Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Rugged GPS Smartwatch, Mist Grey

OK, full disclosure, I really like this watch. No, REALLY like it. I have now bought 4! These ranged from the first incarnation, through the Instinct 2 solar (I have large wrists) and 2 of the smaller 2S for my wife and son. I am not going to go through the myriad of features and functions - there are a host of other places that can give you that info. What does this give you that you didn't get before? Sleep profile : We all have busy lives and understanding how good (or poor) your sleep was really helps plan your activities - if you are training for an event, knowing that you didn't sleep particularly well can help avoid injuries; or maybe not staying out later than you should? If you don't sleep well, this really helps show how changing your routine can help (or hinder) it. Body Battery : Yes, this is closely linked to the sleep profile, but understanding how drained your body gets is incredibly useful. I am working on doing longer stints on the rowing machine and working out when I can push and when I need to take it easy really helps me avoid getting over-tired which is when you are most likely to have an injury. Battery life : 3 weeks, yup. And that is without the solar option - which is great, but only for the larger watch faces as there is a larger surface area for the solar receptors. I mean - what is the point of having a watch like this, but it runs out of juice in a few days? Activity monitor : It doesn't matter what activity you do, but the likelihood is that this watch will give you the ability to monitor it. Just to let you know though, the use of activity monitors does significantly reduce the battery life. As a guide, I use about an hours monitor every day and this reduces the battery by about 40% This is totally impractical with other watches (you'd spend your life recharging it!), but with the Instinct battery life, it is not a problem. Sat Nav : Garmin's positioning is excellent, so if you are keen on recording how far you go on cycling, walking or running sessions then this is truly superb. Practicality : Being able to wear the watch all the time (apart from the occasional recharge) is really excellent. The strap has lots of holes, so sweat and water tends to disapate easier than full covered straps. Some might consider that that a lack of touch screen is a downside; but I am not convinced. A watch is not really large enough for that to be practical. Net result; you do need to learn the buttons, but it is pretty obvious and shouldn't take too long. You can adjust the watch face to fit in with your presonal preferences. Another warning; some of the faces do drain the battery faster than normal. So, great battery life, super activity options, a good price and it helps understand your physical wellbeing. What is not to love?

