Garmin Instinct Rugged Outdoor Smartwatch, Built-in Sports Apps and Health Monitoring, Graphite

I bought this watch in Dec 2020, so it's had 2 years and 4 months of everyday use! I've wated a good length of time to review it to hopefully give you a good idea of how robust the watch is etc. Not after a weeks use!! I use the watch everyday without fail and pretty much wear it 24/7 unless I'm charging it! Mainly I'll record hikes, including mountain hikes and the odd bike ride, so this is when I'll record the activity via the built in GPS, then download the activity to the Garmin app and Komoot. I used the watch to record hiking activities extensively last year whilst travelling in our campervan, spending 3 months in France, 3 months back in the UK, then 3 months in Spain. So what I'm saying is that the watch is used a lot. The battery life is fantastic, not using the GPS, I've had a couple of weeks out of it with battery power left over, I think I'd get up to 3 weeks. When the GPS is activated it will last all day, I believe up to 16 hours. I've spent all day on mountains in the UK, Spain and France and there's always been plenty of life left in the battery once the activity has ended. The watch is not bad to look at and is very clear and simple to use, it also sits nice on the wrist and is very light. The only gripe I have is the fact you can't see the steps on the face during a recorded activity, it just means you have to wait until you've finished. Overall I love the watch, it's been totally reliable and the best Garmin I've had by far. I would definitely buy another.

I've been looking for a smartwatch for ages that is durable enough to take a few knocks, is reasonably priced and doesn't look like you're carrying a brick on your wrist. This one does all that perfectly! I honestly love this watch, the battery lasts ages, even in GPS navigation mode, it's packed full of features that are actually useful (like the navigation and the ability to control Spotify) and yet it looks like a normal watch. The lack of a touchscreen is a god send as it doesn't go nuts when it starts to rain and it means I don't have to worry about it breaking every time I knock it - which is quite a lot due to my job. The Garmin Connect app that goes along with it is great. Easy to use, informative and let's you create routes which you can send to the watch in advance and navigate using waypoints - super easy to do and very effective. The Garmin Explore app is also worth downloading if you do a lot of walking on footpaths etc as it lets you create routes using an OS style map and send these to the watch, as well as letting you use the app to navigate with more topographic detail offline. All in all, a great watch supported by great apps!

My first smart watch and it is great. The software for Garmin connect went straight onto my ageing Galaxy 4 android without fault and seems to work very well. Only had it a couple of days and was expecting it to be a nightmare to get used to but actually it is very easy and the steps tend on the whole to be common sense. It came in Fahrenheit and miles etc. but was easy to change to centigrade and kilometres. The compass can be set to true, magnetic or grid north as well as degrees or mils. The deal breaker for me was that it gives a good accurate grid reference for the British Ordnance Survey maps and a very accurate sunrise and sunset time. The screen is monochrome/blue and it won't accept pictures on it's screen of your friends sent to your phone but will notify you of the same by message. I only have ugly friends anyway so that is not a problem. On the whole it seems to be very good and accurate with the battery doing well and lasting longer than I expected. When I am rich I will get a Fenix 6X pro but until then this is great. I like Garmin as I got a Garmin 38 handheld GPS back in the 90's and it was great. It still works....! If this watch lasts 25 years then in the year 2045 I will get a Fenix 93X pro with time travel/teleport powered by dylithium crystals. Garmin will probably have that one sussed by then.

Great watch let down by distance inaccuracies. A really nice and tough outdoor watch with great battery life let down by its inaccurate distance tracking. I've now tested this watch on various known distance walks, but unfortunately it always gives the wrong distance by adding on about 50 to 100 metres, despite settings my stride length through the Garmin connect app as instructed. To set stride or stepping length, I walked 1.3k counted 1500 sreps, witch have a stride of 0.87 metres. The GPS was set for walk mode and tracking is saved on completion of walk. The tracking is output to Google map and shows the route. It appears that GPS tracking wonder's intermittently which may be the cause of distance tracking problems. Apparently this has been reported on the Garmin forum, which unfortunately I wasn't aware of before purchasing.

