Tactix 7 Series

I had a Garmin Instinct 2x Solar Tactical Coyote tan, I was in love with that watch, and I didn't need detailed maps and a color screen. But...that watch is not for longer trips with routes loaded, say over 130km with GPS on. My watch froze twice. That day the watch and the navigation were unusable. Then I bought a Garmin Tactix 7 Standard Edition, for me it is the best Garmin watch I have ever had.

Ima be honest with you… don’t for a second believe the Garmins are super durable. It’s half garbage promotion portraying their build quality like it’s supposed to be all that but it’s like any other brand. Buttons stop working and hang up, I’ve had 3 watches exchanged through warranty due to that, a Fenix 6, and two Tactix 7 pro. Their DLC coating is hot garbage, the Tactix which was supposed to be their military applicable watch is made with such a light coat that edges just by touching them shine through of metallic silver within weeks. Any minor hit, grain or ding is an instant scratch that won’t go away on the DLC coating. Regular titanium is vastly better. Software is hit and miss, it’s the same hardware since 2001, maps and other things might bugg out due to not having enough processing power to handle all things at once even on their top of the line watches. Updates are regular but comes with buggs and massive battery drains at times. My tactix never recovered to last 28 days as it should after their updates. Certain 3rd party watchfaces drain battery even more so it just doubles down completely. And don’t let me start with their wrist bands and quality, 4 Tactix bands gone to shit, they start yo peal from the edges, Velcro just gives in after a few months… After 6 years and seeing them just adding premium on top of premium with all the issues they have is as of now a true banana fest. HQ has no idea wtf they are doing and what the audience wants.

Yeah next step I to move away from garmin after 6-7 years. Every update eats battery, more issues added less fixed. My tactix 7 can’t even run any other IQ store watchface due to having massive battery drain. Despite full watch reset, reboots and so on it’s not last the 28 day as advertised.

Garmin Tactix 7 with the solar is what I use. Otherwise, Garmin ecosystem through and through - RINO radios, InReach messengers. Two things I wish Garmin had: First, aggregation in a guide-style app. To the best of my knowledge, nobody offers this. Ideally, it'd be nice for me to be able to, via low-power Bluetooth, get data from *everyone's* watches in my group as a guide, that way I could pick up anyone whose heart rate or respiration or HRV or O2 uptake is outside of expectations. Second, while I do love me some Garmin, I'm right now at 7 apps I've had to download to make the Garmin ecosystem go (BaseCamp, Connect, ConnectIQ, Earthmate, Messenger, Ballistix, Explore). I know they know about SSO, they just have apparently chosen not to implement it. I'd note, too, that Garmin stuff is about as close to bombproof as it can be. Their watches do work from -40F to 130F (tested personally), 3-4ATM depth, hard impacts (not that I'm volunteering to do human testing, but the same impact that destroyed an IP68 headlamp didn't impact my Garmin functionality; I used the watch light to make my exit). And, Garmin has meaningful navigation integration built in. If you lose your primary nav device, it's exceptionally helpful. Especially as a guide, where you might be navigating to a specific anchor and need nav with good resolution, it's immensely helpful. Can Coros do that? Probably. Suunto used to be my go-to, but the ecosystem is not great and Suunto has sorta been laggardly of late. I'd like to give the Coros stuff a whirl at some point. Among the Utah guiding community (which, granted, is more Skimo and canyoneering than pure mountaineering), Toyota trucks and Garmin watches are almost ubiquitous. Which isn't to say that there aren't alternatives, just moreso that Garmin is an eminently known quantity.

I switched from Suunto to Garmin 4 or 5 years ago. Use a Tactix 7 now, but Tactix or Fenix is probably what you want. I will say Garmin is essentially the Toyota of outdoor sports. You can beat on their stuff endlessly and it'll work. If they say something is waterproof to 3 atmospheres, they aren't lying about it (looking at you, Nikon). If they say it'll function in minimal external atmospheric pressure, then it will. Will it work 20 degrees below 0 (F)? Yes. 130 degrees F? Also, yes! They are expensive as hell, but I think I'm up to around 900 activities recorded on mine, yielding something like $1.25 per activity recorded. There's a dude here on Reddit that sells 20% off coupons for Garmin devices if that's your jam.

Garmin Tactix 7 user. I see absolutely no benefit over the Apple Watch besides battery life. My OLD Apple Watch was better for heart rate than this Garmin ever as been. I'm only wearing it because work gave it to me for free (and I only wear it while exercising). My wife, who swore she'd never use a smart watch now runs and sleeps wearing my ancient Apple Watch and she gets all the actually useful data that I have. Complaint about the Garmin: Several times, usually while cycling, it'll read 80-90bpm while my heart is actually 170ish. I won't even use the Garmin while cycling anymore. Sure it has extra bells and whistles that the Apple Watch might not have ...but if you can't be consistent and reliable with something as simple as HR, why waste the time/money? I'll get hate for this, but I think Garmin is more of a status symbol for "serious" endurance athletes more than it is its own unique and valuable tool.

Not a swim specific watch, but I use a Garmin Tactix 7. I find the tracking very accurate, but the watch is pretty bulky and I notice it more over long distances. Heard good things about the Garmin swim though

Sounds like you don't need the best and newest to get all the features you need here. Most of the watches you're being recommended will be perfect for you, yes. But any older Fenix/Tactix will work for you too. In fact, I'm still using my Fenix 6x Solar, does literally everything you outlined here besides the stealth mode, jump master, etc. A Tactix 7 or event Tactix Delta will achieve all you need. Just a side note, best battery = MIP display. Don't think you can get a stealth mode (night vision) with an MIP display, that's reserved for the amoled versions. Good luck on your search!

IMO, think about the what it is, a watch. It's primary function still is to tell time. If you have to charge it every day, flick your wrist in a weird way to see it, etc then it's not very good as a watch. Get the Garmin. I have the Tactix 7 and it's amazing.

Is the Instinct a touch screen? I had a Fenixn3 HR which I used for about 5 years. Upgraded to a Tactix 7 and was disappointed with how much dimmer it was than the 3. I figured it must be the touch screen functionality which I don't even use.

Hmm Fenix 3 HR had sapphire crystal but no touch screen or solar charging. I thought the solar was just the ring. Who knows....Fenix 3 HR was noticeably brighter. Anyway I want MIPs so 8 pro definitely won't do anything for me. Instinct 3 looks nice but I have Tactix 7 now so I'll stick with that.