First impressions

I got my Instinct yesterday, and thought I might post some of my first impressions. I've had a number of Garmin watches, including the Forerunner 210 and every fenix from the 2 through the 5X Plus. I really like the Instinct, and here are a few reasons why.

1. It was smaller than I expected. Very much Casio-watch sized.
2. Screen contrast is excellent. In low light, the screen is far more visible than the fenix 5X. In daylight, it sometimes feels like the backlight is on because the screen reflects so much ambient light.
3. The inset circle display is really well executed. It would be easy for it to be a gimmick, but Garmin has done a really good job utilizing it. For example, it provides an actually useful 4th data field on the 3-field layout that you'd be familiar with from the fenix. It's also used to display a progress bar and status icons on various screens and as a selection indicator on the controls menu or the on-screen keyboard (which is circular here instead of vertical as it is on the fenix line)
4. The screen is low resolution but the watch is extremely responsive and there are lots of subtle animations that make it feel like a modern watch rather than an old-school LCD.
5. The default hot-key configuration is extremely thoughtful and very well presented. Long-pressing the start button, for example, shows you the current GPS coordinates and allows you to save your current location. You could set this up on a fenix but there is some extra UI here that I haven't seen before. Long pressing the back button (SET) takes you to a sub-menu where you can set time with GPS and use the stopwatch and timer. The countdown timer also now has a memory of different values, which I haven't seen before. Long pressing the down button (ABC) takes you to a version of the altimeter-barometer-compass widget. Again, you could set this up on the fenix but the UI is slightly different here and feels more cohesive.
6. The vibration motor is really powerful.

The overall impression I've come away with is that the Outdoor group at Garmin has really put a lot of time and effort into creating a watch that in a lot of ways feels more tightly integrated than the fenix line. Yes, it has less functionality, but the functionality that it has is presented in a less confusing and more intuitive way.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

If you still have another GPS watch, I would be curious what your impressions are when pitted against the accuracy of a Fenix device. I suspect the GPS will tent to work better due to the non-metallic features not blocking signals from the GPS satellites. Rainmaker's review doesn't seem to show any improvement though.

0 workerj over 6 years ago

Probably an odd question, but can you use the stopwatch mode and have the current time displayed? An Amazon reviewer mentioned that it wasn't possible and that you had to stay on the stopwatch screen in order for it to run (would not run in background).

TIA for any help and thank you for the review.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

I just picked one up at REI today. So far I am liking it. I like the simplicity of it, yet it still gives enough fitness metrics for me.

I have a fenix 5x, and the things that bug me about that are all the firstbeat metrics. They just don't seem right to me. I can do a workout that just about kills me and firstbeat will give me very low aerobic and anaerobic numbers. Especially on steady state stuff. And the training status is just all over the place. I could just ignore it, but it bugs me that I know it's there, and just seems so wrong half the time.

Here is my first activity with the Instinct...

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3095094081

5 laps around my apartment complex. Each lap is about .8 of a mile. Walked the first, ran the second, walked the third, ran the fourth, and walked the fifth.

GPS was set to GPS only, and recording was set to smart. Track looks better than my fenix 5x, and pace looks a lot smoother than my fenix 5x.

We'll see how it goes on future workouts.

0 jburchm1 over 6 years ago

I still have my 5x Plus. I’ll do some GPS comparisons over the next few days, but I’m limited to walking due to an achilles injury. Thus far the GPS tracks and pace accuracy seem about the same to me.

The stopwatch still runs when you return to the watch face. Just long press the Lap/SET button to get to the widgets then press back to show the watch face. I tried it just now and it works more or less the same as the fenix.

0 ToniSilva over 6 years ago

I don't have the Instinct but maybe i can compare it with my FR935.
I bought the FR935 last July.
I "found" it almost without wanting it. Wanted a watch that could track some activity, with GPS, that i could use on my swimming classes... but i was completly unconscious of all Garmin world.
A friend told me about Garmin, Fénix, Forerunner... After some research my decision was that FR935 was the best price/quality choice. The watch wasn't available imediatly only the 3-bundle. Tired of waiting, i bought the 3-bundle.
Instanctly i was completly absorved by the watch. Maybe my life changed a bit. I started running again and as i never did it before. I'm 42 years old father of 2 kids and now i'm struggling to swimming 2 times a week and also running 2 times a week. Made my first 10km race in 53min.

The FR935 is amazing, but maybe too much pro for a, not even, simply amateur like me. Even the 2 HR bands that i thought i didn't need, now i can't live without!

Well, only to say that maybe if 3 months ago, there was allready this Instinct, maybe i would have bought it as i wasn't wanting to became a tri-athelete. The truth is that now i'm trying to, May 2019 i'll try a sprint or a supersprint triathlon.

