Instinct Solar - Recent Threads

why is my Instinct solar 2 consistently overestimating distance on mountain hikes?

1432869 — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 21:15:26 GMT

I have now done a handful of hikes with elevation (Utah and New Hampshire). My Instinct solar 2 constantly overestimates the mileage compared to the official maps.For example, a 6.1 mile hike should really be 5.2 miles and one that came in at 7.4 miles should really be about 6.4 miles. I am not going off trail, and it doesn't seem plausible that additional steps throw it off that much. The elevation gain seems pretty accurate with GPS knowing where I'm at and what trail I hiked. I did make sure that the GPS fully engaged these last two hikes.

Thanks for any insights!

Instinct Solar EU firmware 16.00 / GUPDATE.GCD

1462039 — Tue, 05 Aug 2025 07:59:52 GMT

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for the firmware version 16.00 for the Garmin Instinct Solar (European model). The official download link for Instinct_1650Beta.zip is no longer available on Garmin’s servers.

If anyone still has the original ZIP or the file "GUPDATE.GCD" from the "System_Backdate_1600" folder, I would really appreciate if you could share it.

This version is known to fix random shutdown issues, which I am currently experiencing.

Thanks in advance!

Instinct 2S solar do not work after charging via USB

6049082 — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 13:22:20 GMT

I recently bought Instinct 2S solar watch, and I was not aware that this is an ongoing issue.

The problem is:

When I charge the watch with USB charger to 100% the solar power stops working. It will discharge without it and never switches it backs on. The solution is to power-reboot your watch by pressing "LIGHT" button for ~10s. After reboot, solar starts working again.

The issue has been reported for over 3 years in multiple threads, and it isn't fixed yet. Reproduced on Software version 16.11.

Is there a permanent solution being worked on? Or maybe if it is not possible to fix via firmware update, is it possible to add a pop-up: "reboot your watch to enable solar" after full charge.

Referenced posts with the same issue:

British National Grid Reference

ChrisB — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 10:56:10 GMT

Hi,

I'm really struggling to understand how to input co-ordinates on my Garmin Instinct Solar.

I've selected British Grid Reference in the settings, but when it asks for the location it wants the SS ref and the BNG ref? If I use the same for both it doesn't recognise the location.

If I change the setting to decimal degrees minutes, the number of digits to input is different to what comes up on Google searches?

I'm trying to input Summerlease Beach in Bude which has an SS of 2045 0662, or decimal degrees minutes of 50.8302 / 4.5519?

Can anyone advise how to input this into the watch?

Thanks.

Instinct Solar 2S will not pair with iPhone 16

rosegeorge3 — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 19:42:03 GMT

I've bought a secondhand Instinct Solar 2S. I plugged it into my desktop and it's recognised on Garmin Express. But it will not pair with my Iphone. So far I have reset the watch, restarted the phone, restarted the watch (about a dozen times), deleted Garmin Connect twice and restarted that too. Each time, the phone finds my device, but then I just get a message that pairing has failed. I never see a pairing code. Beyond all the resetting and restarting, what else can I do? Iphone 16 iOS 18.5.

i own a garmin instinct solar and i love it - but the screen goes blank

7941128 — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 15:53:21 GMT

i own a garmin instinct solar and i love it
it is 3 years old
now instead of the battery running down to about 6 days before i recharge the front of the watch just goes blank at about 79% or at 25 days. then i recharge it and it goes for another 2 days or so
can you help me?
is my watch dying?

App sync

2491673 — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 10:20:01 GMT

Da qualche tempo a questa parte il mio instinct solar sembra sincronizzarsi (app ios) in modo incompleto....mancano i dati del sonno e non riesco a caricare i piani di allenamento...addirittura nella schermata del dispositivo mi compare il classico punto esclamativo rosso per il problema di connessione, mentre nella schermata principale la spunta verde.

Ho già provato ad aggiornare sia app che dispositivo, a fare un hard reset ma niente.

Cosa posso fare per risolvere il problema?

FALLA EN SENSOR DE ALTIMETRO INSTINCT SOLAR

4468410 — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 15:18:40 GMT

el sensor de altimetro me marca lecturas erroneas, ejm 20000 / 20000 msm, como se corrige ? ya lo limpie y le hice todo lo indica la pagina pero sigue igual..

Instinct Solar Battery failing

FlatFoot3 — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 09:49:47 GMT

I have instinct solar (first version) so I’m guessing 3 years old.

The battery life is failing rapidly like it’s never done before, is this an age issue or anyone advise anything else before I’m forced to buy another. Thank you

Instinct 3 solar sleep mode not working and keeps restarting if i try to access naps

Misfit — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 10:55:29 GMT

Hello, something happened to my watch because it doesn't register sleep and while on a sleep mode it doesn't register anything else, like steps or heart rate, nothing. And instead it registers naps. But when i try to access naps on my watch it reboots itself. I've tried to disconnect my watch from Garmin connect app and connect it again, I've tried to set my watch back to default settings but none of it worked. This is already happening for two days. I don't know what to do. I've also contacted Garmin support for this but so far no response.

Solar not working.

6382244 — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 16:04:17 GMT

I have a garmin instint 2 solar and I don’t have any solar intensity readings and I’ve noticed I have to charge my watch more frequently. I think the solar part is broken.

Instinct 2X Solar – Cadence in Garmin Connect shows wrong value

runnerXXX — Sun, 29 Jun 2025 20:25:24 GMT

Hi all,

I noticed that during a walking activity with my Garmin Instinct 2X, Garmin Connect shows an average cadence of 98 spm, which seems too high and doesn't match reality.

When I analyze the same .FIT file in tools like FitFileViewer, Interval.icu, and Strava, the cadence is shown as 60 spm, which is realistic and consistent with my older device (Forerunner 230 showed 122 spm = 61 per leg).

So the FIT file seems correct, but Garmin Connect may be misinterpreting or miscalculating the cadence value.

Has anyone else seen this?
Is it a known bug or a firmware issue?

Thanks!

Software flaw - strength sets in multisport

7632349 — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 04:43:20 GMT

Hi. Is there a way to contact Garmin to get a software update to correct this issue?

Let’s say you are on the treadmill and recording that activity. When you stop, you ‘change sport’ to strength. The strength activity starts, but it only records the actual set in the rest period as you need to push the set button one more time to start the set.

Using strength activity works fine if using it first in a multisport but not after.

temperature widget Vs external Temp

ing.enzo — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 06:58:34 GMT

Hello I have a Garmin instict 2 solar and a Temp temperature accessory.

In the watch Instinct widget, in the I was used to see temperature (from internal sensor), now that I have paired the external Temp it always says "Sensor not connected" .

I can see temperature ( from Temp) only during a GPS activity.

It will be useful to use internal temperature sensor and display it in the widget , when external Temp i not connected. Any ideas?

Garmin Instinct Solar is completely unresponsive

6904779 — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 20:36:10 GMT

Yesterday my Instinct Solar started to freeze up and I only noticed this because it was 20 minutes slow. I was able to get it turned off but then it didn't want to restart. I was eventually able to complete a soft reset only to have it get stuck on the Garmin screen. I was then able to get a hard reset and was able to see the screen and it was accurate for a little while. It would restart and get stuck on the Garmin screen at random. Was able to get it operating normally before I went to bed, when I woke up it was 40 minutes slow. Again with the resets and I was able to get it to connect to Garmin Express but it wouldn't show the correct date or time. When i disconnected from the computer it alerted me there was an update available, all the buttons worked except for the GPS/Select button. After additional restarts with all other buttons working except for the GPS it now will not even turn on regardless of buttons pressed and if it is plugged in or not.

This watch has been very good to me but I haven't done anything out of the ordinary and haven't tried to record a workout in weeks.

Some feature questions about the solar

6465203 — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 07:14:17 GMT

Hey there!

As my old Suunto Ambit Peak 3 is slowly going into retirement, I am looking into the Garmin Instinct 2X/3 Solar as a replacement.

I kind of like the monochromatic display, and it looks like the Instinct could keep up with the battery life of the Ambit Peak.

My use cases are mostly hikes and long(er) distance hikes. Going through the specs, the Instinct looks really good; however, I have some more specific questions about some of the features, especially things that I do not like in the Ambit Peak.

So maybe some Instinct owners could give some insight on that:

Navigation, Route & POIs

One thing that bothered me with the Ambit Peak is that you could load a GPX and navigate it OR you could navigate to a POI. But somehow it was not able to navigate a route and at the same time show saved POIs. Is this possible with the Instinct? Background is: On longer hikes I would like to navigate the route but also show for example POIs of campgrounds, water sources etc.

Another point was, saving a POI in the Ambit Peak saved only the location but not the altitude. Does saving a POI in the Garmin save location + altitude?

