GarminInstinct 2 GPS 45mm Smartwatch, Rugged watch, Built-in Sports Apps & Health Monitoring, Ultratough Design Features, up to 28 days Battery Life, Graphite

After so many expensive smart watches I was fed up of the 1-day battery life only after disabling every useful feature possible and just stopped wearing them in favour of more simple digital watches and my favourite Suunto X-Lander.I came across the Garmin Instinct 2 as a cheap smart watch option with all the features. I originally looked at the Solar version but as it's winter in the UK and I mostly wear long sleeves even in the summer, I couldn't justify the extra £60. I haven't been disappointed. I get 30-days on one charge (no GPS) and with only a 2hr recharge, it's pretty much always on my wrist.I actually love the basic mono screen, which works best with light on dark watch faces, and that it's controlled entirely from buttons (no fingerprints to wipe from the screen). It took no time to work out what the buttons do and how to navigate the options. And if that's too awkward, the Garmin Connect app allows you to configure every aspect of the watch.I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of activity options the watch can track, each with it's own customisable screens and data tracking. In particular, with the golf activity linked with the Connect Golf app, it does exactly the same as the golf version Garmin Approach S12 watch.Even without the activity tracking it's an amazing every day watch. It's the ideal size for my largish wrist, it looks smart, it's water resistant, it has built-in sensors for altitude, barometer, compass (as good as my Suunto) as well as temperature, heart rate and blood oxygen, steps; then the added GPS tracking and notifications all make this perfect for my needs.

This watch doesn't have the coloured LCD screen like other Garmin watch models, so be wary of this if that's what you're after. The screen is still customisable, but does have less options compared to other models.For me, it's perfect, it isn't distracting, it's simple and it extends the battery life.It still has all the standard sensors the other models have, detecting heart rate, steps, etc.It is very robust compared with other Garmin watches. It's 10/10 for me.

Excellent entry level Garmin. Perfect for the gym and daily activities. Looks good , comfortable and easy to use

I like the fact its not a massive watch like most other smart watches , colour is cool, very comfortable and does everything i need from ut as i walk a lot and once you have sussed it out very easy to set yo and use happy customer.

Excellent take on the fitness tracker using LCD rather than battery hogging displays. Totally configurable set up for whatever exercise you want to do with a ton of other "nice" features, weather etc.Default mode shows 28 days battery life, this includes constant heart rate and sleep monitor through the night. Looks like constant O2 monitoring reduces that by about half and of course constant, built-in GPS will knock it down to about a day.App is very much no-nonsense compared to say Fitbit, but it goes in-depth on the stuff that may be of interest and "seems" accurate as far as these things go.It's also a very nice aesthetic and isn't like the old LCDs and not pixelated at all. It doesn't have a touch screen and relies on four buttons around the bezel which is a blast-from-the-past but not really a problem and also means the glass and bezel doesn't have to be a particular shape for ease of touch.The display is illuminated by pushing a button and it has a slightly blue glow, it's easy to see the screen in the dark but it's not backlit like the colour screens I've gotten used to. This isn't a problem but might seem weird if you are used to modern smart watches.I am enjoying the Garmin ecosystem and app, the battery life is amazing and it's very quick to charge when depleted. I'm into the aesthetic.If you're looking for mainstream, maybe not for you but if you aren't keen on charging your watch frequently and do like the aesthetic it's great 👍👍👍