Instinct 3 worth?

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

georgex — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 11:56:11 GMT

No, the specifications for the Solar in Garmin website indicate battery life with no solar charging and with solar charging separately, and for the 45mm model these are: All Satellite Systems + Multi-Band: Up to 24 hours/40 hours with solar

Different settings might be responsible for the lower battery on your Instinct Solar or the battery calibration MIGHT be wrong. You have to leave it charging even when it shows 100%, to be sure it is fully charged.

Battery activity runtime indicated by Garmin for my Solar 50mm is EXACTLY as advertised (34h for All Satellite Systems + Multi-Band) according to my measurements during long activities on overcast days or during the night.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

Fabilowski — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 09:43:57 GMT

Over the past two weeks, I have been wearing the 45 mm Solar and AMOLED alternately and have also tracked very similar GPS activities.
In fact, the AMOLED is at 33% and the Solar is at 17%.
My guess (but only Garmin could confirm this, which they won't do): I think the manufacturer's specification for the Solar includes a certain amount of solar charging for maintenance. In my two-week test, there was no solar charging.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

clonetrooper — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 11:28:09 GMT

Totally agree. I3 is a fine watch, I used to have the original I, the 2X and now the Solar. But the current MSRP is not justified. Go on ebay and buy, when you can get a good deal unless you want it now!

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

trux — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 16:47:00 GMT

[quote userid="363449" url="~/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/instinct-3/428990/instinct-3-worth/2002906"] I3solar, more rugged[/quote]

I have nothiing against your preference, but if you want a more rugged Instinct 3, then it would be I3 Crossover AMOLED. Unlike I3 Solar and I3 AMOLED with plain glass, and polymer+aluminium bezel, Crossover has Sapphire Crystal, and a stainless steel bezel. Otherwise, Solar and AMOLED are rugged in exactly the same way.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

4260884 — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 16:26:06 GMT

I Had Instinct (1)
Changed It some months ago to I3solar.

1)
Issues for update the first firmare, probably a bug with the old 5.21 version I had.
There were no way to update to the last version but bug resolved thanks tho this forum, now everything is ok.

2)
Some other little issues but resolved with newest firmware, more deep configuration, nothing serious.

3)
MIP.
For me It is irreplaceable especially in long trails, any annoyng gesture to turn the screen on, fantastic during the day.
Evening, night? Gesture and the light is on.

4)
Battery.
In comparison with my old Instinct (1) battery life has definitely improved, 30 days and 15 activities of approximately 3 hours with no charging.

Amoled would make sense with the available maps but I still wouldn't change it for my I3solar.
So, I prefer my I3solar, more rugged, "wilder", more suited to my needs.

Of course it's my opinion :)

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

trux — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 12:58:20 GMT

[quote userid="119515" url="~/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/instinct-3/428990/instinct-3-worth/2002534"]It is not Amoled vs MIP.[/quote]

Exactly, both displays have their advantages. While the MIP display is definitely better under full summer noon Sun, if you do also evening and night activities, or use it in bad weather, do indoor activities, swimming, snorkeling, diving, then you'll appreciate the AMOLED display more.

However, when I tell I prefer the AMOLED model, it is because it is a quite a different watch overall, with a different hardware, not only the display. TBH, the best is having both of them (just like I do). Not only you can profit from the better hardware of the AMOLED model, and run the navigation and PacePro on it without long loading times, and without risk of crashes and reboots, but if you use it for races or other important activities, you have a backup, in case one of the watches fails for some reason. And you can profit from the advantages of both displays. Also for example, the navigation is much easier with the finer resolution and colors. I do not even bother starting it on the Solar model.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

Instinct N — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 12:51:56 GMT

It’s only worth the money if it’s 50% off.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

dreamer_ — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 12:15:00 GMT

trux you don't understand.

There are several use cases where AOD is NEEDED. It's not your use case, and that's fine. But there are use cases where you can't rely on wrist gestures or Amoled in general. I.E, running in very technical paths or in very sunny places (where MIP is clearly much better).

And AOD in Amoled has a very important risk in burning and a serious problem with battery life (yet). Amoled colors are vibrant and beautiful but there are some limitations with the technology that makes Amoled not the good choice in several use cases. It's not your use case, but you should understand that perhaps can be others.

