Garmin Instinct, thoughts and options please.

How are people getting on with these? Been offered a 30% trade in for my dying forerunner 220 and fancy one

Mine’s great. Only things to better it would be pay and music; I always have my phone with me on bike ride so to be honest it’s not really needed.

Was looking at a F6Pro, but think I’ll keep this for the foreseeable.

Still liking mine although the under calculating on ascent whilst riding is annoying….it has improved after a bit of cleaning of the sensor area though and, given I use it mostly with Strava, Strava does have an elevation correction function on the desktop version that I can use if I think its way out.

Can’t see past mine, does all I need and a bit more.

Happy with mine

Great watches, I upgraded to a Fenix 6x Pro. Most days I wish I hadn’t.

I’m still happy with mine. Use it as an everyday watch, and for walking and cycling etc.

I have now got a Forerunner 245 Music as well. I’m using that for most running instead. It is a bit slimmer and lighter, and handy to have the MP3 player built in. Other than, not much difference.

Pretty good but as mentioned elevation accuracy is way off !

Still loving mine but yeah the elevation is bonkers. A 15 mile beach ride had me at 3000ft elevation. Dipped to -300ft a few times!

What is the tactical edition? Is there much difference to the normal one

Garmin instinct tactical edition – What’s Changed from the Original

My instinct is a pain in the arse – in a good way.  I like proper mechanical watches so before lockdown had a rotation of a few and the Instinct wasn’t being used.  Because I wanted a square G-SHOCK, I put the instinct on day 1 of lockdown to test the digital watch theory.  Other than charging I haven’t taken it off since and have actually used it more for activities.  So my other watches go unused.  It also tracks my sleep and hr better the the Mi band I have on the other wrist, with the new Body Battery being quite useful.  It’s of course very solid.

I was looking an the new Venu, but can justify £300 vs the less “shiny” instinct which will take bike related and fettling related beatings all day without troubling my nerves.

What is the tactical edition? Is there much difference to the normal one

It has a different sort of screen, designed to work with night vision goggles. And a few extra features in software, eg calculating parachute jumps, and displaying 2 position formats at once.

Don’t think there’s much point in paying extra for it (unless you are using night vision goggles or jumping out of planes).

Mine reported my ride as 3000ft below sea level the other day. The Altimeter has always been glitchy. Might annoy a few parachutists!
It’s a good me proof watch overall with the altimeter being it’s one irritation for me.

I have the graphite. I got it instead of an Apple watch cos its much cheaper – they are on discount permanently. Very happy on the whole. I don’t think you need a chest HR – when I’ve checked the watch gives accurate measurements. I’ve used it for exercise and also for navigation – it can be a bit fiddly if yiou don’t use it often enough to remember what the correct sequence of buttons is!

Do you think the release of the upgraded Instinct yesterday with the solar power and some extra tech constitutes an Instinct 2? to run like the Fenix line? Or just a mid life upgrade to keep current with the 2 still to come? I’m tempted to sell my Instinct for the solar upgrade.

I’m tempted to sell my Instinct for the solar upgrade.

Likewise, although I decided £350 wasn’t worth one less charge on a lead per month.  If I was a heavy user of its outdoor capability maybe I would.  I think it’s a nice upgrade personally, and what more would you add to an Insinct before it became a Fenix, as the differential is now basically looks and ruggedness.

I think they don’t view it as a new version as such, although its got entirely new internals.

Looks great, but not enough to convince me to upgrade. Maybe F6 Pro later in year, but the solar version doesn’t sound as good as the solar instinct in terms of battery benefits.

Cant say there’s anything glaringly wrong with my current Instinct and Ive never felt battery life was an issue so no reason to upgrade from my perspective

Yes it is price that is holding me back, quite a jump from the original, which I think was one of the most attractive features being able to pick one up for around £200. The new price takes it nearer used Fenix 6 prices and there it sort of blurs into which you would rather have when spending that amount of money.

The solar version looks neat. I think the big difference is the new more efficient GPS chipset, so it uses much less battery. The battery on my old Instinct is usually good enough for me. But would be nice to have longer for audax, or ultramarathons, or away touring for a few days, without worrying about plugging it in.
And would be nice to have tide data as well. Not for surfing, but just for walking on the beach.

Though I’m not going to pay £350/£400 for it. Maybe in a year or two, when it gets a bit cheaper.

still like mine, but i’m finding it’s very, very slow to sync with Connect after a ride (usually need to prompt it), and it frequently drops its connection with my phone when i’m in the same room, within meters of it (or, even, if I’m lay in the park with the phone one side of me and the watch on the other).

any ideas? I’ve cleared caches, re-set the BT connection between them etc. it’ll be good for a few days, then be crap for a few hours, and then good again…

New one does look nice.

