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For Garmin Instinct Solar, 19 customer reviews collected from 2 e-commerce sites, and the average score is 4.1.

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21.7.2020

I got this about 6 months after buying an FR245, but since running became too painful, I took up indoor rowing. long walks and hiking. Whilst the FR245 has these same activities, it's so geared towards running with training plans, metrics etc that I just felt that I wasn't using anything close to its full potential.Anyway, the Instinct looked more suitable for hiking and has a very impressive battery life, then as I was about to pull the trigger, the Solar came out. At first, the price put me off, then I read some detailed reviews which said that there were a few significant improvements to the hardware, such as Pulse Ox and a better HRM and GPS,not to mention even better battery life due to improvements in the innards and of course the solar element.So far I'm very happy with the watch. It's clunky, chunky and retro, but it does what it needs to and has a certain charm. The screen is small, only black and white, but crams a lot of info depending what face you choose and how you customise each individual element of that face. With the FR245, when I was rowing, I used the watch activity as well as the much better separate rowing app, as the 245 shows the VO2 Max and Training Load, which I liked to follow. Unfortunately, the Instinct doesn't have these metrics, so I don't need the rowing activity any more, but it was extremely basic anyway.So far, I've only used the Walk activity rather than Hike, but the 4 data screens (on a single face) are customisable. Despite the manual, you need to set up Pace or Speed tracking in the activity itself, and I find the Distance and Average Speed are the most useful measurements for me. Basically, pretty much every piece of information on any screen can be changed, no matter how small it looks. GPS seems very accurate, with the app showing the path correctly and even which side of the street you're on.As for the solar element, I was sunbathing and had the watch beside me facing the sun and noticed that the remaining battery life had increased after 2 or 3 hours. Apparently the solar panel on this watch is larger than the Fenix (at least one of them), which means it's more efficient. Battery life seems crazy good, helped by the b&w screen. When it came out of the box it was showing 28 days not fully charged, but obviously the more you use the GPS, altimeter, barometer etc, the quicker it drains. No matter what, it's hard to imagine a smart watch with better battery life, especially with solar charging helping it along.I got the graphite, but quickly bought a red strap on Amazon to liven it up. The quality of that strap seems identical to the original, so an inexpensive way to change the look.There's a heck of a lot to this watch, which requires a good read of the manual, a lot of playing around and also a few queries on the net. So far, I've thought a few times that it wasn't working properly, but others have had the same issues before and can advise you where you're going wrong. Without that, I might even have returned it, but in each case it was human error. If you're not majorly into running, and particularly if you do hiking, then this watch is a great buy, unless you want to spend hundreds more for extra gizmos, a colour screen and a shorter battery life.
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9.10.2020

Having wanting to treat myself to a smart watch with great features and battery life the Instinct Solar ticked all the boxes. It looks great, is rugged has great functionality and the extended battery life is a plus for me as I often work away all week so need to worry about an extra charging cable.I moved from a Fitbit as I was having issues with the GPS functionality and this seems to be up to the grade however I have had some issues from day 1 with it not synching my activities saying 'FileTransferError Timeout'. I raised this with Garmin and they suggested to try all the usual steps such as restarting watch, phone,disabling and re-enabling blue-tooth which after a while makes it synch but has recently gone for nearly 1 week before synching then all my activities came flooding in all at once also populating Strava! Restarting things all the time is not something I will put up with for long so hopefully this issue will resolve ASAP as I do really like all other aspects of this watch and would be sad to have to return it as a failure.
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27.9.2020

My two year old Vivoactive pete tong, so time for a new one. I'm one of those people who likes to wear the same watch for all my activities, so the rugged nature and solar capability are what attracted me to the Instinct.Button functionality follows the same principles of the Edge520, so easy for me to adjust to. I wera it 24x7 and hardly know it's there.The big change from the Vivo is the screen type. It is not a touch screen and not colour, so initially feels a bit retro.Now I am used to it what I do like is the amount of data on tap, linked with the Connect app. - it seems to work better with the app, better than the Vivo (3).Battery life is a big win - at least a week, depending on activity,up to two without use of GPS etc. There is none of the unwanted 'light' at night - the Vivi lights up when you move. The instinct has a light button and clarity is great for that mid night check of the timeSo a great functional watch - not flash but defo worth the money and the solar is a benefit
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5.8.2020

