Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Energy Review: Live smart watch with a large battery life

From the common criticism of the best smart watches today it is just phones on your wrist, adding more deviations and simplicity on the side. The new Galaxy Watch Ultra, which is inspired by Apple Watch Giant Apple Ultra, is a great example. If you are looking for the polar opposite of this trend, do not look beyond solar instinct instinct 2. It’s an essential GPS with some smart watches features, puts a rugged design and a familiar transportation experience above all.

I was using Solar instinct 2 for about a month, and there is a lot you like. The smart watch costs $ 400, and for the price, it produces accurate health and fitness data that can overcome Apple or Google. I love the features of Garmin software, such as Body Battery and Traaining Course, all available on Solar instinct 2. But it is a good fitness watch and not good Smart watch. The lack of a touch screen and the navigation based on poor buttons will disappoint people who want a modern smart watch.

Pricing and availability

Solar instinct 2 was released in April 2023, but it is still one of the best GPS watches in Garmin in the middle of the level today. Smartwatch is retained for $ 400 and can be purchased directly from Garmin, or you can receive it from third -party retailers such as Best Buy and Amazon. It is only available in one size, although the instinctive solar variables 2 – such as Solar 2x Solar and Instinct 2S Solar – provide different sizes and designs. We tested the graphite version, and some strange colors are limited to other versions of the instinct.

What is good in Garmin Instinct 2 Solar?

There is an excellent battery life and a lot of fitness and health features

Garmin Instinct 2 Solar is a fat tactical watch designed for outdoor use. It is appearance, with a fiber -strengthened polymer and the high -end edges to protect the screen. There are also five devices buttons with a feeling by touch that is easy to press – even when you don’t search. In essence, this is the GPS watch, and you will get support for standard GPS systems, GLONASS, and Galileo.

My favorite part of the daily driving of solar energy instinct 2 was to see health and fitness insights, which come from devices sensors and the features of Garmin software. You get six sensors: acceleration scale, height scale, compass scale, compass, temperature sensor, and visual heart rate sensor (PPG). You will notice that some sensors, such as blood oxygen or blood pressure, are missing, but most users may not miss them.

Due to the small screen on the Solar Grongs 2, I found myself using the Garmin Connect app on my Android phone to check the fitness data and health data more than the same hour. In the screenshots above, you will see what the Connect app shows during daily use. Basic measures such as the average heart rate and body battery are the front and the center, and I especially love the last as a way to maintain the tabs on your stress and willingness.

The experiment improves when you start tracking exercises and activities with Solar instinct 2. Garmin provides some of the most accurate smart watch data that I have ever seen, and I think Solar Grongs 2 is more accurate than Apple Watch Ultra and OnePlus 2R. To return to it, I am hostile to more than 2000 miles that followed with many smart watches dating back to 2016, so I have a good feeling of accuracy. Graphic fees, graphs and statistical stumbling blocks for each very comprehensive exercise as well.

The battery life is excellent, but your results will differ based on some factors. GARMIN rates this watch is 28 days of battery life in the smart watch mode; However, this assumes that you will come out in the sun for three hours a day to use solar energy charging. Starting at 75 % of the battery life, the 2 -day instinct instinct remained for 17 days.

This is equivalent to about 22 days of life for a complete charge of use in the real world, but I know the reason for the contradiction. I live in Phoenix, Arizona, with a routine Fahrenheit and can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that I definitely do not spend much time outside the summer months, so the battery life test includes almost solar charge. It shows that regularly sunscreen can add about a week of battery life, although the solar -energy instinct has a good battery life in both cases.

What is bad in Garmin Instinct 2 Solar?

The lack of a touch screen makes the navigation difficult and sometimes complex

Solar instinct 2 has a low monochrome screen, which is not a touch screen either. It is important to note that I love to include physical buttons, because they are great to distinguish the windings in the middle of the separation exercise.

However, the use of actual buttons for everyone The jobs are not enjoyable. All buttons are set to serve multiple buttons, and you should all remember them. The press may do one thing, the press will do and celebrate something else, and the double pressure will do something else.

It is difficult to track all jobs, and you have struggled to get a comment everything – even throughout the long review period. For example, I wanted to test Garmin Pay – a NFC mobile payment solution – at New York City Metro Station, but I just ended up using my phone because I did not want to miss my train.

The last Garmin Smartwatch I used was Vivoactive 3 (we are in Vivoactive 5 now), which was released in 2017. However, I still prefer to control the live body 3 over Solar instinct controls 2 because it contains a touch screen. If you are like me, you should look for a Garmin watch with a touch screen instead.

Do you have to buy Garmin Instinct 2 Solar?

I’m sure Garmin Instinct 2 Solar is not for me, but this does not mean it is a bad watch. It will be great for people who need a multi -use GPS watch with a few smart watches features without going outside. In addition, the long battery life and solar charging capabilities make this watch ideal for the situations in which you will be in the sun a lot. Completely associated with a rugged design, it is easy to see how the 2 Solar instinct will be a great adventure for long wandering, running, and many other activities.

However, I think many users will want a smart watch with a touch screen, the best navigation, and deeper complementarity with their Android phone. If this is the case, you may want to take a look at other outdoor smart watches in Garmin instead. However, there is something that can be said about providing the basics and nothing more, and this is exactly what Solar instinct does 2.