r/Garmininstinct

Does anyone have an Instinct Solar - Surf Edition or Instinct 2 Solar - Surf Edition they would be willing to part ways with? I’ve been searching far and wide with no luck. I’ll take any color as long as I can track my sessions.

title. I've seen 2 of my friends facing the same issue and strava says they can't look into it. It's a strava issue since it's alright showing 2x solar when I manually transfer the .fit file

45mm models are $300 50mm are $350 or about tree fiddy. A bunch of other watches are on sale as well

Context: I got my first Garmin watch, a brand new Instinct Solar 3 tactical (45mm) about a month ago (previously owned a Fitbit and an Apple Watch).

Initially, I though I'd miss the newest elevate 5 sensor, the offline maps, the choice between a green and a red flashlight, or the ability to play offline music from my watch while running.

And don't get me wrong, all those features would be nice to have, but I wouldn't necessarily say that I miss them on an everyday basis. Plus, I knew the Instinct 3 didn't have those, and chose this watch anyways, so I can't say I didn't know what I was getting into.

With that being said, I otherwise really liked the watch (both the looks, the value for the price, and the insane battery life + solar charging), so I got it anyways, and overall: I love it.

But I thought (or assumed? hoped, maybe?) that the capabilities Garmin itself claims are at least somewhat reliable. Or at the very least, in the same ballpark as my previous non-Garmin smart watches.

Specifically, I'm referring to counting steps and sleep metrics. I cannot believe how bad they are with Garmin, and I'm honestly shocked that the leading fitness watch manufacturer hasn't figured this out better.

Here's what I mean:

1. Steps: if I just walk around all day, I guess my watch will count my steps more-or-less accurately (at least, accurately enough). But as soon as I get into my car and start driving, my Garmin watch goes crazy (and the bumpier the ride, the crazier my watch goes). On a ~70-minute drive on a bumpy-ish road, my watch counted about 1300 extra steps. On a 15-minute drive with just a few minor bumps, it counted about 170 extra steps. Now sure, I get it: I cannot expect a wearable to determine what counts as a step and what doesn't with 100% accuracy. But this just feels way off, and is actually much worse than the number of false steps counted by either my $99 Fitbit or my Apple Watch. I guess I just expected better, idk... Especially from a watch that's also partially marketed towards truck drivers.
2. Sleep: now this is where it gets REALLY bad. If I watch a movie before bedtime, if I read a book in bed, or scroll my phone before going to sleep, my watch repeatedly marks that as sleep (sometimes even deep sleep). This is despite shifting around, taking toilet breaks, walking around to get a snack or a glass of water, or even pressing the light (or flashlight!) button on my watch or opening Garmin Connect on my phone (I mean, wtf???) – it's like no matter what I do, these times usually get counted as sleep. Even IF it's 1-2 hours before the sleep schedule I set up in Garmin Connect. And about half the times I wake up at night (e.g.: for a toilet break), it doesn't even register it. Even though I turn on the flashlight ON MY WATCH and take about 20-30 steps to reach the bathroom (and the same number of steps back). It's like it never happened! (For example, last night, I got around 4 hours of sleep, but my watch claimed I got almost 8 hours of good sleep). As with the steps, my Fitbit did noticeably better, and my Apple Watch absolutely destroys Garmin in this regard – there's NO competition.

Now, I'm fairly certain that both of these are software issues, and not a sensor issues. I mean, if I press a button on my watch, the software should automatically assume that I'm awake, no? Or if I start walking around, for example. Same with the steps: the software should do a better job of evaluating raw data from the watch's accelerometer to determine whether a given movement was due to walking, or possibly something else. Other (and cheaper, less specialized) watches have managed to figure this out... So why not Garmin???

P.S.: I'm not looking for advice here (although if I'm doing something wrong, I'd still be grateful for anyone who can point me in the right direction). I mostly just wanted to share my experience, hoping that if this post gains any traction, then MAYBE someone from Garmin would also see this and initiate an eventual fix to these issues. But idk, maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

Which size after seeing the instinct 3 price drop I'm toying with upgrading just for the torch 😂

My instinct 1 has served me well for years and regularly lasts 30 days between charging I just can't decide between the 45mm and the 50mm I rarely use it as anything other than a watch aside from storm alerts and phone call notifications everything else is off I use something else for fitness, the only thing I dislike about the instinct is the thickness when wearing a jacket etc. Anyone with experience of going from instinct 1-3

I just purchased my instinct 3 AMOLED. I've never owned a smartwatch before, much less a Garmin watch. Not interested in wearing it 24/7.

I'm playing with the menus and settings; while I do so, what are some interesting things I might encounter? I'm a jogger primarily, with other outdoor sports mixed in (hiking, hunting, fishing, orienteering, swimming and related)

Thanks y'all