Customer reviews from Garmin
Garmin - Instinct Solar Smartwatch 45mm Fiber-Reinforced Polymer - Flame Red
Average customer rating
4.1
(732 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 732 reviews
5 Stars
449
4 Stars
122
3 Stars
50
2 Stars
42
1 Star
69
Customer Reviews for Garmin - Instinct Solar Smartwatch 45mm Fiber-Reinforced Polymer - Flame Red
Customer Rating
5
Insane battery
on August 10, 2020
Posted by: semudit
I have tried a lot of smartwatches and was using wearOS watch to track activities for a while. I hated that the daily routine of charging the watch.
Getting instinct solar was a game-changer. I charge my watch about once in two weeks with about 30 mins of GPS usage daily. I have been following Garmin Coach 10k plan which is super fun. I rarely take the watch off. It's super light so it is not annoying to sleep with.
Love this watch.
Getting instinct solar was a game-changer. I charge my watch about once in two weeks with about 30 mins of GPS usage daily. I have been following Garmin Coach 10k plan which is super fun. I rarely take the watch off. It's super light so it is not annoying to sleep with.
Love this watch.
Response from GarminBy Garmin, Outdoor, August 11, 2020
Thank you for your review. Jenny
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
3
Small Monochrome Display
on August 10, 2020
Posted by: Leo01
First of all, I currently own a Vivoactive 3 Music and use it to run about 60 miles per month. I don't run long distances, but enough to keep this old body in shape. Wore both the Vivoactive 3 and Instintct on a couple of training runs and the both came in with about the distance, pace, time, and heartbeat stats. For some reason, the elevation changes was higher on the Instinct.
I am returning the Instinct and will be buying the larger 47mm Fenix 6 Pro so that I can have larger color screen.
Things I like:
1 - Fit is very well on my wrist with the highly adjustable stretchy band
2 - Have all the running features of my Vivoactive and more
3 - Pulse Oxymeter is a big plus
4 - Can pair both watches to the Garmin Connect app
5 - Long battery life, even without continuous solar charging
6 - Simple controls to use on my runs
Things I don't like
1 - Small monochrome display, Vivoactive is color touchscreen. It looks bigger on
the Garmin website. Would not recommend if you need glasses to read, but
cannot wear them on your runs.
2 - No touchscreen
3 - I wear reading glasses, but can still read my Vivoactive's running stats, but I
cannot read the smaller fonts on the Instinct during my runs
4 - Heavier and larger than the Vivoactive
5 - Many buttons to press to navigate the menus. It takes a while to get used to.
1 - Fit is very well on my wrist with the highly adjustable stretchy band
2 - Have all the running features of my Vivoactive and more
3 - Pulse Oxymeter is a big plus
4 - Can pair both watches to the Garmin Connect app
5 - Long battery life, even without continuous solar charging
6 - Simple controls to use on my runs
Things I don't like
1 - Small monochrome display, Vivoactive is color touchscreen. It looks bigger on
the Garmin website. Would not recommend if you need glasses to read, but
cannot wear them on your runs.
2 - No touchscreen
3 - I wear reading glasses, but can still read my Vivoactive's running stats, but I
cannot read the smaller fonts on the Instinct during my runs
4 - Heavier and larger than the Vivoactive
5 - Many buttons to press to navigate the menus. It takes a while to get used to.
Response from GarminBy Garmin, Outdoor, August 11, 2020
Thank you for your review and your experience with the Instinct Solar. We would like to discuss this further over email. If you would please email us at product.support@garmin.com.
Thanks Jenny
Thanks Jenny
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
Great multipurpose watch
on August 10, 2020
Posted by: Garmin User deluxe
Use as an everyday watch. Great for tracking, sleep, steps, stress, and receiving messages and calendar reminders. Also use it for cycling and running. Not too bulky yet Stout enough to handle continuous use.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
Excellent Device
on August 10, 2020
Posted by: Anonymous
I'm so happy that Garmin decided to make these devices. I personally am trying to get into better shape so that I can make myself into a better firefighter for my community. This device has definitely helped me achieve many different goals but I also know that this device is something that works well for the environments I put it into. I've worn this device inside a structure fire and not had an issue with it. I recently returned from a wildland assignment near Alturas, CA and the device was able to help me plot out drop points for our division and also areas of concern for where we were being deployed. As for the solar benefit to the watch I charged the battery up to full capacity enroute to the fire using my USB cord in the truck. When I arrived on scene and while working night ops I would sleep during the day but it would charge the watch. I ended up with a 33 day battery supply on the watch which worked very well for me. I haven't had a chance to test it swimming yet but look forward to trying that soon. Overall I am very happy with this device and can't wait to see what other situations I can use it in.
Response from GarminBy Garmin, Outdoor, August 11, 2020
Thank you for your review. Jenny
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
4
Easy Set Up
on August 10, 2020
Posted by: Marty52
Simple setup; Great battery life. Only problem so far it got stuck in save mode once. Had to run fix on PC to unlock it.
Response from GarminBy Garmin, Outdoor, August 11, 2020
Thank you for your review. Jenny
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
Rugged Smartwatch
on August 10, 2020
Posted by: FKeener
I love it so far. Easy to use and the app seems straightforward. I had a Casio gshock. I was hesitant to spend 4 clams on a watch, but I’m glad I did. Haven’t used all of the gps features yet. And the battery life is awesome!
Response from GarminBy Garmin, Outdoor, August 11, 2020
Thank you for your review. Jenny
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
1
I wish I'd done more research
on August 10, 2020
Posted by: Rkeithc
After a few runs with this watch and way out there elevation gain reports, I decided to read up more on this watch. Turns out the sensor is located in a bad place. A design flaw. Heavy sweaters tend to block this sensor, according to reviews I read, which makes the altimeter readings wildly inaccurate. I'm now stuck with an expensive watch that lacks a key feature I need. I should have stuck with my much cheaper Vivoactive HR which I loved.
Response from GarminBy Garmin, Outdoor, August 11, 2020
Thank you for your review and your experience with the Instinct Solar. We would like to discuss this further over email. If you would please email us at product.support@garmin.com.
Thanks Jenny
Thanks Jenny
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
Great Features
on August 10, 2020
Posted by: Lycanthropope
Happy i bought the Watch
i bought in flame red
heart rate monitor, pulse ox
Satisfied with purchase
Response from GarminBy Garmin, Outdoor, August 11, 2020
Thank you for your review. Jenny
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin