Instinct 3 worth?

Personally, I have no serious problems with my I3 Solar, but it does not necessarily mean nobody else has. In any case, I sincerely recommend rather the AMOLED models - much more stable, much quicker and faster responding CPU, much bigger memory, less risk of crashes due to overloaded CPU during navigation, some small extra features (i.e. more data fields, graphs, compass heading, photos in notifications, ...), and if configured properly, much better battery time as well. In real life, the Solar charging is practically useless. 

I wouldn't recommend buying new. Your money would be better spent elsewhere. Instinct 2 is a better choice

What are your settings for a long battery life? How long does your watch last in smartwatch mode?
I have an instinct 3 Solar and am considering switching to the AMOLED. As you say, the Solar Edition is basically useless for me except during my summer vacation.

Had the Instinct 2 and 2s here, it was really liked. 

Instinct 3 and 2 have the same heart rate sensor, the v4.

Given that the 2 is quite a bit cheaper, and in our experience performed well, would just go with the 2, depending on your use case.

One of the major improvements of the 2 over the 1, was the inclusion of things like Connect IQ, which allows for apps and data fields for example

2 was a good improvement over 1, on it's own already a really good watch

Personally I don't feel 3 is that much of an improvement, besides things like Amoled, which Amoled arguably kinda defeats the reason for getting an Instinct. New feature updates might last longer, but at the same time the Instinct 2 was already a pretty dialed in watch, with plenty of features that are more than enough.

Also the 2 has been around a while now, so more known about it

Fabilowski said:

What are your settings for a long battery life? How long does your watch last in smartwatch mode?

See the details on the screenshot of my comparative test of I3 Solar (blue) and AMOLED (orange) below:

SportyGirl said:

Given that the 2 is quite a bit cheaper, and in our experience performed well, would just go with the 2, depending on your use case.

Personally I would not go back to Instinct 2, except if the budget is really the main concern. Besides others, and besides new software features, I especially appreciate the bigger memory, and faster CPU. The AMOLED watch is quite another level, though. Much stabler, much more responsive, huge memory, better battery life than Solar.

However, my favorite Instinct 3 is Crossover, despite its smaller battery. Due to the smaller size (45mm, and also thinner than the non-crossover I3 45mm),  when using it 24/7 with 2-3 hours of outdoor GPS activities it holds less than a week. In minimalist configuration, practically just with the mechanical hands showing the time, it holds a month:

I3 AMOLED 50 mm, in similar minimalist configuration holds almost 100 days, though unlike at Crossover, you do not see the time with the display off.

Wow, thank you very much for the detailed evaluation.
I can actually see the relatively large battery jumps on my Instinct 3 Solar, which I found strange.

 trux I completely disagree about the Instinct 3 Amoled suggestion.

And I have just sold my Garmin Fenix 8 Amoled 47mm. 

The Instinct 3 Solar (which I also have had), has some (serious) advantages that are UNIQUE in the market. This watch is very special:

- It has 2 physical MIP panels. The secondary panel is fantastic for navigation notifications. Not only that, the software is very pulished and has small details like the sleep icon or the time seconds disappearing when you are not moving the watch. This is very exclusive, no other watch has this combo and these kind of details.

- The MIP is the BEST MIP of the market. It is incredible readable while outdoor. No wrist gesture. It can be read very fast with the wrist very tilted. It is like reading ink paper thanks to the fantastic black and white contrast. The only downside is that the main screen is a bit small but very readable.

-The Solar panel is very efficient (while not dual band GPS is used)

- The battery life in GPS mode is like 240 hours. 

- Coros is selling (lots) of MIP Nomads

+ There are some scenarios that still need watches like the I3 Solar.

            * People that does a lot of outdoor, ultra trail races sometimes in very technical paths (and you need very long battery life, outdoor visibility and you can't play with gestures (me)), or people that skies or climbs.

            * People that has presbyopia and that cannot read black backgrounds. There's more people than we think with issues with black backgrounds. Not everybody can read Amoled or can even tolerate the brightness of Amoled panels.

So at the end, Amoled is fantastic but MIP it also is for several reasons / use cases. And at the end (in Garmin), we can choose.

Considering that it seems Garmin is renewing the watches every year, personally I think this should be the year of the  Instinct 3 Pro Solar (a bit bigger screen reducing bezel, Elevate 5 sensor and Climb Pro). Then, if possible, at least basic maps since everybody has them in. Nothing more, just the things the Instinct 3 should have had.

I have both Instincts 3 - AMOLED and Solar, and I assure you that AMOLED is much better watch for the reasons I mentioned previously. The battery life is better at AMOLED when used wisely.

And as for the displays, each of them has its advantages, while under the summer noon Sun, the MIP display is definitely better, under normal or worse light conditions, or in dark, AMOLED is better readable, and the resolution of the AMOLED display allows for much finer and sharper details, better readable text, graphs, and navigation.

The software is basically identical on both models, though there are some smaller improvements on the AMOLED watch (some of them were also mentioned in my previous post). And the software is much more stable on the AMOLED model, running smoother, and faster.

The HR sensor on both watches works surprisingly very accurately for me despite using just the older Elevate 4 chip. When comparing to data from HRM chest strap, there are rarely any differences between the two sources. I already posted HR graphs of many of my activities comparing the wrist HR with external HRM, and see really no room for improvements there. I do not know how it was achieved, because I used to have more problems with cadence lock, and delayed signal with Instinct 2, but apparently the fix was done in the software, since the sensor is the same.

Of course, if you prefer the Solar model, I have nothing against it. But I bet that if you used both models simultaneously for a few weeks like I did, you would start to appreciate the AMOLED of Instinct 3 too. And I do not mean the display only.

 7835749 I also had the Nomad and I returned that watch in less that 5 days.

- Despite the Instinct 3 Solar does not have maps, It knows about roundabouts, forks, U-turns and right/left turns (not only turn right and turn left like the Nomad). And It also tells you all these things through the bluetooth headsets.

- When you change the direction of the route and go back, Garmin is super clever and automatically reverses all those notifications. And you can do that many times and always works

- The Nomad has a black field in the bottom of the screen that on MIP with the super tiny fonts is waste of space.

- When there's a turn, the Nomad switches the screen to the map and you can't avoid that. When there are many turns this is very very frustrating.

So YES. Instinct's navigation is FAR superior despite you are not seeing the "photo" of the map.