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Instinct 2 Solar (Tactical) "Washed Out" Display: Anyone else having this problem w/their display?

DevilFrog
over 3 years ago

T

The GI2 (on right) is much more "washed out" and closer to purple when compared to the original's vibrant blue (on left); both are backlit to 100%. Moreover, the viewing angle on the GI2 is simply terrible... clearly, the new "domed" PowerGlass does not add one of the primary advantages of having a domed crystal which is improving the visibility at acute angles (especially underwater) by mitigating light reflectiveness. I'm not impressed at all. As opposed to the original solar models, the new GI2s have a "full" solar panel behind the display, so this may be the cause of both the tint and viewing discrepancies; I've contacted Garmin support and am waiting for some explanation... hopefully it is just that I may have a defective watch (which can then be replaced by Garmin).  Also, much as I appreciate the improved display resolution of 176x176 (which does make the text look crisper), they've taken advantage of that to make the overall text smaller in order to fit more data displayed on the screen size; that's all well and good, but it does make it more of a strain for legibility... not all of us have a 25 y/o sight. As usual, Garmin did incorporate a font size setting; I've provided them with that feedback and feature suggestion, so hopefully they will add that in a future update.  Has anyone else noticed this issue? 

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to bluefish

    Just stop it already and move on. Like many other people pointed out already, employees like Garmin-Chris are very active in this forum and engage in lots of other threads about issues with the watch, but are interestingly not responding here. Just to give you one example of who could answer on Garmins behalf here.

    PS: I also neither expect nor want Garmin to contact me personally, but rather give a public statement here, like they do in other threads in this forum.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 7618017

    Just stop it already and move on.

    Like many other people pointed out already, employees like Garmin-Chris are very active in this forum and engage in lots of other threads about issues with the watch, but are interestingly not responding here. Just to give you one example of who could answer on Garmins behalf here.

    PS: I also neither expect nor want Garmin to contact me personally, but rather give a public statement here, like they do in other threads in this forum. 

    PPS: I also said:

    7618017 said:
    think most of the people expressing their dissatisfaction here are aware of this and thus don't accept this or any of the other support responses as the final, official word from Garmin on the matter.

    Disingenuous of you to skip the part where I talk about how I think this to be one of the  reasons people are not satisfied; instead you twist it and make it about me wanting Garmin to comment on my personal opinion.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 7618017
    bluefish said:
    Do you seriously think that someone other than support will contact you about this little issue ?



    7618017 said:
    Like many other people pointed out already, employees like Garmin-Chris

    Chris also works for support.

    But again, what do you expect for an answer from Chris ? It will be the same as you have already received by email. Garmin will not post here "we made a mistake“. Forget that.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to bluefish

    I would heavily suspect someone moderating the forums and addressing/relaying soft- and hardware issues to the dev team is more likely to comment on the issue on broader scale then some customer support person (probably not even directly employed by Garmin) handling warranty and support requests on a single customer level.

    I do agree with you that if this is an issue affecting all GI2 devices (we don't even know that yet; how would we know if some of us just received faulty units!?), Garmin will probably not admit a mistake. Especially not if they can rely on people like you to jump to their defense and downplay the issue customers describe. 

    Do you own a GI2 device, btw?

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to bluefish

    Also, how can we get the same response here, when people received different responses and explanations? There is no single, consistent response so far.

    PS: Someone already explained to you in detail why he is not satisfied with the response he received. I think at this point that you are trolling us.

    2 days ago in reply to bluefish

    Just to reiterate what has been said in this thread, their are currently two replies coming from Garmin.

    The first being the tactical watch was designed to be worn inside the wrist. Which of course doesn't explain why they would make that design for such a limited use case or why it is effecting non tactical users.

    The second being the response I was given myself, "The Instinct 2 uses a different display than the instinct 1 so the backlight may have a different hue and the Instinct 2 won't have as steep of a viewing angle". 

    However this reply does not explain why viewing the watch from the top side instead of the bottom results in a amazing viewing angle without any polarized washed out effect. In fact, when i replied to the support agent with that exact information he said

    "I know exactly what you're describing, and can see it myself. I added a comment specifying what you mentioned, and that I can see myself. If looking at the 'top' if the watch, at an angle and rotating it to align the watchface, the screen does not 'wash out' like it does if doing the same thing from the 'bottom' of the screen. I don't disagree with anything you said, that's just what I have available to me regarding that issue. "

    I agree with you at this point I think its a lost cause. Although the answer does not actually address the issue I find once a company makes a comment such as above it nearly never changes even when it actually avoids the actual problem. Thats why people are upset. They are not stupid and see this answer does not accurately address the issue. That's also why some are holding out hope Garmin does correctly address the issue with either a answer that makes sense (EG improved daytime performance with this screen polarization orientation and was designed this way on purpose) or a fix.

