Customer Ratings & Reviews

This watch changed my day to day life! Being that it tracks all your steps, calories, heart rate etc., it motivates you to do better and be more active. The app gives you a break down of all your actives which helps you keep track of your personal goals without having to input data into an app and assume you're doing it correctly. The watch band has many holes to find the perfect fit for your wrist and the battery life is beyond great. the GPS tracking is extremely accurate based on my experience so far and extensive YouTube research after purchase. I have it set to only receive text messages that way I'm disconnected from my phone yet still have some access incase someone send me a text. I highly recommend this if you want to get into fitness or simply just tracking your day to day physical activities. It will change your life! I've also received many compliments on the look!! BUY IT!!

My husband just loved it!! This type of watch is functional for people who work in rural areas where they can orient themselves using their GPS and compass system, as well as people who are interested in keeping track of their daily physical exercises. The battery life on this watch is phenomenal.

After retiring, I put away my watches for a few years. I was officially “off the clock”. But I found I was reaching for my iPhone multiple times during the day for emails, texts, weather, news ,etc. So for Christmas I received this Garmin Instinct “watch”. I soon realized calling it a watch was too limiting. With a quick glance at my wrist, I can check weather, texts, news, community alerts, personal health information, etc. It’s just so handy to have all this data readily available.

Not for fans who like to charger their watch every day. Not for fans who are cautious of breaking their watch screen. Works extremely well on my iOS phone and I finally found a G-Shock rugged type wearable that can last days through solar charging.

Bought this because i got tired of my Apple watch barely making it through the day and failing to deliver notifications. The Instinct Solar wins on both these: I only charge my Instict one a week now and I could wait up to two weeks if I wanted to. Solar charging really does work, a week outside meant my battery meter barely moved. GPS tracking is surprisingly accurate when enabled (but GPS is a battery drainer). And I like the more traditionaly "retro" watch look this has. My favorite feature is the customizability of the watch faces: the graph can be anything I want it to be: solar intake, steps, heart rate, altititude,etc. Along with ability to tweak the info in the small circle and two changeable data fields under the time. Very powerful. Downsides? Many Many settings under the hood to potentially tweak to get the best out of this and the button interface vs. touchscreen definitely takes some getting used to. Price definitely feels somewhat steep retail as well for the platics and rubber this is made out of. Otherwise a month into ownership I don't regret the purchase and bought a lavender one for my wife as well.

Rugged watch that is practical and to the point. I have only charged it once since it's solar and it has been almost 30 days since I got it. I was going to buy a Casio shock but this one has more accurate sensors for what I need. Hiking, swimming,biking, gps,steps etc it's great. I like the Garmin app a lot along with the watch! Even if it's first generation its great!

Disclaimer; this was a purchase for my father. I returned it because it was too complicated for him, but I still recommend it if you’re willing to incur the learning curve. Absolutely fantastic battery life and efficient GPS/altimeter/compass etc. it’s not smart in the sense that you’re going to be able to use it as a phone, but it does sync data to your mobile device. The specs and reviews speak for themselves. It’s such a great piece of tech. If you’re on the fence about getting the normal Instinct because it’s cheaper, check out the differences. The updated GPS module is much more effective, and solar makes it last practically forever if you turn off GPS.

This watch lasts about 25 days on a charge, less if using GPS for running. Has lots of activity tracking options but the menus can be difficult to navigate. Recieves messages and notifications from your phone, but no touch screen. This is a great watch if you want a connected watch that has incredible battery, accurate GPS, and is durable. Not for people who want a second phone as a watch. It also can use MGRS for GPS. Great purchase!!!!

The Garmin instinct solar (version 1) is great. GPS tracking more accurate than iPhone. Hearth rate measurement as well and all this without draining the battery. 9 day vacation trip with specific hike and bike activities recorded and normal activities tracked always only charged once at the beginning! All the available options takes some getting used to. I am using the connect app on my iPhone to get the data of the phone and also populate Strava. Works very smoothly. Overall I am very happy with the watch.

Everything works great on this watch. Works great for tracking runs and hikes. Battery lasts forever. I haven’t done any long, multi-day hikes to test out the effectiveness of the solar charger since I bought the watch, but I might update this review after I do. I can’t really thing of anything extra I’d want to justify paying extra for the latest model, and I bought this on sale, though I prefer less flashiness and less notifications. One thing I learned is that smartwatches/health trackers can’t actually tell when you’re asleep, they just guess. I know this because I once stayed up all night and it said I slept for 7 hours. Not the fault of this watch in particular, the technology is just not there yet.

