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 aerojust over 6 years ago

Wrote this up on the F5 forum for someone deciding between an instinct and an f5. Some of my insights on the instinct and the f5

I bought an instinct to "play" with and see if I want to sell my Fenix 5 and keep it. I think the GPS issues are a little overstated on the Fenix 5. In my experience it is not at good as an Ambit Peak 3 in GPS alone, but in every other category the Fenix 5 is superior including the Garmin ecosystem. The latest firmware update and gps update that brought Galileo to the 5 has made the GPS better (at least mine better) in the difficult topography it had issues with. As more Sats come online I think it will continue to improve.
Some major differences between the two that I have not seen stated elsewhere:
1) Size - F5 is much larger and much heavier. After wearing the F5 for 18 months when I wear the instinct it feels like I have nothing on.
2) Vibration and Chime - The Instinct has a harsh vibration and the chime seems louder. They both feel less refined - this could likely be due to the size/weight difference assuming they share similar hardware
3) Screen Visibility - Instinct has the best readability have seen over any Garmin or the Casio ProTrek I used to own. F5 is ok ( I have read the f5 sapphire is worse due to the sapphire glass)
4) Build - F5 is solid. Mine is a little beat up with some bezel scratches and a few minor scratches on the lens, but this is after 18 months constant wearing, fixing my vehicles and some construction projects. The scratches came from working on my car, not from normal use. The Instinct is rubberized and appears pretty solid but who knows for sure.....
5) Battery - my 1.5 year old F5 still will track on normal for 19+ hours. I used ultra-trac a few weeks ago and maybe it would have lasted 32 or so. I have not tested the instinct like this yet, but if the battery meter is correct I do not feel like it will meet the specification of 14 days / 16 hours. I definitely could be wrong about this, but that meter goes down pretty fast and after pretty short GPS tracks.
6) HR - for me and my limited data sets the Instinct may do a better job at optical HR tracking, but still not perfect by an means. I think this is a pretty individual thing depending on how the watches are worn and the anatomy of the person.
7) Interface - The Instincts interface is pretty dang refined for a brand new watch. The watch is very snappy, noticeably faster than the f5. I really enjoy using it
8) Display - Instinct functions fine as a smart watch, but clearly is not its strength. F5 is pretty serviceable to read notifications from your phone. Better in a lot of ways than the instinct
9) Software Bugs - The F5 is bug free as far as I can tell but it took a long time to get that way. The instinct still has a few, the major one being mine does not update the altitude screen while GPS is in use. If you switch off the screen and back on it is good to go. It does not have this issue in normal widget use. Keep in mind this is new firmware, the F5 had the same issue that was resolved.
10) Looks - the F5 is big and if you like a big watch you will like it a lot. The instinct is pretty normal sized and unassuming, mine is the graphite. The f5 has tons of aftermarket bands to change up the look you want, I like to change the band color and match the secondary color on the clock.

0 6255496 over 5 years ago in reply to workerj

Unfortunately you can not go to idle screen during time measurement by stop-watch. The back button serves as lap button, so there is no way how to return back to idle screen.

However you can use hot-keys and get to functions hot-key offers as well as controls (long press of power button) and all functions controls offer. When you use those functions stopwatch is normally running on background however when you leave those functions (by back button) you will get back to stop-watch.

If you need to see time during stopwatch the only way is to set world-time to hotkey or via controls and you can see current time during stopwatch... however quite indirect solution. Alternative you could use activity function instead of stopwatch (configure some activity not to use GPS, to save power and use only Timer function there.

0 JohnJ over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member

Hi. Can I ask why the elevation changed so much at 25:07?