Garmin Instinct Solar, Rugged Outdoor Smartwatch with Solar Charging Capabilities, Built-in Sports Apps and Health Monitoring, Flame Red

I have been using the Garmin Instinct Solar for at least a couple years. I wear it daily and these are some of the things I've found out about it both good and bad.Pros:Color is sharp and it fits great. Does not look too big and bulky on my wrist.Lots of 'widgets' to use. Some are very useful such as message alerts, being able to control song play from my wrist, weather, and Navigational trackers as well as a few others.Once synced with your phone it alerts you to calls, messages, and events on your calanderI really like the GPS feature that maps your route with activities such as hiking, running, biking. When you go to the app and view your route it is very accurate. I have used it mountain biking and you can actually see the small changes in the different loops you rode.Battery life is great. Typically I am using the watch to track a workout in the morning and then just it's daily functions. I've been averaging about 24 days of battery life. That will be less the more you use the tracking features.Set up and widgets are somewhat customizable. You can have the ones you use available to scroll through or just leave them off the interface if you don't use them. Cuts down on clutter when cycling through the widgets you're looking for.Cons:With all of the different widgets, there are a number that I find useless and generally could care less about. These include sunrise/sunset times, moon phases, altimeter, barometer, and temperature. Some people may find more benefits with these. But for where I live and what I've been using the watch for, these are never used.The activity tracker is limited. Especially the strength tracker. The idea is that when wearing the watch it is supposed to be able to 'sense' the movement you are doing for reps and sets. I have found that 9 times out or 10 it has no idea what strength movement you are doing, especially if it is any complex movement, and the rep count is always inaccurate . You can fix the rep and set count on the watch but this takes way too much time and effort and I've resorted to just tracking calories on the cardio tracker.The trackback or breadcrumb feature is hard to follow on the small watch face. This feature allows you to set a start point (say if you're hiking) and then when you want to return to your starting location it will either take you back the way you came (breadcrumb) or just give you a straight route back to your starting point. I tried this breadcrumb feature out on the trail and I found that if the trail has a lot of switchbacks or quick direction changes it's really hard to determine your route back. The watch face is so small that all the direction changes get smashed down and it's just hard to interpret. I feel this function would work way better if you are making very few direction changes.Overall, I generally like and enjoy the watch. I use the tracking widgets as much as I can and take all of the feedback and stats it gives me with a grain of salt. Would I buy this watch again when it comes time for a new one, I doubt it. Will probably look into a different brand or model.

I love garmin products. This is my second garmin watch, the data collection is very intuitive and works well with my android phone.Concerns I had getting this specific watch: size and color (it's orange afterall). I am not a big boned person, I am 5'2" with fairly small wrists. I do no think the size of this watch is too big and I wear it everywhere and all the time. It is sort of big and a little bulky but the pros and functionality outweighs any size concerns. I obviously have the orange version, it's a great color and almost acts like a neutral in my wardrobe it's weird how that works out but it does. I work in a professional work environment and wear this watch everyday and I don't feel like it detracts from my wardrobe look.Functionality: the solar charging is phenomenal, we are outside on the lake most of year, kayaking and paddleboarding, in the 6 months I have owned this watch I have only needed to charge it with wall charger 3 times, all the other charging has been solar. I love that a single charge can get 26-28 days of use. I don't use alot of sports or GPS tracking on a daily basis. I track my steps, sleep, weight (myfitness pal to my renpro scale hack), when I do track sports I love that it syncs to strava. I love the gps map for my paddling on the lake. I like that I get my basic notifications from my smartphone like phone calls and text messages- you can't respond to texts but I don't need to from my watch, the trade off is the long battery life. This watch also works great for linking to wahoo cycling accessories for my indoor cycling data, which again will sync to strava.This watch is a great fitness tracker and I know I am not using it to it's fullest abilities but that's perfectly fine with me. Garmin is a superior fitness device and this watch is a great option in their lineup.