It doesn't have a touch display or color. The navigation and features are buried behind different button clicks. The mobile apps are needed to fully use the watch (Garmin Connect at least, and Explore to build/manage maps and routes). The watch display is small and not intuitive if you expect to see normal maps. I after I got this watch, it took several hours of tinkering and setup to fully understand, load up my routes, and tune to my preferences. But: the battery life is outstanding. The functionality works great. Orienteering with the watch is easy. I've had several gps units and watches. I am outdoors, in woods, on trails and water. I am hard on my gear. This watch records activity well and can provide the exact info I need. I've owned Samsung and Suunto watches, which I also like. This Garmin supports phone notifications, music, weather, but it's barely "smart". Given the battery life and solar charging, however, and lots of data and functionality specific to outdoor navigation and recreation, this watch is my favorite by a wide margin.

I’ve been using a Garmin vivoctive for about 5 years. I upgraded to this watch. As an active person, I’ve found the profile to be a bit bulky. I’ve snagged it multiple times and it’s not as comfortable on my wrist. I’m always ready to take it off as soon as possible whereas that was not the case with my vivoactive. I frequently accidentally stop the clock on my long workouts by somehow bumping the button. I have been challenged to learn how to use it after having the vivoavtive. The vibrate notification is so loud and strong, it frequently vibrates off the counter when I’m not wearing it. I’m not sure that’s necessary, I have a landscaping business, I enjoy rock climbing, and I hike and camp. I like having the solar function, gps, phone notification so I don’t have to have my phone. I love all the functions that I enjoyed with my previous watch. The battery lasts forever and does charge as long as my long sleeved shirts aren’t covering it. So if the Garmin manufacturers read these reviews, I would like a flatter more comfortable watch with all the same functions.

Had it for a year now. Great watch, durable, awesome running and hunting features. Battery takes a little while to charge but lasts forever in comparison with other smartwatch options. In some cases when just using as a watch - up to a month with no charge. GPS uses obviously changes this. Very satisfied with this purchase.

I was looking for a durable GPS watch with a good size face and this was the perfect choice! It looks great (tactical, military inspired), very durable, tracks everything from heart rate, steps and has GPS too! Everything I’ve been looking for in a watch!

The battery life is much improved with the more efficient heart rate sensor and GPS. The solar charging capabilities is great if you spend a good amount of time outdoors. Very comfortable and just my style.

Great watch, it holds a charge for weeks at a time and is extremely durable. If you use the GPS feature daily, the battery life is reduced to about a week at a time. I’ve used it to train for many runs and unlike the Apple Watch, it will hold a charge for the duration of a marathon.

Have used all brands. Fitbit, carbinox, apple, samsung and NONE have touched the battery life of this. I am more of an outdoors person and the GPS feature and solar charging make this watch amazing. No you can't call, text, or listen to music with the watch; BUT who doesn't carry their phone anyway. This watch has gotten me unlost on a trail and I've been using it for roughly about 3 years. And charge it every 2 weeks if that.

Perfect for tracking hikes, and as a navigation aid when out in the wild. I never wanted to wear a smartwatch that needs constant charging--this one is great and lasts for weeks between charges with the solar feature adding a bit extra during extended outdoor activities. The only downside is that Garmin's product segmentation means that if you're looking to do focused training, e.g., for running, you'll be missing features. For the kind of use I make of it I don't miss things like VO2 max, and it pairs well with the Edge I use for cycling (which does provide that sort of functionality). To get all of the functionality and battery life of this watch and the training elements would mean moving up to a much more expensive watch, making this one a good value if you're more concerned with tracking than training.

I love this watch! I wish I would have gotten one sooner. I got this to replace an aging Apple Watch for long runs. The Apple Watch would last 6-8 hours and I had a 50K run scheduled that ended up lasting ~9hrs. The GPS tracking and other features are great but the battery life is outstanding!! My watch was only charged about 80% before the run. After 9hrs of GPS tracking the watch was only depleted to about 40%, Its been 10 days and I still have not charged the watch and it has 14 days of battery life left.

Great product, but takes time to learn which buttons to press to start and stop activities or move through functions. I have also found that most of my dress shirts sleeve width at the wrist is not wide enough to go over the watch. This isn't their fault as I wanted the extra protection of the raised guard during activities, I just didn't think the thickness would have caused issues. I may have to buy the Garmin Fenix down the road as I do love the functionality : ) Its like a Swiss army knife of watches.