New Instinct Owner with Questions

The Fitbit counted stride length and it was modifiable, although mine was set for default.. The manual for the Instinct doesn't mention stride length.

I think the big difference between the steps for Fitbit and the Instinct was me. Although I don't think the Instinct counted correctly on the hike.

Maybe it is the trekking poles like you mentioned earlier.  I did a search for that and the thread I saw was for a Fenix 5 and the poles may be an issue.

Sounds like you're coming from a Fitbit.  Embrace your "Instinct" and forget about "Floors Climbed"....

TMK17 is correct about Garmin's specification for what constitutes a floor, but I have experienced huge inconsistency with the Instinct's ability to report floors climbed.  I have many examples of the same walk, the same hike, or the same run, each performed at approximately the same relative pace, reporting wildly different results for "floors climbed."

For example, on a trail run that I do several times per week, the actual elevation climbed is approximately 900 feet, but my "floors climbed" varies from 7 to 90.  Most of the climbing on this run happens over 1.2 miles with many sustained grades over 10%.  I also do a walk with a variety of grades, mostly under 10%, and the Instinct sometimes gets it about right, sometimes about half right, and sometimes vastly under-counts. 

When I control for sweat interference with the sensor (wear a wristband), I've found the Instinct to be pretty good (yes, with a little smoothing) at measuring elevation gain during GPS activities. So, I record activities whenever I really want to make sure I'm counting elevation gained.

I've had my Instinct for over 8 months now, and long ago gave up on "floors climbed" as a reliable activity tracking measurement.  I had a Fitbit Charge HR for several years before the Instinct, and that device was very consistent and fairly accurate in measuring floors (at least for me).  As I do a lot of climbing (running and cycling), the Fitbit  floors count was my favorite tracking metric.  Garmin does not count any floors while cycling, and the Instinct is unreliable for counting floors.  Well, it does ok with actual stairs.

With the Instinct, I've switched to Intensity Minutes as my single favorite tracking metric.  While Instinct has a few issues, overall I'm very happy with it.

I had a Fitbit Charge 2 for quite awhile and it died, so I picked up the Instinct. I could live with the elevation issue, but not the miscounting steps. And it seems the trekking poles are the problem and apparently it’s also an issue with the Fenix 6, Garmin’s latest and greatest device.

One solution is to carry the Instinct in a pocket when using poles, which defeats the purpose of a wearable and a GPS watch.

I like the Instinct, the way it feels, the way it looks and the concept, but it isn’t any good to me if it doesn’t do what I want it to do. I may be going back to the Fitbit.

hohjoe said:

I like the Instinct, the way it feels, the way it looks and the concept, but it isn’t any good to me if it doesn’t do what I want it to do. I may be going back to the Fitbit.

What's more important to you?  The features of the Instinct you can't get on your Fitbit, or more steps the Fitbit provides you with?  If daily steps are your number one priority, I agree you should go back to your Fitbit as the Instinct wasn't designed to be a pedometer. 

The only feature on Instinct that isn't on the Fitbit I'm considering is GPS; of the features I would use anyway. And if I wanted GPS the Fitbit Ionic offers it.

Only my previous fir bit I used my phone for GPS, so using the phone again isn’t a problem.


The Fitbit is a bit more than a pedometer.

I'm not sure what your prior experience was with Fitbit.  While I had a Charge HR for several years, it was actually 4 different watches that Fitbit replaced for various problems.  Each watch looked scuffed, scratched, and aged after a few months of use.  I considered an upgraded Fitbit before getting my Instinct, but their forums at the time indicated lots of continued durability issues. 

I've had my non-screen protected Instinct for over 8 months, wear it 24x7, hike through brush, scramble up rocky trails, clear trees and brush, clean out gutters (meant to take it off for that), and it looks like new - no noticeable scratches, dings, or dents.  The display is always on, the battery life is awesome.

That said, Fitbit does a good job at basic activity tracking and sleep monitoring. 

I've never really paid any attention to it, but I think you're correct about the trekking poles reducing the step count.  On the few examples I've looked at, the step count with poles is reduced by about half on a per mile basis. 

hohjoe said:

The only feature on Instinct that isn't on the Fitbit I'm considering is GPS; of the features I would use anyway. And if I wanted GPS the Fitbit Ionic offers it.

I misunderstood what you wanted to use it for then.  I thought the issue was the problem counting steps while hiking with trekking poles, (I'm not aware of steps being an issue outside of that), so I assumed hiking was one of your main activities.  The Ionic really doesn't come close to the Instinct when it comes to hiking/navigation. (see comparison chart link below.)  Anyway, if recording steps is your top priority, then as I mentioned before, a Fitbit will suit you better.  I also had a Charge 2 and gave it away within a couple of weeks for the opposite reason your having with your Instinct.  I drive a bucket truck at work.  The suspension is obviously a little rougher than an average truck or car.  Because of this, I could drive a few miles to a job site and my Fitbit would record over 10,000 steps.  I also noticed just leaning forward from my couch to grab the TV remote from the coffee table recorded a step.  I personal think Fitbit gives credit for way too many steps than are actually taken.  But, to each their own.  Best of luck on what you decide to go with.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-comparison-calculator?type=watch&ids=79642%2C91361#results

I sent an email to Garmin support and asked about steps and trekking poles and support responded stating it is an issue due to the accelerometer and arm movement used to count steps.

Looking around on the web it appears Garmin, Suunto and Fitbit have issues with steps and trekking poles, although the margin of error seems smallest with Fitbit. Seems odd to me hiking wearables don’t account for trekking poles which are popular devices.

I also don’t understand the floors. I understand the concept, but not the functionality. Yesterday and today I played golf on a flat course. I’d bet there isn’t 200’ of elevation change over the course. Yesterday I had three floors up and down and today I had four. I do understand how there could be a one floor difference over the the two days, but not how a flat golf course equals four floors and a hiking trail of 1204 up and down equals only six.

I activated my Charge 2 December of '15 and had no issues until the battery recently died. It still looks good.