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Morning all,
can someone give me some real world advice on Garmins please?
I bought a Venu off here and technically it’s great but I’ve already scratch the screen so I think I’d like something a bit harder wearing. It’s mostly for general fitness/lifestyle stuff, messages, etc. Not overly worried about using GPS functions as the phone does that. (Same with music)
The Instinct range looks ideal to me. The screen looks more protected and the watch is a bit more rugged. Any pros and cons? Solar worth the extra?
Thanks
Tim
Opps, watches. Always forget the obvious!
The answer to me is a screen protector. You’d be hard pressed to know I had one on mine
I've had an Instinct for a few years. Been pleased with it.
But I've always used a screen protector, on about my third one now. Easy enough to fit/change.
oh, didn’t know that was a thing :o)
I work outdoors doing manual stuff so rugged might be a better option than pretty/modern. The boss will steal the Venu as her a Fitbit needs charging between charges now ;o)
A bit late for these now perhaps but I use something like this on my Venu...
Search about for the best price/right model.
The venu doesn't do screen protectors as well iirc as it's a slightly curved screen
Instinct isn't touch screen or colour, so can be a little more fiddly to use but works well. Battery life is epic, solar gets you a different GPS chip so it lasts longer while tracking but it's not a necessary. The newer ones have a torch built in which might be handy
I've had an Instinct Solar for a few years and it's been faultless. Wear it constantly as my only watch, I do a manual job and it still looks ok, never used a screen protector.
Solar feature works well, I only need to charge it once every couple of weeks. When I was in Turkey for a week last spring it stayed fully charged all week despite doing 4 biggish rides.
Only slight issue is it doesn't always read high heart rates accurately, when I'm on the turbo I use a chest strap and the watch often reads significantly lower but this maybe an issue with many watches rather than just the Instinct.
Also an instinct (solar) owner/Fan.
It's great, solar isn't that much of a benefit (IMO) until summer where it can just top up battery if you're spending lots of time outside.
It's robust and relatively cheap but having said that I note:
...It’s mostly for general fitness/lifestyle stuff, messages, etc. Not overly worried about using GPS functions as the phone does that... (Same with music)
If you're just wanting to read messages and see HR there's loads of cheaper smart watches without all the fitness features (and cost) of a Garmin, Samsung seem popular, my missus and eldest have Fitbits which do smar****ch things include HR but lack GPS, and my youngest has an amazfit which was a relative bargain (compared to an equivalent Garmin)
Thanks all. Good info.
I work outdoors doing manual stuff so rugged might be a better option than pretty/modern
Instinct 2x solar owner. I don't work outdoors but spend weekends digging, chainsawing, fitting downpipes today. I never remember to take it off. The screen is inset and so far seems to be well protected.
The instinct is the classic rugged (tactical?) watch in the Garmin range.
If you want something a bit "smarter" looking then the fenix/epix watches with the sapphire glass are also pretty bombproof. We have an old (now retired) 5S sapphire fenix that was used and abused on Scottish mountains for about five years and still barely has a scratch on it. Just a bit of patina on the metal (tungsten?) bezel really. Pretty impressive and a big part of the reason why I stumped up the extra for sapphire when I upgraded.
I bought my Instinct in 2018. Wear it 24/7 apart from leaving it charging when I go on my Sunday ride. There is not even a hint of a scratch on the screen.