For me all the functionalities that the Instinct announces fit what i initially wanted, easy to use and not too much complexity or aditional configuration. Great quality and price! No Connect IQ? Not an issue!

0 aerojust over 6 years ago

Could not agree more. I'll just add that the HMI is a lot faster, more intuitive, and just feels better than that of the Fenix 5. I think Garmin hit a home run with this assuming the GPS is not less accurate than the Fenix 5 line (not sure how that could be possible). I still have my 5 that I plan to sell on Ebay so will do some comparisons before it sells. I have a very challenging 1/2 mile that the only watch that got it close to right (based on stryde foot pod distance) was the old 305 and the Suunto Ambit 3 Peak was also pretty close (both with the huge bump and not every day wear watch). The Instinct is an every day watch for sure, much smaller and lighter than the F5 line. I have also noticed that the optical HR is more accurate for my N=1 experiment.

I got my Instinct yesterday, and thought I might post some of my first impressions. I've had a number of Garmin watches, including the Forerunner 210 and every fenix from the 2 through the 5X Plus. I really like the Instinct, and here are a few reasons why.

1. It was smaller than I expected. Very much Casio-watch sized.
2. Screen contrast is excellent. In low light, the screen is far more visible than the fenix 5X. In daylight, it sometimes feels like the backlight is on because the screen reflects so much ambient light.
3. The inset circle display is really well executed. It would be easy for it to be a gimmick, but Garmin has done a really good job utilizing it. For example, it provides an actually useful 4th data field on the 3-field layout that you'd be familiar with from the fenix. It's also used to display a progress bar and status icons on various screens and as a selection indicator on the controls menu or the on-screen keyboard (which is circular here instead of vertical as it is on the fenix line)
4. The screen is low resolution but the watch is extremely responsive and there are lots of subtle animations that make it feel like a modern watch rather than an old-school LCD.
5. The default hot-key configuration is extremely thoughtful and very well presented. Long-pressing the start button, for example, shows you the current GPS coordinates and allows you to save your current location. You could set this up on a fenix but there is some extra UI here that I haven't seen before. Long pressing the back button (SET) takes you to a sub-menu where you can set time with GPS and use the stopwatch and timer. The countdown timer also now has a memory of different values, which I haven't seen before. Long pressing the down button (ABC) takes you to a version of the altimeter-barometer-compass widget. Again, you could set this up on the fenix but the UI is slightly different here and feels more cohesive.
6. The vibration motor is really powerful.

The overall impression I've come away with is that the Outdoor group at Garmin has really put a lot of time and effort into creating a watch that in a lot of ways feels more tightly integrated than the fenix line. Yes, it has less functionality, but the functionality that it has is presented in a less confusing and more intuitive way.

0 aerojust over 6 years ago

I just picked one up at REI today. So far I am liking it. I like the simplicity of it, yet it still gives enough fitness metrics for me.

I have a fenix 5x, and the things that bug me about that are all the firstbeat metrics. They just don't seem right to me. I can do a workout that just about kills me and firstbeat will give me very low aerobic and anaerobic numbers. Especially on steady state stuff. And the training status is just all over the place. I could just ignore it, but it bugs me that I know it's there, and just seems so wrong half the time.

I'm with you. The firstbeat metrics make no sense. I used to think it was due to optical HR inaccuracy but even when I wear a HR strap and it is providing good data they still do not align at all with what my brain and 10+ years of running Ultras tells me. A 6 hour 30 mile mountain run provides a large stimulus, much larger than a 2 hour flat run at similar RPE and HR, but Firstbeat does not see it that way.

0 jburchm1 over 6 years ago

Here's a comparison walk I did this morning with the Instinct, my Fenix 5X Plus, Suunto 9 and my iPhone X:

https://analyze.dcrainmaker.com/#/public/c682ac9b-1289-4a7e-5314-e2bd5eb3f896

I don't know if I would draw any hard conclusions from one comparison. It seems like the pace is smoother on the 5X Plus, but it's had several GPS firmware updates recently specifically to address walking pace, so it might just have slightly more mature software. Optical HR didn't do well on the Suunto 9 or the Instinct this morning, but it was really cold and I've never personally gotten good results from optical HR in cold weather.

0 workerj over 6 years ago

I still have my 5x Plus. I’ll do some GPS comparisons over the next few days, but I’m limited to walking due to an achilles injury. Thus far the GPS tracks and pace accuracy seem about the same to me.

The stopwatch still runs when you return to the watch face. Just long press the Lap/SET button to get to the widgets then press back to show the watch face. I tried it just now and it works more or less the same as the fenix.

Thanks a bunch! Appreciated! :)

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

here is another activity i did today...

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3096966433

Same GPS setting (GPS only & Smart recording).

One thing I notice is the pace is actually usable on the Instinct, unlike my 5x which just jumps all over the place.

2 activities so far, and I am impressed so far.