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

Paul P.United States

Instinct 3 45mm Solar is perfect watch for the active user - I now understand the cult following

Clearly an immense amount of thought and design went into making what is for me the perfect active watch and I understand why there are so many obsessed owners. Been through other cheaper options with Fitbit and Amazfit and while they were ok they all failed after a couple of years as I used the watches for their intended purpose which is swimming (pool and ocean), biking, hiking, walking running etc... so after a lot of research I settled on the Garmin Instinct 3 Solar 45MM as its durability is legendary. For me I did not want another phone on my wrist so Apple watch and high battery color touch screen is not wanted. I mean I have a phone, I stare at a computer all day ... I just want a workout trainer and health tracker that lasts a long time on one charge. And boy does this watch fit the bill. For those considering here is what I learned after a few weeks: - in picture note the hack I use to get charging even during the 10 F walks I'm going on in Jan. I use a rubber band to hold the cuff of my jacket down so I get full sun on the watch during my walk. - Been going for walks with ski gloves on and it is amazing - the buttons all pressable perfectly even with heavy gloves on. Amazing design. - I considered the 50 mm version but I wanted something comfortable as I wear this thing 24 hours per day and sleep with it. The watch is extremely comfortable and the band is great too. You don't need to make it tight to get good readings - all of them heart rate / VO2 etc... - battery life is amazing even though I am going on long walks/hikes with GPS on every day. Even the solar charging I get in Feb is much better than expected. And I have the 45 mm watch. In summer it will likely never need a charge. - ArmorSuit 6 Pack for Garmin Instinct 3 45mm (AMOLED/Solar) Screen Protector MilitaryShield HD Clear Film - Made in USA - highly recommended as it seems to not impact solar charging at all and screen looks great. Garmin claims your shouldn't use any screen protection and it may not be required but there is no downside as far as I can tell. Researching the rigid glass like protectors do seem to impact charging from my research and don't stay on. - There are tons of cool faces available. I found a great Casio G-Shock look alike below. On the topic of G-Shock ... you'd have to have your head examined to get a $300 G-Shock that does maybe 10% of what this watch and looks ugly as hell too. Just MO ... and I loved GShock years ago but this watch is superior in every way. - You need to learn the 'operating system' of the watch before you can utilize the full capability. It is very well done and youtube is your friend. I will admit out of the box I had some difficulty to use some more advanced things but after a couple of days I got the hang of it. Now it is all second nature and I appreciate how the watch is set up. Very good design! - without fail folks that don't like this watch will point to lack of some 'premium' features that other watches and Garmin watches triple the price have. Guess what - I don't want them! Music on the watch ... don't want it. I actually like working out. Receive and answer calls ... don't want it! Color touch screen ... don't want it. On board maps ... don't want it. If (probably never) I am hiking the appalachian trail guess what ... I'll take my phone. - MIP B&W display ... last but not least is the black and white MIP display. It is hands down the best display I have ever had on a watch. It is crystal clear in the sun even through sunglasses and is supremely viewable under all conditions indoor / outdoor / gym ... everywhere. - Make sure you take the time to learn all the watch has to offer ... after two weeks I started using the breathing and relaxation programs in the watch and really dig those as well. Great sleep tracking and sleep coach ... great exercise tracking and exercise coaching ... pulse, VO2, body battery ... even weather glance is really well done. - The software on the watch is light years better than other brands. The sleep tracking, training readiness, flawless GPS tracking, vast array of built in widgets (glances) available can be daunting at first but take your time to learn what the watch has to offer. You will not be dissapointed. - The tactical version is the exact same watch blacked out for $50 more. I think the orange accents look great and certain need esoteric tactical ballistics stuff so save yourself the $50. to summarize ... if you want a toy or gizmo to play with keep looking. if you want an extremely useful tool the help you train and keep you on track for your fitness goals that goes weeks and maybe months maybe forever in the summer in-between charges AND is a good looking watch that doesn't look out of place business casual ... you found your watch!

