Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Rugged GPS Smartwatch, Tidal Blue

great watch, great battery shame it's a black and white display but it is super clear. very happy with it

Battery life is very good

I had a garmin 405 before this and still have and use it, but this one is up a good few levels. the info available on it is brilliant. I bought mostly for my running but that has been curtailed for a while. The accuracy of time and all info is very very good. Morning reports weather etc (more reliable than local weather forecasts) Heart rate, lap time, safety tracking, track back onyourself everything i need love it and Highly reccomend.

This watch truly shines as a dedicated companion for outdoor pursuits and general health monitoring. Its GPS performance, even within challenging woodland environments, is remarkably precise, keeping you within a couple of metres of your actual location – more than adequate for route tracking and navigation on walks. The heart rate monitoring also proves highly consistent across varying activity levels, accurately reflecting your exertion as long as the watch is properly snug on your wrist. For anyone who spends a good amount of time exploring, whether it's through the woods or simply tracking daily steps, this device provides reliable and actionable data.The daily insights are well-covered too. The Morning Report is a handy digest, offering quick glances at sleep health, battery levels, calendar entries, and weather – a perfect briefing to start the day. While customisation is available, the standard report seems to hit the mark for most users. Sleep tracking, with its breakdown of duration, types, and quality, adds another layer to understanding your overall well-being. From a smart feature perspective, the display is clear and readable, and while button shortcuts require a bit of memory for custom setups, the core navigation remains intuitive. It's also a relief to know you can easily tailor notifications, stopping the watch from buzzing incessantly with every minor alert – a thoughtful touch for maintaining focus.Where this watch truly impresses is its sheer durability. After three years of constant wear – through garden digging, house moves, and gym sessions – it's held up incredibly well, showing no scratches or dints on the casing or screen. The only component needing replacement was the strap after extensive use, which is entirely expected and a testament to the watch's build quality. The SmartThings integration is a genuinely practical addition, allowing for quick control of smart home routines directly from your wrist, like turning the heating on when heading home.Considering its robust feature set, exceptional battery life (even accounting for the UK's limited solar benefits), and impressive durability, the price point feels genuinely fair. It offers significant functionality packed into a compact device, easily justifying its cost against other smartwatches on the market, especially when comparing battery longevity to something like an Apple Watch. The only notable drawback, and it's a significant one for any long-term investment, is the non-replaceable battery. It’s an industry-wide issue, but it does mean that, ultimately, this excellent piece of tech has a finite lifespan, which is a bit of a shame for an otherwise near-perfect outdoor companion.

Just what I was looking for in a smart watch

This is my 3rd Garmin watch, having previously owned a Fenix 3 and 5. This time around I wanted something with better battery life, and so I went for the Instinct 2 solar.Overall pretty happy with the watch, however this is mainly down to the new software features such as the body battery, health snapshots etc. It weighs next to nothing compared to my old Fenix 5, and seems very well put togther like most Garmin products.Slight dissapointment over battery life, as it seems to only last me 15-16 days before I need to charge it up (from a full charge showing 28 days.) I am off out running 4 times a week however with GPS tracking enabled, and this summer has hardly been what you'd call sunny, and so the solar charging hasn't really had a chance to work yet.My main gripe is to do with the screen size. Because there are solar panels around the circumference of the screen, the viewable data area is squeezed into a smallish square in the middle (tried to show this in the attached photo.) This can make reading some of the info on the screen very hard to do when running, especially if you have 4 or 5 data fields on show. I quickly reduced my data fields to 3 per screen, but even then it can be difficult.If I had my time again I think I would have gone for the bigger Instinct 2X just for the bigger screen, or maybe just saved up more and bought a Fenix 7 or a Epix 2. I bought the Instinct 2 Solar during Prime week, and also had a £20.00 voucher, so the watch only cost me £225.00, a lot less than a Fenix 7 or an Epix 2!

As a new hiker this is a fantastic tool to use along side OSMaps for navigation & monitor your performance.