That's why you need to wear a rubber suit while exercising. I joke because all the wizz bang these type of watches offer is offset by their garbage durability, reliability, and quality.
If you're the type that shed skin from sweating, maybe don't buy a military smart-watch, you'll scratch yourself before you start capitalizing on having bought a rugged watch. Had mine for over a year now, 5 months in the army and never had an issue.
I hate this watch so much for this very reason, and never understood the source of the problem until now. It’s maddening to have incorrect vert logs on every run… thanks for the video!
what a bummer I was about to buy this watch but saw your video. I want everything to work including the altimeter. Strange it doesn't use GPS for that info
Had a similar issue on the Instinct model right after the purchase in late 2019. Actually I complained about it after a few months and got the watch replaced by Garmin. Initially I also thougt of the position of the sensor opening as the problem - intrestingly the new model never showed an issue with the altimeter, even though the sensor position is the same. So in my case it was definetly an issue with the sensor itself.
There are a hundreds of solutions here. Don't hydrate, so you go into heat stroke. Your skin will be red and dry. Attach the watch to your shoe, which won't be sweaty. Wear the watch face down (inside out) to your skin so the port stays uncovered. Exercise only in Florida or Salt lake, Utah, where altitude readings don't matter. Don't run up or down, maybe only indoors. Attach another Garmin Fenix pro solar to your other arm, and read altitudes from that. Drill a hole from the side to the sensor, and plug the original hole. Plug the hole with epoxy, eliminating that feature. Have someone riding on a scooter wear the watch and call out altitudes. Wrap a layer of Saran wrap around your arm, placing the watch over next. Hope that you have my genetics and don't sweat as much as this guy. Return the watch and write a hate letter to the moron that designed the case. This watch was designed by some American, right? By the way, this is not a "fatal" flaw. You, or the watch will not die by wearing this watch. In a century, we will have better watches available.
Thanks for sharing this with the world, however I think you should be watching your calorie intake instead of your altitude if this is your issue with the watch. Just ordered mine, and excited to see if I clog the port or not during activities. Edit: came off like a jackass so fixed.
Does anyone find the calories read as burned during exercise incorrect or off? I’ve had the garmin instinct for 2 days now, and the calories seem to be reading pretty low (compared to my previous Apple Watch). I’m an experienced weight lifter / bodybuilder, 180lbs around 15% BF. When I trained today, for 90 minutes, my calories burned read 490, when on Apple Watch, would read around 750-800 (which seems more accurate. HR was pretty consistent between 100-150. I’ve only used the strength training tracker so far. I never entered any reps or anything done, as I track that with my log book. I just want something really to track my heart rate, calories burned, and time. Maybe the Apple Watch could be wrong, but when I inputted these stats into a calorie burned calculation, given my stats, it said my estimated calories burned were pretty bang on to the Apple Watch. Anyways, I’ll leave this at that. Just wondering if anyone is experiencing anything similar, or if there’s certain settings I can adjust to get a more accurate reading (p.s I already have my stats entered into garmin connect) Thanks
Never had this issue and I sweat like it's an Olympic sport. How do you wear your watch? I wear mine on my left wrist, screen facing towards my body with that port facing my hand.
Very fair commentary there !! Wow nice watch otherwise. I feel the Fenix is nice, a little bulky and I don't enjoy wearing it as much as my CasioProtrek 270, but if I want to track my MTB or hike I wear it and put up with the bulk. I guess I'll pass on the Instinct for what you found..I sweat a lot. Maybe they will fix the location of the port.
I just bought one and like dude said below you can calibrate with GPS or DEM if its available. I also have a sunnto core and it has the same port in same spot and it has never done that besides when i role my windows down in the car.
Fatal flaw ? FATAL ? Serious ? Dude , I have a PPL and a hang glider pilot and use an altimeter for both , which if defective , would Still not cause a fatality , unless I’m in low cloud of which I wouldn’t of launched / flown in the first place .
Well I suppose if you fly over the ocean in VFR conditions you may be correct, however, if you fly anywhere else, that's a ridiculous thing to say and I seriously question your credibility as a PPL.
I’m struggling to understand why the typical Garmin Instinct owner would care about an altimeter. I understand why a pilot needs that information, and a mountaineer too, but average Joe who does basic outdoor activities like running and hiking, I don’t get it. Serious mountaineers, explorers, Trekkers and special ops military dont rely on a watch for this kind of info. Can someone help me understand.
Same issue on vivoactive 3 for me...Im mainly a runner...think I'm going to get forerunner 245 since it doesn't have an altimeter. Once in a while I have a run where the vivoactive 3 works. But most runs it does not.
Have you heard about the barometer getting stuck at 83886 value. My instinct solar has stopped giving me temperature and altimeter readings and baro is constantly displaying 83886. It was fine when I got it a week ago. When you say altimeter was giving inaccurate readings, did you look at what the baro is showing. Was it 83886?
No way instinct is king dont believe this guy. Best watch for the price on the market. I have had both instinct and instinct solar the solar has got new sensors but the original had no problems at all. Check out my review instinct green moss solar.
Yup or DEM. I just got one and its way better than my sunnto core but that also has the same port in the same spot and i never had thst issue, when i role the windows down in the car tho it does do that.