Anyone having issues with elevation?
I did a ride last week and the instinct had double the elevation of my Lezyne for the same route.

What’s everyone calibrating the elevation from?

Elevation has become awful on mine. I just correct it in Strava when the ride has uploaded. I tried cleaning the barometer as recommended by Garmin Support but didn’t make much difference.

I think it’s a nice upgrade personally, and what more would you add to an Insinct before it became a Fenix, as the differential is now basically looks and ruggedness.

That and hooking up to power meters, Varia radar etc. And the maps, music, garmin pay. Otherwise it’s the same 🙂

Picked up a new Instinct Solar. Was looking at the Fenix 6 pro, but simply could not justify the price. Like Krypton I prefer wearing my mechanical watches at work – so the Instinct is only for sports and weekend. Like the g shock style – always been a big fan of G shocks and had the new G Shock HR watch been better, I would have been tempted. But the reviews seem pretty poor so far.

Really disappointed that Garmin has not brought PacePro to the Instinct. It seems a feature that Instinct users would definitely use. I’m going to keep an eye on the Black Friday deals to see if it is worth jumping to the Fenix 6 just for this feature.

If anyone’s looking for an Instinct JuraWatches have a sale on – non Solar mk1 for £199 and Solar for under £299.

There’s a plethora of offer codes on the site – I haven’t played with them but you might be able to get another 10% off of that for 1st purchase or Black Friday using the relevant codes.

Because I have worked from home the majority of this year I feel like my instinct has become a bit redundant. I like the vibration only alarm but other than that I don’t seem to use any of the features anymore. It works to alert me that I have a notification on my phone but being able to view them isn’t very helpful.

On my bike (both road and MTB) I prefer to use my Edge and a HR strap as the wrist isn’t the best place and most comfortable. So it feels a bit like an expensive G-Shock at the moment. I used to love it but it just feels a bit dated now. I think the elevation thing doesn’t help either as I don’t trust it for that aspect as it feels like a random number generator.

Thanks @Kryton57 I’ve been waiting to see if I can get one for a bit less in the next week or so. Just trying to decide if the solar is worth the extra money.

I’ve got a solar, I’d say it’s definitely worth the extra. I did a 5 day bikepacking trip with mine a couple of months ago and using it as a smart watch and not a tracker I had the same power reserve when I returned as when I left – 17 days.

I think I’ve charged mine twice since picking it up and I generally use it as my day to day smartwatch, if I’m not wearing it I’ll leave it on the window-sill and it’ll top itself up over the course of the day.

It is quite chunky but I find them to be generally quite comfy and the user interface is a bit “garmin” in terms if intuitiveness etc but if you’re set on an Instinct then I’d go solar every time.

Thanks @IvanDobski it’s the not having o worry about charging it when camping etc. plus the better HRM that’s selling it.

I upgraded from an Instinct to an Instinct Solar a month back, primarily for the better HRM, and am pleased I did. I have some heart issues and use a chest strap and Garmin 530 when riding. I do a bit of walking while working from home for fresh air and mind health and log those on the Instinct, with the Solar being a load more accurate on HR.

Battery life, even though largely inside/wearing it under a jacket if outside, is noticeably better, and the Apps are less clunky.

I have worn the Instinct daily since original purchase 2 yrs ago, and my nice Omega feels a bit unloved now…

My Instict Solar is going back next week, I have tried to make the optical pulse sensor work for more than an hour since I got it a month ago and had no joy. Tried all the reset options available, the only time it works for more than 5 minutes is when my wrist is sweaty after bike efforts.

In case anyone is after a Solar model, Millets have them for £245, which is a good bit cheaper than anywhere else. And they’re on Topchashback as well!

Made the jump from the Mk1 Instinct to the Solar. Heard about PacePro and made the jump to Fenix 6 via Black Friday deal. Glad I did. Bit heavier, but just as comfortable. Loving PacePro. It really is making my runs have a very clear and definite objective. Is it worth the extra money, hmmmm. I’d go back to a Solar if PacePro trickles down that far.

Millets have them for £245

Hmm, small work bonus = trinket, not sure my casual use warrant the swap to a solar though even if I could sell the I original on.  And a choice of the same grey or an upgrade to blue.

Ooh been looking for a deal on the solar, and that’s very tempting. Sensible graphite or tidal blue though? Hard to tell how bright the blue is in real life

I’ve gone sensible graphite, probably buy a lairy strap at some point, blue or orange!

Tried to order Solar from millets but my order was cancelled as there is no stock. Still showing on website. There is a good deal on the regular version on Amazon though, £169