Final Garmin Instinct 2 Review - Pros & Cons for CrossFit & vs Polar, Coros, Suunto & Other Garmins
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 มี.ค. 2022
- Final Garmin Instinct 2 Review - Pros & Cons for CrossFit & vs Polar, Coros, Suunto & Other Garmins
To Buy:
amzn.to/3IOhxEG
Initial & Watch Band Change Review:
• Garmin Instinct 2 Revi...
Mid-Point Review:
• Garmin Instinct 2 Mid-...
Breaking Down the Garmin Line-Up Review:
• Breaking Down The Garm...
Time Stamps:
Overview - 0:42
Watch Specs & Features - 1:27
App Features w I2 - 8:01
Pros - 11:49
Cons - 14:58
Special Battery Life Review - 16:15
Special Legibility Review - 19:41
Summary - 22:25
Who Is This For? - 22:59
Vs Polar, Coros, Suunto - 23:54
Who is This NOT For? - 25:40
CORRECTION TO LAP BUTTON: Someone pointed out that you CAN add the Lap Button feature by going into the settings for each activity and toggling the Lap Button to On. First watch of Garmin’s to require this step!
Thanks for correcting this as lap is important and may have mislead some people. I had the Vivoactive HR which needed lap enabling like that too.
@@robj3773 yes it’s so weird it’s different from others. Thanks for commenting
a note on Battery, the Pulse Ox on is a huge drain. Quite a massive drain. My Watch's battery easily lasts 3 or 4 times longer if I don't use the pulse ox feature.
The pulse ox it is important? Should i keep it always active?
@@mariuslazar4983 Helped diagnose my sleep apnea.
I wouldn’t have know it if I didn’t have my Garmin watch.
@@mariuslazar4983 I turned it off but as others have noted, if you're concerned about sleep apnea leave it on and suffer the massive battery drain.
Great final review as always sir. Always appreciate your reviews.
Monochrome dial meams great visibility in full sun. Was pleasantly surprised,and i previously owned a huawei 4 pro which had a really sharp oled screen,
Thanks for this very in-depth review! you helped me greatly to choose my smartwatch. I went for Instinct 2S Solar and I'm very happy with my choice. Thanks!
Awesome review. And good comparison.
I would like to give my thoughts on couple of things.
1. Delay - I do agree with this. Seems like they didn't upgrade the processor. I have seen this watch actually got freeze and restarted in the middle of his hiking. This is a major issue.
2. Lap counter - So if there is no any lap counter button then how do we register the laps? That's a bummer.
3. Legibility - I'm not very sure if this a fair comparation with Epic cause it has a AMOLED display. So it should be bright outdoor. Comparing with Fenix7 would be reasonable. And yes I was hard to read.
I have a question. May I know for how much money in loss % you are reselling your new products you've purchased?
Are you selling them on online or local dealers?
Great review. Do you know if the Instinct 2 has silent/vibration alarm/notifications? Thanks
I think you need to toggle lap button from the workout settings.
Great video! I am thinking about buying the Instinct Solar. If I want to use the watch mostly for hiking and navigation, are all the improvements from Instinct 1 to Instinct 2 noticeable beyond better solar efficiency and performance tracking? Thanks!
Yes yes yes. Instinct 2 is WAY better. New HR sensor and way more training features. Well worth it, and sorry for delay in responding!
Thank you for the review. What are your thoughts about the Instinct 2 versus Venu 2 Plus? Is one better than the other, from a data analytics perspective? This would be my first fitness watch, and I am having trouble differentiating what is most important.
Hey! World of difference here unf. What watch are you coming from? Venu 2 has awesome display but lacks training and recovery aspects. I2 has the least of all displays but has every metric you could need for all. And it would depend on your training plan, like what is normal for you. If you train a lot I would say you should get a watch with the training data. Honestly - there are a lot of rumors about a forerunner 255 coming out soon so I might wait until it does bc that would be the better balance of screen w training features. Otherwise I would tell you to look at the forerunner 945 LTE - specifically the LTE bc it has the new sensors and new body design - NOT the original 945. Hope this helps!
I really liked the video.
