BEST ADVENTURE WATCH? // Garmin Instinct 2 In-Depth Review 

I've been wearing my Instinct 2 Solar for months now, and I got it for completely different reasons: I wanted the apocalypse, survival watch. Built in compass and GPS, charges itself, and unlike all the color screen smart watches I've owned (owned many), It's super reliable and you don't have to pick it up and go "oh I forgot to charge it, guess I'll put it on the charger and wear it tomorrow..... if I remember." No this thing stays running forever. This is what I'd grab before walking out into the jungle, hands down. My G-Shock 5610, would be my next choice. Being able to grab your GPS, and azimuth as a wireless technician and point and go to the direction you're going or shooting a wireless signal to, is amazing. The navigation and battery life features are the reason why I'd say this should be the survival enthusiasts first choice.

Thanks for sharing! I have the Instinct 1 and am pretty happy with it. Btw. regarding Music control, if you have you bring your phone and have bluetooth connected - you can still skip to the next or previous song (or jump forward or backward when listening to a podcast), play/pause and change volume. Cheers!

The solar version is a great SHTF Apocalypse watch. You get basically the same sensors as the Fenix 7. You can also track SPO, Sleep, HR, breathing, body battery and it can be charged via solar. With 247 health monitoring on it says 4 days but when i stay outside a few hours a day in the sun and i'm getting a week or so. So far, very happy.

I had all 3 Instincts and they are really great. Apart from Instinct 1 and "Elevation drop" issues which basically ruined my runs. Garmin fixed this issue somehow with software updates but elevation data was still not great on the original Instinct.

I've had the Instinct surf model in turquoise blue/white & a white band for a couple of years and it hasn't left the wrist much, even with sleeping. It's cool to see they continued it in the new model, but definitely limited on color options. I think if they release the same color scheme I have on my Instinct then I'd end up getting one. :-)

Thanks for pointing out what solar charging is!

I use may watch to pay and it's amazing.. It supports all kind of cards now but I used curve and it worked out well for me.

Thanks for the video 🔥

Justin, I know it's quite an old video so you may not see it. Was wondering, how good Instinct 2 Solar is when it comes to running in the city, between buildings?

Love and appreciate your channel Justin! Hope you are enjoying it having gone full time.

Hi! May I ask you a question? In general I love the watch, however I notice some strange behaviour and I'm curious if you(or anyone else?) recognise this : when I go to the "activities" page by pressing GPS there is a stall and delay of 3-5 seconds. The seconds stop counting, the page switches and then everything is back to normal. This happens daily (usually the first time of the day) and on other times during the day the watch switches instantly. I've wiped all activities and reset the watch, issue persists.

Justin Love both your channels. Very informative and helpful. Question is what is your mic setup when filming on your cell phone? Friends brother in law is doing the AT this year and scenes with wind the audio is not where it needs to be. Thanks in advance. Btw his channel is "This Dude Hikes" Keep up the great work and congratulations on full time.

Could you please tell what's the Garmin's name of the yellow color strap on your video?

i have upgraded my instinct 1 with 2. However the heart monitor on my new instinct 2 shows sometimes over 200 pulses per min during workout which makes all the calcs about readiness etc. that folow these numbers a mess. I am a bit worried about it. Should i give it more time? I have it about three weeks..

Love my instinct 2 solar tactical 👍

Are you holding the graphite color or black?

I have a really silly question: when you’re working out can you still see the time? Do you have to pause your workout on the watch to get back to the time?

Does it suffer from elevation tracking issues due to sweat entering the barometer port like it did on the 1?

Honest 😊after 1years use, what is the battery life now?!

The altimeter on instict 1 was terrible.after updated, it stills counted wrong especially on track run.what about the altimeter of instict2.its the same promplem?

Got any recommendations for more budget friendly options? I'm not sure what to get. I want something rechargeable , watch or handheld GPS, and I'm having trouble finding what I want, google has not been helpful. Also any phone nav apps that are actually good for backcountry hiking in Canada would be helpful thanks.

Hey, I could use an advice...I cannot really decide between fenix 6 pro and instinct 2 solar since they are similarly priced. I'm aware the 2 big selling points of fenix: music and maps. However, I dont listen to music while I'm running and I'm not the biggest hiker out there so the maps would be useful maybe on longer summer vacations. Being that said, still worth to pay up for the fenix? Sport tracking is so much more accurate or better? Thanks!

I think the fenix 6 pro is similarly priced and is still better watch and has mapping feature. It also got cheaper beacuase of the release of fenix 7,

Wont the bread crumbs fall off my watch when I’m hiking in the wind?

It will send an SOS? Without a subscription? Outside of cellular service areas? Wow. Why doesn't the Garmin Inreach do that?

Great watch yes but not for the apocalypse. People be like “I’ll still have GPS”. What happens when power goes off to all of the systems that function to make GPS satellites work?

i have the watch and its definitely far from perfect, design is actually pretty meh, watch face gets dirty super easy and is not easy to clean since it has those "spikes" on the bezel around the glass for fuck knows what

Man i cant look at your videos. Been trying but you talk way to fast.