Garmin Instinct 2S Solar Rugged GPS Smartwatch, Graphite

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For the Instinct 2 series, there are no maps on the unit (of any sort), thus all navigation boils down to two categories: Following a breadcrumb trail of the planned route, or direct-to-point navigation (effectively a compass/arrow heading/direction). If one were to boil down the key navigation/routing related differences between the Instinct series and the Fenix series they’d be: SKUs: 19 different color, size, solar, and specialty combinations, with more customization options online 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. 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. Smartwatch mode: Up to 21 days/51 days with solar*, Smartwatch mode (w/ battery saver): Up to 50 days/unlimited with solar*, GPS: Up to 22 hours/28 hours with solar**, Max Battery GPS mode: Up to 54 hours/114 hours with solar**, Expedition GPS Activity: Up to 25 days/105 days with solar*

Garmin Instinct 2S Solar review | Cyclist

It also has specific profiles for each of the different cycling disciplines: choose between road, gravel, commuting, indoor, cyclocross, bike touring, triathlon, mountain biking, e-biking and e-mountain biking, and you can customise each with the data fields you need. I would like to ask you your opinion about the display if it looks better than the fenix, or how is its visibility in general?Yup, it actually does. I did some fun tests with this in a never-got-around-to-being-published post/video from this both two summers ago and this past summer. Lastly in the training load area is the current recovery time. Keep in mind, this isn’t recovery until any workout, it’s ‘Recovery time till next hard workout’. In general, I find Garmin overestimates this a bit. Or is basically just a bit more cautious. Which again, is just like real life. Some coaches are more cautious to avoid injury, and some are more aggressive. To each their own. From there, it’ll automatically get sent to my Instinct, because I’ve linked up my Garmin & Komoot accounts. Thus routes immediately get transferred. Though, immediacy is based on your watch syncing via Bluetooth or USB. Point being, don’t wait till you get to the trailhead to do this, or you’ll likely be hosed if connectivity is bad, since Garmin Connect requires internet connectivity to sync routes (whereas the Garmin Explore app doesn’t require internet, but has it’s own set of quirks, more on that later). A monochrome face might seem an odd choice when more and more smartwatches are arriving with bright color displays, but it makes a lot of sense for the Instinct 2. It uses far less power than an AMOLED display (like that of the Garmin Epix and Venu 2), and it offers more contrast than a color MIP screen (which was one of our few complaints about the Garmin Fenix 7). In any case, the good news is there’s Connect IQ support now in the Instinct 2 series. You can dig into these from the Connect IQ App.

Instinct 2/2S/Solar In-Depth Review | DC Rainmaker Garmin Instinct 2/2S/Solar In-Depth Review | DC Rainmaker

These data points now have logic in them that basically say you might be able to throw down a fast 5K based on your VO2Max, but unless you’ve put in the mileage, it’s not going to give you a correspondingly fast marathon time. So in my case, I haven’t been focused on long-runs in the middle of January/February, and thus, my times are skewed a bit slower on the longer distances. There are a lot of different ways of getting a route onto the device: you can import a GPX or TCX file directly onto the device or via Garmin Connect; you can automatically sync routes from another route-making platform (such as Strava or Komoot); create a custom or automatic route on Garmin Connect; or follow the route of a previous activity you completed on the watch. I got my new Instinct 2 Solar 12 days ago and right out of the box after fully charged and with default settings on, said 4 days for battery life. Living in Canada and with weather in my area these days, I’ve done most all of my training these days indoors (Zwift), so my new Instinct has not really seen the sun for the past 12 days. Sorry, was just about to answer this. But yes, indeed – PulseOx is by far the biggest battery burning feature you can enable on a Garmin watch (especially all-day monitoring). It’s like throwing gasoline on a fire.The Garmin Instinct 2S is a hardy multisport GPS smartwatch that has an amazing range of activity-specific profiles. Of course, all of these workouts are then sent to any 3rd party platforms you’ve connected up like Strava, TrainingPeaks, Today’s Plan, Final Surge, and so on. Like with GPS, we’ll start easy here, and then build difficulty. This first set is a relatively steady-state effort, so in theory, it should be pretty easy. And indeed, it was – with all the units virtually identical to the reference chest straps and even the Whoop 4.0. There were two minor bobbles from one of the Instinct 2 units where it struggled for a few seconds each, but that’s it.

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

Though it isn’t huge, there is a considerable difference in the battery life of both watches. The Garmin Instinct 2S can last up to 21 days in smartwatch mode, while the Instinct 2 can manage 28 hours. Whereas the solar edition of Instinct 2S can last up to 51 days, the Instinct 2 Solar has an indefinite battery life in smartwatch mode. First up, we’ve got a 5-hour long gravel/MTB bike adventure. The first chunk of this was in tall pine forests, with hazy skies. I eventually broke out of that, though still a bit hazy. Then you’ve got a chart of the altimeter information. You can calibrate the altimeter here, choose whether to auto-calibrate, as well as whether to display the data in meters or feet. 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). If we zoom into just the weights and core portion, you’ll notice that it’s a bit more jagged. Frankly, that’s to be expected. However, you’ll notice that the units are actually fairly similar – just with a few seconds of lag on the Instinct.The Tactical edition has a stealth mode that cuts off all wireless communications, a screen mode designed for reading with night vision goggles, and a killswitch that deletes all data stored on the watch, including location information. It also has Garmin’s Jumpmaster app installed for skydiving.