Garmin - Instinct 3 GPS Smartwatch 45 mm AMOLED - Black with Black Band - (2025)

I purchased the AMOLED 45 mm Black/Black version of this watch **1. Design & Build Quality:** Overall, this smartwatch has a minimalist design that resembles a standard digital watch from a distance. Up close, it maintains its simple and understated appearance. After nearly a month of use, I cannot fully speak to its long-term durability, but on the occasions it has been accidentally bumped against hard surfaces, it has shown no significant scratches or damage. To further protect this investment, I also purchased a tempered glass screen protector. At the time of purchase, the watch was available in two styles: black and a vibrant tropical theme. It is comfortable to wear, and the band’s design is straightforward yet functional. With previous experience using an Apple Watch, where band quality degraded after 5–6 months of wear (requiring replacements), I have been cautious. However, this band seems promising—it is soft, flexible, and lightly stretchy, giving it a premium and durable feel. The watch is remarkably lightweight, yet it carries a quality heft that doesn’t feel cheap. My work as both a paramedic and an ICU nurse exposes the watch to frequent impacts, varied environmental conditions, and pathogens during hands-on tasks. Thankfully, it holds up well to this demanding usage. Cleaning the watch is simple, and I appreciate that it does not require logging in every time I put it back on, unlike my experience with the Apple Watch. **2. Display & Interface:** The interface of the watch is straightforward, but following the instructions is essential to grasp the basics. Since it lacks a touchscreen, navigation is done through a combination of five circumferential buttons, each with dual purposes. This might take some getting used to, but it’s intuitive once you learn the system. The screen on my model measures 45 mm and offers various brightness settings, including a night mode. The night mode transitions the display into a monochromatic scheme with customizable colors such as red, green, blue, and orange. The screen quality is excellent, with sharp visuals and smooth performance. While official specifications for pixel count and refresh rate are not provided, I believe the value it delivers compares favorably to high-end smartphones when considering the cost per pixel. The interface is highly customizable, and the Garmin Connect App enhances the experience by offering a wide range of watch faces to suit personal preferences. This level of personalization adds to the watch's overall appeal. **3. Features:** With this watch, you can fully customize the data displayed on the main screen, as well as the specific ‘apps’ or metrics you wish to access. On my main screen, I’ve configured it to show steps, current weather and temperature (including daily highs and lows), altitude, heart rate, battery life, the month, date, and day of the week, sunrise and sunset times, and, of course, the time. The watch features five circumferential buttons, each with dual functionalities depending on whether they are long-pressed or short-pressed. This button-based interface provides access to various menus and features, all of which are customizable. Selecting specific features often opens further submenus for additional detail. For example, pressing the menu button gives me access to current weather, sunset times, my health stats, and notifications (texts, emails, voicemail) from my phone. Exploring these options provides even deeper insights and functionality. From the main screen, you can access a range of physical activity apps (covering over 40 sports), as well as clock tools like a timer and stopwatch, GPS positioning, a technical menu, and a digital compass with barometric and altimeter values. This watch also excels in health monitoring. It tracks sleep duration, quality, and oxygen levels. Beyond sports and fitness metrics, it provides data on heart rates, calories burned, oxygen saturation, ‘body battery,’ historical trends, floors climbed, health snapshots, naps, and performance metrics. The technical menu, which I frequently use in my line of work, offers unique features such as night mode, also referred to as ‘red/green/blue/orange shift.’ This enables a monochromatic display for improved visibility in low-light environments. Additional technical options include display on/off, sleep mode, device lock, a strobe light (ideal for walking, running, or emergency signaling), and a torch (a functional flashlight rather than a simple white screen like the Apple Watch). Other notable features include Garmin Tap Pay (similar to Apple and Google Pay), music controls, battery saver mode, do-not-disturb mode, a ‘find my phone’ option, and standard power controls. The watch’s thoughtful design and range of functions make it a highly versatile tool for both everyday use and specialized needs. **4. Performance:** Performance-wise, this watch meets expectations. It has not frozen or required a restart, and I have not experienced any lag during usage. Unlike the Apple Watch interface, this device operates on a one-app-at-a-time basis, which simplifies its use and ensures the processor runs efficiently without being bogged down by a log of active apps. The watch connects to phones via Bluetooth. I use it with an iPhone, and it works seamlessly with iOS systems. It is also Android-friendly, although I cannot speak to its compatibility with other operating systems. My only notable complaint is with the Garmin Connect app. Changes made within the app—such as adjusting sleep mode times—do not always sync properly with the watch. As a result, I sometimes find the watch going into sleep mode during my work shift, requiring me to manually wake it up. Additionally, while the compass, barometric, and altimeter values function well, the GPS connection occasionally fails, even in broad daylight while outdoors. I suspect there may be a technical explanation for this, but I haven’t had the time to investigate further—one of the reasons this watch’s straightforward functionality was a good fit for me. **5. Battery Life:** Per Garmin’s website, this watch has the following capabilities: - Smartwatch Mode: Up to 18 days with wrist gesture enabled, or up to 7 days with the always-on display. - Battery Saver Mode: Up to 24 days. - GPS Mode: Up to 32 hours with GPS only, or up to 23 hours with all satellite systems and multi-band mode. - Expedition GPS Mode: Up to 16 days. I picked up this watch on February 12th, and as I write this review on March 12th, it has been nearly 30 days since I started using it. Remarkably, I have only charged the watch once for its initial use. As of now, it still has 4 days of battery life remaining. I primarily use the watch in normal mode, with wrist gesture enabled (activates the screen when aligned with your face), an active Bluetooth connection, vibrant display settings, and notifications turned on. I wear it for approximately 16 hours a day and turn it off while I sleep for about 7 hours. For a smartwatch with all these features, the battery life is nothing short of impressive. I estimate that I’ll get about 34 to 36 days on a single charge, accounting for around 8 hours of downtime daily. Battery life, of course, varies depending on usage. Using the battery saver mode could potentially extend it even further. Compared to the Apple Watch, which often drops to 10% battery at the end of a 16- to 20-hour day, this watch’s longevity is extraordinary. **6. Compatibility & Setup:** As mentioned previously, this watch is compatible with both iOS (15.0 and higher) and Android (7.0 and higher) operating systems. The Garmin Connect app offers a wealth of customization options, allowing you to personalize the watch’s apps, metrics, displays, and settings. Setup is straightforward, and once I learned the basic functions of the buttons (up, down, select, back, screen off, menu open), using the watch became effortless. The user interface is simple and intuitive, though it can feel slightly overwhelming at first due to the extensive list of preloaded apps, including running, hiking, heart rate, swimming, and more. However, once you take the time to organize and tailor the watch to your preferences, operating and navigating it becomes seamless. **7. Value for Money:** This watch, no doubt, is expensive. Garmin has many watches with many functionalities and levels of durability depending on individual’s preferences. Dollar for dollar in comparison to competitors, it is a good value. Garmin is a trusted name that’s been around for 35 years and has developed products known for their rugged builds that do the job irregardless of the elements. This watch is made of high quality materials with substantial monitoring and metric capabilities with excellent battery life. Other Garmin watches are even more expensive with even more options for back country settings or search and rescue or military operations. These of course cost more, but they hold their value. For the price, and maybe this is just because I’ve been with apple too long, I would at least liked to be able to make or answer a phone call. Touch screen texting drains battery, there is no question, but some degree of being able to communicate with the watch would be nice. In addition, the watch being waterproof to 10 atmospheres is a bonus. Thought I do not plan on diving with this as it doesn’t show depth or temperature or pressure, not having to take it off if I’m swimming or using my hands in the water is a plus. I would have liked to see more than a one year warranty for the watch but it is what it is. This watch also comes in a solar version which in theory, could run unlimited battery life if using outdoors. I considered this but my use of this watch varies between indoors and outdoors and the AMOLED screen is just beautiful to look at and worth having to recharge. **Pros:** - Beautiful display with options to customize the watch face with data that suit