After using the Garmin Instinct 2X Solar for the past few weeks, I can confidently say it's an incredible piece of technology that has seamlessly integrated into my daily life. If you’re considering this watch and wondering how it compares to the 2 and 2S models, the main differences are the size, battery life and the flashlight. The original Instinct 2 is 45mm, the 2S is 40mm, and the 2X is 50mm. I will attach photos of the front, size and back of the watch, and I have an 18cm wrist for reference. The battery life is also different, with the 2X being the best, then the 2, then the smaller 2S. The flashlight (unexpectedly one of the best features) is only available on the 2X model. Size and Display: The Instinct 2X Solar features a larger display compared to the 2 and 2S, making it incredibly easy to read notifications, track your steps, or check the time at a glance. The bigger screen is a welcome upgrade that enhances usability, whether you're at your desk or on the move outdoors. Plus, with more solar panel real-estate and upgraded solar panel tech, it makes the solar capabilities more meaningful. You literally gain more power by spending the same time in the sun, compared to the other models. Battery Life: The battery life of this watch is simply ridiculous. Even with multiple extra features turned on, I’m predicted to enjoy 30 days of battery life. I've been wearing it for 20 days and have 10 days left. This is a stark contrast to the daily charging routine required by other smartwatches, like the Apple Watch. This extended battery life means I can rely on it without constantly needing to recharge, making it ideal for busy people. I will need to charge this watch for 2 hours, once per month. No worries at all. I stopped using my previous smartwatch purely because it needed charging on a daily basis which I got sick of. I love that I can just wear this watch, without worrying about the battery. Built-In LED Flashlight: Unexpectedly, one of my favorite features is the built-in LED flashlight. Before buying, I really thought it was a gimmick that I wouldn't use, but It's surprisingly incredibly handy and something I use multiple times a day. Whether I’m navigating dimly lit areas in the my house late at night or need a quick light source for any task, this flashlight is incredibly bright and convenient. It easily lights up an entire room on full brightness, it's as bright if not brighter than my phone torch, and it's on my wrist at all times, easily activated with a swift double click of a button. I went to buy a used car the other day, and even used it to check under the car for rust. The seller found it very amusing and remarked that it was like a "spy gadget"! I honestly feel at this point that I would feel lost without it. Plus, it's LED so barely puts a dent in battery life. GPS Accuracy: The dual-band GPS on the 2X Solar provides exceptional accuracy. While I primarily use it for tracking workouts and runs, the precision it offers is impressive and ensures that my data is always accurate, whether I’m exercising or simply checking my route. I have attached a few screenshots of the Garmin Connect app so you can see what to expect with that. The GPS maps style image is the analysis of a quick walk I went on with my dog. You can see in the bottom left the red circle is where I had a quick mad dash with my dog who chased me around some grass and back to the path. Super accurate. Customization: The customization options available with the Instinct 2X Solar are extensive. I appreciate how I can tailor the watch face and settings to fit my personal style and needs. Not only can you completely change between dozens of watch faces, and potentially thousands more with the Garmin store, but when you've selected a watch face you like you can also edit every single data point on the face, choose exactly what you want to see, and where you want to put it on the display. The Garmin Connect app complements this perfectly, offering excellent insights into my fitness data and helping me track my progress with ease. It’s a fantastic tool for managing both my workouts and daily activity levels. One of my favorite features is the "training readiness" feature and body battery, which takes into account your sleep history, activity and stress markers, to determine whether you should rest or exercise. I have found it exceptionally accurate. When I feel good, I see my body battery is high to match. When I feel really run down, I check it and without fail see an awful body battery score. Durability: Despite being a rugged smartwatch, the 2X Solar fits comfortably and looks great for everyday wear. It’s built to be tough, but its design is sleek enough to complement a professional setting, making it just as appropriate for an office environment as it is for more demanding activities. In summary, the Garmin Instinct 2X Solar has proven to be an invaluable tool in both my professional and personal life. Its impressive battery life, handy flashlight, precise GPS, and customizable features make it a standout choice for anyone looking for a versatile smartwatch that performs exceptionally well in any situation. If you’re looking for a smartwatch that can keep up with a busy lifestyle and offer top-notch functionality, the Instinct 2X Solar is definitely worth considering. 5 stars all day. I am now officially a Garmin fan.

My Garmin has exceeded my expectations. I wanted a watch to start tracking my metrics, this watch has everything you will ever need out of the box. I also subscribed to Garmin connect, small fee and got way more extra options.. Ive had the watch for 3 weeks and not needed to charge it yet. The size at 50 mm is perfect even though I have a smaller wrist. The watch itself is lightweight so it doesn't weight me down when I'm training. With the bigger screen size it's easy to read when running and in everyday life. It's super easy to connect with your phone and means with Google pay built in I don't have to carry my wallet with me when out training. When synced with your phone it can have all your notifications enabled, everything from calls to messages and emails. I haven't put music on it yet but it's seems like an easy set up process. The tactical version looks stealth on the wrist, it feel strong even thought lightweight.

This watch truly shines as a dedicated companion for outdoor pursuits and general health monitoring. Its GPS performance, even within challenging woodland environments, is remarkably precise, keeping you within a couple of metres of your actual location – more than adequate for route tracking and navigation on walks. The heart rate monitoring also proves highly consistent across varying activity levels, accurately reflecting your exertion as long as the watch is properly snug on your wrist. For anyone who spends a good amount of time exploring, whether it's through the woods or simply tracking daily steps, this device provides reliable and actionable data. The daily insights are well-covered too. The Morning Report is a handy digest, offering quick glances at sleep health, battery levels, calendar entries, and weather – a perfect briefing to start the day. While customisation is available, the standard report seems to hit the mark for most users. Sleep tracking, with its breakdown of duration, types, and quality, adds another layer to understanding your overall well-being. From a smart feature perspective, the display is clear and readable, and while button shortcuts require a bit of memory for custom setups, the core navigation remains intuitive. It's also a relief to know you can easily tailor notifications, stopping the watch from buzzing incessantly with every minor alert – a thoughtful touch for maintaining focus. Where this watch truly impresses is its sheer durability. After three years of constant wear – through garden digging, house moves, and gym sessions – it's held up incredibly well, showing no scratches or dints on the casing or screen. The only component needing replacement was the strap after extensive use, which is entirely expected and a testament to the watch's build quality. The SmartThings integration is a genuinely practical addition, allowing for quick control of smart home routines directly from your wrist, like turning the heating on when heading home. Considering its robust feature set, exceptional battery life (even accounting for the UK's limited solar benefits), and impressive durability, the price point feels genuinely fair. It offers significant functionality packed into a compact device, easily justifying its cost against other smartwatches on the market, especially when comparing battery longevity to something like an Apple Watch. The only notable drawback, and it's a significant one for any long-term investment, is the non-replaceable battery. It’s an industry-wide issue, but it does mean that, ultimately, this excellent piece of tech has a finite lifespan, which is a bit of a shame for an otherwise near-perfect outdoor companion.