How do you load GPX tracks and POIs on the watch? Does it work over Bluetooth? Because in my Ambit Peak, I had to load the GPX into the Suunto app, but then connect the watch with a USB cable to my PC to sync it over SuuntoLink. This was a huge bummer, as it was impossible to load new tracks/alternatives while on the road.

Solar and Battery
Does anyone have some real-world experience with the battery life while navigating only + navigation & tracking?

How long does it take to charge?

Hrv data not being captured

2896920 — Sun, 15 Jun 2025 23:09:34 GMT

Hello I’m not able to view my hrv either on the app or setting on my watch. As far as I can see the hrv is supported. Can someone assist on how to set or view hrv data capture?

Instinct 2 Solar Tactical just boots into the service menu PROBLEM

2721958 — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 18:37:04 GMT

My Instinct 2 Solar Tactical just boots into the service menu. I woke up this morning and this menu was active. I restarted the Garmin and it simply won't boot up the normal way. It always just boots into the service menu. Over and over again.
I tried nearly all Hotkeys i could find in the Internet but nothing worked. Not even guys from a electronic shop couldn't help me.

I hope someone of you might have a clue what I could do to solve this!

Please help a hopeless man! Best regards!

forums.garmin.com/.../Snapchat_2D00_1303397876.mp4

"Disk attached was not readable by this computer.” Cannot update to Garmin Connect on my Mac.

Derthom — Fri, 30 May 2025 19:21:12 GMT

I plugged the watch in to my computer like I do every day to upload my activity and received this massage “The disk you attached was not readable by this computer. I am trying to trouble shoot this as I have not had this problem before over several years of use. However, no luck so far.

Baro 83886 temp not work

8240433 — Wed, 14 May 2025 18:15:13 GMT

Hey my instinct solar garmin watch has problem with abc sensore.

I try master reset, cleanup sensor and downgrade firmware. still not wrork.

any solution to fi it?

soft 19.10

Garmin Instinct Solar Tactical stopped solar charging and all Garmin wants is to sell me a second hand one...

5973861 — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 13:39:00 GMT

Hi all,

I hope this message reaches whom it concerns and hopefully some customer friendly people at Garmin as well.

My Garmin Instinct Solar Tactical stopped solar charging and showing any Solar Intensity data recently. It is maybe 4 years old right now. After chatting with some kind people at support they said it is a hardware issue and that I need to take it up with local support. So I did and eventually the proposal was to let me buy a refurbished one for € 144!

I feel this is a very weird way of supporting your customers. And even though it might fall out of legal warranty, I feel a watch of this price and supposed "fool-proofness" as it is also sold for service people (hence the Tactical), should not have these problems 4 years in. And if it does, it should not be a way to sell someone another second hand one... To do what? Refurbish mine and sell that again as well?

Please Garmin, I hope you guys can do better than that.

Warm regards, from an avid multiple Garmin device user.

Some courses titles are in bold, why?

6202063 — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 02:42:54 GMT

I have added several alltrails courses on my watch and they show up just fine when i go to navigation or hike and choose courses. however there are two to three of them where the titles are in bold and the rest are not. is there a reason for this? I read somewhere that the bold ones are saved locally on the watch but i am pretty sure all of them have been synced to the watch and are on the watch locally.

Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Tactical

Ivan Mitev — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 05:09:02 GMT

Hello, my garmin instinct 2 solar tactical is not recording my sleep. My battery saver is off, and I factory reset the watch, but there is no change. I am connected to Iphone 13. Any suggestions?

Hi my watch keeps on shutting down quite regularly, I have tried a factory reset and unfortunately this has not sorted the issue out, the watch now shuts down 4-5 times a day,really disappointed in the product

3347361 — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 18:09:54 GMT

Instinct solar

Altimeter loses calibration at night

Schnufa — Sun, 09 Mar 2025 07:31:46 GMT

Hello everyone,
I have recently had a strange problem with my altimeter. Never had this issue before and im running Sotwareversion 19.10 for longer time now.. Relatively punctually at the same time at night, it loses its calibration. I live at about 305m and the altimeter drops to ~40-60m. If I then set the altimeter to 305m again manually, it retains this setting until nightfall. I don't know if this issue comes form a malfunction of the barometer as well because you can see the drop there as well? (see attached pictures)

I have already tried this without success:

Restart
Night calibration on/off
Factory reset

Software version 19.10
GPS: 5.50
BMX: 5.0.5
BLE/ANT: 3.02
SNS: 22.07
WHR: 5.00.05

Someone has an idea how to fix that?

Greetings,

Jens