Do what you love, longer with Garmin Instinct Solar. This rugged
GPS smartwatch boasts solar charging — giving incredible battery
life in smartwatch and Expedition modes while outdoors. Monitor
how your body uses energy by tracking heart rate, stress, sleep1
and Pulse Ox2 — which helps give you a better understanding of
your health and wellness. Get more out of the sports you love
with preloaded activity profiles such as running, biking,
swimming and more. Smart notifications3 at the wrist keep you
connected to what matters. Multiple global navigation satellite
systems (GPS, GLONASS and Galileo) help you track wherever your
adventures take you.
Review: Solid companion for exercise - I already have a fancy
time piece or two, what i needed was a strong, accurate and
durable watch to exercise in and be fairly accurate at recording
my heart rate. - hr - it's not a chest strap, but 95% of the time
is 5 bpm within a manual reading during exercise so I can't fault
it. Use it during HITT, weights and general cardio, as well as
football 5 a side. - build - seems super durable which was
essential given how clumsy i am. Banged it, dropped it, kids claw
at it, not so much as a scratch. Built like one of those old army
nokia phones that were indestructible. Couple of people have
iphone watches and the screens on them are always breaking at the
slightest of knocks or drops! - features - loads. I don't use
them all but its nice knowing they're there if needed - smart
watch? - if your priority is exercise then this is the one for
you. If you want to use it to ring, view texts etc don't even
bother. - app - seems ok, gets the info i want. Can it do more?
I've no idea, does what i need it to (show hr over a session, on
a graph etc, keeps track of days trained on a calander). -
Battery - took this on holiday with me, went to the beach etc and
all was fine. It had 16 days on it (battery saver mode on), a
week later it still had 16 days as it had been charging via the
solar panels. Probably had 2/3 hours of sun on it maximum a day
but probably didn't even need that. I only use the hr and
features when training, otherwise i just use it as a everyday
sturdy watch. There's probably loads more you can do on this
watch that I've not even looked at, i wanted a watch for training
and something that wasn't going to break when I'm out with the
family etc. Love the watch and it hasn't disappointed. I did look
at another model that was double the price, glad i bought this
one instead! Charging point is odd though, why not usb c? Only
flaw i can think of really Update : i now use the gps for cycling
which seems accurate and useful. Hr can give inaccurate results
if the strap is too loose, something to be mindful of. Tighten it
up slightly and it's good to go Update 2 - had this watch four
years now and still going strong! Annoyingly so, as I'm after an
upgrade but it's hard to justify when this one is working. -the
solar does not seem to work anymore though, but the battery still
holds great charge. - id like maps which some newer versions
have. - an updated hr sensor - probably worth noting i only use
this watch for exercise and on holidays where i don't mind if I
break/lose it
Review: Absolutely perfect. - This is everything i wanted in a
smart watch. it does enough, it doesent do swirly graphics, funky
noises, call long lost aunt aggy or calculate your weight on
mars. What it does do, firstly the surf version i bought in the
white/marine blue looks awesome. I wanted something other than
the generic black watch, got one of those. This ticks that box
perfectly. Garmin has as much clout as samsung and apple in this
badge snobbery universe. But i think it has a little extra here
and above all, its still a watch. Not a phone extension, a
genuine use on the wrist tell the time watch. Other reviewers
bemoan the apps you have to download to use it. Maybe im
different but it makes sense to me, connect to use the watch with
your phone, connect iq (effectively garmins wearable app store)
for the tide app i needed finishing with the navigation app. I
dont see issues with any of them. Seems logical to me, they are
nicely self contained, easy to use (basic to some i suppose) but
does what it says on the tin. Actually using the watch, like i
said its a watch, just has more functions. None of that silly
swipe business that used to send my old huwawei into palpitations
when it rained. Its all button based and a good thing too. The
buttons are logical and only needs a day or 2 to be very
comfortable with what does what. Anybody who has used one of the
function loaded casio G shocks will be very comfortable. Its not
as butch as a g shock but is still not a shy flower. Doesent
catch on your cufs and the strap is really comfortable. Things
like weather, position, compass, mapping, storm warning, blood
gas, pulse, exercise it just never ends. How they got it all in i
don't know. All the functions do take a bit of figuring out and
to be honest the manual is, no other word for it crap, it is very
much a quick start guide. If you buy one, set yourself down in
front of the lap top with a coffee and use the online manual on
the garmin website to go through everything. The vibrating alert
seems a bit too much at first, especially if you get several
alerts at once but when you think on it, if your
diving/surfing/biking it prob needs to be a little heavy handed
to get your attention and you can turn it off. The icing on the
cake, the simply ridiculous battery life. Mine is a solar and it
would appear if you spend a reasonable time outside without
pushing the watch too hard you might charge it once or twice a
MONTH. I have had mine 3 days now and obviously have been like a
kid with a new toy. Worn it 24hrs a day and its just dropped off
of full on the battery indicator. The others need to listen to
this. The screen looks blocky compared to an apple watch but it
has a no business look i feel. The screen is a black and white
pixel screen. Like the kindle screens, prob why the battery lasts
so long. Perfectly suits the needs of the watch. Ultimately i
love it, i was not intending to use even half the functions,
thinking most to be gimmicks like the huwawei. For the most part
i bought it for its looks and the little boy inside loves the
gadgets. Now i have it, those gadgets are actually real useable
functions not remotely gimmicks and i will be using them. 10/10
(Just to add) After owning the watch for several months now the
only negative is you need to wash the watch regularly as its
white. On holiday in kos, I left the UK with 28 days charge. 5
days into the holiday I had 41 days. Love this watch.