I wanted to know if crossfit training still requires a chest strap?
Hey! Thanks for commenting. Yes it is still a strong suggestion, but this new heart rate sensor can keep up with about 88 to 92% of the most intense peaks of the work out, maybe slightly more since the I2 is lighter. Thanks!
One of the gripes I have is your repetitive criticism of the screen and the apples/oranges comparison to a oled screen.
The main reason I like this over other watches in the category is because of the simple non intrusive black and white screen, it's simple, classic and not so bright to stand out like a cell phone
Imo if people don't like the screen, there is an unlimited supply of watches with better screen, but as an overall watch, this for me ticks absolutely every box.
Otherwise, brilliant reviews of this model.
Hey! Thanks for commenting. It’s actually a felt difference to the other transflectives on the market, but I totally see what you’re saying too. Thanks again
Nice review - there are so many functions on this watch it is a true challenge to cover all of them.
One point I don't fully agree with is battery life. I think the main goal of the designers with this watch was to minimise the drain on the battery and to boost the charge with the solar tech. So that's why the color screen is sacrificed for a monochrome display, and a smaller screen. Testing the battery when using 100% brightness sort of sabotages that approach, when the default is 20% brightness to save battery. The main reason I bought the Instinct 2 Solar was that on longer bicycle rides I was tired of seeing the "Low Battery" message on my old Forerunners. This will never be an issue with the Instinct 2 Solar as it is getting a charge on the go during bike rides. Recent activity shows that for a 3-hour bike ride the battery level drops only 15% thanks to the solar charging during the ride. A 10 km run in the afternoon sun drains the battery only 5%.
You are right, the smaller display can make it more difficult for folks with poor eyesight - my solution is to reduce the data fields to one or two to maximise the font size - typically I'll just have distance on one screen, time of day on another - pace, etc., as the activity analysis can all be done after completing the activity on the smartphone or laptop where Garmin Connect has all the details - not necessary to see during activities.
Reading text messages can be done without too much trouble - but during activities who wants to read text messages?
One issue I have had occasionally is during pool swims: three times since I got the Instinct 2 Solar it has restarted during pool swims. It was not the result of the buttons being pushed accidently - looks like it is a software issue. Otherwise the Instinct 2 Solar has functioned well for bicycling, swimming and running. I have also used it for dumbell curls just to try that feature but that's not valuable data for me so I don't use it regularly for free weights - but the option is there - same for yoga, etc... many more features than most people will ever use.
Totally hear what you were saying, thank you so much for sharing. And that is a tough software glitch for what you experience in the pool! It makes me a little bonkers if I cannot track a work out, because it all flows and feeds into training load! And I hear what you're saying with the solar and the mono chrome screen and the dimmer display, I just honestly had a hard time functionally reading it, even at 100% brightness. Like it began to be not as useful to me in a number of ways because Many of the data fields I couldn't easily read so it almost was like they were nonexistent
What is the best watch instinct 2 or polar pacer ??
Nice Harry Mack swag. thanks for the review appreciate it, im torn between instinct 2 , fenix 6 or 7....the choices!!
Thank you! Def not the I2 over the F7. Now that I've fully reviewed the 955 it is the top watch option for the price by far. Look away from F6 due to older sensor and it will not get many updates. I would go 955 or F7 all the way.
Ηι iam trail runner and have instict 1 but the altimeter shows wrong on track run even i did updated.maybe the sensor touches the skin,i guess.the instict 2 has better and the sensor is in another place right?
Thanks for the Review, i cant agree in a lot of Points but we all request different things from a watch that we consider good or best, i returned the fenix 7s and got a instinct 2 for example. A bit like People who love Casio GShock vs. regular Watches its just not for everybody and for your use scenario the epix surely is the better fit.
Thanks for commenting! Sorry for delayed response. Yes - the I2 definitely has a certain look to it that appeals to many - glad you like it!
Have you checked what kind of standby times you get with the epix2 spO2 sensors on at night? I was also little bit dissapointed how much the spo2 drains the battery on instinct2.
I noticed that too, I tried turning spO2 sensor on 24x7 and the battery would only last a couple of days, so I settled for having it on only at night, which means I get about 6 days battery.
