Garmin - Instinct

if he is working a lot in the rain, get him something with more than 2 buttons so he would be able to use the watch using only the buttons (without the touchsreen) if he needs to, something like a forerunner, or instinct (doesnt have a touch screen) or a fenix (but a fenix is one of the more expensive ones)

Must be a crap phone battery. My iPhone easily does 8 miles. But it sort of depends on how you use it. I don't need to look at a map very often, so the phone isn't doing anything, and might even be off if on a backpack. I just use it for nav, not tracking. For the tracking, I use an Instinct (an older one). I don't need the maps, and so the basic nav and timing features of the Instinct works great for me.

All true except advanced metrics. They are also present in Fenix (it has even more features for hiking) and Instinct. Forerunner is not more advanced. The rugedness is mostly about the bezel. In fenix and instinct it has a rim which gives extra protection to the screen. But that means rugged watches are more bulky what can be a problem in the gym. The real question is lightness of forerunner vs battery life of fenix /instinct

My OG Instinct had body battery. That watch launched in 2018. I'd be shocked if all the new ones didn't have it.

The main thing I was looking for with mine was battery life. I might have overcompensated after dealing with Apple Watch battery life, but still. I have the Garmin Instinct with the black and white screen and solar charging and it is probably the longest lasting model It was 28 days out of the box, and I believe that’s assuming no sun on it.

The garmin instinct is for forest people, the longest battery life for backpackers.

I wouldn’t be afraid of buying a Garmin watch for open water or pool swims. I have a first generation instinct since the summer of 2020. I’ve worn it everyday no matter what. If you don’t like the look of the instinct, I would look at either the Fenix, Enduro. The forerunner has a bezel but it’s not as raised I feel. Really any of their watches that includes the feature of a raised bezel I gravitate towards. For me, anyways, watches that don’t have that feature end up with a cracked screen like the venu and the vivoactive with the rounded edge of glass hasn’t lasted for me which is why I prefer that raised bezel. Garmin has always been good and replaced them for me in the past but once the warranty is done, there’s no more replacement. Hope this is helpful and keep going.

Garmin doesn't have much that's tailored specifically for swimming, except a watch called Swim, but we don't talk about that. I use my Instinct 1 and it does a good job in open water as well as pool laps. I wouldn't recommend getting that though because Instinct 2 and up have a better HR meter that works underwater.

I don’t have the dilemma cause I just kept both lol But I don’t really wear my garmin instinct in the winter because it doesn’t fit very well under long sleeves. As for the data my whoop picks up sleep and naps better and it does a way better job of adding a workout after the fact if you forgot to start a workout. My garmin data is off if I forget to start it before.

Instincts are not good for strength in my experience