Garmin Instinct E

Running these analyses costs money. Buy through my links to help keep lights on! I may get a small commission.

Overall

#175 in

Fitness Trackers

according to Reddit Icon Reddit

Sentiment score56% positive
5
2
2

Top Pros

Top Cons

No summary available.

Last updated: Apr 28, 2026

Reddit Reviews

Reddit IconAvonSabreJet
6 months ago

You could look at an instinct 2S or a Garmin instinct E, both are 40mm

6 months ago

Honestly your best bet would be a Venu or an instinct, Venu is Garmin's health and fitness while instinct is there more traditional "G-Shock" style (best way I can describe it) watch, they don't really do the fitness tracker it's mostly all smartwatches. I have the Venu 4 coming from an instinct 2 solar. The vivo moves might also fit you well but they are older in comparison. If you are set on not having a smartwatch you may have to look into another brand, hope this helps, if you have any questions about the Venu or instinct let me know!

Reddit IconHourOccasion2450
7 months ago

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)

Reddit IconRadi8or
6 months ago

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

Reddit IconSL0WRID3R
7 months ago

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)

Reddit IconJuice0188
6 months ago

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. 

Reddit IconFippleNuckBartFox
about 2 months ago

You’ll love it! I have mine for a couple months and it’s great. Be sure to play with the settings to get it how you like. I setup mine using Ultratrac (slower gps intervals), only notifications from phone are calls, PulseOX is cool but not very accurate on any watch (due to wrist location) so I don’t use it. I love the Heartbeat monitor. Sleep data is awesome! Weather is really nice to have too. I installed TidesOZ using the ConnectIQ app because I fish and a couple other apps onto it. You’ll need two applications on your phone, Garmin Connect and Garmin ConnectIQ. The former is for all data on your watch in a nice phone display, access settings, update etc. the latter (ConnectIQ) allows you to install applications onto your watch. On my 40mm I’m averaging 10 days of battery life in the winter and summer I was getting closer to 16 days with an indefinite ability sometimes if I was outside a lot. Which is nuts compared to Apple. Have fun!

Reddit Icon_Chicken__Nugget_
8 months ago

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

Reddit Iconchris35moto
5 months ago

Garmin instinct series, they're tanks. Crashed mine straight into rocks, face survived with just a deep scratch

Rankings by Use Case

Top recommendations from others in the same boat

Other Reddit Recommendations: