Garmin Instinct 2 Solar

Very poor. Hardly lasts a week with step tracking and heart rate enabled. Like someone else mentioned, go for a Garmin instinct 2 or 3 solar. My 2 Solar lasts more than 30 days on a full charge.

I've had multiple Instincts as well as Fenix. I am exceptionally hard on watches. I don't take them off when I'm working on anything out in the shop. The sapphire of the Fenix is not a silver bullet and the case on the Instinct does a lot more to prevent direct hits to the face than you'd think, at least in my experience. The Instinct is also easier to polish than the sapphire. I've tried to buff out blemishes on Fenix watches I've gone to sell and have had a hard time getting them back to flawless. I've not had the same issue on any Instinct. That being said I'm really tempted by the new Fenix Pro. I have an inReach device I take with me for backcountry snowmobiling in the mountains and I've forgotten it a time or two. I never forget my watch and always have some extra battery with me. I just wish I could get basically the same specs as Fenix in a non-color and highly efficient display like Instinct. The 2 Solar is my daily watch and the battery life + built in flashlight make it my almost perfect watch. I don't even care about LTE but if I could get Instinct with inReach that would be a perfect setup IMO. Garmin does a lot of things right, but pricing is not one of them. Especially given they're moving towards subscriptions which is counterintuitive to their buyer market. I really don't want anything AI in my watch.

I have a Garmin Instinct 2 Solar. The Solar feature is more of a gimmick, unless youre out in the sun the whole day for weeks it doesnt really make a difference. But it doesnt matter much, the battery lasts 3 weeks. Its a great watch if you like the old-style digital watch screens

I have an older relative who uses their Venu3 to take their own ECG and combine that with a Garmin Index BPM (~$150) to help monitor their heart function. The ECG is simple to use on the watch and the BPM syncs to Garmin Connect so that all that data is stored daily for their cardiac specialist to review when they go in for appointments. They had a diagnosis of A-Fib a while back that explained all their decrease in energy levels and since beginning treatment for it they have had no further issues. Now they have the ability to sit and take an ECG to transmit to their cardiologist if they start feeling bad. For them it provides peace of mind that their meds are working as designed. They regularly get in 5k - 10k steps daily which is pretty great for someone making a strong run at 90 y.o. I don't think Garmin has a device that is able to track or identify sleep anea events but would not be surprised to see that functionality appear in the near future on some product. I have an Instinct 2 Solar and it has been great for me. I told other relatives about it and they have picked their own models to suit their lifestyles. I think that is Garmin's strength, the wide variety of fitness devices suited for almost any activity or personality.

I have a Garmin Instinct 2 solar. I had g-shock watches before, because I liked how tough they were, and the instinct2 is pretty close. I wear it swimming, running, sleeping, showering, etc. I take it off about once a month when I charge it up. This summer, I went 6 weeks between charges. The basic tracking of cardio, hiking, snowshoeing, etc, is exactly what I want from a smartwarch (lets me gamify my physical activity, and sleep). I does have some great ways to map hikes, find out how to get back (direct path, or retrace steps, etc). Its pretty amazing for a low level garmin.

Yeah, my Garmin (an Instinct 2 Solar) has ruined me for other smartwatches. I appreciate not having to think about charging it in the summer and only monthly in the winter. I appreciate the reliability of an always-on screen rather than one that usually turns on when I turn my wrist. I appreciate the consistency of buttons that I have learned by feel rather than fiddly touch/voice controls that usually work the way I want. I'd consider upgrading it someday so that I don't need to bring a phone for podcasts or ad-hoc navigation, but only if those do not come at the expense of battery life, always-on screen, and physical buttons. (Edit: I'm glad other devices with different tradeoffs exist for different kinds of people though!)

I think Ive owned every smart watch from the very old school tom toms and polars to apple watches to early android wear models and the Instinct 2 Solar is the best balance of functionality and battery life Ive ever seen.