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

Battery failure: Watch shuts down during workouts

I’ve owned the Instinct 2S for about a year, and it’s been a massive disappointment recently. The watch is marketed as a rugged sports tool, but it can no longer handle even a simple run. Every time I start an activity (GPS or Strength), the watch shuts down instantly, even when showing a 90% charge. After a reboot, the battery percentage drops randomly by 40-50%. I have tried every possible software fix: hard resets, clearing the cache, and updating via Garmin Express on my Mac. Nothing works...

Solid Military Smart Watch

This watch for the price is very feature rich and reliable. The ability to solar charge is nice when not having access to means to recharge it, and the long battery life helps ensure it does not need to be charged often. Having capabilities such as GPS are great for many applications.

Don't like the monochrome screen

I think this is a wonderful watch, I love Garmin watches, but not a fan of the monochrome screen. So I returned for a much brighter, more colorful Garmin watch. It is a beefy, sturdy watch with so many options and I would have kept it except for the screen.

Accurate, Easy to Read, Great Battery

I have been using Instinct 2S a year. I love the size for my smaller wrist. The watch consistently receives my texts and calls, unlike my previous smart device. The high contrast screen is easy to read.

1st smart watch and loving it!

Im so happy I went with this watch! Not a fitbit or a galaxy watch. This does so much more than either of those could offer.

So far, so good.

I bought this a couple weeks ago to replace a failing Forerunner 35. I love the smaller size and long battery life, because I plan to take it on 2-week backpacking trips where I won't be recharging it, and it looks like Garmin no longer offers a similar small size/long battery life combination. Lot of useful new features compared to the 35, including sun and moon rise and set times. The sleep analysis reports have also been useful.

awsome watch

I bought this watch about 2 weeks ago, and it is awsome. I can run and know how fast I am going per mile so I can pace myself.

Rubbish

After less than a year without a great deal of use the watch, which is incredibly unintuitive to use, no longer connects via Bluetooth and does not even accurately tell the time (it loses about 5 minutes every couple of hours)

Love it!

It’s super smart it attracts everything but it’s also simple. It gives you a broader understanding of your own health.

Fantastic upgrade from original instinct!

I've been wearing the original Instinct since 2019. My only complaint with the original has been that it's a bit heavy and catches on sleeves, etc. I use my watch for health/fitness tracking and have notifications turned off, so the bigger screen isn't important to me. The 2S is noticeably smaller/lower profile and lighter on the wrist. I was worried the 2S may appear small or not fit my wrist (165mm) but the size looks better than the original, in my opinion. While my wrist is well within the s...

Heart rate is hit or miss, nice watch otherwise.

I purchased this watch hoping to track my heart rate. I’m not really a big tech guy so the instinct 2 was my choice for its simplicity. It works well as a watch but the heart rate monitor doesn’t track over half the time. I’m constantly removing and adjusting the watch trying to get a reading. So basically it’s just a watch at this point.

I have one and use it for wildland fire and absolutely love it. I use the compass, barometer, altimeter, sport tracking, calories burned, ect. to help my performance and know the face of the slope or shooting quick asmyths. my wife also has a Garmin and she absolutely loves it and uses it for forestry. I would recommend this watch to anyone but I would say definitely get the solar watch it's worth the extra money.

Rugged. Great battery life. Very accurate activity tracking.

Great watch, I enjoy the long battery life for hikes, biking, etc.

Overall, good.

Scores of functions, some extraneous, maybe it tries to do too much? Watch band is a problem...stiff, uncomfortable and needed to be replaced with a softer material.

Great features!

Rarely have to recharge. I’ve always been an Apple Watch gal but hands down much better.

Garmin Instinct 2S

I am an avid hiker and backpacker. I wanted a sports watch that wasn’t too bulky but had lots of features. I also wanted the battery to last awhile so I didn’t have to worry about recharging every few days. On the regular setting I get 21 days of battery power! I love this watch! It tracks my hikes. It has an altimeter, compass, pressure. It tracks my sleep and important health stats. It notifies me of texts and calls. Very versatile. I’m excited to take it with me on the John Muir Tra...

Nothing is perfect

I bought it 2 months ago. In the swimming mode it doesn't measure my heart rate. I tried all I could but wasn't able to fix it.5

Exactly as promised

Very durable from caving to swimming. It can do it all

Great features!

I received this watch for Christmas. I love the battery life, which is much more than the Forerunner 35 I had. I love how it gives me a better understanding of my body with 24/7 health monitoring. There's a lot of features that I'm still learning. This watch is tough and rugged, perfect for any adventure!