I've been watching this since it first came out, and took the plunge when it was discounted on prime day. I've used a Forerunner 45 for a couple of years to track my two or three runs a week, and the odd walk/cycle, but wanted something that could fill in the other Smartwatch gaps - especially NFC - ideally without the typical Smartwatch battery life issues. Boy does this fit the bill. I charged it last Thursday at midday, and have been wearing it for three and a half days since. I've done a 13km run, used the compass and other gadgets, paid for stuff whilst out and the battery is currently at 22 days. The weather has been rubbish too - I can imagine a decent UK summer would have given even better performance. It was trivial to set up, is only marginally larger than my old Forerunner and no heavier at all. I can use it to track my sleep, just like I did with the Forerunner, and because it's a bit higher spec, Garmin are pushing fun extra features to it - Morning Report and Training Readiness are apparently on the way in the next update. It's generally much better equipped than the Forerunner, and has a bunch of extra gizmos that I'm unlikely to use, but really quite enjoy having. I've been able to set it up pretty much fine for running - I think a few widgets are missing from the Forerunner, like how far you've run in a given week, but I've been able to add something similar using Connect IQ, which is like Garmin marketplace. It's monochrome only - but I never really felt that the Forerunner needed the faint colour splashes it had, and I'm happy to trade that for all the other benefits. GPS hooked up a treat when I took it out for my run - much quicker than the old watch - and I have all the same screens available, plus a bunch of other on-watch features (Navigation, find my car, back track) which I can actually see will be really useful. The strap is comfortable and has masses of adjustment - I've barely noticed it's there for long periods today. I was particularly excited to try out NFC - GarminPay have a limited range of supported banks, but they include Starling, Revolut and Curve. I set up an account and synced it to the watch all in about 15 mins whilst sitting on my sofa, and the following day used the Instinct 2 to pay for stuff. This and the battery life will mean that I can use the watch as my daily when heading in to the office, which neither my Forerunner nor my expensive Fossil watch allowed me to do before (Fossil has NFC, but roughly a 10 hour battery life). It's early days but this is looking like one of the best purchases I've made in ages. Zero regrets to date, strongly recommended!

My first venture into smart watches, never been interested before, I initially looked at some of the lesser brands due to price but couldn’t place my trust in them , I have a galaxy phone so studied the samsung watches very tempted but couldn’t handle the 1 day battery life . Attention then went on Garmin but put off by the prices and although I initially I wanted a colour display once the this chrome only display rugged Casio g shock imitating watch came to my attention at the perfect price on Amazon I was soon sold. 5 double function buttons which equates to 10 meaning no need for touching screen. This watch has plenty of smarts despite the humble appearance, I love the hot buttons for short cuts such as access to radio controls, I clean windows so like my radio so when a customer approaches 2 clicksand I mute the volume. When I Start a walk or bike ride it’s 2/3 clicks to record time and distance. Set up takes time to get it just right and lots of button pressing - learning which can be a tad frustrating but give it the time it needs,DO NOT Send it back, this is an outstanding watch in which I get 19 days battery life with minimal charging time when it eventually gets low. Watch looks/ feels great I have bought some click on straps as the one fitted was heavy and dull tho top quality as you would expect. Sleep features on watches bring different thoughts from reviewers but I think it’s mostly accurate and I like the morning report it gives me. The app is fine for me. The blue tooth range is excellent meaning I can leave phone downstairs and while upstairs I will receive all notifications of emails and WhatsApp and missed calls This watch may well appeal to younger ones with better eyes than my 46 year old ones , i do struggle a bit so as I said not for everybody, some may well be better off with the next affordable colour display . The rugged nature of the watch means I can not worry too much when at work or football, I did buy the black little cover to protect it which is good but haven’t bothered with screen protectors tho I would have other watch but the screen lays deep in to the watch. I definitely recommend Garmin on a company who create lots of watches for lots of different needs, even wagon drivers can buy a version of this for their needs, amazing. It’s great how it doesn’t look or drain battery like a smartwatch but smart it definitely is in every sense of the word.

