Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Smartwatch

I got it so I could track steps and heart rate and got a lot more. The gps tracking is fun for hikes and safety. At anytime you can send a signal out to let people know I am in trouble and a coordinate on where. The solar charger on it works very well. When camping or working outside it get a few days of charge as long as I am in one of the lower modes of operation. You can add your digital wallet to it for tap pay. I don't use all of the functions my self but there are videos on YouTube that explain all of it It has been a long indispensable tool day to day.

So far so good, lives up to its reputation. Haven't used all of its capabilities just yet but will have by the end of December.

Amazing battery life. The watch arrived in the box with 28 days of charge. I finally got bored and charged it when it had 18 days left. The watch has so many features, I'm still figuring them out. Love the watch!

Love this watch and all the features it has.small issue with GPS connectivity.

Many of the features motivate me and help me think about ways to get better. I especially value the sleep feature. I’m more focused on what helps me sleep better (eg, no alcohol or food) in the evening. The record of my hikes and sleep and other features give me a glimpse into my overall health.

I love that everything I want is right on the face.

I purchased my instinct and at first liked it a lot, the same with a Fenix 7 and Fenix 8. After 3 to 4 days of wearing the watches, they have stopped measuring my sleep. This is a big issue for me. I have gone to the website for answers and found none. I will never buy a garmin product ever again. Going back wearing a regular watch.

Coming from the vívoactive 5, this is a huge upgrade. I run, climb, and work as a wildland firefighter, and this watch is exactly what I wanted. I picked up the Instinct 2 Solar as I started training for an ultramarathon and it’s made the training more accurate, more focused, and more engaging. The UI and menus for tracking activities makes perfect sense to me, and the ability to customize menus / preferred workouts / stats I want to see during and after activities makes my training that much better. The solar function is great and the battery life is insanely long. Incredibly happy with my purchase!

It has all of the features that I need on the face at a glance, all at once. Easy to read, and the app is easy to use.

Love all the features, heart rate monitor very accurate. Full of motivational workout challenges. Really been fun. Fully recommend this watch

I have had the Instinct 2 Solar for about a month and have been putting it through its paces. I wanted to move away from Apple because I got tired of being tethered to a charger. Using my Instinct 2 Solar to track four to five workouts a week ranging from an hour to 3 hours I was able to make it over twenty one days on a single charge. This brought me down to 30% and “7 day remaining” on my charge. I have noticed that the solar charging doesn’t like to go from bright to dark to bright, I would get the no charging slash if I did that. In continuous sun though I have no problems with it charging. The point is, with long sleeves or when the watch face isn’t in direct sun expect some periods where you get a no charging slash. The sensors in the watch work as they should, Garmin knows what they are doing, and are accurate. If you don’t need, or don’t want wrist based maps and don’t want to have to put your watch on a charger every night this is the watch for you. Enjoy!

Awesome watch for an awesome price. I just wish it solar charged a bit more effectively, but it is still outstanding in its class.

Use it for all of my activities. Swimming, MTB, paddling and more. Very durable and the solar charging helps significantly on those times when you are not around utilities. I was glad to finally find a wearable device that could hold up after others broke.

I’ve had this watch now for two months and it has been everything it was advertised as. I couldn’t be happier with the durability, function, and look.

I’m enjoying my Garmin Instinct 2 Solar. It’s not perfect but is 10x better than my Apple Watch was. The battery life is extraordinary! I’m pretty active and do use the GPS feature on a daily basis, so I get roughly 15 days out of the battery before needing to charge. However, my Apple Watch wouldn’t even last 12 hours if I was tracking a backcountry hiking trip. So, I’m very pleased with the Garmin Instinct 2’s battery performance. It’s also very rugged for all the outdoor activity I do! Without having to constantly charge it, I can wear it most all the time and use it to monitor my sleep and other metrics which is nice. On the slightly annoying side, I did have my first heart rate measurement hiccup today. I was riding an I door stationary bike. My heart rate was in the high 140’s to low 150’s bmp but the Instinct 2 was reading my heart rate in the 90’s to 100 bpm. Did this for 10 minutes of my 30 minute workout. I fiddle with it, trying to clean the sensor and finally got it to read properly. However, the incorrect heart rate measurement threw my whole workout measurements off. Other than this, I’ve really enjoyed my Garmin Instinct 2 Solar.

