GarminInstinct 2 SOLAR GPS 45mm Smartwatch, Tactical edition, Rugged watch, Built-in Sports Apps & Health Monitoring,Dedicated Tactical Features,Ultratough Design, up to 28 days Battery Life,Graphite

UpsideCaseGood looking G-Shock design and recessed glass mean that the watch is rugged and suitable for manual work and sports without suffering damage.StrapComfortable and has plenty of closely spaced adjustments.DisplayAlways-on display which is easy to read. Previous smartwatches where I had to wait a couple of seconds for the display to light up so I could see the time, are a thing of the past for me - I found that really annoying.BatteryNever seems to run out. I charge it once a week on average for an hour. Solar only slows the discharge and doesn’t appear to increase the charge.SensorsVery good at picking up heartbeat under conditions where other smartwatches I have tried failed to record correctly. All other sensors work without problem too. GPS notably works faultlessly.Garmin Connect AppThis app is good, although no better than others I have tried.DownsidesSelection of sports activities is non-intuitive although I have learned to use it now.There doesn’t seem to be automatic detection of activities.SummaryDelighted with my Instinct 2 Solar and won’t be looking to change as long as it lasts. Good value.

I’m 76, retired and not an athlete. I do however try to stay fit, mostly by walking. I don’t smoke, I drink moderately and I want to stay on top of how my body is performing. I’ve always liked Garmin products having used two or three of their GPS systems, and I didn’t fancy an Apple watch. I wanted something that was robust, accurate, solar charged, kept tabs on my health data and would notify people if I was involved in an accident. I’d have liked a map but that’s a trade-off I was willing to take.I’ve been using the Instinct 2 Solar now for about a month and I’m quite pleased with the results. Here’s what I found:The user handbook is difficult, not informative enough (for me) and lacks diagrams.You Tube has a wealth of instructional movies that should provide all the information you need.The step counting function is inaccurate and counts steps and movements when you’re just bimbling around the house. On a dedicated walk it works well and is pretty accurate but outside of that it’s poor and makes you think you’re doing well. I did a test over a few days wearing a pedometer that doesn’t count unless you’ve done ten steps (they then get added on) so it discounts the bimbling around bit. The result after a few days showed that the watch overcounted by 30%.I’m particularly fond of the basic health data and found that both the Heart Rate and Pulse Oximeter (oxygen saturation) functions are accurate. I tested both these on a recent visit to the doctor and also at home with one of those oximeters that clips on your finger. The readings for both heart rate and oxygen saturation were spot on.The watch kept buzzing and showing a number when I reached certain goals. I didn’t know what half the goals were, I didn’t want to see them and I eventually found a way of turning them off.I like the simple tracking of key (to me) functions – heart rate, respiration etc. I particularly like the sleep tracking system. I never used to wear a watch in bed, and that took some getting used to, but it works well and the display is excellent.I like that if I go for a walk the watch absorbs a wealth of information and shows me a detailed map on the Connect app at the end of it all plus data about my speed, step count and distance. I’ve also tried using it to measure the Bike Indoor function. It’s quite good but I have a simple exercise bike, not something I can hook up to the app, so it tells me time and exertion data only.The Connect app and the web app are also really good and show some relevant data in a decent format. However, I really need to understand all the variables and measures better. So in summary I think it’s a great watch with all the information I need, supported by both the phone and web apps, which are excellent.

Battery last for a month, what is fantastic. You can customise activities, face watch and app. Pretty good.

Had this watch for three months and whilst the solar charging part is a nice feature it takes so long to get any juice in the battery I will only ever use it in extremis tbh. Saying that the battery itself lasting upwards of 25 days on low ish use means I rarely have to worry. I've had Huawei, Samsung and two Pixel smart watches and they have all lasted fewer than a week or two, battery life and screen mostly.What I like particularly about this watch is you only have to have on the features you use, it looks more like Casio, battery life is excellent and I am still wearing it every day 3 months later.Sleep quality feature is amazing and has helped me focus on my sleep hygiene as well as how that impacts my fitness.Would I buy it again? Yes but without the Solar feature which I will rarely use.

Perfect for swimmers cyclists and hikers . Good battery life. Takes a while to learn all functions.

Excellent watch. Well worth the money. Tons of useful functions. Very comfortable to wear.

Great watch for all the functions you want to monitor. Good for outdoors and indoors events you do, for eg running, treadmill, walking outdoors etc great multitude of other functions s as well

Selling this watch for that amount of money should be a crime. This outdated look, software controls the speed feels liks it's been released in 2003. Sony Ericsson phone is faster than this. The solar battery is completely useless, you should be ashamed that you even advertise that. It's nothing like a solar batter I do understand that's a dumb watch but if you compare a Tough solar from Gshock then you could actually learn something, maybe ask them for advice how the solar battery in a watch should look like? I'm only writing this review because I have a spare minute in a bathroom. Otherwise it would be a complete waste of time