After so many expensive smart watches I was fed up of the 1-day battery life only after disabling every useful feature possible and just stopped wearing them in favour of more simple digital watches and my favourite Suunto X-Lander. I came across the Garmin Instinct 2 as a cheap smart watch option with all the features. I originally looked at the Solar version but as it's winter in the UK and I mostly wear long sleeves even in the summer, I couldn't justify the extra £60. I haven't been disappointed. I get 30-days on one charge (no GPS) and with only a 2hr recharge, it's pretty much always on my wrist. I actually love the basic mono screen, which works best with light on dark watch faces, and that it's controlled entirely from buttons (no fingerprints to wipe from the screen). It took no time to work out what the buttons do and how to navigate the options. And if that's too awkward, the Garmin Connect app allows you to configure every aspect of the watch. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of activity options the watch can track, each with it's own customisable screens and data tracking. In particular, with the golf activity linked with the Connect Golf app, it does exactly the same as the golf version Garmin Approach S12 watch. Even without the activity tracking it's an amazing every day watch. It's the ideal size for my largish wrist, it looks smart, it's water resistant, it has built-in sensors for altitude, barometer, compass (as good as my Suunto) as well as temperature, heart rate and blood oxygen, steps; then the added GPS tracking and notifications all make this perfect for my needs.

I've been using the Garmin Instinct 2X SOLAR for a few months now, and it has exceeded my expectations in every way. This rugged GPS smartwatch is an absolute beast, designed to withstand the toughest conditions while offering a comprehensive suite of features that make it indispensable for anyone who loves the outdoors. **Durability:** The ultratough design is no joke. I've taken it hiking, biking, and even through some pretty rough terrain, and it’s held up without a scratch. The large, rugged build feels solid and reliable, perfect for those who need a watch that can handle the elements. **Solar Charging:** The solar charging feature is a game-changer. Even with heavy use, I rarely need to charge it manually. Just being outdoors keeps the battery going, which is incredibly convenient, especially on long trips where access to power might be limited. **Built-in Sports Apps:** The variety of sports apps built into this watch is impressive. Whether you're running, swimming, cycling, or hiking, there's an app tailored for it. The GPS is accurate and responsive, making it easy to track your activities in real time. Plus, the detailed analytics help you monitor your progress and improve your performance. **Health Monitoring:** The health monitoring features are comprehensive and easy to use. Heart rate, sleep tracking, stress levels—everything you need to keep an eye on your overall well-being is right there on your wrist. The insights are clear and actionable, helping me stay on top of my health goals. **Design:** The Graphite color is sleek and stylish, yet still maintains that rugged look. It’s not just a functional device; it also looks good on your wrist, whether you're on a mountain trail or in a meeting. Overall, the Garmin Instinct 2X SOLAR is an exceptional smartwatch that combines toughness with top-notch functionality. If you're an outdoor enthusiast or just someone who needs a reliable, feature-packed watch, I highly recommend giving this one a go. It’s worth every penny!

Pas le dernier modèle mais fait tout ce dont j’ai besoin, charge rapide, resistante, look sympa par rapport aux autres montres orientées running. Pratique pour tous les sport outdoors.

Très bon produit ! Facile à utiliser et paramétrer. Les données sont juste. Bien utile en rando ou autres. Beaucoup de militaires en ont...

Bin von Polar Grit X auf Garmin instinct 2 Solar umgestiegen. Und bereue es nicht. Optik muss jeder für sich selbst entscheiden. Aber Funktion, Tragekomfort und Laufzeit für mich perfekt. Nutze sie zum Mountainbiken, Fitnessstudio und tagsüber als "normale" Uhr. Über die "Überwachung" des Schlafes kann ich nichts sagen, denn nachts ne Uhr um ist dann für mich doch nervig.

perfect. very nice and original watch

great watch ,but finnicky to setup but once it is ,its awesome .great price too can be very expensive here in ireland . worth it though