Garmin - Instinct 3 Solar

Have you noticed a difference in Bluetooth range? My instinct 3 solar was terrible. Maybe 15 feet. Certainly not in another room or around a corner. My Instinct 1, Instinct 2, and especially my older Apple Watch had far better range.

J'ai une Apple Watch Ultra, une Garmin Instinct 2 Solar, une Suunto Vertical et eu un Fenix 6 Pro Solar! L'Apple Watch Ultra avec son magnifique écran, son titane et son interface très aboutie n'arrive pas à la cheville des 3 autres montres question sport, incluant la Garmin Instinct 3 avec son écran LCD des années 80's c'est pour dire! Quand j'entends que l'AWU rivalise avec une Fenix 8 c'est soit de la mauvaise foi d'Apple Fan soit des personnes qui ne pratiquent pas de sport, bien sur en utilisation montre connectée l'AWU est géniale mais un peu chère pour cette utilisation non ? Question autonomie, je recharge mon AWU tous les deux jours et je ne fais rien avec, quelques notifications, le SPO2 la nuit, écran éteint, pas de musique. 2 jours pour juste surveiller mon rythme cardiaque, mon O2 la nuit et quelques notifications on ne peut pas dire qu'Apple s'est foulé question optimisation d'autonomie. Pour le sport environ entre une et deux heures par jour avec GPS j'utilise mes autres tocantes, je reçois aussi mes notifications, j'ai des métriques à gogo et je recharge tous les 10 ou 12 jours pour la Suunto et 15 jours la Garmin. Conclusion des mes comparaisons : L'AWU est superbe, un écran magnifique, une interconnectivité avec l'iPhone parfaite (bien sur), une qualité de construction irréprochable, des capteurs précis il faut le dire mais c'est vraiment tout! j'ai eu beau me forcer à l'utiliser en sport, randonnée, marche et musculation en ce qui me concerne c'est trop compliqué, il faut des applis tierces pour arriver à juste essayer de se rapprocher des applis natives Garmin ou Suunto et je reste sur ma fin à chaque fois. Il faut penser à recharger tous les jours (si sport) bref.... je suis désolé mais APPLE est à des années lumière de Garmin et même Suunto en utilisation sportive.

The problem is the Rangeman is basically inferior in every way compared the Instinct 3. Don’t get me wrong I love a Rangeman but it’s time Casio upped their game.

