Garmin Instinct 2 review: Built for more adventurers than ever

Adding to Garmin‘s rugged lineup, the Instinct 2 series offers impressive battery life and compatibility with the Garmin Connect IQ app. No longer just for the tactical watch crowd, this durable device is packed with training features. In short, adventurous athletes and outdoor enthusiasts will find plenty to like at a pretty good price. Read our Garmin Instinct 2 review to find out more.

Update, March 2023: Added details about new Garmin tools and related available products.

What you need to know about the Garmin Instinct 2

True to the adventure spirit, Garmin Instinct 2 devices offer a rugged exterior built to withstand the elements, but this is a complex family of devices at a glance.

The lineup comes in two sizes, a 45mm model dubbed the Instinct 2 and a smaller 40mm case size labeled the Instinct 2S. In each of these sizes, there are also Solar editions available, as well as Specialty and Specialty Solar editions.

These Garmin watches are a follow-up to the Instinct Solar and offer significant upgrades to the existing line. For starters, they pack more features than ever before. Most importantly, the Instinct 2 series is compatible with the Garmin Connect IQ store for the first time. Users can load up on Garmin and third-party widgets and apps, as well as tap into Garmin’s many important health and wellness features.

The line also offers 24-hour heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen readings, and stress tracking. Users will also find more training tools, better sleep tracking, and improved battery life to the point of unlimited usage in some solar models.

The Garmin Instinct 2 series went on sale on February 9, 2022. The watches are currently available for purchase from Garmin as well as from third-party retailers. All of the unique editions are available in various colors (too many to list here!) and can even be customized using Garmin’s Your Watch, Your Way.

What’s good?

Let’s start from the outside and work our way in. First, the addition of a second size option in the Instinct 2S range is great for adventurers of smaller stature. Size variety is a major improvement to the line and opens the door to a larger audience. I wore a 40mm device throughout my Instinct 2 review period and at no point felt that the watch was overly bulky or cumbersome.

Of course, this is an adventure watch, so it isn’t sleek by any means (you might want to take it off, for instance, when changing in and out of a wetsuit), but it is definitely light, well-fitting, and comfortable. I also really liked the Mist Gray Garmin provided. If the black-and-white vibe is too plain, there are plenty of options to suit all manner of tastes.

The display is monochrome and isn’t a touchscreen. However, that isn’t a knock at all. Given the day-to-day usage this device is intended for, a touch screen doesn’t make sense, or at least isn’t a necessity. Meanwhile, the higher resolution on the Instinct 2 series compared to the original Instinct line could easily go unnoticed but is quite impressive. On the Instinct 2, the resolution has increased from 126 × 126 to 176 × 176. On the Instinct 2S, resolution lands at 156 × 156. Not only does the higher resolution give widgets and data more breathing room, but it also provides a less pixelated font, increasing readability.

Overall the experience is crisp, and my information was easy to view both at a glance and when diving deeper into different menus. On a related note, I love the organization of the user interface. There is a learning curve if this is your first Garmin or you’re used to a touch screen, but once you mess around, the five buttons are quite intuitive. Once you have the hang of it, navigating is helped considerably by the abbreviated widget glances. I was able to regularly scroll through this menu efficiently, checking basic information and tapping into specific features for more data.

Scrolling down to the bottom, you can also add Garmin or third-party widgets to load more stats and tools. Since the Instinct 2 supports Connect IQ, users can access and add a library of widgets and data fields (third-party or Garmin options), as well as Connect IQ watch faces. For women, this also means the addition of female health tracking. How else will you remember to pack the necessities in your hiking bag?

As usual with Garmin devices, the band is also a big pro with plenty of strap holes for personalized sizing. With my below-average-sized wrists, I really appreciate Garmin’s commitment to an adjustable wristband. The silicone is standard in that it is comfortable but nothing noteworthy.

In short, this is a durable build that I felt confident bouldering in, and it wasn’t an obnoxiously heavy accessory to wear on a run or while lifting weights. The only minor red flag I might raise is the questionable texture of the metal detail encircling the watch’s face. It reminds me of an abrasive nail file or shop class throwback, and it collected debris over time. Again though, I would rate the design and material well overall.

What I would rate even higher is the Instinct 2’s battery life. There is something uniquely luxurious about not even having to think about your wearable’s power level over a multi-day review period. More importantly, the Garmin Instinct 2 Solar was the company’s first device to claim unlimited battery (under the right conditions). Having only the smaller 2S model to test, I couldn’t verify these claims, but I was very impressed with my device’s battery life nonetheless. I can certainly get by with a meager 20+ hours of GPS usage before plugging back in.

For heart rate data, the Instinct 2 series employs Garmin’s Elevate Gen 4 optical heart rate sensor. This is the sensor first introduced on the Venu 2 series and it’s found on many of the top-tier devices, including the Fenix 7 series. Unsurprisingly, the Instinct 2 pumped out reasonably accurate heart rate data at rest and during workouts. Compared to my Polar HR strap, it sometimes took a few minutes to lock on at the start of a workout, but after that initial hurdle, measurements stayed comparable.

