Garmin Instinct 2, 2s First Thoughts

The Garmin Fēnix 7 is King of the Outdoors and the Garmin Instinct 2 continues in that Royal tradition, perhaps best described as the Prince of the Outdoors, or even now as the newly elected Mayor of Multisport due to a boost in its sporty features.

The first Garmin Instinct was an unexpected, runaway success in 2018 and that success continued in 2020 with the introduction of Solar charging and some other unusual outdoor versions such as the Surf, eSports & Camo Editions.

Garmin Instinct succeeded because, in one fell swoop, it attracted a huge number of outdoor adventurers who had previously preferred the Casio Look. Garmin then added more outdoors features than any Casio ever will have and set the price below the Fenix Series; suddenly Garmin had created an unlikely winner.

The latest Garmin Instinct 2 sees a slight price rise, starting at $/Eu350/£300 but it will certainly sell as well as its predecessor because many updates are added to bring; better battery and solar performance, a higher resolution screen, access to Garmin apps for the first time with Connect IQ, and serious multi-sport capabilities.

 

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Garmin Instinct 2 – What’s New?

Despite looking very similar to the 2018 model, it’s the hardware innards that make up most of the more radical changes and these changes enable superior levels of performance ranging from a longer-lasting battery to a better heart rate monitor and screen. The meaningful sports software features are broadly similar to Instinct 1 but with lots of extra little goodies that will make the upgrade worth it for many of you.

 

Let’s crack on with the new highlights. The Garmin Instinct 2 review will come later and cover in more detail what new Instinct owners need to consider.

Key Talking Points

• New Garmin Elevate Gen 4 optical heart rate monitor – more accurate and more battery-friendly than before. SpO2? Yep. HRV? Yep, that too.
• New support for Garmin PAY
• New support for Garmin’s Connect IQ ‘apps’.
• New ability to edit settings on your smartphone
• New ‘small’ size Instinct 2s accompanies each regularly-sized model.
• Significantly improved screen resolution at 176x176px from 128x128px but that’s still not that great.
• Boosted multisport features including support for smart trainers, power meters and HRMs; great for your triathlon or SwimRun
• Daily Workout suggestions based on your fitness and readiness today…this is cool.
• Modernised internal architecture – A complicated way of saying it’s faster, more capable and more future-proofed.
• Larger Solar cell area – Giving a bigger solar boost than before.
• New smart features include app notifications, weather information and Live Track
• Safety features via Incident Detection
• New physiology features include Body Battery, Health Snapshot, Fitness Age, Recovery Times, Sleep Analyses and Women’s Health. These are popular features found on other Garmin watches.
• Better Battery Life – Ignoring Solar improvements, battery lives are c25% better across the range. Solar boosts you up even more

 

Garmin Instinct 2 Technical Specs

Here are all the tech details for those who need them

Garmin Instinct 2 Technical Specs
Best Use	Multisport, Outdoor Adventure
Average Battery Life	Smartwatch: Up to 28 days (unlimited with solar); GPS mode: up to 30 hrs. (48 hrs. with solar) other modes can extend GPS recording to 370 hours and perhaps indefinitely with Solar
Battery Type	Lithium-Ion
Solar-Powered	Optional
Display	1.2 inches, Corning Gorilla Glass
Illumination	Backlight
Altimeter	Barometric
Compass	Yes
Maps	No, uses maps on your smartphone
Routes	Breadcrumb with Garmin’s TrackBack
GPS/Satellite Detectable	Yes, plus GLONASS & GALILEO, single frequency
HRM Included/Integrated	Yes
Heart Rate Sensor Type	Wrist-based Elevate Gen 4 with SpO2/PulseOX
Average Heart Rate	Yes
Pulse Oximeter	Yes
Heart Rate Target Zone(s)	Yes
VO2 Max Estimate	Yes
Recovery Advising	Yes
Tracks Steps	Yes
Pedometer Type	Digital 3-axis Accelerometer
Pace Alert	Yes
Interval Training	Yes
Tracks Calories Burned	Yes
Water-Resistant Depth	100 meters
Pool Lap Recognition	Yes
Stroke Recognition	Yes
Sleep Tracking	Yes
Alarm	Yes
Time Display	Yes
Stopwatch	Yes
Visual Map Display	Yes
Programmable Routes	Yes
Number of Routes	30
Number of Waypoints	1,000
Customization	Watch Faces, Apps, Data Fields
Features	Sleep analysis/score, recovery times, Body Battery, women’s health tracking, Fitness Age, Incident detection
Connectivity	ANT+, Bluetooth
Komoot World Package (smartphone app)	Yes
Smart Device Notifications	Yes
Connected Features	Garmin, Pay, Smart Notifications, Minutecast Weather Information (AccuWeather), LiveTrack
Display:	2.3cm (0.9″) diameter on I2
Display resolution:	176 x 176 pixels (was 128x128px)
Product dimensions:	45 x 45 x 14.5 mm
Wrist circumference	135 to 230 mm
Strap width	22mm
Connect IQ	Yes (not on Instinct 1)

