Garmin Instinct 2 Solar review: smartwatch promising unlimited battery life | Smartwatches

Garmin’s newest rugged solar-powered smartwatch, the Intuition 2, guarantees limitless battery life. You simply have to remain within the solar.

Trying extra like a rugged digital watch akin to Casio’s legendary G-Shock than an Apple or Samsung smartwatch, the Garmin feels made to take a beating with its monochrome display screen, bodily buttons and durable physique.

It prices from £299.99 ($349.99/A$549) and is available in numerous variations akin to one for browsing and even one for skilled truck drivers. However it’s the photo voltaic charging fashions, costing £389.99, that promise by no means to have to be plugged in for energy.

The Instinct 2 in mist grey shown on a man’s wrist.
The Intuition 2 is available in numerous two or three-tone colors, all with an identical rugged or standout aesthetic, right here proven in mist gray. {Photograph}: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Beneath the rugged exterior is Garmin’s smartwatch tech, that includes market-leading sport, well being and location-tracking. It has smartphone connectivity for notifications, alerts and syncing your knowledge by way of the Connect app on an Android or iPhone.

It is extremely much like many different Garmin sport watches, however what units the Intuition 2 aside is its promise of unimaginable battery life even with out the ability of the solar.

The usual 45mm mannequin with out photo voltaic will last as long as 28 days used as a normal smartwatch, which is 10 days longer than the already impressive Fenix 7 and about 14 instances longer than an Apple Watch.

The photo voltaic model, which prices utilizing a clear “energy glass” protecting the display screen and panels across the fringe of the show, guarantees to maintain the battery topped up for primarily limitless battery life so long as you spend not less than three hours in direct daylight (50,000 lux of sunshine).

Multiple screens showing some of the watchface options for the Instinct 2.
There are many high-contrast watchface designs to select from with extra obtainable within the Join IQ retailer, every of which may show knowledge such steps, energy or battery life, too. {Photograph}: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

How real looking that’s will depend on your day-to-day actions. On a sunny winter’s day in London the watch acquired 40,000 lux of direct daylight by means of a window, so in case you spend your days outdoors quite than locked in an workplace it appears greater than possible.

For primarily indoor utilization throughout winter with out a lot in the way in which of photo voltaic charging, the watch lasted about 15 days between prices, together with 5 hours of workout-tracking. I wore it 24 hours a day with message alerts, coronary heart charge, stress, energy, normal exercise and well being monitoring, plus sleep and blood oxygen (SpO2) monitoring in a single day. Turning off the Sp02 sensor added days to the life as did limiting exercises. The photo voltaic charging would add not less than 24 hours battery for every sunny spring day spent outdoors, too.

Specs

  • Display screen: monochrome transflective MIP LCD

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