Instinct® E is the supertough 45 mm smartwatch that gets up to 16
days of battery life. It includes essential features such as
smart notifications and Connect IQ™ Store compatibility. It also
features 24/7 health and wellness tracking with wrist-based heart
rate, advanced sleep monitoring, Pulse Ox and more (this is not a
medical device, and data presented is intended to be a close
estimation of metrics tracked; Pulse Ox not available in all
countries). With its high-strength case and scratch-resistant
lens, the Instinct E smartwatch can take on your toughest
adventures. It’s engineered to MIL-STD-810 for thermal and shock
resistance and is also 10 ATM water-rated. Plus, it includes a
3-axis compass, barometric altimeter and multi-GNSS to keep you
on track when you’re off the grid.
Review: Best MIP watch. Compared with Instinct 2, Coros Pace 3,
Suunto 9 Peak Pro & Vertical - My priorities for a smart watch:
1) long battery life that I can use to track week-long
backpacking trips. 2) a display that I can ALWAYS read. I don't
like waiting for a display to light up; I don't need colors. 3)
something that doesn't need to be charged often so I can sleep
with it for my morning alarm and sleep tracking. My previous
watch was an Amazfit Bip S (with a MIP display). It recently died
after 4 years of use. I was looking for more to replace it. I
compared 5 watches with MIP displays: Garmin Instinct 3 Solar and
2 Solar, Coros Pace 3, Suunto Vertical and 9 Peak Pro. The Garmin
Instinct 3 was noticeably better than the Instinct 2: a crisper
and more reflective display, better solar charging, snappier
response (I noticed a little bit of lag switching screens
sometimes), and that torch! Feature-wise and software, they
looked identical. I think it wouldn't be worth upgrading from the
Instinct 2, but since I was replacing a watch, the improvements
in the Instinct 3 are worth the price difference. I wasn't going
to go cheap if either Garmin was better than the others. (The
Fenix is beyond what I want to spend.) The Instinct (both 2 and
3) is a cut above the Coros or Suunto in several ways: 1) while
the display is smaller, it had a more reflective display that was
easier to read in any light. Both 2 and 3 are more reflective
than the others actually. (See attached photo.) 2) while the
Garmin watch faces are not as pretty or even in color, almost all
of the display fields on the watch face can be customized. I
spent a while looking for watch faces for the Suunto and Coros
with the fields I want and never found the "perfect" one, but
with the Instincts, I could just select the data I want and place
them on the screen. 3) the activity data screens are also very
customizable with lots of options to choose from. I couldn't do
this as well with the Coros and Suunto. I didn't realize how much
I appreciated having customized fields and screens for hiking vs
biking vs running until I could. 4) solid battery life, solar
charging 5) thoughtful/useful features: lap stat announcements to
your BT headset, shortcut to power saving mode, unusual tracking
modes like expedition and area calc, double function of each
button - short vs long press, a double-tap shortcut for the torch
Otherwise, all five watches had similar features: activity
tracking galore, sleep tracking, alarms and timers, stopwatch,
compass, altimeter, barometer, etc. 2nd place: the Coros was the
most visually appealing of the set. The Instincts have that
rugged chunky look and a smaller monochrome display, while the
Coros was sleek with an attractive display (for MIP). Although
they were all "45mm" watches, the Coros had a lower profile on my
wrist, and through a trick of design, it looked like it had a
smaller bezel. (It wasn't.) Data fields were displayed in BIG
readable fonts during activities. The scroll wheel and two
buttons was probably the most fun interface to use. Scrolling and
zooming is quite nice with a scroll wheel. The Suunto Vertical is
very similar to the 9 Peak Pro. I got my hands on both. I don't
think it is worth the 2x price difference so I only compared the
9 Peak Pro with the others.
Review: Finally – The Updated Instinct I’ve Been Waiting For!
(Garmin Instinct 3 50mm AMOLED – Neotropic) - I’ve been rocking
the original Tactical Instinct for many years now, and that beast
has been absolutely bulletproof – still going strong after all
this time, which is rare for any smartwatch. But I’ve been
itching for an update, especially one with a vibrant screen, and
the Garmin Instinct 3 50mm AMOLED in Neotropic finally delivers.
This thing is a massive step up while keeping that rugged
Instinct DNA I love. The 1.3-inch AMOLED display is gorgeous –
bright, colorful, and super easy to read even in direct sunlight
or low light. It’s a huge improvement over the old monochrome
screen without sacrificing too much battery life (I’m getting
solid multi-week usage in smartwatch mode). The health and
training features are next-level: • Advanced wrist-based heart
rate monitoring that’s accurate during workouts and all-day
tracking. • Pulse Ox (blood oxygen) for around-the-clock
monitoring – great for sleep insights and altitude adventures. •
Enhanced sleep tracking, stress monitoring, Body Battery energy
levels, and HRV status. • Tons of built-in sports apps, adaptive
training plans via Garmin Coach, daily suggested workouts, and
detailed metrics for running, cycling, HIIT, and more outdoor
activities. Plus, it keeps all the tough stuff: military-grade
durability, multi-band GPS, built-in LED flashlight (super
handy), metal-reinforced bezel, and that classic Instinct
toughness. The Neotropic colorway looks sharp too – that vibrant
green/twilight combo stands out without being flashy. The watch
itself is outstanding – highly recommended if you’re coming from
an older Instinct like I am. The only downside? desertcart’s
delivery. It took 12 days to arrive, which feels excessive in
2026. Tracking showed it bouncing from the West Coast (Cali) to
the East Coast (Maryland) before finally landing in Florida. I’ve
noticed this happening more often with Prime orders lately –
maybe it’s just bad luck, but it was frustrating. Not the watch’s
fault, though! If you’re after a rugged, feature-packed update to
the Instinct series with that beautiful AMOLED screen, this is
it. Worth every penny. 🚀 I might upload some pics later if I can
do it justice!