I stayed away from this watch for a while until the instinct 2 came out and the price dropped. This is the type of watch that you can wear everyday and forget that you have it on you. In a nutshell, this watch is very accomplished as it has so many features that will satisfy the climber, the runner , the explorer…… What I really love about this watch is it’s looks, and great readability in any light, and not to mention how amazing the battery life! The ABC is flawless, Storm alarm is on point and for any of you out there wondering what setting to use for early change in weather pattern, I experimented with many settings and the 3hPa drop per 3 hours works the best as it warms you that a L front is making land in the next 6h to 12h. Heart rate is by the far the best I have found to match my S6 during swimming!! During running and cross fit is also accurate. I am very impressed with this watch despite my wife’s comment on how ugly it looks 😂😂

I got this in the Black Friday deals, and glad I did. It’s on the cheaper side of the Garmin range, but still a useful, easy watch to use. It’s got all the basic things you want on a watch, with the option of having your phone connected, to get smart notifications. I wanted it for logging hikes, steps, heart rate. So, I’m happy with that. It links well with Strava, for those who wondered. The mobile app is easy as pie. I’ve read about other people not liking it, but it’s easy to follow and sync. So far, I can’t actually fault this watch. The battery life of 12-14 days is good too. Once it’s set up, I’d recommend this to almost anyone. It’s so so light as well.

I've been using this watch now for about 3 months, and I love it. It's lightweight, and very comfortable, I wear it 24x7 and have had no problems wearing it all the time. It's rugged and "no nonsense", the stying suits me. The poor thing has been battered by gardening and the odd bit of render dropped on it when I was repairing the garden wall. I run three times a week, and am really happy with the running stats its produces and the info and analytics available on Garmin connect. Battery life is fantastic, and I charge it once every 12-14 days or so. I've used it on a treadmill and running outside, as well as to record strength and aerobic workouts. Brilliant sports watch, and very happy with it.

I've had this for about 6 months now and good god has it been through its paces with me. It's been through mud, sand, you name it. I even accidentally got paint splattera on it while painting a garden fence which in time I managed to scrape off with my nail. It's waterproof and I can wear and wash it in the shower. The battery lasts for weeks depending on how you use it and atm I haven't charged it in a week and it's on half power. If you are in need of a budget-friendly tough watch, then this is the one for you. The app is pretty easy to use too and I've found it useful for logging my activities throughout the day. The one downfall is that it doesn't automatically track your workouts, you need to start it on the watch in advance, but it's great for hikes since it tracks you via gps and can give you the weather and your gps location in real time.

EDIT: After a year of usage, I have absolutely no complaints. There is a minor issue, the sync with iPhone is a bit flawed, you have to connect, disconnect and then reconnect to sync successfully but this is a small flaw, you have to press a button twice, that is all. For me, the watch lasts a week before I have to charge (even after a year) which is good. I keep bumping the watch on hard objects and the watch is built sturdily. The edges of the watch screen tend to accumulate dust which I have to wash daily. Otherwise, this watch is a gem. Highly recommend. I am writing this review after 4 months of usage. I bought this watch for 21,840 ₹, the price in India right now would have increased because of higher tariffs. I use this watch primarily to track my runs/jogs. The watch is capable of tracking a coterie of activities like running, swimming, cycling, rafting etc. It gives you information on how much time was spent on the activities, calories burnt & the distance covered. It also has a real time heart rate monitor. I cannot speak of its accuracy as I haven't had a benchmark to compare it with. The watch also tracks your sleep. The watch also looks sporty and fashionable, if you dig that sort of thing. I got it in Seafoam rubber blue. The watch is supposed to be used in conjunction with the Garmin Connect app on your Android/iPhone. The app is easy to use and provides a lot of detailed stats that would be of interest to you, sleep time, stress levels etc. Again, the accuracy is difficult to ascertain as I don't have a baseline. You are supposed to connect the watch with the app via Bluetooth and it works flawlessly everytime and takes a minute to sync a days worth of data. The more activities you have, the more time it takes to sync. It's made out of a material which is sweat resistant unlike leather. You do need to wash the watch after a workout to remove the sweat. The watch is waterproof up to a certain depth and I wash it daily with tap water and have faced zero issues. I did face an issue wherein I had to factory reset the watch once because the watch screen was constantly changing. In my four months of usage that only happened once so it didn't bother me that much. I have hit the watch accidentally on hard surfaces quite a few times and the watch is built like a tank, so no damage at all. I only have to charge the watch once a week and it lasts for that duration easily. I use it for 1.5 hours to track activities everyday. I presume most of the battery is expended because of GPS usage. I don't use this watch as a smart watch and I don't think it is meant for that. Although you can keep it synced to your phone, I choose not to do that because of privacy concerns. Overall, I higly recommend this watch as a full fledged activity tracker. I wouldn't recommend this if you are looking for a smart watch although it could be used as one.

