Ratings & Reviews for Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Smart Watch with Step Counter, Heart Rate Monitor and GPS Enabled

Watch says it’s a solar watch doesn’t work

I get about 10 days. Solar doesn’t work. Let it sit outside in the direct sun a full day and it lost 3% power.

Great watch

Garmin solar instinct, 2 is a great watch the look and function is very good is accurate and has a lot of good options I’d recommend getting it I’m now looking at the instinct 3 as a daily wear and keep the instinct 2 as a work watch

Good watch functions bad housing and band

I bought my Instinct 2 about a month ago when I suspected an issue with my Vivoactive 3 (turns out it was likely a bug with an app I had installed causing excess battery drain). When the watch arrived I noted the band was rubber, something I've had problems with with smartwatches from Samsung. I noted it was silicone and figured I'd chance it. I want to point out that the Vivoactive 3 also came with a rubber strap but I swapped it out when I discovered that the watch body didn't cause a re...

Best Watch for work

I absolutely love this watch. I get it dirty while working and then you can just wash it right off like it is a dish in the sink. Never have had any issues with the watch not working. Wish Garmin would update their app to automatically update without opening the app. The battery lasts and lasts on this watch and that was a key buying point for me

Certain features are hard to navigate

I'm trying to like this watch but it's not very intuitive. For example, to start a walk it took a while to figure out. I use a tutorial on my phone. To end the walk I end up in endless menus and unable to get back to just show the time. I also found if the walk is not ended the GPS drains the battery significantly. The sleep score is also questionable IMO. I can get 9 hours of sleep with a good HRV and the watch shows "poor". And that's if the watch records the sleep at all. Most days the s...

super features, still learning

i upgraded from a vivoactive3 to instinct 2 solar, happy with it

Works great, charges well overall. I'm outside most days, but still may have to put on a physical charger once a month or so.

Enjoying so fae

I bought this about six weeks ago to replace the first generation Instinct I have. Overall this second generation has better features and more options so I do like that. I am a little disappointed in the battery life. It’s lasting about 7-9 days depending on how much GPS I use. I was expecting the solar to be a little better than this. Battery life is similar to Gen 1.

Excellent value!

This watch replaced my Instinct Solar I through Garmin's out of warranty exchange program and I could not be happier with both the product and the high level of service. I had a good 5 years on the old watch so my familiarity with these watches is fairly high and I am blown away how good this next generation is. I believe I will stay in the Garmin family for a long time.

Nice upgrade

I had the original Instinct Solar and the elevation feature began to malfunction. Garming readily offered an upgrade to the Instinct 2 Solar. I'm very happy with it. Overall, functionality is much smoother. I really only have one complaint and this is true of the 1 and the 2: the GPS (on/off) gets turned off inadvertantly when tracking.

Great watch but has problems.

I bought the watch about a month ago, the read out is two small and its hard to control but it could be me. I've had three strokes so my brain ain't what it use to be and neither are my eyes. Wish the screen was a bit bigger and the numbers more visible. Still having said that its still a nice watch.

Great when changing time zones

Just sync with the satellite when arriving at a different time zone.

Great watch!

I got lucky to buy one, it has been a great watch for me. Has so many features that I get to use.

Best all around watch

Bought this watch to upgrade from my Vivo 3. This watch is everything I wanted it to be. Stays charged for up to 19 days where my last watch was 3 at the max. At first didn't like the buttons instead of the touch screen, but after using it for some time it is a way better option. Would recommend this watch to anyone who is outdoors alot.

battery life has been great, I love using this for work!

My second garmin instinct

Perfect watch for tracking workouts and I love the app.

Great watch

I love this watch. I use it for anything from climbing and adventuring into the mountains to working as a firefighter paramedic. I love the solar function, the battery life lasts forever. It has a good balance of ruggedness and toughness as well as functions. As a first responder it is perfect for tracking my health statistics, while also performing well and staying tough in different environments. Love this watch.

Not going back.

The black and white screen, the simple inputs, and the ridiculously good battery life has trumped all other garmins I've owned. Smart enough to be useful, not too techy to be in the weeds of itself.

My Third Garmin

I switched to Garmin after going through 2 Fitbits in approximately 3 years. I started with a Venu Sq which lasted 3+years. I had to replace it after it gave out around year 2 (GREAT WARRANTY!). My sister gave me her Vivoactive, which was awesome fitness tracker, but alas, it didn’t last a year. Probably because it was pretty old. I inherited my solar Instinct 2 from my brother-in-law (he passed away in October). It seems to be pretty durable. I still need to add some activities to it but ...

More Isn't Better

Recently replaced (battery wouldn't hold a charge!) my original Instinct Std Ed, vintage 2020. I thank Garmin for making the replacement easy and affordable; service is outstanding, as are their products! But I believe the Instinct II Solar is waay more complicated to setup! Too many activities to choose! So far, I've spent 3+ hours attempting to setup up the new Instinct in a similar fashion as the old Std Ed...and I'm not there yet! Assuming after several more frustrating hours, I'll prevail!