I thought I would love it but I didn't. I could t get use to the background light which made the numbers blue on a white background. Hard on my eyes. I also thought I could handle going from a colored Samsung watch to black and white but I couldn't. It's not a bad watch at all just not the right fit for me so I went to the Fenix 7 solar. The solar was a huge part of my decision since I work outside

I love that it charges by sun so I don't have to worry.

The watch seems like a nice watch, however the screen not being in color and smaller made it very difficult for me to read. I ended up returning the watch and buying a fenix 7 pro solar. So far I like the fenix 7 more just due to being able to see the face better and read it better.

Bought this watch because battery life is my biggest concern, and it has been stellar. Even with using a lot of features, the battery lasts over two weeks per charge with the solar feature. With the Connect app, this watch can do anything you need (and likely more). It's been really easy to dial in my training intensity and amount. So far it's stood up to water and rugged conditions, cant recommend it enough.

Great features, easy to use., very versatile for all kinds of training.

I purchased this watch as a replacement for my original Solar Instict. I loved the watch but did not love the relatively short battery period between charges. The Solat Instict 2 has great battery life and the watch now gives the owner the ability to document periods on a treadmill as an activity, which is my usual exercise choice. All in all, a really good, tough and handsome watch that is well worth the cost.

Good fit and light weight. The solar is awesome, I’ve not charged it in a week and it’s at 90%. The only thing I dis-like about the watch is, none of the watch faces that it comes with lets you keep the compass on your Home Screen. You have to hit a button for the compass to pop up, which isn’t a big deal. But for me it would be more convenient to always have your compass on the Home Screen.

its very hard to read.... im getting up i my age and the screen is a little small for reading. i bought it for the golf features.... so far it works good.

This is the first watch that I have owned that I could honestly say that I don't worry about taking it off any time I start to do anything. This watch is rugged and long-lasting even with everything I have running it still will go well over two weeks before needing a charge. The only watch that I think I would buy if this watch ever does quit working is another Garmin

I’ve had this watch for over a year.. gotta say it’s a game changer. I originally bought it for the heart rate monitor. Now I use it for much more. Just as recently as last week I realized I could track my pup from my watch. Not having to pull out the handheld every time is a time saver “not that’s it that hard in the first place “ but watching on the wrist speed and direction at a glance is great. I’ve put over 100 miles on the trail .. weather updates ,gps gym workouts . Garmin has a great product and pair very well with ease. Aruba to Alaska this watch is bulletproof.

The watch is very durable and holds a charge. Little bit of a learning curve with it when you first get it but otherwise I love it!

I'm almost 80 years old, ruck and hike at least 30 miles a week. Wanted something to monitor my cardiac and general physical data while rucking as well as sleeping. I am very pleased with this watch and recommend it for any active person regardless of their age.

I've been using smartwaches since they exist, been through Sony, Samsung, Pebble, Fossil and now Garmin. There is the obvious idea of matching what you want in a watch and the many different options out there, but if you're looking for - lightweight, easy to sleep with it on - outstanding battery life, takes 2 weeks for mine to wear out (and still has the capability of recharging using solar) - robust software, with detailed sleep, exercise, heart, etc. data - no frills build which can take a serious beat without a scratch then the Instinct 2 Solar is the watch for you. I confess sometimes I feel like wearing the Fossil Gen 6 I have for the sake of colored, different faces (I subscribe to Facer, for the time being) but very rapidly I realize the sluggish performance and the incredibly small battery life are not for me. The notifications work fine, having an altimeter to me is a bonus, I can use NFC to pay using watch only with my 4-digit passcode, and I can customize the watchface I chose from the few available - and you can download more, but I enjoy the one I setup enough not to will to change it. I ended up leaving the Gen 6 and Samsung Active 3 behind and when I see new watches popping up - Samsung 7, Google Pixel 2 etc. - I see them as fancy, colorful, byt they do not appeal to me. This is my first Garmin smartwatch and I understand there are plenty on their lineup - some very expensive and full of specs Instinct 2 doesn't have - but honestly, unless I'd have some use for it I'm truly happy with my watch.

I have been an Apple Watch user for many years but got tired of charging it every night. This has been a great change

This watch is. nightmare to work with—I was trying to upgrade to ant ability interface for my indoor bike trainer. No thank you- will put in data myself. I like a watch that is easier to use and one that is more intuitive. Will keep looking.