I've had this watch for years now and it's been effective. Hence why I'm writing this review years later. This watch is rugged. I mountain bike with it, I golf with it, I play soccer with it, I swim in the ocean with it and not once have I found any wear to the actual body of the watch. The strap did give out just a couple months ago, but you can find replacement straps (off brand) on Amazon that work great and for cheap. To be frank, I don't know how accurate the heart rate monitor is, but through watches you can never be 100%. The GPS works fantastic both during workouts and for backtracking hikes. The compass I find can be quite weird. I'll reporting North and it won't exactly read that. The battery's fantastic -typically lasts 14 days wearing everyday sleeping with it every night. The Garmin app is the user friendly and I love how it tracks sleep and sleep cycles and body battery. For the price, I would much rather this watch over an Apple watch despite the fact that you can't send typed messages on Garmin. Note that this watch does not work with the Garmin golf app. There are several other cool features that this watch can do. It can find your phone. You can select individual workouts for it to track your movements. You could send brief text messages. It even gives you weather including sunset and sunrise. It tracks your steps and calories burned. Overall, it is so worth the price. Highly, highly recommend.

Ho acquistato questo orologio approfittando di un’offerta davvero vantaggiosa, ma lo conoscevo già perché lo utilizzo da diversi anni e posso dire con certezza che è uno dei migliori acquisti che abbia mai fatto su Amazon. La costruzione è solidissima: i materiali trasmettono subito una sensazione di robustezza e resistenza, perfetti per un uso quotidiano ma anche per attività all’aperto o sportive. Dopo anni di utilizzo, non mostra segni di cedimento, né graffi rilevanti o difetti di funzionamento. È stato sottoposto a pioggia, sbalzi di temperatura e urti occasionali, ma continua a funzionare alla perfezione. La batteria è un punto di forza assoluto. Anche dopo tanto tempo, mantiene una durata notevole, molto superiore alla media di prodotti simili. Non devo ricaricarlo spesso e questo lo rende estremamente pratico, soprattutto in viaggio o durante escursioni lunghe. L’altimetro è discreto: non sempre precisissimo al metro, ma comunque utile per avere un’idea generale delle variazioni di quota. Per il resto, tutte le funzioni sono affidabili e reattive, con un’interfaccia semplice e intuitiva che non ha mai dato problemi. In sintesi, è un prodotto eccezionale per chi cerca qualità, durata e prestazioni nel tempo. Nonostante piccoli margini di miglioramento, rimane una vera bomba: robusto, efficiente e praticamente indistruttibile. Assolutamente consigliato!

Simple and reliable. had it for three years now. Running in the jungle, Kayaking and swimming with it. It never let me down. My colleague has the more expensive Garmin and it stopped working after a year. But I do avoid having it exposed to the sun too long, I rinse the sweat and sault after use and I am careful not to knock it with hard objects. However it is my daily watch as well, so, great product. I had Sunntos before, they were good but they always end up with elevation problems. My Garmin is half the price and after over 3 years I still love it. There is a reason for that. They have a great market making aviation instruments. Well what is good for airplanes is certainly good for me.

