GarminInstinct® 3 45mm, Solar Charged Display, Rugged Outdoor GPS Smartwatch, Metal-Reinforced Bezel, Built-in Flashlight, Black

This was an upgrade from Instinct 1 solar. The battery on it started draining faster after 4 years. This one is better in every respect. Things that I really like: 1) GPS is vastly better: locks on much faster and is more precise, 2) battery life seems to be better, particularly in the sun (it seems to be using the solar function more efficiently), 3) sleep score and HRV monitoring are nice additions; 4) I think it also syncs with Garmin Connect on the phone much faster; 5) the band is better. I wasn't sure about case styling at first (with those orange accents) but it grew on me and I like it now. Overall, very satisfied with this upgrade.

Love this watch! Love the look and functionality! I have always been more of a g-shock watch wearer, and dont like the look of an apple watch. This was the best of them, has a rugged basic look plus all the smart watch capabilities. I love the fact that its not a bright screen, keep me basic please! Battery is great, I wear it all day and night tracking sleep. I throw it on charger maybe once a week for about 30 minutes when I havent been outside much.

My son has gotten a bit into survivalist stuff (nothing crazy just got interested in learning how to use a compass, read a map, wanted to put together a fun survival kit with water filters, emergency radio, stuff like that) and when he needed a new watch he did his research and decided on this one (I split the cost with him). Has unbelievable battery life, great tracking via GPS, lots of features, and is highly durable. It’s almost definitely more watch than he needs but he is really enjoying it.

The Garmin Instinct AMOLED 50mm has become part of my daily routine, and overall, I’m really impressed with what it offers. The AMOLED screen is bright and easy to read, even in full sun. It’s rugged and built to last, exactly what I wanted for fishing, workouts, and everyday use.One of my favorite features is the tide data, which is incredibly helpful when I’m out kayak fishing. Being able to check tide times directly on my wrist saves me time and helps me plan better trips. The built-in flashlight is another handy tool, especially for early morning launches or late-night packing.On the fitness side, the watch really shines. There are tons of workout options built in everything from treadmill, strength training, HIIT, cardio, and even rep counting. It automatically tracks sets and reps pretty accurately, and you can customize workouts through the app. I like how it keeps track of effort and recovery too, giving you a better idea of how your body’s doing over time.Battery life is excellent. Even with the AMOLED screen, I’m getting several days on a full charge depending on how much GPS I use.Now for the one downside: the heart rate sensor. It’s just not as accurate as I expected, especially during strength training or any workout where there’s a lot of wrist movement. It tends to lag or give inconsistent readings. For most casual use it’s fine, but if you’re serious about tracking your heart rate, you may want to pair a chest strap.Overall, it’s a great smartwatch for active people who spend time outdoors, work out often, or just want a durable and feature-packed watch. I’d definitely recommend it, with the small caveat about the heart rate sensor.

My priorities for a smart watch:1) long battery life that I can use to track week-long backpacking trips.2) a display that I can ALWAYS read. I don't like waiting for a display to light up; I don't need colors.3) something that doesn't need to be charged often so I can sleep with it for my morning alarm and sleep tracking.My previous watch was an Amazfit Bip S (with a MIP display). It recently died after 4 years of use. I was looking for more to replace it. I compared 5 watches with MIP displays: Garmin Instinct 3 Solar and 2 Solar, Coros Pace 3, Suunto Vertical and 9 Peak Pro.The Garmin Instinct 3 was noticeably better than the Instinct 2: a crisper and more reflective display, better solar charging, snappier response (I noticed a little bit of lag switching screens sometimes), and that torch! Feature-wise and software, they looked identical. I think it wouldn't be worth upgrading from the Instinct 2, but since I was replacing a watch, the improvements in the Instinct 3 are worth the price difference. I wasn't going to go cheap if either Garmin was better than the others. (The Fenix is beyond what I want to spend.)The Instinct (both 2 and 3) is a cut above the Coros or Suunto in several ways:1) while the display is smaller, it had a more reflective display that was easier to read in any light. Both 2 and 3 are more reflective than the others actually. (See attached photo.)2) while the Garmin watch faces are not as pretty or even in color, almost all of the display fields on the watch face can be customized. I spent a while looking for watch faces for the Suunto and Coros with the fields I want and never found the "perfect" one, but with the Instincts, I could just select the data I want and place them on the screen.3) the activity data screens are also very customizable with lots of options to choose from. I couldn't do this as well with the Coros and Suunto. I didn't realize how much I appreciated having customized fields and screens for hiking vs biking vs running until I could.4) solid battery life, solar charging5) thoughtful/useful features: lap stat announcements to your BT headset, shortcut to power saving mode, unusual tracking modes like expedition and area calc, double function of each button - short vs long press, a double-tap shortcut for the torchOtherwise, all five watches had similar features: activity tracking galore, sleep tracking, alarms and timers, stopwatch, compass, altimeter, barometer, etc.2nd place: the Coros was the most visually appealing of the set. The Instincts have that rugged chunky look and a smaller monochrome display, while the Coros was sleek with an attractive display (for MIP). Although they were all "45mm" watches, the Coros had a lower profile on my wrist, and through a trick of design, it looked like it had a smaller bezel. (It wasn't.) Data fields were displayed in BIG readable fonts during activities. The scroll wheel and two buttons was probably the most fun interface to use. Scrolling and zooming is quite nice with a scroll wheel.The Suunto Vertical is very similar to the 9 Peak Pro. I got my hands on both. I don't think it is worth the 2x price difference so I only compared the 9 Peak Pro with the others.