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

Nice keep us posted man. Interested to see how this turns out.

Sounds like you got a great resolution.  Curious to see what you think about the replacement.

Fingers crossed. Will probably be the same route I will take once you can confirm the issue is not present anymore.

I went to REI in Seattle last night and they had the I2 in stock and i found a very patient and helpful clerk who actually walked with me into a darker back store room to see if the stock they had on hand has the same issue as my watch.  I let her put my I2 on her wrist and she saw the issue immediately with the back light on, in a darkened environment.  She couldn’t believe it looked so bad.  And then she tried 2 different models from floor stock and they both exhibited the same washed out behavior when worn on the top of the wrist , and not on the underside “tacticool” orientation.  When I told her Garmin stated it was meant to be worn that way she started laughing.   She told me I have 90 days to return (60 left) and I could keep returning as often as I’d like each successive watch for 90 days.   She took my info and said she would go up the chain to the buyer and let them know of the issue.  So now we have another acolyte for our “conspiracy” who acknowledges the issue.  

I'm more than likely not taking them up on that; according to the email, there's been no change in production, so it would be moot to do so.  If they eventually fix something then I'll RMA it, otherwise I'm just going to switch between my Tactix Delta and the original IS Tactical. I'll use the IS2 during the day.  One thing is certain though, I'm foregoing the upgrade to the Tactix Echo when it releases... that's simply out of principle; I'm done with Garmin.

Today I received mine, in Poland. Effect with screen is exactly the same as before. Maybe later I'll take some photos but generally we all know what the story. I think I'll try to live with that. As far as we know all GI2 has this "feature" so there are no better or worse pieces. It's funny in a way that Garmin chose the worst option with this screen issue: when you have watch on left wrist and you look at watchface from 7.30 you can see not only milky screen but also more or less inverted. Of course it is only visible with backlight on.

I tested also other "feature" mentioned at this forum: gap between bezel and glass. In previous piece paper corner stuck at hours 2-4 o'clock. Now I can go with paper all around. If this is real feature, that's good because time to time I can clean this gap with paper.

After experiencing issue with first GI2 I thought to buy Fenix 7 and I did it. I purchased Fenix 7 Solar. Then, after playing with this watch transflective screen which was so plane and washed out especially when I compared to cheap Huawei smartband with oled screen I was considering Epix 2. In the end I didn't buy it. Insinct 1/2 is so light and comfortable that it's even hard to compare to Fenix/Epix. Also for me it is better to take Oregon where I have bigger screen than watch with maps (were I can't even search for particular streets by name). The only feature I would like to try is Stamina, but I find it crazy to pay almost three times more to test one potentially interesting feature and also getting heavier, clunky (compared to Instinct) watch.

If there will be any change with future GI2 with display then I'll go with RMA, too.

BTW Did you have option to update to newest firmware after purchase? I had this info. Maybe this is still first batch of GI2?

Maybe it has been asked before, haven't yet had the time to read every post.

Is there a difference in display quality or visbility and readability, esp on 2s models, normal vs solar? On Fenix series the Solar panel contributes to much worth visbility. Which would be a major disadvantage with I2 as the display quality already is very bad. I own a I2s Solar Surf and wonder if the normal 2s without Solar option would have better readability and visbility? Maybe also better contrast?! Anyone comparing both models or at least both I1 models, both the same series, solar vs normal?

Thx.

"much worse" on the Fenix Solar?

And the display quality on the I2 is bad?  The little bump in resolution made it way better than the I1S and I've posted side by sides.  I've not had an issue with readability and find it much easier to read than the I1.

I have not done a side by side. From my understanding the solar version adds a small purple tint compared to the non-solar version. A tint i don't even notice on my own solar. From my understanding and own usage, the solar panels have little to no impact on readability compared to the non-solar version.

Sorry but this is just not true. I owned an Instinct 1 Solar for a very short time and I have seen comparison videos.

The display itself is of worse quality for sure. The I1 series had amazing readability and visbility. Yes, higher resolution is nice but only if you can use it to your advantage. On the 2s there are many things esp on glances where you can't read anything because of tiny font size, this was never a problem with Instinct 1. And I still have quite good eyes. In the sun yes you can read it, but not anywhere else. The very low brightness on this watch doesn't help either. Why did they make the brightness on the watch around 20% of the brightness of the Fenix series? Maybe because battery life would go down or maybe because people would see the bad quality of the display even more? I guess first reason as a setting with high brightness makes battery life go down dramatically.And if they would give us the brightness of the Fenix series, well maybe we would get around 4-5 days of battery.

And yes solar vs non solar makes a big difference on Fenix series because of glare and reflections. Almost the same difference as non sapphire to sapphire glass.