Which watch should I upgrade to

I currently have an Instinct 2 Solar which I am very happy with. But I would like a watch with built maps, maybe a bit larger and better screen.

I don't need solar. 

Do any Garmin watches come with built in maps or do they all require a subscription. 

Which watches should I consider?

Mainly use for day to day use, hiking, pilates.

Don't wear it at night.

  • Most people "downgrade" to Instinct from fenix AFAIK.

    Used maps once or twice on fenix 7 Saphire Solar, that was kind of meh, Instinct series seem to be much better for day to day use

    "Better" screen also have no use, all in all it's watch screen, what do use expect? Read e-books on it?

  • I also downgraded to i2x from forerunner 955 solar :) other than a few bugs that I could live with, it got all the health and fitness monitoring features I need and with more than double the battery life. Still happy with the downgrade :)

  • Yeah, the biggest downgrade from the Fenix/Epix/Forerunner 9xx to the Instinct is basically the missing maps (and HR sensor gen if you'd come from F7 Pro). But the big upsides are definitely price and battery life.

  • After looking at many reviews I bought a Garmin Epix Pro Gen 2 Sapphire 51mm.

    I'm really happy with the watch, much better than I expected. 

    For anyone else asking the same question,with always on display off and brightness at maximum for general use my watch is reading 30 days battery life. I went for the 51mm watch after reading reviews because of the much better battery lie.

    The map / navigation screen is amazing much betterr than I expected. I expect to be able to navigating hikes without needing to take my phone.

    Even the email notifcations are very readable.

    The quality of the screen is phenomonal. 

    There are lots of other nice features which I wasn't expecting.

    The only downside is because it's an amoled screen in always on mode turned off you have to turn the watch face or tap the screen to turn it on. The alternative is in always on mode the screen is darker till you tap or turn the watch face. In always on mode the battery life was showing as about 11 days. But I'm happy to live with this given all the other features.