This watch is everything I expected and more, I needed a watch to last more than one day on a charge and this watch would last two weeks. The only Con for me is the size, but that’s my fault. If choosing between the two, get the 50mm over the 45mm unless you have real small wrists. And the Amoled screen is really nice. I would only choose the Solar if you absolutely need that type of outdoor solar charging. Highly recommend this watch

I came from apple watches from the series 4 to the garmin instinct 2x solar, my 2x solar was wonderful, i HATED having to charge my apple watches every night! I had a bluetooth issue on my instinct 2x solar and warrantied after troubleshooting it, i upgraded to this instinct 3 amoled, and the AMOLED display outweighs not having solar capabilities! The battery life is actually impressive, and if i ever need to charge it while hunting I will use a battery pack. The screen is gorgeous, and all my health metrics are right in the dot, compared to my medical equipment at work (firefighter,emt) the added features of the flashlight adjustment with the buttons is really nice, and it seems to be a bit brighter than the previous model. I accidentally ordered the 45mm bezel instead of the 50mm, and im happy i did the difference is negligible and is a lot more comfortable when working out, whether its bench pressing, or doing pushups. Only CONS i have noticed is that Apple phone users still cant see photos in messages, android can. And if this thing had a mic and speaker, it would be PERFECT. For the price, this watch packs a punch and fulfills all my needs!

I’ve had a couple Garmin watches and this one had been my favorite. The amoled screen is very vibrant and visible in all lighting conditions (yes even in sunlight) it’s basically a forerunner 265 in a G-shock style case so it’s great for running, trail running, hiking etc. tough and rugged and the battery life is incredible. My Apple Watch lasts one day. This will go 2 weeks. It’s not even a competition. It does not have a touch screen which is actually great for a sports watch so that rain and sweat doesn’t scroll the screen while running. The screen does adjust to ambient light so you don’t have to worry about it being too bright at night or dim in the day.

So far it is the best battery life of any watch I have owned. Display is bright and always legible, in any environment. Tracks, has a flashlight, keeps you moving and ready for any adventure... Just Love It!!!