Garmin - Instinct E

I would go for either the Instinct 3 or Vivoactive 6. Both new watches are great, no issues. Vivoactive 6 is just in your budget range but isn't very 'rugged', which is the perfect desciption of the instinct 3 (which is a bit more pricey). You can go for the black and white screen of the Instinct E ($299), but the tech is a bit more dated, and if you are coming from an apple watch, im guessing you like the bright screens. Another option is the Epix 2 (refurbished) from amazon for $349 (what I would go for). This is their top of the line watch from a few years ago, but still very advanced with most of the new features. [https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1316397/pn/010-02936-00/](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1316397/pn/010-02936-00/) [https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1555457/](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1555457/) [https://a.co/d/fs1SPqL](https://a.co/d/fs1SPqL)

You are not vastly overweight, but smart to get in shape Re: recommendation- so many options between $120 (vivosmart 5 on Amazon sometimes) and $1200+. See the Garmin website. Without knowing what your aesthetic is, I would guess either Venu 4 or Instinct E. You get a lot of value from an Instinct E, if you like the looks. Venu has a different style and also suggested daily workouts for walking. Tracking the ‘training status’ on that and higher end watches is motivating too. Warning- Garmin does not make it easy to use incline % with treadmill workouts. Not sure about Apple https://www.reddit.com/r/Garmin/comments/p1oux5/is_there_a_way_to_log_treadmill_inclines/ If you are someone who is good at charging a watch every day, an Apple Watch might be better for you- Garmin is not as good for weightlifting or swimming, in my experience. Might be close call for sleep (debatable). Among iPhone users, Garmin is better for (1) people who insist on decent battery life (me) (2) training for running, biking, triathlon. Also golfers. Better GPS if you are wanting that for hiking. If you like to walk outside it is probably a wash. (3) Apple fitness might be really great in your situation, which (obvi) is way better with an Apple Watch than a Garmin

Garmin Instinct 3 solar, 50mm, or Instinct E if you are tight on budget. Works with Healthy365 and has impressive battery life. Expensive, but long lasting. (I got my first gen instinct lasted for 5 years before switching to the current Instinct3)

I snaked an edit in on you, sorry about that.  They're good, but they're the main reason why I recommended going smaller and lighter. I had an old generation fenix, the largest model, and it was impossible to sleep in. A few years ago I got a lightweight instinct and I can wear it a lot easier. 

If you want max battery life and don’t care about smartwatch features other than fitness tracking get the instinct series. There’s several options based off of your preferred display and it gets up to 28 days of battery with notifications turned off

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.

Not sure how long are your runs and hikes. If you are going for long hikes, can consider the Instinct series. Can take hard knocks like G-Shock and still function. The basic models with monochrome screen suffice for your needs and the battery is way more than enough.

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.

Check out instinct series if you concerned with durability

The I3 circle has lots of quality and software issues. The square does not…..I have both, I know…. But hey, great battery life on the Instinct series.

those missing stuffs are available for the Instinct series. Altho gotta compromise with the black and white MIP display which is not everyone's favorite food.

I try to give you few options , -swim 2 : have everything for swimming but is really focus only on swimming, heart rate is really good , but if you want to do others sports than is lacking a lot. Have drills mode and don’t miss a lap normally. -Suunto run/run s , if you change the strap get an amazing hr underwater (outside of water is way worse ) 🤷🏻‍♂️, is perfect on lap counting , have integrations with Suunto aqua headphone who give you some extra metrics on head rotations ( is still a new come , so something isn’t perfect yet) , can use for any other sports , but doesn’t have any drills mode -instinct series , actually similar to swim 2 but less accurate on hr reading and sometimes miss laps , can do so many things outside water , huge battery , but as a swimmer I felt not worth for only swimming so I send it back - forerunner series , it come in 2 versions , the small 200 series (the last one is called 500) , and the 900 series , go for the smallest , is lighter have everything you need and more stuff you won’t ever use , for the fact is smaller it is more comfy to use in water and hr just little bit more accurate , never miss a lap , and got all function of swim 2 for swimming plus tons of functions for many sports - in conclusion I use many times the Suunto but because is missing the drills mode I go back to forerunner when I need it , than I still using swim 2 bought so many years ago , I use for css , but honestly just because I feel nostalgic on it , after swim with him for many years

The instinct series might interest you as well, as they are more rugged with very long lasting battery. I have owned one in the past, then jumped to Forerunner 955 for the maps, then to Epix - for the flashlight and AMOLED screen, and now to Fenix 8 for the voice commands, taking phone calls from the watch. The new instinct 3 series have the flashlight too, and the 2X might have it as well (don't quote me on that) Best of luck, they're all great watches!

