When I first tested a solar powered Garmin a few years ago, the solar function extended the battery life by a few days. Now, every solar-powered Garmin I’ve tested has lasted longer two weeks. As I prepare for a two-week family cruise for a long overdue vacation, I spontaneously wear new Garmin gear. Instinct 2S Solar.
This latest solar-powered version of the popular Garmin backcountry Instinct series is smaller and has a sharper display than its predecessors. More importantly, I didn’t have to charge it for 21 days. That’s three weeks of multiple GPS-tracked activities each day, including running, swimming, hiking, snorkeling, sailing, and windsurfing. If you value accurate water monitoring and not having to charge the battery, this is the best adventure watch on the market.
Fun in the sun
Photo: Garmin
The Apple Watch has consistently dominated the smartwatch and fitness tracker market for several years. But there’s one area where it simply can’t compete: battery life. If you’re busy enough to want a smartwatch, you’re also busy enough to find it annoying to have to charge it every day (sometimes more than once).
The Instinct 2S Solar uses Power Glass to convert the sun’s energy (measured in lux) into battery power. If you’re the type of nerd that likes to check the sun intensity and the amount of sunlight your watch is exposed to each day, you can scroll down the watch face to find this information from the previous six hours, along with the Other useful addresses at-at-a-glance stats like notifications and step count.
It’s exciting to see your sun’s intensity rise and fall as you bike, run, or sit in the shade. But all I really need to know is that with a lot of direct sunlight, the Instinct 2S Solar has quite a bit of power. During the months of testing, I got up to three weeks on a single charge. That’s less than Garmin’s claim of 50 days, but more than most other fitness trackers. I never had to put it on power saver mode, which extends battery life by reducing the brightness on the watch face and disconnecting the watch from a paired phone. Three weeks is much of time.
It is especially amazing because the Instinct 2S Solar is much smaller than before Garmin Instinct Watches I Tested. The outer case is 40 mm, which is almost 5 mm smaller than the frankly massive original Instinct; it’s the same size as mine Apple Watch Series 7. It still has a monochrome pixel in-memory display, but it’s noticeably sharper to me than its predecessor. Even with the 1.2-inch screen, I can read my notifications clearly.
Beat the heat
Photo: Garmin
Since its launch in 2018, the Instinct has been one of Garmin’s best-selling products. It is available in solar and non-solar versions; various specific versions, including a tactical version with “stealth mode”; and some of the craziest colors on the sports watch market. Different colors are available for different versions, so Garmin now has “your own design“On your website to make sure you get the Instinct you want.
