If You Are Looking For A New Garmin

OldAssDude
OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
check out the new Garmin Instinct...

Garmin Instinct

It has many of the features of their higher end devices for less than half the price. I had mine for a few days now, and now my fenix 5x ($650.00) is sitting in the drawer.

Lighter, smaller, more comfortable, rugged (built to mil standards), and so far pretty darn accurate. It does not have some of the advanced metrics (VO2, TE, recovery, etc...), but i never found those metrics to be accurate on my fenix 5x anyway.

For $300 bucks, you will get a great device.

Disclaimer: I do not work for Garmin or anything. Just passing along some information based on my experience so far.

Replies

  • dewd2
    dewd2 Posts: 2,449 Member
    edited October 2018
    The one thing missing (and the only reason I went with the 5x over the 935) is turn by turn directions. Having this saved me a few times when running in unknown areas. Other than that it looks great.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
    Only a mother could love that face!

    Actually looks like the feature set vs money will probably work for a lot of people. Seriously, though, no third party watch faces? I've been using a custom one for a while and find it useful enough that I wouldn't want to go back. (But I have a 5X anyway so it's not like I'm in the market for a watch.)
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
    dewd2 wrote: »
    The one thing missing (and the only reason I went with the 5x over the 935) is turn by turn directions. Having this saved me a few times when running in unknown areas. Other than that it looks great.

    Yeah that is a handy navigation feature on the 5x to be able to see the complete map, but you can still follow a course on the instinct.

    I think the main thing is that it's only 300 bucks, and that makes it very affordable to the average person looking for a good feature packed device.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    edited October 2018
    DCRainmaker's excellent (as usual) review of the Instinct: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2018/10/garmin-instinct-gps-watch-in-depth-review.html

    It's actually pretty amazing what features it does have, in comparison to Garmin's more expensive devices. I'm actually surprised that Garmin didn't cripple it more to differentiate the product lines. On the other hand;
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Only a mother could love that face!

    It definitely does have that '80s Casio G-Shock look. And no Connect IQ, so no third-party widgets, data fields or watch faces - but the price difference will surely atone for a lot of those sins for a lot of people. It will make for some interesting decision choices between the Instinct and the Vivoactive 3, which is priced $30 less.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,935 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    DCRainmaker's excellent (as usual) review of the Instinct: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2018/10/garmin-instinct-gps-watch-in-depth-review.html

    It's actually pretty amazing what features it does have, in comparison to Garmin's more expensive devices. I'm actually surprised that Garmin didn't cripple it more to differentiate the product lines. On the other hand;
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Only a mother could love that face!

    It definitely does have that '80s Casio G-Shock look. And no Connect IQ, so no third-party widgets, data fields or watch faces - but the price difference will surely atone for a lot of those sins for a lot of people. It will make for some interesting decision choices between the Instinct and the Vivoactive 3, which is priced $30 less.

    On a quick look, I couldn't see why I would prefer it to my VA3, which does have some third party apps and such, unless I just wanted more of a military, macho look. ;) (I'm speaking only for my personal needs; not saying that some of the differences from the VA3 might not be just what other people need, and worth the 30 bucks.)

    One of the things I like about my VA3 is the sleeker look - better than the non-fitness-tracker sports watch I used to wear because I'm old school and like a wristwatch. ;)
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
    But can you answer your watch like Dick Tracy?
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    edited October 2018
    L1zardQueen wrote: »
    But can you answer your watch like Dick Tracy?

    I tried that once when I had the Apple Watch. It felt so cheesy that I never did it again, lol. I guess it would work better if you’re the kind of person who walks around with BT headphones in your ears all the time, but that’s not me.

    It would be a toss-up for me between the VA3 and the Instinct - both have features I like that the other doesn’t have. I think the Instinct would probably win out just because it has hard buttons instead of a touch screen. I wore an Apple Watch for a year and grew to hate the touch screen. But I’d really have to dig into the features and make some decisions. I wouldn’t trade either of them for my 935, though.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    L1zardQueen wrote: »
    But can you answer your watch like Dick Tracy?

    I tried that once when I had the Apple Watch. It felt so cheesy that I never did it again, lol. I guess it would work better if you’re the kind of person who walks around with BT headphones in your ears all the time, but that’s not me.

    It would be a toss-up for me between the VA3 and the Instinct - both have features I like that the other doesn’t have. I think the Instinct would probably win out just because it has hard buttons instead of a touch screen. I wore an Apple Watch for a year and grew to hate the touch screen. But I’d really have to dig into the features and make some decisions. I wouldn’t trade either of them for my 935, though.

    I feel odd using the Dick feature too, I usually tell the caller to wait for me to locate my phone to continue with our conversation. I never liked Dick Tracy but I did love the Sunday comic strips. My fav was Charlie Brown, jogging memory.

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