I only wear my Garmin Instinct when actually out for a run, or working out. If I wanted something to track my stats throughout the day, I would look into a Whoop. They don't have a traditional display, so it probably wouldn't feel as much like you're wearing two watches.

I'm a big fan of the Garmin Instinct watches, but I do like and use more of the smart features like notifications and whatnot. Features I love: * completely and utterly water proof (almost everyone I know using an apple watch has killed at least one in the water) * The rubber band is different material from the fitbits, I find it a lot more comfortable and doesn't smell when I wear it while sweating a lot like some other watches I have * 30 day battery life, and they have a solar option I'd like to upgrade to which will net essentially unlimited battery life if you're outside or in bright light often enough * Music controls! I haven't used a fitbit in years now but I always missed that back then. * Timers and alarms, I find myself being a lot more organized with my timers when they're on my wrist and visible at all times * Actually good step tracking * Sleep tracking * Heart rate monitoring and resting heart rate * Exercise tracking and actually decent approx calorie burn estimates (I did the math with my CI and weight loss and found it lined up within a pretty good margin) * I use the compass a surprising amount * GPS tracking for hikes including good ascent tracking * Buttons instead of touch so it can be used while sweating buckets * A battery saving mode that boosts the already great battery life into the stratosphere * Automatic data import into the LoseIt app, which I use for calorie tracking Most of these are specifically things that I like a lot better than similar products I've used like fitbits and the google pixel watch lineup. I've never used an apple watch myself but my sister and previous partners have used them and I really don't jive with the interface, although they have all said the idea of having a streak of "closing their rings" sufficiently gamified the process such that they actually did more exercise.

Hi guys. What fitness trackers/wearables do you guys use when daily wearing your Omega’s? I’m quite big into the gym and tracking my health, fitness and lifestyle and for this I currently use a Garmin Instinct smart watch. I only really use it for HR, steps and sleep tracking. It does also tell me about my recovery and training readiness which I quite like. But, in December I treated myself to a SMP300 in Seaweed Green to celebrate a really great year I’d had in 2024…Married, had my first child and landed my dream job. So to me it was worth celebrating by purchasing my first luxury watch. My issue is that I can count on 1 hand the amount of times I’ve worn it. I didn’t buy it to collect dust in a box and be an expensive ornament, I bought it to wear! So with that, I’m wanting to ditch the Garmin and daily my SMP but still be able to track my fitness and lifestyle. So what wearables are you guys using or what do you recommend? So far I can only really find Whoop that ticks the boxes for me, the biggest thing is it being screenless. I don’t want to be that guy who wears 2 watches 😅. Any recommendations and personal experience are great appreciated! Cheers guys.

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

For running, the **Forerunners** win because they’re lighter, have better training tools (readiness, load, recovery, VO₂, etc.), and give you more run-specific metrics. The **Instinct/Fenix** are better for hiking/backpacking since they’re tougher, with longer battery and more rugged features. Animated workouts are more of a nice to have, useful if you like guided bodyweight or gym sessions, but most people don’t rely on them. Daily suggested workouts are hit or miss: they’re good for structure but not something to blindly follow. Maps are genuinely handy if you do trails or long hikes; on runs they’re mostly good for keeping you on a planned route. The 970 only records ECG if you start it manually, it doesn’t passively check like an Apple Watch. Smart features: you’ll see texts and calls, but RCS isn’t supported (just standard SMS/notifications). The mic/speaker are fine for quick replies or answering a call in a pinch, but not something you’d want to use all the time. Why Garmin? Mostly the depth of training metrics, reliability, and ecosystem, Coros and Suunto are good but Garmin still has the most polished data!!