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

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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? 

  • A couple of points I've not yet noticed anyone make relating to Garmin's claim that this is by design to favour wearing it on the inside of the wrist:

    Page 53 of the manual 'Wearing the Watch' shows a picture of it clearly being worn on the outside of the wrist.

    When people complain to Garmin that when wearing any of their watches on the inside of the wrist, HR, O2 Sats and all the features associated with those don't work, their response has always been that the watch isn't designed to be worn on the inside (I'm not saying it doesn't work, just that this has always been Garmin's line).

    FWIW, I did 12 years in the military and the amount of people who wore their watches backwards was just as low as in the outside world - with most of those who did being the type we generally referred to as 'Combat Cabbages'.

  • Since I recorded this video; this was the first time riding my bike in those conditions and quite frankly it was very difficult to read time etc. without having to lift the arm and letting go of the bike. Didn't have the problem with my previous GI1.

  • Well, I've done just that; matter of fact, I did that before starting this thread.  Ironically, during follow-up calls, the product support rep specifically requested links to this thread, well as the Reddit one that is also ongoing.  According to him, the request was for the engineering/design team so that they can try and pinpoint / quantify the problem... so, in addition to any direct calls to Garmin, I guess this IS a place to make such complaints, well as highlight exactly how and why it is a problem.  It also means that despite of them being aware of the issues stated herein this thread, they've as yet ignored them based on their  absent response (as yet). 

  • I did 12 years in the military and the amount of people who wore their watches backwards was just as low as in the outside world

    I don't know what function you had in the military, but there are really good reasons to wear the watch on the inside:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akFS6FS_zjg

  • At the end of the day, the simplest explanation wins. The simplest explanation in this case is: Quality assurance during prototyping and production sample phase was lousy. Now, the responsible middle manager is trying to save his or her job and Garmin are trying to save money by concocting this weird story of 'you are holding it wrong'. End of story.

  • Wow.  I can only imagine how fun it would be trying to read that underwater.  There goes any notion I had towards switching to it as a replacement for this IS2 Tactical.   Yet some people here still want to be dismissive of the problem, and expect us to simply suck it up or simply return the item; screw principle, and/or the fact that we purchased these things for a reason, and as such would actually like to use them for their expected and intended purpose.  We clearly are loyal Garmin customers, so why is it unreasonable to ask that they meet our expectations of their product to the level advertised (at a minimum)? On one end they put all these worthwhile features which justify the upgrade, yet take steps back which degrade the product on the other... and at a more expensive pricepoint at that.  

  • To be honest, none of the high-speed low-drags I know, neither LEO nor military, wear their watches like this. I personally believe someone with 12 years military experience more than some YT dude that caters to the airsoft gravy seals from meal team six (me included :P)

    However I agree with you that there are some situations and reasons where wearing the watch on the inside makes sense - I sometimes do this when at the shooting range and want to keep track of time and heart rate.

  • ...and considering that the problem is present in the G1 as well, I wonder if the excuse for that one is that it was also meant to be worn on the inside of the wrist and viewed while surfaced; lol, interesting dive.  

  • Wouldn't surprise me if they had to resort to other displays because of supply chain and manufacturing shortages because of ongoing global events. :/

  • Lol, I wore my watch like this in the early days of my military career... when I was a young DevilDog grunt trying to look "tacticooler" than necessary; aside from that, I [we] normally don't wear altimeters, dive computers, or nav devices on the inside of the wrist for many reasons: primarily because it is not a natural movement to perform when you want to quickly reference  the device,, and secondly because the crap gets snagged on gear much easier, and far too often... it's a veritable pain in the ass that only serves to damage the crystals (even on the old GShocks which we were issued in the Teams).  I still didn't do it now as a LEO, and don't see most of the other officers do it either... well, you can belay that last part, because I have been wearing this IS2 Tactical that way now, just to be able to read the dang thing in low-light/at night.