So at the end, is like reading on a tablet or in an ink paper screen. There are use cases that the second scenary is better and that should be understood, despite many people prefers the tablet.

And, as said. There's also people that has issues with black backgrounds or Amoled brightness and we should understand that also.

It is not Amoled vs MIP. Both technologies are here to coexist, not to force to use people the technology is not valid for their use cases.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

trux — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 11:37:15 GMT

If you read my posts, you can clearly see that I do not care about true AOD. And BTW, you will never get 240 hours with I3 Solar, even if you use it only when the Sun shines. The specs are overoptimistic at Solar models, and underrated at AMOLED.

If you are happy with your Instinct 3 Solar, I have nothing against it, it is not a bad watch. In sunny days I prefer the MIP display too, but overall, the advantages of the AMOLED model (and I do not mean only the display) overweight this small inconvenience greatly. And if someone buys the Solar model just with the hope that it allows for longer battery life, then he can be disappointed.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

dreamer_ — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 11:24:24 GMT

trux do you mean that the Instinct 3 Amoled in TRUE AOD, has better battery life than the Instinct 3 Solar?

Because the Instinct 3 Solar in TRUE AOD does have 240 hours of GPS mode. Can Amoled beat that?

As said, there are several use cases that AOD is very important, like running in very technical paths in ultra trail races, skiing or climbing. I even remember the Marathon Des Sables where the only thing you see is sand and sun (MIP with an efficient solar panel is fantastic in that outdoor scenario).

Amoled can be better for many people but not for all people.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

trux — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 10:46:19 GMT

[quote userid="340986" url="~/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/instinct-3/428990/instinct-3-worth/2002509"]I disagree with "solar charging is useless" as was suggested by others.[/quote]

When I wrote it was useless, I did not mean it did not work at all, but that even with the Solar charging, you get less battery life than with the AMOLED model. I had both models, and wore both of them simultaneously all the time for couple of months. And despite what the specs claim, I had to charge the Solar model more often than AMOLED. So if you really need long battery life, and do not mind that the display is not on all the time (illuminating your sleeve from the inside), then you are still better off with the AMOLED model.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

georgex — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 09:23:58 GMT

I disagree with "solar charging is useless" as was suggested by others. I get 10-12 days with 20-25 hours of activities during winter, and I got up to 18 days with 46 hours of activities during the summer.

But I still have the occasional crash & reboot during long activities (> 6 hours). So you have great battery life with effective solar charging to make it even better, and when you want to use this for ultra running, you get crashes :-(

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

marketuncle — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 03:32:41 GMT

I came from I2X (given it to my son after he spoilt my previous 955 solar) and got the i3 solar. All the i2x bugs (sluggishness etc) are gone in i3 and big surprise is that GPS mode is as good as all satellite, multiband mode to trace my jogs through urban and wooded areas (can google for dcrain review), probably due to the antenna design. What this meant is that the batt burnt rate is less than 2%/hour of gps activity even w/o sunlight.. and from one charge every 2 wks (including quite a few hourly long jogs per week), i can now charge once every 3 weeks with similar number of activities between charges. It is also much lighter than i2x ...so i'm really happy with I3 solar.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

dreamer_ — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 15:06:26 GMT

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.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

trux — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 14:27:26 GMT

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.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

7835749 — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 14:13:27 GMT

Since you mentioned the Nomad, don't you think this would actually be a better choice? It has maps and a larger color MIP. Although you do lose Garmin Pay. That might be a blocker for some.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

dreamer_ — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 13:44:49 GMT

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.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

Fabilowski — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 09:13:40 GMT

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.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

trux — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 08:45:34 GMT

[quote userid="261523" url="~/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/instinct-3/428990/instinct-3-worth/2001834"]What are your settings for a long battery life? How long does your watch last in smartwatch mode?[/quote]

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

[quote userid="710622" url="~/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/instinct-3/428990/instinct-3-worth/2002079"]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.[/quote]

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.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

SportyGirl — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 08:38:08 GMT

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

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

Fabilowski — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 20:26:06 GMT

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.

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

7835749 — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 18:46:01 GMT

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

RE: Instinct 3 worth?

trux — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 15:08:52 GMT

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.