I am an archetypal long-term Apple ecosystem devotee. I am sharing this to help anyone else who may be locked into the Apple ecosystem, but is considering a switch to Garmin. I have a MacBook, iPad, AirPods, AppleTV and until recently an Apple Watch. I have had different Apple Watches since they launched, the Series 1, 3 and lastly an 8. I didn't really ever consider switching until my Apple Watch battery started giving me battery warnings at about 7pm (from starting the day on full charge at 6:30am). I would use it all day for health tracking, notifications and workouts, but not for sleep tracking as I had to charge it overnight. I recently upgraded to the Garmin Instinct 3, which is about $850 in Australia. This is in comparison to the $1,200 I was going to spend to upgrade to the titanium Apple Watch 10 instead. I was super on the fence about switching. I was mostly worried about poor integration with the Apple ecosystem. After having the Instinct for about 6 weeks, here are my reflections. # Good bits: * **Battery life is amazing** \- even with AOD I get about 6 days on full charge. Charge time is also amazing - it seems to take no time to take it off whilst I am at my computer and charge it 100% for another 6 days * **The sleep score and body battery is a game changer** \- It is insane how much this has helped me with better habits in just 6-weeks. I can see the difference in my sleep and body battery even if I have two alcoholic drinks at an event or with dinner, or if I have too much caffeine too late in the day. It is helping me understand the effects of these actions on other parts of my life more explicitly. * **Workout tracking** \- workout tracking is epic. I would like maps on the Instinct 3 so hopefully that comes out in a future firmware release. * **Form factor** \- The Instinct 3 form factor (combined with a better strap than the default) is a lot more interesting and versatile than the Apple Watch slab of glass on your wrist. The flashlight is a nice and useful inclusion too. # The okay bits: * **Integration is mostly fine** \- for my use case, getting notifications from iPhone and integrating with HealthKit seems to do 90% of the job. I don't miss the touch screen of the Apple Watch as much as I thought I would, and I didn't even really use Siri or respond to messages via my watch so I don't miss those features. # Bad bits: * **The UI is so bad** \- I can't believe a massive company such as Garmin has mid-2010's UI on both the watch and Garmin app. The graphs, data presentation and navigation is about 1000 points lower than Apple Health. It is so unappealing it looks like it was created by an accountant. * **The watch faces are very limited** \- the stock watch faces on the Instinct 3 are pretty garish and need customization to look okay on your wrist. The level of customization they have could also be improved. Even the watch faces to purchase on Garmin Connect are mostly unappealing. * **Missing exercise rings** \- I do miss my Apple Health Rings. I think it is a novel way of ensuring you have a balanced day of activity. I think Garmin needs to introduce something similar, which complements the idea of the body battery in a helpful, easy and visual way. * **The physical size of Garmin watches** \- I liked the idea of getting a Fenix due to the upgraded sensor and added other features, however I am a relatively small guy and it looked absolutely ridiculous on my wrist. Like a go-go-gadget watch. The 45mm Instinct 3 is perfect, but I feel like Garmin needs to offer better size alternatives for other models. Overall I am super happy with the switch and expect unless Apple Watch brings out something remarkably different than the current line-up I will stay with the Garmin Instinct line for a while. If you are tossing up on switching from Apple Watch I would highly recommend it!

Garmin Instinct 3 is good. Basic display with no touchscreen, which I find much easier to view and control when kiting. Also gets much better battery life than my Fenix did. One of those situations where less is more

The Instinct 3 is perfect for you if you don’t need maps on the watch. It can load a breadcrumb trail but doesn’t have topo maps overlays. Otherwise look for the previous generation of the Fenix’s, ie. Pro or non- Pro 7’s or Epix. The other option is to check out one of the Forerunner series that has maps. Again previous versions are cheaper than the latest. The features gap between current versions of Garmins and previous versions aren’t that great in its core functionality.

You can’t go wrong with a Garmin. The Instinct series is very rugged and reasonably priced. The fenix series is also super rugged but is at a premium cost

If you don't want to charge your watch everyday, check out the Garmin Instinct series. Amazing battery life, even with activity tracking. It'll track your laps, distance, drill logging, the works.

The instinct series is, in my opinion, by far the best. I believe this mainly due to the screen, which is not the awful LCD/LED stuff that most watches have. It's clear in all conditions, and extremely durable. I think the UI is also quite well done. Any of the instincts will fit the bill, but probably instinct 2 is the best balance of features.

My garmin instinct does a good job. Garmin also makes chest straps that sync with your phone just like their watches do

Garmin ecosystem is chocked full of goodness. Since I run and cycle, it’s great for multi sport. A lot of folks who only run seem to love Coros watches and their environment. I think either of those (with Strava integration) would be an improvement over your Apple Watch.

People have to stop comparing these. These are for two different people. I would never wear an Apple Watch based on battery life alone. I specifically got the Garmin for a wrist based gps and mapping tool to track and orient myself. You buy an Apple Watch to use smart features and be connected to your phone. Garmin has never been in that market. It’s a whole company based on gps systems for outdoor activities . You buy an Apple Watch to have Apple ecosystem. you can’t use half the feature of the fenix on an iPhone bc they only want you to use their watch… Garmin are all specifically made for their audience even down the the model . Apple watches are just to keep you plugged into your phone and have no bearing on actual outdoor activities despite calling it ultra. The Millitary has been orienteering with Garmin wrist based gps systems forever. You’d never catch an Apple Watch on patrol in Afghanistan. 😂