When Garmin first debuted the Instinct in 2018, it instantly became my favorite sports watch. But I ended up skipping a full review because, at that time, I wasn’t sure about the watch’s value proposition. Garmin already makes a fantastic series of backcountry watches. Why would you get one with half the functionality?
It was also … kind of ugly. I liked it. But as with dad sneakers, Kraft Singles, and Pete Davidson, I have yet to meet anyone else who likes it. So many other great fitness trackers fit the sleek, minimalist aesthetic that the chunky Instinct seemed out of place. But I was laughably wrong. Since its debut, the Instinct has become an extremely popular Garmin tracker. After all, it keeps you from getting lost in the woods and it doesn’t empty your bank account.
This year, the company debuted a successor: the Instinct Solar, which has a Power Glass face so it can recharge from the sun. After more than a week of testing, I’m not convinced solar charging adds as much power as Garmin would like me to think. Still, it does make my favorite sports watch even better.
The Instinct is not small. I measured the face to be 1.75 inches across and 0.25 inches deep. It takes up most of the real estate on my small wrist, but it's still comfortable, not to mention durable and robust. It's waterproof up to 100 meters, and I don't worry about accidentally knocking it against canoes or my car door.
Around the basic black-and-white memory-in-pixel display, which you can customize with different face styles and display metrics, is a thick bezel printed with instructions for Garmin’s five-button system. It points out which button lets you start GPS and which one is the menu. I like the Instinct’s retro look a lot, and I also—eek!—like the button instructions. On most watches that have a multi-button system, it always takes me a few days to remember how to use it.
Right after the Instinct finished charging, I strapped it on my wrist and took off with my family for a camping weekend. To find our quarantine-partner family in the woods, we hiked on a trail, paddled a canoe back to the car, loaded it up, and paddled back. I also had to run several miles back to the car for little errands, like, oh, forgetting to fill out the permit for our site.
This is exactly what the Instinct Solar is made for—casual backcountry use that doesn’t necessarily require detailed maps on a big, glowy, battery-eating screen. To get a camping permit and avoid a ticket, I ran several miles to the car and back by myself in the dark. I clicked on the Track Me feature for a simple map to find my way back.