Comparing instinct with pulse ox on and then it's off on the Epix is definitely not a fair comparison. If you turned it off on your tests, it will see better run time numbers.
Yes that’s true! I don’t know the raw differences, but having pulse ox on at night still yielded 5 1/2 to 6 days on the Epix, so not a huge difference there. So I guess I would assume it’s not a huge difference on the instinct 2
@@fitgearhunter everything about the Instinct 2 is low power usage, LCD screen, very simple low power backlight. Low power processor, etc.. (which is why you have the lag) if the instinct and the epix is using the same battery size, the pulse ox will wear both down at around the same time.
This is also true of the Fenix 7x.. No pulse ox, almost a month of battery, use it, and boom, you'd be lucky if you have a week.
@@fitgearhunter it definitely is a big difference.
My 2s right now is 51% pulse ox off = 12 days, pulse ox sleep is 4 days.
I think that deserves a note. The comparison isn't remotely fair
@@fitgearhunter I have noticed a massive difference in battery life with my Garmin devices between Pulse Ox on/off at night. I bet if you turned it off on the Instinct 2, it would more then double the battery life.
Side note for the Epix 2, I've almost had mine for a year now. Tried it with Pulse Ox on at night in the beginning but turned it off pretty soon after. With all the other sleep metrics it didn't add much valued data. I usually do about 10+ hours of GPS activities per week (auto select GPS) with Bluetooth playing music at the same time. I average about 11-13 days between charges. I adjusted the battery saver mode settings so all the health metrics (HR) would stay on (minus pulse ox) but the screen would only turn on with a button push. Big savings.
Hi great review. Does the instinct 2 sync stats like resting heart rate and stress over to a fenix 7? Thanks
Hey! So are you thinking of using two devices? The answer is sort-of. Many stats stay within the watch and it’s current recommendations, which flows to Garmin connect app. Many do port over to other devices on the account and linked, but typically the device listed as the “preferred device” is what maintains the kept stats.
So! For RHR and stress it’s not going to transfer to another device. Specifically stress doesn’t at all bc that is a stat tracked specifically my device.
@@fitgearhunter yes. I just upgraded from a fenix 6 to a fenix 7. I would like to combine it with an instinct. I need to wear a more adult/ classy watch for work. I used to just use the fenix but over the years I have managed to bang it up pretty substantially during CrossFit training. Therefore I would like to use something a bit more durable during training. I realized that many stats sync between my fenix 6 and 7 (rhr, stress) and was asking myself if this was the same with the instinct since they use the same sensor.
@@stefanschulke3594 I would say the primary content details will port over, but you want to track all workouts with the same device, and all health stats with the same one as well. The BB doesn't track in workouts, so that's fine - just divide one for all day and night, and one for workouts and you should be good.
@@stefanschulke3594 interesting I have the same question and want to use two garmin watches concurrently - let me know how it went for you esp. the physio true up function!
The instinct does not need the back light to be seen. Thus the slightly dimer backlight than other Garmins is a bit missleading. Backlight is plenty bright enough to see it in the dark. I found other Garmins such as my wife's vivoactive did need the backlight on to read them easily. Backlights drain batteries. Not needing backlight means I can get great battery life. Also I find wrist activated backlight have a time delay, so I have to glance and pause, which I hate. With this I glance and can read the time. On my wife's watch I have to wait for the backlight or squint as the contrast of the color mip dissplay is too low for me. The screen resolution is actually the same as the higher end Fenix 7, just the screen itself is smaller. (R=P/S) It does not look pixelated.
i am debating between instinct 2 or fenix 7. during the Wods, when it involves wearing grips my current instinct 1 is of no use cause the buttons get pressed a lot. do you have such experience?
Yep! Although it's funny I haven't in recent workouts for some reason. I usually lock the buttons (do you know how to do that? long hold top left button, choose the Lock button) - and often (bc you really should connect to chest strap) I just take the watch off and toss to the side so don't even have to think about it
Thank you for the good overview of the Instinct2. I had it and sent it back, in spite of the fact that everything was working function-wise and had wonderfully lightweight compared to other offers from Garmin. The issues I could not overcome were
- that the interface was sluggish at best. with a 3rd party watch face, this thing is screeching to a halt when changing into the widget glances.