 

Garmin Instinct 2 Battery life

Battery lives are impressive and, with caveats, can be extended ‘forever’ with Solar+Expedition mode. Even as the battery degrades over time or if you are unable to find the time for a full charge, these battery lives will be enough for 99% of us. The smaller ‘S’ models broadly have 25% less battery life.

 

	Battery
Instinct 2,2 Camo, 2 Surf	28 days max as a smartwatch. 30 hours max in GPS mode
Instinct 2 Solar, 2 Surf Solar, 2 Tactical Solar	Forever smartwatch mode(with solar charging) and 48 hours max in GPS mode (with solar charging)
Instinct 2s, 2s Camo, 2s Surf	21 days max as a smartwatch. 22 hours max in GPS mode
Instinct 2s Solar, 2s Solar Surf	Forever smartwatch mode (with solar charging) and up to 48 hours max in GPS mode (with solar charging)

Garmin Instinct 2 Opinion

The Garmin Instinct 2 is certainly worthy of serious consideration for outdoors and multisport usage, especially if you can’t quite financially stretch to a Garmin Fēnix 7.

It’s packed full, but not totally full, of goodies from Garmin’s existing range of outdoors features and sports features.

However, its glaring omission is maps which, even if it had them, would look awful on the improved but small, low res screen. The lack of maps makes Instinct 2’s features comparable to the outdoor adventure watches from Polar, Suunto and Coros; and, to a lesser extent, smartwatches like the Apple Watch 7. Without maps, the only clear differentiators to Suunto & Polar are Garmin PAY and the Casio-like looks. Fine, if you like that sort of thing.

Q: What about the awesome battery life? It’s even ‘infinite’ in some scenarios, right?

A: Sure, Solar is great for boosting the battery life but how many of us could instead just charge the watch up before the weekend away or bring a battery pack. The point is: few people will really need solar charging. Some will. Competitor brands don’t offer Solar charging but they do all now offer impressively high battery lives which do the job.

Q: Should I upgrade from Instinct 1 to Garmin Instinct 2?

A: Instinct 1 is perfectly fine for its intended purpose. Clearly, you get a lot more features with Instinct 2 but there’s no specific need to upgrade unless you are unhappy right now or just fancy a change.

If you are looking for a mini-adventure or multisport watch then I can recommend Instinct 2. However, I can also suggest you look at Polar Grit X models, Suunto 9 Peak, Suunto 5 Peak and Coros Vertix 2 / Vertix 1.

 

Launch Pricing and Availability

Stock is limited until March 2022 and smaller retailers will only have a few SKUs and limited numbers. You will get the model you want at the larger launch partners like REI (USA) and Amazon/Wiggle in the UK/EU.

The models from before are updated and ‘S’ (small) versions are also available at the same price as every equivalent regular-sized Instinct 2 model.

 

Model (Same Prices for ‘S’ Versions of these)	Price US$	Price GBP	Price Eu
Instinct 2 (2s)	$350	£299	349€
Instinct 2 (2s) Camo, Surf	$400	£349	399€
Instinct 2 (2s) Solar	$450	£389	449€
Instinct 2 (2s) Solar: Surf, Tactical	$500	£429	499€