The Garmin Instinct line has a distinctive look – a rugged polymer case and a unique screen with a small circle display in addition to the main display – and brings most of the outdoor features of the high-end Fenix line into a cheaper watch.
Garmin has made substantial upgrades to the second generation of the Instinct, which also comes in a smaller size called the Instinct 2S, with solar versions of both watches available. It has a longer battery life and a slew of new features taken from Garmin’s other running watches, like training load analysis, VO2 max estimates and suggested workouts. All this makes the Instinct 2 an attractive option that offers all the key sports and activity tracking features you need in a hardy case built for adventure.
Garmin Instinct 2: Price And Availability
The Garmin Instinct 2 launched on 9th February 2022, with the Instinct 2 and 2S models costing £299.99 and the solar versions costing £389.99. Camo editions of the Instinct 2 and 2S are also available for £349.99, and there are special Surf and Tactical editions that cost £349.99 for standard watches and £429.99 for solar versions.
Buy Garmin Instinct 2 from Garmin UK | £299-£429.99
You can get the original Instinct from Garmin UK for £269.99 and the Instinct Solar from Garmin UK for £319.99.
What’s New
The Instinct Solar was itself a notable update on the original Instinct, incorporating a new GPS chip and heart rate monitor alongside the solar panels. The Instinct 2/2S builds on the platform of the Instinct Solar, improving both the hardware and the software on the watch.
Garmin has slimmed down the watch, for starters. The Instinct 2 is 14.5mm thick and the 2S is 13.3mm, compared with 15.3mm for the Instinct. The Instinct 2 has the same 45mm case size, while the 2S is 40mm. Although the screen size is the same across the generations at 0.9in/23mm (0.79in/20mm for the 2S), the pixel density is higher on the new watch at 176 x 176 compared with 128 x 128 (156 x 156 on the 2S).
This increase in sharpness wasn’t noticeable to my eyes, but the Instinct 2’s screen is clear, and the improvement doesn’t hit the battery life, with the Instinct 2 lasting longer. The solar version of the Instinct 2 can run indefinitely in smartwatch mode in sunny conditions (28 days without solar), and the GPS battery life is 30 hours, or 48 with solar. The Instinct Solar also offers 30 hours of GPS battery life, but this rises only to 38 with solar, and in smartwatch mode it tops out at 24 days or 54 with solar. The original Instinct lasted only 14 days in smartwatch mode and had 16 hours of GPS battery life.
| Smartwatch mode | Smartwatch mode with solar | GPS | GPS with solar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garmin Instinct 2 | 28 days | Indefinitely | 30 hours | Up to 48 hours |
| Garmin Instinct Solar | 24 days | Up to 54 days | 30 hours | Up to 38 hours |
| Garmin Instinct | 14 days | N/A | 16 hours | N/A |
Alongside these hardware improvements, Garmin has added a raft of features from its other ranges to make the Instinct 2 a more complete tracker. There are NFC Payments through Garmin Pay (solar versions only), extra sports modes like HIIT, and training analysis features like VO2 max estimates, a recovery advisor, training load analysis and suggested workouts.
The new watch also adds health features like menstrual cycle tracking, intensity minutes tracking and a fitness age estimate, plus Garmin’s advanced sleep tracking with sleep stages and a score. All this is viewable on the watch via the glances interface that’s used across the rest of Garmin’s watches.
You also get access to the Connect IQ app store where you’ll find new watch faces and data fields to add to the watch.
Key Features
All the new features build on what was already a very solid watch. The Instinct 2 is waterproof to 10 ATM, and has an altimeter, barometer and compass. It can track outdoor activities via GPS and another satellite system (you can choose between GLONASS and Galileo for the second one), though it doesn’t offer the all-systems-GPS or multi-band tracking found on Garmin’s Fenix 7 and Epix 2 watches.
The watch has breadcrumb navigation (pictured, above) and Garmin’s TracBack feature, which directs you back to your starting point during activities. It also shows your phone’s notifications, tracks your stress levels and blood oxygen saturation, and has Garmin’s Body Battery measurement to rate your energy levels out of 100 throughout the day.
First Look
I had the Garmin Instinct 2 Solar for a day before writing this first-look review: I used it on one run and tracked one night’s sleep. I loaded a route on to the watch to test the navigation, and tested the accuracy of the GPS and heart rate against a Garmin Epix 2 in the most accurate multi-band tracking mode linked to a chest strap.
The Instinct 2 impressed with its accuracy, giving a GPS track that was only a little wobblier than the one from the Epix 2. The heart rate was also within a few beats of the chest strap at almost all times, lurching a bit only after I strapped it back on after taking the Instinct 2 off for a photo.
While the screen is smaller than those on other Garmins, including the Forerunner 245, it is still easy to read your stats while running, and I found following a breadcrumb route was also simple. The Instinct 2 also shows the elevation profile of your route so you know how much climbing is still to come.
I wasn’t able to link it to Garmin Connect before the official release, so the training status information and VO2 max it gave me after the run was a little off what I get from a Garmin I’ve been using for a while, but once that’s set up properly it will be a fantastic addition to the Instinct, bringing it into line with equivalent options in the Forerunner range like the 245. It means those who do prefer the look and battery life of the Instinct 2 don’t have to sacrifice those training features.
The sleep tracking widget on the watch is less easy to use than those on Garmins with colour screens, which colour-code the different stages of your rest, but it’s still a useful addition. On the one night I used it ahead of this review the Instinct 2 produced the usual Garmin sleep tracking performance, in that it recorded me falling asleep slightly earlier than I did and then missed some time when I was awake during the night, so it overestimated how much I slept in total.
Early Impressions
There is a lot more testing to come, but the early signs are that the longer battery life and the new software features are worthwhile upgrades. While some people, myself included, will prefer the sleeker designs of the Forerunner watches in Garmin’s range, just as many will favour the chunky, longer-lasting Instinct. Now they can pick it up without losing any key features compared with the Forerunner watches, especially in relation to training analysis.