Ich habe die Garmin Instinct nun seit Anfang Januar in Gebrauch. Getestet habe ich sie in folgenden Situationen: - Laufen - Schwimmen Indoor (Meerwasserschwimmbad) - Schwimmen Outdoor (Atlantik/Madeira) - Einige Wanderungen in flachem Gebiet - Einige Wanderungen in schwierigem GPS-Gebiet (alpin, Schluchten, Stadt, Wald, usw.) - Mountainbiken in flachem Gelände - Einfache Spaziergänge Fazit bis jetzt: Die Uhr ist absolut wasserdicht (Tauchen konnte ich nicht testen), robust und einfach zu tragen. Im flachen Gelände zeichnet sie Tracks und Höhenmeter ziemlich genau auf. Trainingsfunktionen sowie etliche andere Zusatzfunktionen sind mir weniger wichtig und dazu möchte ich keine Bewerung abgeben. Aufgefallen ist mir, dass die Instinct in sehr schwierigem GPS-Gelände hier und da mal die Orientierung kurzzeitig verliert (Abweichungen vom eigentlichen Trail), was aber selbst Geräten wie Garmin Oregon etc. passieren kann. Testgelände war hier Madeira im Gebirge bzw. auf diversen Levadawanderungen durch etliche Tunnel und durch enge Schluchten. Für ein Gerät dieser Größe macht sie ihren Job aber auch dort durchaus gut. GPS Signal wird sehr schnell gefunden, so das man auch zügig starten kann (hatte ich bei verschiedenen Oregon Geräten schon anders, da kann es durchaus mal über eine Minute dauern). Einziges Manko meinerseits ist die fehlende Funktion um z.B. OSM-Karten einzubinden und im Display anzeigen zu lassen, aber das war mir vor dem Kauf bewusst und kann also hier keinen Kritikpunkt darstellen. Für den Preis und für meine Ansprüche eine super Outdoor-/Smartwatch. Update 12.04.2020: Ich hatte die Instinct zum Tracken bei einer 46 km Wanderung am laufen, zum Vergleich auch das Garmin Oregon 600t auf selbiger Strecke: Beide Geräte lieferten in etwa gleiche Werte was Tracklänge angeht. Lediglich die Höhenunterschiede weichen bei beiden ab, kann aber auch am Gelände liegen (bin am Fördesteig gewandert, da sind kaum Höhenmeter zu messen). Nach ca. 9,5 Std. GPS-Tracking hatte die Instinct immer noch 3/5 Balken Ladung. Eine sehr gute Leistung wie ich finde! Update 28.04.2020: In den letzten Wochen und Monaten kam die Instinct auch bei einigen MTB-Touren zum Einsatz. Im Vergleich dazu trackte auch immer mein seit Jahren erprobtes Garmin Edge 200 am Lenker mit. Auch hier ist es so, dass die Instinct meist schneller den aktuellen Standpunkt ermittelt hat, d.h. sie ist schneller startklar. Zum Biken ist es natürlich sehr viel angenehmer das Edge 200 am Lenkrad immer im Blickfeld zu haben, aber die Instinct ist ja nun mal fürs Handgelenk erdacht worden. Auch hier lieferten beide Geräte in etwa gleiche Werte bzgl. Tracklänge ab. Die Instinct zeigt meistens einige Meter mehr an, was aber auch den gelegentlichen Pausen geschuldet ist in denen das Edge 200 auf 'Autopause' am Bike steht und die Instinct jeden gegangen Meter während dessen weiter misst. Der Vergleich im Hinblick auf Höhenmeter kann eigentlich nicht erfolgen, da das Edge 200 keinen barometrischen Höhenmeter hat und die Auswertung selbiger nur zu Hause über die individuell verwendete Software erfolgen kann. Wertet man aber beide Aktivitäten z.B. über Komoot etc. aus, liefert die Instinct zumeist weniger Höhenmeter. Auch hier habe ich einen super Eindruck und kann die Instinct nur empfehlen bzw. bereue den Kauf nach wie vor in keinster Weise.