As mentioned above, the Instinct 2 series boasts more training features, including some features released in the Fenix 7 and Epix watches. Among these, Garmin introduced Training Status and Training Load features to the Instinct line, as well as Health Snapshot, Recovery Time, daily workout suggestions, VO2 Max, Body Battery, and Fitness Age.

If you’re sensing a pattern here, it’s because there is one. None of these are new features to Garmin; they’re just a sampling of the best of Garmin finally brought to the Instinct line. The result is a very dense feature set full of helpful data. I won’t dive too deeply into these since they’ve all been covered before in our Fenix 7 review — give that a read for all the small details. The bottom line is that access to all of these provides a comprehensive look at your overall performance, health, and training.

The Instinct 2 line also provides advanced sleep tracking, including a breakdown of your sleep stages and a sleep score. I am frequently thwarted by sleep-tracking devices that don’t understand when I am awake. However, during this review, my data was fairly accurate compared to my Fitbit Versa 3, and the daily sleep scores typically correlated with how rested I felt when I woke up. We consider Fitbit’s sleep platform very reliable and one of the company’s top strengths when comparing Fitbit vs Garmin. It’s great to see Garmin catching up.

Additionally, Garmin also introduced a lot of sports profiles to the Instinct 2 series, including triathlon and multi-sport modes. For a normal triathlon, users can choose the triathlon sport profile. Meanwhile, the multi-sport option allows you to custom-select three sports. To change sports, you unlock and then press the lap button. While I didn’t run a triathlon (or train for one) during this test period, this is a nice feature to see added as it again broadens the potential user pool for this device.

Back to the sheer number of sports profiles, though, we’re talking about everything from gravel bike rides to golf and a whole lot in between. In testing the device and exploring the options, I found myself itching to try out new activities. If you are easily influenced, this is a device that will make you want to pick up more hobbies.

What’s not so good?

No device is perfect. One gripe with the Instinct 2 series is that Garmin Pay is only available on Solar editions. This is the single software difference between the base and Solar models, but it is significant. Generally, it is always disappointing to invest in a device that leaves you behind the curve. As digital payment services continue to gain popularity, that feels like the case here.

You don’t necessarily expect many smartwatch features on wearables from the adventure market, but they would, of course, be great to see. With Garmin’s Venu 2 Plus adding support for voice assistance and on-wrist calling, it will be interesting to see how Garmin handles those features in the future. As a side note, the Venu 2 Plus also boasts an FDA-approved ECG app which you won’t see on the Instinct 2.

Back to smart features, the Instinct 2 series also doesn’t support offline music. It does offer music controls, but I rarely found myself using them. Meanwhile, the inability to store music on the device means lugging your phone on long runs and hikes.

Unlike the Fenix 7, the Instinct 2 series does not feature preloaded maps and only provides a breadcrumb trail for users to follow. The other option is following direct-to-point navigation or using the device’s compass (like Lewis and Clark).

Full mapping capabilities would have been nice to see. On the flip side, once you reach your destination, the Instinct 2 series offers two options for heading back to the start, Straight Line, and TracBack. I tested both of these features and found TracBack to be helpful. Straight Line can trip you up if a direct route to your starting point is not physically possible. Additionally, don’t expect Up Ahead from the Instinct 2 or ClimbPro. These advanced features are not available in this series.

In general, GPS on the Garmin Instinct 2 worked well for me throughout the review period. In the effort of full disclosure, though, there were a few times it seemed to wander compared to other devices. One example above shows the Instinct 2 seemingly lost in tree coverage compared to Garmin’s Fenix 7 during a 5K run. However, these instances were minor and didn’t sway my opinion of the watch.

Garmin Instinct 2 specs

Garmin Instinct 2 review: Should I buy it?

If you are looking for an adventure watch, you should seriously consider buying the Garmin Instinct 2. Frankly, few devices are packing this breadth of features at this price point. It’s a watch that offers a durable build, excessive battery life, and plenty of fitness features to keep you busy.

Of course, if you can afford the Garmin Fenix 7 ($699.99 at Amazon), that’s an even heavier-loaded device to grab. Similarly, if you can find the Garmin Fenix 6 on sale, it’s a solid option as well. You may be able to find one similarly priced to the Garmin Instinct 2. Garmin also launched the Instinct Crossover ($499.99 at Garmin) a hybrid watch with real ticking hands. Still rugged and built for adventuring, the device seamlessly blends analog details and fitness-tracking smarts.

Finally, if you want a variety of Garmin’s best tools, but on a smartwatch, the Garmin Venu 2 Plus ($449 at Amazon) is also an alternative worth considering. This device offers Bluetooth calling and the ability to tap into a voice assistant on your paired smartphone. Consequently, you’ll miss out on the Instinct 2’s durability, solar charging, and impressive battery life, as well as some of the training features discussed above.

If you are already invested in the Instinct line, this follow-up is worth upgrading to if your budget allows. It’s a rugged fitness watch with a lot to offer, especially for anyone enthusiastic about the great outdoors.

Top Garmin Instinct 2 questions and answers