- Also, the buttons are really hard to press and feel when wearing gloves due to a very mushy pressure point.
If you don't necessarily need the solar function and weight reduction, the Fenix 6 in its current reduced price (~ 350€ on eBay) is the superior watch in several dimensions, IMHO.
BTW, the Instinct of course has the lap button function which needs to be activated in the sport profile.
Thank you so much for this comment and no idea how I missed it! Excellent overview of your experience. Really helps a lot. I didn’t try third party apps. My only issue with the buttons was when I was pressing in the wrong place bc they were a little hard to feel. Thanks again
Would the lagging be improved by firmware updates?
It may or maybe be fixed with frimeware update.
We should never purchase any product with future promises.
Are there also options for other languages instead of American English? I mean not only software but also hardware inscriptions? I would feel uncomfortable looking all the time for Chinese, Russian or Japanese text engraved into the watch.
good question - sorry for delay - I don't believe so actually
soo there is a lap counter?? looking for a good crossfit watch....what is ur preference top 2??
Yes a lap counter! Have to turn on ‘lap key’ in the activity settings. And this is a top one! For the price this has it all. Better is 945LTE, best is Fenix 7/Epix - although if choosing and have the funds Epix all the way
@@fitgearhunter your videos r awsome keep up the good work..just gotta choose if I want rugged or the fenix 7 type thanks
@@vdub6873 just know the I2 has a much lesser screen. I use reading glasses and can’t read the I2 often
I had great expectations with this Garmin, thanks for your video detailed and concise about the good and the bad. Garmin has created a complete sensor watch with a awful experience (screen and buttons). Data is important but if your feeling is to "wait" until it responses only to keep battery, then customize it and get a better experience if not, watch will be turn over.
At this moment this watch has been removed from my list, only 745 and venu 2...or wait until new models appear.
Thanks for your effort, really appreciated !!!!
I still don’t see the Venu 2 as competitive in this space and for the money this is the best Watch around! The screen issues may just be for me.
Hi, what is your thought between Instinct 2 Solar vs Forerunner 955 Solar?
Easily and absolutely the 955. I don't think all of the capabilities will get to the I2, and the screen is sooooo much larger and clearer and brighter - plus the touchscreen and full mapping is fantastic. And then Music storage is just a bonus. 955 All. The. Way.
@@fitgearhunter Thank you!
@@samielgarcia8961 sure thing!
Would you say a good buy if you could buy new for $250 ?
Hey - yes that seems to be a good deal bc the I2 has the latest sensors and upgraded training analytics - I would say go for it. Just be forewarned that if you use reading glasses at all then the text size maybe hard to read!
Kinda regret this watch, it can be slow as hell on occasion, it's also crashed and restarted on several runs, it doesn't seem to have enough memory.
Oh no! That stinks. I didn't face that issue. You are likely correct. Hopefully they fix it in updates - they usually do.
How instinct 2 compared to fenix 6? They seem to have the same price range..
It's maybe based on region.
But each has it's own pros and cons.
The cons of 2year old Fenix watch with be.
• outdated sensors (HR, GPS)
• No touch screen. But harder to use Maps
• Battery life
Cons of Instinct 2:
• No color display
• No maps
• Rugged design may or may not fit for office environment.
The choice is completely upto your preference.
@@JonesLaura its alright i just bought fenix 7s solar sapphire. Thanks for the info
@@puja1985 AWESOME 🤘
6 is missing the better heart rate monitor (mute point if you use a chest strap), and it's also a little heavier (which can also affect accuracy of heart rate). I actually appreciate coming from the Fenix 6 to the Instinct having a black and white screen, it's vibrant in the light at a good angle and I love the simplicity...I thought that circle in the top right would drive me nuts but I love it! Does what I need, it's more rugged, and it's the best value. Let's face it, they're comparable and would both be pretty good choices.
Slow down when talking about a anything when you are doing a review and explaining features of said product . please !