Instinct 2 Solar (45mm)

I love my Instinct 2 Solar (non-tactical). More durable than an Apple Watch + the fitness tracker is great. I wish I had had it in college for tracking runs.

When it comes to your budget, Garmin's premier value offering is the [Forerunner® 165](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1055469/pn/010-02863-20/#specs). It's sleek, well-made, has an AMOLED display, and has solid gym profiles: Strength, HIIT, Cardio, Elliptical Training, Stair Stepping, Floor Climbing. A step up from the FR165 is the [Forerunner® 265. ](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/886785/pn/010-02810-00/)It's right there at the top of your budget, has a more premium construction, but offers minimal additions to gym profiles compared to the FR165. For a more rugged offering, the [Instinct® 2 Solar ](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/775697/pn/010-02627-10/)is a great choice, and has the same gym profiles as the FR165/FR265. As a step up from the Instinct 2, The [Instinct® 3 ](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1315317/pn/010-02934-00/)does everything the Instinct 2 does, but has a flashlight. And the flashlight is AMAZING. I use mine daily. For a sleek, lifestyle watch that also provides the same gym capabilities as every other watch, the [Garmin vívoactive® 6 ](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1555457/pn/010-02985-02/)is a great choice. If the Vivoactive 6 doesn't quite scratch your itch, then the next step up from there at the top of your budget is the [Garmin Venu® 3](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/873008/pn/010-02784-01/#specs). It has a more premium construction than the Vivoactive 6, and it has the same gym/strength profiles as every other watch listed here. All these watches are under $450. Your considerations would be: 1. Do you want a middle-of-the-road watch with respectable gym capabilities? The Forerunners meet that criteria. 2. Do you want rugged, solar-charging capabilities and a design that looks good on a thick wrist? Check out the Instincts. 3. Do you prefer a premium build that looks great in the gym, at the opera, or on the beach? Go for the Vivoactive 6 or the Venu 3. Just in case you wanted ALL the data, here's a side-by-side comparison of these watches. You can toggle the "Show only differences" option for a more summarized view: [Garmin | Product Compare](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/compare/?compareProduct=1055469&compareProduct=886785&compareProduct=775697&compareProduct=1555457&compareProduct=873008) Have fun checking out your options--and early welcome to Garmin!

I have the 2 solar (45 mm) and the battery life is great (the solar option isn't that useful though imho).

Yeah, having a smallish wrist myself I find the 45mm a little too big. It's fine, I got accustomed to it, but I can't see myself moving to the instinct 2x (50 mm) even though it's a  better watch

I have an Instinct 1 solar 45mm and bought the Trex3. It's huge compared to the instinct. Also, it's shape and odd strap made it feel even bigger. I changed out the strap with nylon, which helped a bit, but still It's very big. It's very bright so you'll like that. Heart rate sensor during exercise is a bit better, but not much. The OS is a bit laggy when using touch. The app is better than Garmin IMO, but I don't care about all the metrics, so I don't know how they compare. It certainly syncs faster than Garmin. The zepp flow voice thing is very bad. I removed it from the widgets. I sent mine back despite getting it on sale for $170 because I found I didn't like the AMOLED at all and the shape made it look comically big. Some parts of the OS are clunky, like vibration. As long as the shape and size would work for you, it's a much better watch than the Instinct if you like AMOLED.

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”

1 solar also works in the water. It's not super accurate. If you care about HR the HRM-pro or better (if in a pool environment) the HRM-Swim. Instinct is great but the 1Solar doesn't have save and download so I use my 5X in the pool most of the time. I use my Instinct open water. Neither watch is better or worse in the pool. Laps are accurate unless I do something dumb like swim more than 10m underwater per length. Even swimming non traditional strokes it's accurate on laps and swolf.

Then you have me, still using an instinct solar. I'll probably upgrade to a 2 (non solar) or a 2x at some point but no rush. I figure this watch has 2-3 more good years left.

The instinct works for all that. Instinct 2 and 3 in any flavor.