Solar charging, barometer, GPS..... everything i have ever wanted in a watch! a great replacement for my old Casio Pro trek PRG-80T & my Garmin foretrex 401 GPS.... its like haveing both these devices all in one with the garmin instinct solar!!!! but with the added benefit of it being a smart watch & haveing the latest heart rate sensor built in... haveing something that can take excelent advantage of solar energy but also has a built in GPS & bread crumb map for waypoints is something iv been deraming of for about 16 years! the only downside i have for this watch is the build quality.... definitly well build but i do wish it wasent an all plastic desine and instead incorperated metal to give it that beffer,tank feel. not that thats rely needed tho :). im sure it will last a long time! but only time will tell if it can last as long as my now very old casio prg-80t.... either way.... i couldnt be happier :).
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4.8.2020

After previously having used the standard Garmin Instinct, I was already keen on the looks and functions and now with the extended battery, I can use it for longer between charges (in fact I’ve just managed more than 2 weeks with over 24hrs if GPS tracking on various activities.)I have not really used the pulse ox sensor but everything else has been on (except GPS which I only use on activities)The GPS accuracy is great and they seem to have fixed the glitch that makes it look like you have climbed 8,000ft when you have only really done 2,000.

7.9.2020

Tortuous menu system- even though I'm a long term Garmin GPS user it too me quite a while to find my way around the Instinct options. On the plus side I've found the HRM and GPS surprisingly accurate when compared to other much larger Garmin devices such as Edge and Montana (using HR chest strap) As it doesn't have a "proper" map presentation I can't see it being useful for pre-planned cycling navigation but it's just as good as the larger devices for recording rides! An excellent product for the price and virtually unnoticeable on my wrist.

1.1.2021

I never actually follow reviews myself .... I am quite satisfied with my Garmin Instinct Solar, but you shouldn't expect any "medical accuracy". I like its "indestructibility". I mainly use it for training planning and it's great, e.g. to see and calculate a distance run on a map. I would like to forego all kinds of "notifications" if the whole menu was clearer, if it weren't for the connection to the smartphone, and if I hadn't looked for a few activities in vain, e.g. Nordic walking or pool freediving - too "special"? ;-)

12.12.2020

This product looks good and the battery life is amazing. I have found though it’s inaccurate on just about every function. The buttons have become unresponsive already after just a few months, it doesn’t record height gained accurately or stairs and heart rate is dubious especially when using an activity. It seems ok with GPS activated for hikes and walks but I haven’t checked against any maps etc to confirm. Expensive for something that doesn’t work very well.

9.2.2021

I've only had it a few months but what a fantastic watch! Battery life is superb and even in the winter sun the solar charging is no gimmick. Proper quality as expected from garmin, GPS has not skipped a beat so far, been through all the crap elements (wind, snow, rivers, mud) and not one issue to report. Too many bells and whistles to mention. If you want an accurate and dependable companion to your running/hiking then can't recommend this watch enough

15.9.2020

I had my eye on one of these for ages and it's fantastic. Looks tough and rugged, it's a big watch and doesn't disappoint.Had a few issues syncing mine when I first got it, but installed the update on the watch itself and now it's flawless, much more accurate than the Fitbit versa I had and better looking.

20.7.2020

Incredible watch, coming from a Samsung galaxy watch this is lightyears ahead. Battery life is ridiculously good, charges quickly in the sun. Used the tracking navigation for a dog walk and it was spot on. No getting lost for me. Excellent watch.

16.8.2020

If your looking for a smart watch then this one is outstanding. Does everything you want and more, it records everything you want. Especially love the sleep mode it records everything even your REM during your sleep.

28.11.2020

Just get one! Brilliant for navigating a route as you can zoom right into your location on the watch. Does loads of stuff, and very customizable (screen layouts, back-light etc). Highly recommended.

4.4.2021

Good product, haven't been hiking with it yet but have used the functions and all seem to work well.... Normal tracking functions for activity watch are also very accurate

16.8.2020

Amazing device, practical, extremely good screen visibility, very light, very accurate.Love the looks and bold colours, kind of 80s

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