got the solar version which helps keep it topped up, but 3-4 weeks as a smartwatch, less if you use GPS, but I would say the advertised times are accurate. Watch faces: You're somewhat limited by the screen choice, but there are several nice included ones and there are more which can be downloaded from the Garmin Connect IQ Store (more on that below). Glances: Scrolling up and down from the watch face you can choose to display the weather, heart rate, barometer, and more. Most I find quite useful, and you can remove the ones you don't like. Sleep, step, and heart rate tracking: In line with my previous Galaxy watch, but more accurate. Shaking a bottle of juice doesn't add steps, for example. GPU Accuracy: It's within 3 feet of my Garmin Montana, so it's accurate. It doesn't show GPS accuracy, sadly. Software: This is the area which really lets the watch down. Garmin Connect IQ syncs slowly and doesn't (currently) pair with Google Fit. You are also required to use the Gamin Connect IQ Store to not only download new watch faces, but to CUSTOMIZE downloaded faces as well, which seems daft. All in all it's a great watch that I'm not regretting buying over a Galaxy Watch 6. I'd recommend it over a Fitbit, or the original, ASIN B07HYX9P88, if you're unsure, though you miss out on the Instinct 2's refinements, such as a higher res screen.

My husband is a truck driver and so this watch has been perfect to track his sleep, steps, and heartrate. As someone with the risk of genetic heart issues, it's giving us both peace of mind knowing we can look at his data to see if something looks off. The app is fairly easy to understands. LOTS of options without a subscription - which is one of the main reasons we went with this watch for him. He's so rough on his hands with his line of work so it's nice to know this one won't easily break. The solar is great for him. I feel like it was a good buy for the cost. He does, sometimes, 100,000 steps a week so instead of thinking about it in a "wow, what a week", he gets to have some fun with it by looking at the challenges page (through the app) and see who can get close to his step count each week. I could go on and on, there are so many great features for every avenue of exercise or tracking that a person could want.

The watch has many useful features and paired with Garmin Connect easily.