Instinct 3 with AMOLED now available!

Or a Fenix 7 for $450, or the white Epic Gen 2 for that price too.

Tactical version in a couple months or is this it?

3BEP6 said:

Tactical version in a couple months or is this it?

Fingers crossed for a MIP Solar Tactical option in both of the larger sizes.

My very first Garmin GPS device almost 25 years ago had basic black and white maps of the whole of the world, or at least either US / Pacific or Europe / Africa. It had all basic large roads and even some smaller cities. It had exchangeable batteries and I am sure the maps consumed very little memory.

25 years later, for twice the money, Garmin offer us a watch without even basic maps, while competitors bring out colour OLED watches with long battery life, heart rate, GPS and downloadable maps, some for almost half the price of this watch. It makes absolutely no sense. Pass.

Edit: According to the manual, what the watch can do is 'show city names on the map', so no further POIs or basic routes. Sure, more than the Instincts before, but not really enough.

Very well pointed. I think this is basically a marketing decision, thinking in the sales of the Fenix 8. Considering all the much better and cheaper or very similar price options, this is a very big skip for the next 2 years for me.

I had enough with the money invested in the I2X. And this is a 500$ watch again for basically the same watch. Just have a look at all other Garmin watches or even at other brands. The difference with other models is so high that makes me think that here we are paying only for the G-shock like plastic case. Just that.

dreamer_ said:

The difference with other models is so high that makes me think that here we are paying only for the G-shock like plastic case.

Personally, I think that at Instinct you pay especially for the military grade resistance, and the same or better battery life than at the the top models, at half of their price. Adding maps could compromise the guaranteed long battery life, but if you really need maps, Instinct is not the right choice. Fortunately Garmin offers a wide choice of other models offering them, so why not choosing what you need?

trux, the battery long life is not affected when you are not using the maps (which is probably the most time of the watch life). And this is the only outdoor watch of the market without maps.

And is more, if Garmin was thinking in battery life, maps is a better choice than an Amoled screen.

trux. It's not me. We bought the previous model knowing the missing things and a major upgrade was highly expected for the I3 (not a very minor change). Screen resolution and the many missing things considering this is an outdoor watch. Just that.

That was the logical step in my opinion and is in fact noted also by the very first reviews.

I understand, but nobody is asking you to buy Instinct 3. If Instinct 2 works sufficiently well for you, then keep it and be happy you saved money for an unnecessary upgrade. If you want to upgrade to a watch with maps, buy a watch with maps.