Quatix 7 Pro

Apple for everyday and my quatix for backcountry. Apple Watch and phones as a backup satellite communicator. 

I’m pretty sure the Instinct 2 and 3 both use the same sensors and, internally, are quite similar. I bought a base model 45mm Instinct 2 at the tail end of 2024 to replace my AW6. Great move. I’ve been trying many Garmin MIP watches since but keep switching between the Instinct 2 and a Quatix 7 I snagged on sale. The base Instinct 2 is a great and affordable introduction to Garmin. It often goes on sale for under $300CDN and is easily available at big box store, so you could try one new and return it if it isn’t your thing. (I’d bet you will keep it.) The updated look (orange) and flashlight are the biggest changes with the 3, as far as I recall.. And OLED, if that’s of interest to you. Getting away from an OLED screen was one of the draws to the Instinct line for me.

Was on Forerunner 255 and loved it, now on Quatix 7, love the maps and the bigger battery.

Fenix 7 is fine, even without dual band GPS it's still very accurate. I was using Forerunner 255 with dual band GPS but almost always use single band all systems mode and it's still accurate. Now I'm using Quatix 7 which based off Fenix 7 and doesn't miss the dual band.

Great review of Vivoactive 6! Garmin stepped up the Vivoactive to be more similar with Forerunners and that's a good thing.  Anyway, I always buy Garmins one generation late to avoid paying too much. When Forerunner 265 came out, I bought FR255 for $250 and had a blast with it. And when Fenix 8 becomes the flagship, I bought Fenix 7 based Quatix 7 for $400, and I am now having a great time with it. 

was exactly in the same situation and got a quatix 7 pro trust me, after years of garmin connect and garmin watches it’s very difficult to move to apple. at least that’s my experience. i ended up like a clown using runGap to fake a garmin watch and import data into garmin connect and then i realized this is idiotic. and add to that the constant anxiety around battery life. but if you decide - good luck. :)

Battery life makes the AW a non-starter for me. I’ve never lasted more than a month with an AW. I really like my Quatix 7 but do sometimes wish I had gotten the AMOLED instead of the MIPS.

Garmin supports those apps (atleast last time when I looked). The best watches for swimming would be a Garmin Quatix but the Fenix is almost the same watch. Both are well made and support for sure Spotify. Strava is connectable within the Garmin App.

Quatix I can control everything from anywhere on the boat. Setting up to the start line for racing