Garmin Instinct - Graphite

I bought this watch in Dec 2020, so it's had 2 years and 4 months of everyday use! I've wated a good length of time to review it to hopefully give you a good idea of how robust the watch is etc. Not after a weeks use!!I use the watch everyday without fail and pretty much wear it 24/7 unless I'm charging it! Mainly I'll record hikes, including mountain hikes and the odd bike ride, so this is when I'll record the activity via the built in GPS, then download the activity to the Garmin app and Komoot.I used the watch to record hiking activities extensively last year whilst travelling in our campervan, spending 3 months in France, 3 months back in the UK, then 3 months in Spain. So what I'm saying is that the watch is used a lot.The battery life is fantastic, not using the GPS, I've had a couple of weeks out of it with battery power left over, I think I'd get up to 3 weeks. When the GPS is activated it will last all day, I believe up to 16 hours. I've spent all day on mountains in the UK, Spain and France and there's always been plenty of life left in the battery once the activity has ended.The watch is not bad to look at and is very clear and simple to use, it also sits nice on the wrist and is very light.The only gripe I have is the fact you can't see the steps on the face during a recorded activity, it just means you have to wait until you've finished.Overall I love the watch, it's been totally reliable and the best Garmin I've had by far. I would definitely buy another.

I've been looking for a smartwatch for ages that is durable enough to take a few knocks, is reasonably priced and doesn't look like you're carrying a brick on your wrist. This one does all that perfectly!I honestly love this watch, the battery lasts ages, even in GPS navigation mode, it's packed full of features that are actually useful (like the navigation and the ability to control Spotify) and yet it looks like a normal watch.The lack of a touchscreen is a god send as it doesn't go nuts when it starts to rain and it means I don't have to worry about it breaking every time I knock it - which is quite a lot due to my job.The Garmin Connect app that goes along with it is great. Easy to use, informative and let's you create routes which you can send to the watch in advance and navigate using waypoints - super easy to do and very effective.The Garmin Explore app is also worth downloading if you do a lot of walking on footpaths etc as it lets you create routes using an OS style map and send these to the watch, as well as letting you use the app to navigate with more topographic detail offline.All in all, a great watch supported by great apps!

My first smart watch and it is great. The software for Garmin connect went straight onto my ageing Galaxy 4 android without fault and seems to work very well. Only had it a couple of days and was expecting it to be a nightmare to get used to but actually it is very easy and the steps tend on the whole to be common sense. It came in Fahrenheit and miles etc. but was easy to change to centigrade and kilometres. The compass can be set to true, magnetic or grid north as well as degrees or mils. The deal breaker for me was that it gives a good accurate grid reference for the British Ordnance Survey maps and a very accurate sunrise and sunset time. The screen is monochrome/blue and it won't accept pictures on it's screen of your friends sent to your phone but will notify you of the same by message. I only have ugly friends anyway so that is not a problem. On the whole it seems to be very good and accurate with the battery doing well and lasting longer than I expected. When I am rich I will get a Fenix 6X pro but until then this is great. I like Garmin as I got a Garmin 38 handheld GPS back in the 90's and it was great. It still works....! If this watch lasts 25 years then in the year 2045 I will get a Fenix 93X pro with time travel/teleport powered by dylithium crystals. Garmin will probably have that one sussed by then.

I like this a lot more than I expected I would. Not having to charge the battery for many days at a time makes the whole smartwatch experience much more enjoyable. There is nothing worse than using the Garmin golf watches and immediately having to take them off and charge them after a round. Mind you I haven't been using the GPS heavily for hiking just yet, so that might change my opinion on some things later.On a day to day basis, the App is also surprisingly addictive. I am sure many elements of the data it measures are really only rough guesses but it is nevertheless very useful to notice which days I am roughly walking more, exercising more, sleeping better. It is certainly a good laugh when arguing with the family over who got the worst nights sleep :-)I am most sceptical about the heart rate monitor. I haven't done much running yet but when I am doing mixed workouts in the gym my heart rate seems to jump around a lot. One minute it is in the 90s and the next it is sitting above 130. The next it is much lower again. Maybe this is normal? I have no idea.As for the aesthetics, I like the fact that the watch itself is very light, the strap is soft and comfortable with two loops for the strap, and that the face is very easy to read. I defintely prefer it to the oled type faces. It of course tha face itself is endlessly customisable. This really is a kind of Casio for grown-ups if that's your thing.