I have the Instinct 2 Solar, I love it, but I think the solar charging feature is not nearly as effective enough to justify the price increase. For average users, going in and out of doors, full and dappled sun exposure, it's just not enough. I bought this when I worked outdoors and whatever I gained through solar, I lost with the first workout. Personally, I would strongly encourage folks interested to go with the non solar model and save money.
@@deantreloar sure, however here in Ukraine 90% of transactions are cashless plus when I had my phone broken or had to pay for the pool, that feature was really handy. Also the solar edition seems a bit better for the service in the military
I've had this watch almost a year and love it- use it as my primary watch. As long as you don't need to make phone calls and texts on a watch, it's great.
Ever try it on a dress shirt as well... How does it look ? Am planning to buy and am that sort of a person who would want to wear the watch all activities and occasions:))
Honestly the level of detail you put in your videos are unmatched. Whether its a garmin watch or your gopro enduro batteries, I am so thankful that I stumbled upon your channel.
My family and I just got this for my dad's 50th this Monday, hoping he likes it! He's had the Garmin forerunner for like 6 years now and his strap recently broke.
As always: thanks for that much data. I still rock the original instinct and battery life is still good for charging every 2 weeks. Only feature that might push me would be Garmin pay, as the instinct is my daily and I usually have my phone to pay with me. Rocking the 645M for sports
Great work! Very thorough review! I would be happy to see a little update later (if it's possible) in regards to: 1) software updates (whether they dealt with existing bugs and whether removed restrictions for uploading your own corses, 50 points for a good hike/bike ride is a joke, it's 2022 for God's sake!) Garmin positions Instinct as a good outdoors watch, but instinct 1 solar sucks at dealing with uploaded routes (you either lose half the amount of the points you so carefully planted on the map or get nothing at all) 2) whether their claims for unlimited battery with solar live up to their claims or is it another marketing BS. In terms of new colours I am very disappointed with Garmin's policy to lock specific colours for specific sizes/specifications. For example I want to buy Electric lime + 45mm + solar, but it's only available as non solar option. Annoying!
I literally just bought the 1 on Monday... of course a new version dropped :( Update: thanks to this in-depth I made the plunge to turn in the original version for the 2 solar. Thank you!
@@Dcrainmaker Hi there, thanks for your review! Since you pointed out the Kill Switch for the tactical version: Do you know if the Stealth Mode is also only available on the Tactical version? Or also on the base solar model.
I was mainly interested in the surf features. But the first instinct was absolutely awful for surfing and I’ve realized I just want to surf without worrying about any stupid gadgets or wave count or speed or anything. Nifty, but doesn’t seem worth the upgrade if you already have an instinct. But for a new watch, this is a badass little setup.
I appreciate your content. It has helped me pick 3 different wearable. Instinct a while back, a 5x plus about 4 years ago, and I just got this one after this video. Been watching for a LONG time.
Hah - I knew you and Des would have reviews popping up. Really appreciate your guys dedication! I love my Garmin Instinct but I was really curious how this one stacked up.
An easily missed feature you didn't mention on the tactical, Its a military feature but also a great safety feature. The tactical can display current location in UTM and also grid reference system. If i needed help id love to give an 8-10 figure grid reference to mountain rescue.
If they also reset the encryption key after the delete it should be safe enough (I guess the data is encrypted so it would be quite difficult to break a good encryption key in a life time, and this way you'll need to guess it first too). Awesome content by the way, I recently ordered the instinct 2x solar after a while of researching the Garmin watches and your videos helped.
Great review! I got the OG instinct for black Friday 2021. As someone who enjoys the ruggedness, adequate HR monitor, body battery, and basic activity tracking, it doesn't seem like I need to upgrade. But those extra features look awesome!
Is Ray’s channel going to slowly morph into a world traveling/sports product review channel? I’m stoked about these views! I hit the like but three times already! 👍
Finally, audio prompts available on this watch, lack of this which I find really useful when running (particularly intervals) made me steer clear. Could never understand why the Venu SQ has music, garmin pay, yet no audio prompts during runs.
Anyone noticed that DcR is hyper & super excited 😆 so many watches to play with. Boys toys. I would be that excited too if I had all of those watches. Another great breakdown and review. Keep it up 👍
Bro, I just got the Instinct for Christmas... Oh well, I couldn't be happier. The only new feature that seems interesting is the wireless payment option. The better solar charging sounds nice in theory, but I have no complaints about the battery life on the current Instinct.
i actually like the Casio-esque design of the Instinct... when the Epix 2 rumours started, i actually thought they'd come out in the Casio rectangle form factor 😂
I literally just bought one online... Really good deal $100 off for the standard if purchased on Wal-Mart's site. All I want is the compass, and the ability to do heart rate training.
Awesome stuff .. great info as usual … what’s the quick answer for best Garmin watch WITH a wheel sensor for my mtn bike… ??? That’s 99% of what I use it for. Thank you!!
What type of mapping is there on the watch? Can I load a course onto the device and then follow it ? If yes, what does the interface look like :) Thanks for your reviews. As always 💪👍👍
Im not sure id want the 2 over the 1 based on me just being a hiker. I can hike anywhere and not get lost with the 1. That was the main reason i got it👌🏾
10:38 I now see you doing these tests with 5 watches on your arms and all sorts of bands and trackers 😂 Awesome review, very in depth. Still wondering if this is the one for me though xD
Great review and I really want to get one instinct 2 solar, but the price is out of my budget. I only can wait and hope that there is a special offer at Amazon's Prime day
Great updates to the Instinct but frustrating with lack of reliability continuing. I've had countless problems with general use of the OS and GPS issues requiring many factory resets. My father's had quality control issues with a button straight out of the box - shame as I really like the model at this price point and what it offers.
