The compass screen shows the bearing when you open it and the bearing is clearly visible in large numbers in the right hand corner; the direction is also shown with N, S, E, W and everything in between. By pressing the GPS button a menu opens. In this menu I can calibrate the compass, change what the display shows – degrees or milliradians -, I can change the North Reference from True, Magnetic, Grid or to my own preference. This is good because now I can change to wherever I am on this planet and be accurate. Did you know that the magnetic North is not everywhere the same way and that it changes from year to year? That is why you should know how a compass works when you are going out. The compass on the Garmin Instinct Solar does what it needs to do. By default – Auto position on screen – the Instinct monitors changes in pressure and uses an algorithm to decide if this change is a result of changing location – up or down the mountain – or the result of changing weather. The Instinct – Tactical Edition GPS watch monitors your heart rate, activity and stress throughout the day, so you know how much you do — and how hard you’re working to do it. When you’re ready to train, we’ve got you covered with preloaded activity profiles for running, biking, swimming and more. It also has mission-specific training options, including Jumpmaster and a preloaded tactical activity.

In the first place I noticed that the ideal circumstances for the Garmin to use the solar panel are pretty rare in my outdoor life. The watch is most of the time on my wrist and it is moving everywhere. Seldom it is facing the sun in a way that the sunlight hits the solar panel to start charging efficiently. The solar models are a little more expensive, but the photovoltaic material doesn’t have any effect on the look of the display, so it’s well worth considering the extra investment to avoid frequent charging. By the way: In practice in the Alpes last summer the Altimeter has proven to be fast adapting to the changing altitude and very accurate! When calibrated regularly, the Garmin Instinct Solar altimeter is accurate. Smartphone connectionDoing the same on a day with overcast results in almost the same measurements as on a sunny day and keeping the Instinct in the shade. Bottom Left: ABC/scroll (ABC) button. Press to scroll DOWN through the widget loop and menus. Press and hold to view Altimeter, Barometer and Compass.

Although the Garmin Instinct Solar Tactical with its green color might look like an 100% military outdoor watch, this is not the case. The whole Instinct family has a sports and training heart. It’s just a matter of pushing the right buttons. Pressing the GPS button brings me into the screen where I choose the activity that I prefer. In my case it is mostly running and biking but there are many to choose from. Pressing the GPS button again starts the activity. Like most sports watches the Garmin Instinct Solar Tactical logs everything from distance to time to laps and of course heart rate. Pressing the GPS button brings me into the screen where I choose the activity that I prefer. Heart rate Watches in the Instinct and Instinct 2 series are designed with outdoor sports in mind, but they also have a decent set of smartwatch features for everyday use. Tactical-specific features include stealth mode, Jumpmaster, waypoint projection, dual-position GPS formatting and preloaded tactical activity This low weight has to do with the materials the Garmin is made of: 100% fiber enhanced polymers. Or in non-polite consumer language, plastic. This ‘plastic’ is not only light but also very strong and it feels nice – warm – to the skin. The 22 mm wide wristband is made of silicon with a fixture from metal. The glass of the watch face is made from Power Glass which is in fact Corning Gorilla Glass. Charging the Garmin Instinct Solar Tactical Part 1 A monochrome face might seem an odd choice when more and more smartwatches are arriving with bright color displays, but it makes a lot of sense for the Instinct 2. It uses far less power than an AMOLED display (like that of the Garmin Epix and Venu 2), and it offers more contrast than a color MIP screen (which was one of our few complaints about the Garmin Fenix 7).I don’t have an opinion on the above except for the fact that I think Garmin takes the Instinct Solar Tactical serious. I am just not sure if ‘built to’ is something I would shout of the rooftops and maybe it should say ‘meets MIL-STD-810G standards’ or is ‘MIL-STD-810G certified’. Verdict

There’s no microphone, so you can’t take calls or use your phone’s voice assistant from your wrist as you can with the Garmin Venu 2 Plus, but if you own an Android phone then you can automatically reject calls with a text message. Like many of the watch’s more advanced features, that’s easy to set up and customize in the Garmin Connect app. The original Garmin Instinct has a resolution of 128 x 128 pixels. The 45mm Instinct 2 has a resolution of 176 x 176mm, and the 40mm Instinct 2S has a resolution of 156 x 156 pixels. Battery lifeSome functions that are specific to the Instinct Tactical are a dual position display that uses both MGRS and degrees/minutes/seconds, and stealth mode, which stops the device from sharing and storing your GPS location and disables all wireless connectivity. Further, the watch comes with a night vision mode that allows the face to be viewed under night vision devices, as well as jumpmaster and waypoint projection apps. Let me start with a bold remark: I have never been a great fan of Garmin outdoor watches. And… Garmin is not to blame; I am a small guy with small wrists and the Garmins that I tried in the past were just too big for me. I liked their function, for sure. With the Garmin Instinct series the US-based brand totally changed the ballgame for me. About half a year ago I gave Garmin a call and asked if I could do a review on one of the Garmin Instinct models. First they sent me the Garmin Instinct Tactical. Because of the release of the Garmin Instinct Solar Tactical I decided to go for that solar powered model. Garmin was so friendly to exchange the watches and I continued testing. The Garmin Instinct Solar is light and not too big so it fits smaller wrist super. Size and weight

Accuracy-wise, step counts were a few hundred steps out from a Fitbit Sense. When you get into bed with it, you’re getting a breakdown of sleep stages though like a lot of Garmin watches, accuracy generally was a little off on recognizing sleep duration periods. Battery life: up to 14 days in smartwatch mode, up to 16 hours in GPS mode, up to 40 hours in UltraTrac™ battery saver mode The second one is that the Instinct is able to display the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) grid system and the Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) at the same time. The third one is the Stealth mode that switches the storage and sharing of gps data off and turns the watches function to offline so no data is being transmitted. For me not being in military circumstances ever the tactical functies are not that useful but I can imagine that for people who are in tactical situations this can be key. Stealth mode turns the watches function to offline so no data is being transmitted. Charging the Garmin Instinct Solar Tactical Part 2 One of the first things you notice about a watch is how it feels on your wrist. The Instinct’s new silicone band has just enough stretch to aid in both comfort and keeping the watch in place while performing strenuous activities like running, hiking, swimming, or weightlifting. Weighing in at 52 grams, it’s significantly lighter than the 82-gram Fenix 3 it replaced. The activity buttons are also flatter and more ergonomically placed on the Instinct series watches; the round, protruding buttons on the Fenix 3 would often inadvertently depress, starting an activity at inopportune times. If you don’t have time to browse through historic stats, that’s not an issue – the app will provide you with occasional ‘insights’ based on your lifestyle and workouts. For example, if you tend to take fewer steps on a Thursday, the app will nudge you to get outside and take a stroll before the day is out.

One sensor that doesn’t make the cut is the pulse ox sensor that’s started to appear on Garmin’s watches and is actually available on the new Instinct Solar model. While it’s definitely a feature that hogs the battery, it’s one that would be useful to have at your disposal when you’re training or exploring at altitude.