Instinct 2 - dēzl Edition

Instinct 2 dezl. Wanted an Instinct 2 with garmin pay, this one was on sale, 150€ cheaper than solar at the time. Has all of the features I want and need with awesome battery life. Also works great as a golf watch.

My priorities were battery life, form factor, and price. I chose Instinct 2 non-solar because the battery life lasts close to a month between charges with light use (regular GPS use will drain it faster but still not fast enough for me to care about solar) so I didn't need the extra cost. It's great for everyday use, super rugged, and I like that I have sleep tracking data basically every single day because I don't have to charge it overnight

The instinct 2 solar has a solar panel over the main part of the display, which makes the display much less readable. If I were going to save money, I would get instinct 2 without solar which has much easier to read display. If you want solar, I get the instinct 3 whose solar panel is only on the outer ring. Was $300 for a few weeks Nov/Dec in USA. Not sure if it could be had for that much at the moment.

That price range works well for older models. Watches that came out after Fenix 8 (Sep 2024) cost significantly more than before, Garmin just increased prices. Best is to get an older model on discount, as in the past years not much significant new was added. They track the same way, and bugs are still corrected. For sports, any of these fitness watch type of devices excel for running, cycling, swimming. Other sports kinda work, but for example to detect repetitions can have mistakes, treadmil relies on distance data entered, etc. For payment, you need NFC among the watch features. I prefer full button control, especially during sports. Almost all Garmin watches can control music on your phone. The "Music" models can download music onto your phone, and play offline from the watch to your earbuds. My 5 year old Fenix 6X Pro can do this, and I never used it. For good heart rate, get a Polar H10 strap. The best wrist heart rate will never be as good as a poor strap. For more sport oriented: Garmin Foreunner 255 can do all you want, except touchscreen. It has also an 255S version, smaller. Forerunner 955 has maps. Maps are useful for creating courses, running circuits on your phone, and the watch navigates you along. This is most useful for running in nature. If you want a more smartwatch style: Venu 3S or Vivoactive 5 can work. They are more touch screen operated. They are less practical to start stop exercise, as they need using the touchscreen. But they have a nice amoled screen. You can also have a look at Garmin Instinct 2 non-solar version. It is a Casio G-style look, has no NFC. You can get probably 2-3 years out of your watch before it fails, or battery gets poor. 4 years is not uncommon, and several people on reddit are using 5-6 without issues. Garmin usually offers a discount on a new watch, if the warranty expired, and you want repair (they dont really repair watches). Our Venu 2S died after 3 years, 6X Pro after 3.5 years, my colleague's FR945 after 2.5 years. For cycling, most people get a dedicated head unit for cycling, to complement the watch.

I bought for family members an Instinct 2, and Instinct 2S. Small, light, long battery. You don't have to babysit like the Venu 3S. It looks rugged, but it is small. The Instinct 3 is bigger.

Garmin instinct 2 or instinct 2 solar. You don't need instinct 3. 2 is cheaper than 3. It has GPS to track run distance and pace and heart rate. But it does sometimes go into cadence lock as wrist heart rate does. Might do good to spend on a Garmin HR monitor. Battery life is like 1-2 weeks if you're running daily using the GPS function for about an hour. Are the higher models cooler? Yeah. Are the additional features worth 500-1000 more dollars? I personally don't think so.

What features were cut? I recently got an i3 solar 45, have had i2 45 for 3 years, and noticed the battery life dropping off quicker than expected length. I’m not quite 24 hours in, but love the display, and the light. Also, got this through employee rewards program, and after scrolling through other options it was a decent “price”

Garmin instinct 2 (older gen) is 199 on Amazon at the moment. You won’t get maps at that price point but you’ll get built in GPS and the battery is 28 days watch mode or 30 hrs in GPS mode. The only negative I’ll say is the display is a bit basic but if you want it as a fitness tool that also has all the features of a smartwatch you can’t beat it for the price.