That's a load of updates! I'd go for the old stock Fenix 5 despite the lack of the lack of the last generation pulse meter. If you manage do buy one it costs like the new Instinct.
Ray, thanks for the long-awaited video! A couple of questions if you do not mind 1. Does it have RACE PREDICTOR like Epix? (according to official site it does not though) 2. According to specs I2S has 156 x 156 pixels vs 176 x 176 for I2. Are there visible differences? I mean maybe I2 can handle more visual elements/icons in some scenarios than I2S.
Great reviews as usual!! I already have the old instinct solar and I don't know if it's worth the upgrade as I don't practice running or cycling. My main activities are Crossfit, skiing and hiking and from what I understand almost all the new features are for running and cycling only and not for other activities. what do you think?
Any chance you'll review the descent G1? It's too bad that it's only reviewed by scuba divers when it's basically the same as instinct 2. And therefore a better choice than the instinct 2 for occasional divers. I'll assume that's an instinct 2 with underwater features :)
Yup, working on it. Got a few more dives I want to get in this week, and then be done with what will end up as a 2-month long review process. The review will cover fitness aspects too. But yeah, in short, it's just an Instinct 2 with dive features/hardware.
Hi, I have bought Instinct 2 Solar 45mm and the watch is great, the only problem I have is the battery. I have have Pulse Ox manual, HR auto, baro/alti auto, backlight 20% on only after sunset general use, 5% during sleep, 4 sec timeout for all. I stopped all notifications and I enable phone connection only to sync 2 times per day, sounds off, vibration on, moveIQ & Move alert off, all alarms off. I also don't do anything at all on the watch just to check the max I can get. This is the most battery saving I can think of and it drains 4-5% (1-2days) per day on track for about 22days after full charge. I already drained the battery once and fully charged. I think that if I use it as an actual smart watch 24/7 phone connected + notifications I will get no more than 18-20days which is nowhere close to 28 garmin claims. Anyone else with the same issue?
Bought the Solar version about a week ago. Worked fine for 5 or 6 days, was loving it. Firmware update yesterday, and my battery suddenly is draining itself from 100% to 0 in about 5 hours. I've tried a soft reset and a hard reset after that, to see if it would fix it, but nothing. Terribly disappointed.
Thanks for the great videos. So, I got the Garmin Instinct 2 Solar version and have a quick question: Once I fully charge the watch it shows a 28d battery life expectancy. But I see a massive battery drop from day 1 to day 2 of usage. Day 1 shows 28days, day 2 (with not much activity) shows 9 days... and from day 2 on is less one battery life day per day (expected). But the initial 28d to 9d is really unexpected. Did you experience that as well? Thanks for the excellent videos!
Hello there! Thanks for the great review. I have the instinct 2s. Should I still get the Running dynamics POD? All that the RD tracks, my watch shows on the app. Thanks in advance!
Hello DC.. great video as always... I have a question... I have a fenix 5 and I want to change it for a instinct 2 solar... You think is a good change? Or should I keep my fenix 5? Cheers
Looks like 2 huge firmware updates have dropped since the original review. Just curious to see if there would be an updated review as you mentioned it being more unstable than other Garmin watches?
thanks for the great review and detail. its worth noting the combo of monochrome, small size and low pixels on the "S' version means the display is terrible. you cannot run a data screen with 4 fields and expect to be able to see it while running.
Thanks! It actually has better resolution and screen size than many other Garmin's over the years. Neither my wife or I had any issues with the Instinct 2S running and visibility. But of course, it'll depend on your eyesight.
Hello Sir, fantastic review once again. I have just ordered an Instinct 2S as I'm hoping it's small enough for me wear and to still wear a conventional watch on my other wrist without looking weird. Can you tell me whether the Instinct 2 is an always-on display or can it be switched off?
I had insitnct 1 camo solar, My elevation gain throughout activity is my main problem(very inaccurate). Did some research on google, many people said that the reason behind is the placement of the sensors. Will this intinct2 be better? I really love the instinct series.
Hey Ray, Does the Solar widget show the actual LUX hours collected like the Fenix? Or does it just show the intenisity for past few hours like you have on the video? Thanks!
Sadly not on the Instinct series. Garmin says it has to do with the underlying internals in how they gather that data and the Fenix having fancier bits there or something.
So, at least 1yr after publication, is there an update? For example, is the software in the watch still as buggy as mentioned or has those issues been fixed?
Great work DC. I bought the original a week ago and for the first time ever i don't have FOMO for a new iteration. A couple nice new features but nothing that makes me think i should have waited given i got mine at a discount.
For surfing ... do I need the "surf edition" or will any other Instinct 2 variant be just fine? The colors on the surf edition don't quite do it for me.
Far too often there were bits of text or data that were obscured by that cicular inset or even just off the edge of the screen. I think I'd lose patience with that very quickly. Was that on the standar Garmin built-ins or were these downloaded 3rd party apps?
Hey, great video. I was recommended to look at Instinct 2 over Garmim swim 2 and wondering what is better. I only do pool swimming just now and wanted a watch for that. Any advice would be appreciatted. Cheers
While the Instinct gets great battery life for just smartwatch usage, I'm curious why the Instinct 2's listed battery life for GPS usage is only HALF that of the Fenix 7. They're almost the same case size, so what gives there?
