Garmin Instinct 2S Solar Rugged GPS Smartwatch, Graphite

Product Information

In doing this for the last dozen years or so, I don’t think there’s ever been a product I’ve reviewed that’s added as many features from the last iteration to it as the Instinct 2 series. All while still somehow looking virtually identical externally to the last unit. On one hand, it’s arguably the pinnacle example of how methodical Garmin is with their software features and product plans. After all, not a single feature on the Instinct 2 series is “new” to Garmin. All of them have debuted on other Garmin watches, largely within the last three years. But it’s Garmin doing what Garmin does best: Incrementally taking higher-end software features and rolling them down to less expensive models a few years later. Garmin says the easiest way to think about it is that if you get 3-hours in 50K lux conditions, it’ll get you 1 hour of GPS time or 1 day of smartwatch/standby time. For context, 50K is semi-sunny weather, but not crazy summer sun at the beach time sun. You can find 50K sun in the winter without issue. Meanwhile, I can easily find 100K+ sun in the summer at the beach. What’s cool here is that if you over-achieve on finding sun, Garmin will leverage that. Meaning you’ll get more power faster. There’s specific profiles for road, gravel, MTB, e-MTB, commuting, indoor, triathlon, e-bike, cyclocross and bike touring. Hey Ray. Thank you for the thorough review! Just curious if you’ve seen any improvements in the software stability / crashes since your review. I like everything that I’m seeing about the features of the Instinct 2, but don’t want to pull the trigger on purchasing until the software is more stable & the watch doesn’t crash during activities. I have deleted the workouts from the app. This seems to have no effect on the workouts that are on the watch.

Garmin Instinct® 2S Solar | Smaller-Sized Rugged GPS Smartwatch Garmin Instinct® 2S Solar | Smaller-Sized Rugged GPS Smartwatch

Next, this section is only applicable to the Solar edition, because…well…its got sun-soaking-solar-specifications. Or something. I ran out of S words. And the effectiveness of the updated solar panel with lower battery consumption means that there’s a very strong chance that certain groups of people will indeed be able to have forever power for likely months at a time in the summer. It’s not hard if you’re spending even just a few hours outdoors in sunny summer conditions. I currently have the instinct 1 and am still happy with it. ehat bothers me is that there is now way of showing a HR or altitude line graph during activities (although the build in widgets would deliver exactly that if one could disply em during running). even though the instinct 2 has Connect IQ support now I’m not very optimistic any developer will adress the instinct 2. right now there is not a single datafield only additional watchfaces nobody really needs. really loved connect IQ with my Forerunners but other than on paper I wouldn’t call the instinct 2 truely Connect IQ capable. Having spent time working and living abroad, from Martinique to Kazakhstan, plus a brief dabble in the world of finance (try everything once and all), Features Writer Emma finds the best cycling comes with a slice of adventure, warranted or not. I just want to make sure, we can make workouts in Garmin Connect and push those to this new instinct watch, right? Let’s say I want to break my PR in the 5k and would like my watch to give me the paces per Kilo to hit during the race, this new watch can now do this right?In some of the shots that you show of the watch, it seems that some of the text is hidden behind both the upper right hand circular display, and likewise in the upper left side. Is that due to camera angle, or beta software or is it just how it is with the unique display layout on this watch?

Instinct 2 vs 2S: Which one is right for you? Garmin Instinct 2 vs 2S: Which one is right for you?

Increased the onboard storage from 8MB to a whopping 18MB (just used for tiny course/activity/fitness files, usually less than 100KB per GPS-hour). Aside from Mtb, I also do Spinning (indoor cycling at my local gym) and the profile on my unit seems to be more of a Zwift type affaor, even judging by the icon used.In terms of the box contents, there’s the charging cable – the same as almost all other Garmin watches the last half a decade or so: I think design/style is a big part of the Instinct series. For example, it’s just not my cup of tea as a style choice. But I think feature-wise it’s incredible.

Garmin Instinct® 2 Solar | Rugged GPS Smartwatch Garmin Instinct® 2 Solar | Rugged GPS Smartwatch

There are of course numerous other details based upon those three foundations. For example, without maps, you can’t have the unit automatically create a 10KM or 50KM route for you at a new location (officially called ‘Round Trip Routes’). Similarly, there’s no ‘Up Ahead’ feature that was introduced on the Fenix 7, showing a breakdown of waypoints. Still, for years people have gotten by just fine and dandy without maps. Sure, I prefer maps because they give context to the surroundings, but that’s fine – and I’ve navigated just fine with the Instinct on numerous hikes in places I’ve never been before. Finally, one more area to briefly mention is that the Instinct 2 series supports Bluetooth and ANT+ heart rate broadcasting. The original Instinct 1 series didn’t support Bluetooth broadcasting, though the Instinct 1 Solar editions did (different internals, 1.5 years later). You can see for example here I’ve got the Instinct 2 connected up to Zwift, broadcasting my heart rate, using just Bluetooth Smart. Note that Instinct 2 Series supports basically every coordinate type known to mankind, in fact, you can find the massive list here. And once your coordinates are entered, then you’ll simply follow the arrow till you get there (or, die trying). Those are the most impressive figures we've seen for any running watch to date, and Garmin assures us that for the solar 45mm model, indefinite battery life is a real possibility,I agree it does appear that viewing from one direction (top-side) off-hangle is slightly more clear at full brightness than viewing off-angle from the bottom side. But neither in the three months of having this watch has ever occurred to me. And given that we’re almost three weeks since the announcement/release, and it’s basically just a single Garmin forum thread with what seems to be just three real-world people that have watches, and a boatload of chatter from people that don’t have watches circling about said two people. As with the GPS data sets, I’ve got plenty of data sets from these watches – but rather than repeat the same things over and over again, they all look basically like this. Now you’ve got two options – you can either watch the video above, or, you can head over to the detailed Fenix 7 (and also Fenix 6) vs Instinct 2 comparison post, which covers much of the same pieces, except with a lot more words and in some cases a bit more detail. Whereas in the video I show more of them side by side in…well…video format. Wrap-Up: Finally, switching over to some indoor lifting, I’ve got a workout from my wife. She was wearing the Instinct 2S Solar, and then a chest strap (HRM-PRO). The first portion of the workout was about 30 minutes on an indoor bike, and then she transitioned mid-way through to weights for the next 45 minutes. Looking at the edge area first, if you look directly at the watch (not on angle), this mostly disappears. However, when viewing at an angle you’ll see the solar panels easily. This area can collect 100% of the sun’s rays. Well, technically it’s of course less than that, but in terms of simple relativity here, we’ll go with that being 100% from a Garmin spec standpoint.

Instinct 2S Solar review | Live Science Garmin Instinct 2S Solar review | Live Science

The watch will detect certain activities automatically, and while some older Garmin watches had a habit of recording unknown workouts as elliptical training, the Instinct 2 does a great job of differentiating between them. Review: The Garmin Instinct Solar 2 Series Is a Rugged, Customizable Smartwatch with an “Unlimited” Battery Life Left to right: Garmin FR745, Suunto 5 Peak, Instinct 2S Solar (in Teal), Garmin Fenix 7S Solar Sapphire, Garmin Instinct 2 Solar, Garmin Fenix 7 Solar Sapphire, Polar Grit X Pro, COROS Vertix 2

There are two other ‘quirky’ moments in here. One around the 3hr marker where I had to hike the bike for a while, so the wrist that I was holding up the bike with showed wonky results. And then around the 3hr50min marker you see the line, that’s when one of the Instinct 2 units paused after it rebooted/crashed. I didn’t catch the pause right away, but it was just as I was stopping for food, hence the line.