    I'd also like to add as more users buy the Instinct 2 and more notice the problem, their will be more replies here. If you want this stopped it would be simple if Garmin should reply with a message marking this resolved and there explanation. Just as they did with the non-flush bezel issue brought up by some. But they haven't yet. I'm hoping myself because there is still a ongoing internal discussion about the topic. But again my hopes are not high at this point.

    Garmin really needs to reply here and be active as they have in almost other thread.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 7618017
    7618017 said:
    I would heavily suspect someone moderating the forums and addressing/relaying soft- and hardware issues to the dev team is more likely to comment on the issue on broader scale then some customer support person (probably not even directly employed by Garmin) handling warranty and support requests on a single customer level.

    7618017 said:
    I would heavily suspect someone moderating the forums and addressing/relaying soft- and hardware issues to the dev team is more likely to comment on the issue on broader scale then some customer support person (probably not even directly employed by Garmin) handling warranty and support requests on a single customer level.

    That may be, but there will be no other answer than you have already received via support.

    7618017 said:
    Do you own a GI2 device, btw?

    No, but I speak From experience with fenix 3hr, fenix 5x, fenix 6x, fenix 6s pro, tactix delta and instinct 1 solar, vivoactive 3, Vivoactive hr. I have been with Garmin products for a few years. Since 2016.

    A somewhat similar discussion to the one here also took place with the fenix 6 series. In several threads . The main thread on the subject at the 6 stretches over 124 pages. Garmin has never taken a position on this. Only the support "the displays can differ, but are all within tolerance". Topic done.

    https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-6-series/174384/two-sapphire-fenix-6-pro-s-backlight-contrast-issues?pifragment-464=137#1083112 



  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to bluefish

    I agree with you about Garmin probably sitting this out as well (thanks for linking the previous thread, btw) but at the same time I fully understand customers who are not willing to just accept those business practices and support them (especially if I am also affected by the issue). 

    Whom does it hurt if customers engage here and make at least the issue more visible to potential buyers, if Garmin decides to ghost customers again? Why do some people (to some xtend including you) try to shut down the discussion instead of moving along if it doesn't concern them?

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 7618017
    7618017 said:
    Why do some people (to some xtend including you) try to shut down the discussion

    That is not my intention. I'm just trying to explain, based on experience so far (since 2016), that you will certainly not get an answer from a Garmin employee that you would like to have here.

    Of course you can discuss. That is not the point. The point is only that the eternal requests "Garmin, please explain to us what is wrong with the display" will not bring you any step further.

    For you, the solution will be to return the device or contact support directly first. Like this. As Oldie21 has already written.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 7618017

    No one is stopping the engagement.  You were being nudged towards doing it right and being shown what was being done wrong- looking for like a CEO to come in here and give you a personalized explanation for the conspiracy.  None of that will happen.  You have to assemble with consumers, complain, make sure the word gets out and not keep the complaints in an internal environment here like the C brand does and its users so complaints aren't searchable and don't get out and nothing ever changes.  Instead, the priority was not the fix, but to get a statement.  That you and others don't see how it looks from the outside is part of rhe problem and will ensure a fix won't happen, if there is a fix ti be made.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to NoTrux
    NoTrux said:
    looking for like a CEO to come in here and give you a personalized explanation for the conspiracy

    No one here has ever asked a CEO or similar to come here and give a personal explanation. Never has anyone demanded an explanation from upper management so please just stop spreading nonsense (or can you link me to the comment that demanded this?).

    If Garmin would respond by telling us how to fix this, or that they are working on a fix, or even admitting that maybe this is not intended design instead of single customer agents providing silliy contradictory explanations to single customers - that would be an official reponse and acknowledgement of the issue. This is what customers here are looking for; ANY kind of reaction from the Garmin mods that are otherwise very active here in other threads.

    Heck, even closing this thread would be at least Garmin taking some form of action. But several other users here have already tried to explain this to you.

    And they also showed the example of the "non-flush bezel thread", where similar discussions ended once an official Garmin statement was posted (regardless of customers liking the response or not). They were given Garmins official statement and were able to decide for themselves if they wanted to live with the non-flush bezel or return the watch. EDIT: Here, with officially response "for everyone" from Garmin-Chris: https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/instinct-2-series/286838/should-the-bezel-be-flush-with-the-screen/1386364#1386364

    "Regarding an official response, I will be happy to confirm the following for everyone:

    Currently this is the design. The gap will not pose any issues with the functionally or usability of the Instinct 2 series watch."

    See, they do provide official statements here that people suffice to decide what to do.

    We are assembling here with other affected customers in a public, official space monitored  and interacted with by Garmin reps (or trying to at least, because people like you try to derail the thread) just like you tell us we should. There are also the Garmin subs on Reddit being used (where more people chime in and confirm they have this issue, btw). Tell me, where you would suggest to assemble instead?

    Thing is, the suggested approaches have been done by several customers (contact customer support, etc.) with different and inconclusive responses.

    Even if we don't have high hopes for an official Garmins statement (see bluefish's example of Fenix 6), we can still continue to discuss this here. If you don't like this or see any sense in it: again, please just MOVE ON. Live and let live.