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Solar vs Solar Tactical

rentagreement
over 4 years ago

Hi,

I am trying to find out the main differences between the Instinct Solar and Instinct Tactical Solar.

Besides the military stuff: What is the difference in terms of navigation.

Did Garmin add the save a waypoint feature to the "normal" Solar as well? Earlier the normal Instinct did not offer saving a waypoint.

So, what are more differences between the two?


Thanks

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    There is no difference in the navigation functions between tactical/non-tactical.

    Saving a waypoint has always been a function of any Instinct from day one - solar or non-solar.  

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to Dan.Boilermaker

    thank you! that helps a lot.

    Is the solar function worth the higher price?

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to rentagreement

    I owned the first gen w/o solar, sold it and bought a fenix6.  Kind of missed the Instinct, so purchased a solar in June when they were on sale for~$325 (seemed more palatable than $400).  

    The solar part is cool, but don't really know how much more life I get with the limited amount time I'm actually in the sun.  But, there are other features/hardware you get over the non-solar Instinct.  Newer HR monitor w/ pulse-ox and power management features like the fenix.  

    With that said, to answer your question, probably not.  

    Read DC Rainmaker's review for a better description of the solar version than I've provided:

    https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/07/garmin-instinct-solar-review-whats-new-different.html

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to rentagreement

    I use the Instinct Solar without the heartrate sensor, because with it battery life is just too short - so now I use the watch as an outdoor accessory or ABC watch, mostly. However, without HR or bluetooth connection, the solar actually makes a considerable difference, and on sunny outdoor days, even with the normal watch display with widgets, not even the battery saver watchface, I reached the unlimited battery life sign in two days, and I sometimes had more battery at the end of the day, than at the beginning. That definitely is cool. Also, the GPS chipset on the Solar uses considerably less battery. The price difference between the Solar and non-Solar is not very high anymore.