Garmin Instinct, Rugged Outdoor Watch with GPS, Features Glonass and Galileo, Heart Rate Monitoring and 3-Axis Compass, Graphite

This is my second iteration of this watch. First one I had lasted about a month and the battery would not hold a charge for more than 24 hours. Called Garmin and they fixed me right up with a new watch; no questions asked.With that being said, the watch does exactly what I need it to without all the fancy colors of today's smartwatches. I need it to track my sleep, workouts, hikes, and general daily stats. It does all that seamlessly. The app is very good as well and customizable to show only the things that matter without all the extra clutter.This is the best smartwatch I've owned, and I've had apple, samsung, and fitbit watches/trackers. The battery life on all of those were more or less subpar (+/- 3 d days). This watch gives me a solid 10 days with my normal routines. If I'm using more of the GPS rich features, I get about 8 days - which anything more than a week is great IMO.The only nitpicky complaint I have about it are the buttons. They start of very tactile and you know that when you press it, you will get a response from the watch. After about two months, that tactile feedback diminished and makes it a little more difficult to get a response from the watch. Its still functioning perfectly, but I would prefer more durability from the buttons.Additionally, I've gone through two wristbands in just under two years of use. Based off the silicone material of the bands and the type of punishment I put this watch through, I wont fault the gear. Replacements can be easily found on Amazon for fairly cheap and replacing the band wasn't tough at all.Overall, a great watch at a good price with awesome features and wonderful customer support!

This model came out from Garmin at the same time I was starting to seriously want a device for a mixture of tracking activity, in my case most of which is outdoor oriented, like hiking and riding my mountain bike, plus I wanted to start exploring some physical data from a heart rate monitor as I get more active.When smartwatches first started becoming popular, I thought they were pretty stupid and redundant, and in my mind a teeny tiny 2" screen will never replace a phone screen which is small enough, especially for GPS navigation duty. However, the function of getting the sensors and GPS antenna in a more favorable location, plus heart rate monitoring, I could see the benefits of a smartwatch. I didn't like most of what was on the market until this unit.What I liked about this watch was it didn't have all the features and bloated interface to replace interacting with your phone for things a phone is best at. In some ways the Instinct is a throwback to older tech, but in a good way, the way anyone who has experience with GPS from the time it first became widely available for consumer use will appreciate. The interface will just make sense if you were used to the older devices.It does all the things you might want your phone to do, but a phone is not really suited to doing well. I disliked using my phone for tracking hikes and on my MTN bike because either the phone was safe in my pocket with a horrible view of the sky and where I couldn't see it, or I had it strapped on my handlebars where it could get knocked off. Or while hiking I had to pack it in my hands or strapped to my backpack in an awkward position. Not to mention if you use GPS on the phone and keep the screen on to see stats, it will hit the battery hard. With this, you can tuck the phone safely away but still see the info you want.This watch was the right combo of features for outdoor activities and activity tracking to get my attention and be a useful tool more than an expensive trinket. I did not wear any watch before buying the Instinct, and now I wear this most of the time for the last 2-3 weeks I've had it.While it lacks some features of more dedicated fitness devices, I got it mostly for what it did not have rather than what it did. Most criticism of this watch I read prior to purchasing clearly was because this watch has a niche and those folks didn't fit it. This is mostly for outdoor activities, it's simple, rugged, and doesn't do as much because it's made to do it's set of tasks well, and it's trade off is the things it does not do allow it to be smaller and use the battery more efficiently.You can read up on it's features and functions elsewhere, but a few things I will point out as exceptional. Some may harp on the old school LCD type display, but it's high contrast and the way the face catches ambient light extremely well makes it very easy to read. Actually I set the back light on 5%, it's lowest setting, because if it's so dark you need the back light, that is plenty to see it by.I like it's size, it's not huge feeling, and it's light. As I mentioned I did not wear a watch before this one, and I find it comfortable to wear despite a history of disliking things on my wrist. I had to get used to it yes, but it's not like having a rock strapped to your arm.Battery life has been great, using the GPS 2-3 times a week for an hour at a time pulls it down some but I still get over a week on a charge. I've yet to let it run down to the point it claims it needs charging, but so far I've yet to charge it in a period of less than 7 days.Definitely a personal preference but I also really like it's appearance. I got the Graphite colored one, it's not black but kind of a charcoal grey. It's not preppy looking or stylish, and that's what I'm going for. It does not give off that "oh look at me I'm athletic I have a fitbit" vibe, or look super snazzy and expensive, it just looks like a run of the mill boring watch if no one inspects it closely. For sure a more utility look, and for folks who would get the most out of this watch, that's probably perfect.Also will throw in there for my mountain bike, I later picked up Garmin's cadence and speed sensors, and they paired up effortlessly with the Instinct. GPS will cheat you distance on a bike especially and that is just the nature of the tech, I was getting some big discrepancies between the Instinct's recorded track and my wheel sensor bike computer. The trails I ride on frequently are a particular hardship for GPS anyway with heavy tree cover and tightly winding trails. With the speed sensor the difference is much smaller and I recommend it if you are going to use this on a bike.So far I've been very happy with the purchase and impressed with the device, enough to write this lengthy review, which I don't bother with often. (I did lean heavily on reviews deciding to purchase, so this is to help those like me.) If you fall into the niche this watch is intended to appeal to, I recommend it.

I've owned this watch since 2021. Back then I wanted a smartwatch but was frustrated that most smartwatches fail at two essential elements: battery life and the screen staying on. Some people don't mind charging multiple devices every night but for me, I wanted a watch that I didn't have to worry about charging it all the time. My last smartwatch (Fossil 5) was okay, but if I forgot to charge it even one night it would die on me halfway through the next day. Two years into owning the Garmin Instinct I can happily say it's never died on me and I've gone as long as 2.5 weeks in between charges. It's nice to be able to go on a week-long trip and not need to pack a charging cable for my watch. Typically I'll charge it once or twice a week while showering and getting dressed and that's enough to keep the battery life full or close to it. I also love the always-on screen. I hated having to touch a button or awkwardly rotate my wrist to check the time on my old smartwatch. I much prefer being able to look down at my watch and instantly know the time. This is especially nice when I'm in the midst of a meeting and need to make sure I'm not late to my next appointment. I don't want everyone else to notice me checking my watch but with the instinct, I can surreptitiously glance down without having to obviously move my wrist to check the time. There are not many smartwatches that combine both an always-on screen and multiple weeks of battery life.I know most people care about other features so let me also say that the Garmin Instinct also receives top marks for it's GPS, heartrate monitor, waterproofing, altimeter, etc. This watch is also super durable. I've owned it for two years and been quite rough with it and it still looks pretty much brand new. I've been tempted to buy the Instinct 2 Solar but this watch still works perfectly well for me so I haven't upgraded yet.