GARMIN INSTINCT SOLAR GPS WATCH ORCHID WW

EDIT: After a year of usage, I have absolutely no complaints. There is a minor issue, the sync with iPhone is a bit flawed, you have to connect, disconnect and then reconnect to sync successfully but this is a small flaw, you have to press a button twice, that is all. For me, the watch lasts a week before I have to charge (even after a year) which is good. I keep bumping the watch on hard objects and the watch is built sturdily. The edges of the watch screen tend to accumulate dust which I have to wash daily. Otherwise, this watch is a gem. Highly recommend. I am writing this review after 4 months of usage. I bought this watch for 21,840 ₹, the price in India right now would have increased because of higher tariffs. I use this watch primarily to track my runs/jogs. The watch is capable of tracking a coterie of activities like running, swimming, cycling, rafting etc. It gives you information on how much time was spent on the activities, calories burnt & the distance covered. It also has a real time heart rate monitor. I cannot speak of its accuracy as I haven't had a benchmark to compare it with. The watch also tracks your sleep. The watch also looks sporty and fashionable, if you dig that sort of thing. I got it in Seafoam rubber blue. The watch is supposed to be used in conjunction with the Garmin Connect app on your Android/iPhone. The app is easy to use and provides a lot of detailed stats that would be of interest to you, sleep time, stress levels etc. Again, the accuracy is difficult to ascertain as I don't have a baseline. You are supposed to connect the watch with the app via Bluetooth and it works flawlessly everytime and takes a minute to sync a days worth of data. The more activities you have, the more time it takes to sync. It's made out of a material which is sweat resistant unlike leather. You do need to wash the watch after a workout to remove the sweat. The watch is waterproof up to a certain depth and I wash it daily with tap water and have faced zero issues. I did face an issue wherein I had to factory reset the watch once because the watch screen was constantly changing. In my four months of usage that only happened once so it didn't bother me that much. I have hit the watch accidentally on hard surfaces quite a few times and the watch is built like a tank, so no damage at all. I only have to charge the watch once a week and it lasts for that duration easily. I use it for 1.5 hours to track activities everyday. I presume most of the battery is expended because of GPS usage. I don't use this watch as a smart watch and I don't think it is meant for that. Although you can keep it synced to your phone, I choose not to do that because of privacy concerns. Overall, I higly recommend this watch as a full fledged activity tracker. I wouldn't recommend this if you are looking for a smart watch although it could be used as one.

This is my latest in a long line of Garmin GPS I've owned. My last one has been going strong for years but I wanted to be able to load a route to help with guidance on long-distance off road runs or walks in the Lake District. I like this watch because the navigation feature works reasonably well. The screen-size is a little small for my ageing eye-sight, but that's not Garmin's fault. Battery life is superb, it's very comfortable to wear and looks that good that I wear it sociably. Can't comment on reliability or how water-proof it is yet but I'm confident. It connects and works well with the app on my Android phone. I was so impressed with my new watch I bought one for my partner, but in a different colour. We have started to use the tracking feature when we are out on runs alone and it works very well. There are loads of other features that I don't use. I would definitely recommend this watch to anyone who wants to be able to plan routes and then be able to navigate using it.

The main reason for buying my G.I was for off track hiking. I used it several times over the last week hiking in some fairly dense eucalyptus woodlands here in Western Australia. Coupled with my map and compass I was able to confidently hike and navigate my way around my intended walk AND most importantly get safely back to my initial staging point. Location checking when I crossed tracks or waterways confirmed nicely where my map and compass suggested I ought to be. I am a big advocate for the saying – if something is easy to do, you will do it more often. So having a GPS on your wrist, obtainable by just long pressing one button then you will use that more versus the hassle of pulling out a handheld GPS unit, firing it up, recording your position, turning it off then packing it safely back away. Backing up my map and compass navigation, the on-board GPS was both convenient and accurate. Having quick response times was like having cream on the pie. It just made it better to use - way more convenient than my Garmin e-Trex! I plotted my last known location per the watch GPS on my map, then determined my course to travel manually from that point back to my staging point (using my map & compass) – approximately 4km’s away. I glued my nose to my compass (there were not a lot of trees to distinguish to set off towards as I was constantly having to check the ground for foot placement (& snakes)) - but quickly found target trees soon became difficult to find because after moving 5-10m what I saw to walk towards quickly looked totally different as I got closer or as the filtered light changed shadows and shapes of trees and I could not often find the tree I initially set out to walk to. Thus I glued my nose to my compass and followed my calculated bearing. I easily found camp and pleasantly fluked heading precisely directly towards my car (although that was more good luck than good management!). It would be more reasonable for me to have expected to have arrived somewhere near to my starting point not precisely at my car – that bit was just luck! (Battery life reduces dramatically when you start recording your track on the watch so I prefer to use the GPS locator (on the watch or previously on my e-Trex) function on it’s own! – and would recommend this to everyone. If you have to rely on the track back feature or on recording your walk to work out how to get back to the start – then you should not be out there! I prefer to map my course, work to compass bearings / headings, record my progress on both the map AND on a separate waterproof note pad – incorporating travel time as well. I record my GPS readings on the note pad (to refer back to in case I found I was not where I ought to have been) but the map is relied upon significantly for staying oriented – so the GPS is of significance to my outback navigating safety and confidence. I can check my dead reckoning skills AND enhance them knowing I have a way to check the accuracy of same myself. This factor alone is a major thing for me. The altimeter readings on the watch were used effectively by me as a secondary orientation ‘check’ and were an effective aid to confirming my ‘general position’ when using my altitude reading and agreeing it to the map contours at my estimated location. The altimeter is - in my opinion from my use of it, quite reasonably accurate – and more than sufficient for it’s role (viz as a back up secondary orientation / navigation tool). My map contours were located at 5m intervals and given my “dot” that my sharpie would draw is probably between 1.5-2.5mm diameter, any greater precision would have been generalised down due to the map area coverage of said ‘dot’. The long battery life (2 weeks) gives me a lot of confidence in the watch and enable me to place a strong reliance on it as a significant navigation item in my kit – noting though that I do not navigate by recording my walk / hike – which drop it down to something ridiculous like 40 hours! That’s not confidence inspiring if you were to get lost and had to rough it for a night OR two. Losing your battery power is not what I would want. Sure I have a back up (my Garmin e-Trex in my pack) but I like that to remain totally redundant and not have to rely on it at all. I am very happy with the watch for both time keeping and navigating. The bonus features (heart rate, steps, compass) are just pleasant extras to play with. My first and primary reason for purchasing it was for it’s navigational value and it has definitely met those requirements.

The link claimed to be a Garmin solar instinct watch and when i received it it was a non solar model. Claim refund is taking is own sweet time. Watch was returned on 2nd larch and today is 27 th march and the refund has not been provided.

Utilisée pour le quotidien, la randonnée, la natation en mer. Jolie, simple ( pour une montre gps avec trajets, waypoints...), très lisible et champs paramétrables. Bon rapport qualité prix.