IOUnited States

Best MIP watch. Compared with Instinct 2, Coros Pace 3, Suunto 9 Peak Pro & Vertical

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 charging 5) 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 torch Otherwise, 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.

AlanUnited States

modern “G-shock” watches with excellent battery and features

I think it’s an excellent watch for my needs. I sold my Apple Watch Ultra 2 for this one. As a long-time G-Shock and Casio user, I feel like the Ultra 2 and most modern smartwatches just have too many features that a normal, active person will never actually use. I really love the look of the watch. Since I usually wear black and grey, you’d think I’d go for the all-black tactical version, but the splash of fiery red-orange accents adds just the right amount of contrast. I don’t even like orange as a color, but on this watch, it just works perfectly. Also, I personally think paying $100 extra just for an all black tactical with features I’d never use is stupid haha. This watch was perfect for me. The MIP display is bright enough to see clearly under the sun and in any weather, even at low brightness. Since I’m used to Casio and G-Shock, the simplicity feels just right. All I really need is something to track my steps, sleep, and heart rate. The battery life has been excellent. I always had battery anxiety with the Apple Watch because I had to charge it every day, but I don’t have that issue with this one at all. The 45mm size fits my wrist perfectly, and it’s comfortable enough to wear all day, including sleeping and showering. It feels very similar to the G-Shocks I’ve worn for years. That said, I think people need to adjust their expectations when it comes to the solar feature. Garmin never claimed it could run purely on solar power. It’s meant to extend battery life not fully charge the watch. A good way to think about it is like water slowly dripping into a bowl that has a hole in it. It’s not filling up quickly, but it’s helping offset the loss. Even as someone who’s used G-Shock solar watches for over 10+ years, I already knew solar charging wouldn’t work like that. Beside instinct 3 uses way more power than any Casio tough solar watches LMAO. One small criticism I have with this watch is that, unlike the Apple Watch, it doesn’t automatically sync data as seamlessly with your phone. You need to have the Garmin Connect app running in the background at all times, which feels a bit weird. That said, it hasn’t really been an issue for me so far.

Justin PerreaultCanada

WHAT AN AWESOME WATCH

WHAT AN AWESOME WATCH EDIT2: coming back today to update. its now been 3 weeks without charging and it still shows 4 days remaining. EDIT: I just wanted to say that I bought this watch two weeks ago, fully charged it, and put it on. It gave me a battery estimate of 9 days. Today, is day 14 and it hasn't been charged yet and shows 6 days remaining. Awesome battery life, exactly what I needed. I am not outside all that often either, and it is running with heart rate sensor on. When I was younger, always used regular digital watches. They were built tough, lasted a long time, and did what they were supposed to. Then smart watches started to roll out. I ponied up and bought a samsung galaxy watch 4. Didn't take long to realize I did not like using it. There were two major glaring flaws with the smart watch - a display that would shut off and battery life that would barely make it a day. Switched back to a normal watch for a long time after; a solar G-shock. But even that had problems. The watch band started coming off, was replaced, and would keep falling off. The smallest chip in the body where the cheap 1.5mm spring bar went caused irreversible damage. Not to mention, the display was maybe 5 mm, it didnt have any advanced features, and was mainly a clock face dial type. So I started looking specifically for watches with a beefier watch band bar. No more 1.5mm spring cheapo bars for me. The first thing I came across and was serious about buying was the Suunto core all black. I really liked that it used a full-through screw bar. I actually purchased it, but shortly after kept researching and researching. Realized, this might not be the watch for me. Every review, discussion, always brought up the garmin instinct. I didn't want to spend too much, so cost was a major factor in my decision making. Anyway, ponied up the costs and bought this watch, and love it. Solar powered, been wearing it for days and hasnt lost any juice. Has a thicker stronger band bar. Always on display. Beautiful design. Plenty of smart watch features without the battery drain. I am beyond satisfied. Will use it for a long time.