Garmin Instinct 2 outdoor GPS watch – new features & specs

The Garmin Instinct 2 is a rugged, outdoor GPS watch designed for activities such as hiking, running, and swimming. It features a durable design with a fiber-reinforced polymer case and a chemically-strengthened glass display. The watch is water-resistant up to 100 meters, making it suitable for use in the water.

Some key features of the Garmin Instinct 2 include:

• GPS and GLONASS satellite support: The Instinct 2 can use both the US Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) to provide accurate location tracking and navigation.
• Heart rate monitor: The watch has a built-in heart rate monitor that can track your heart rate continuously, helping you to monitor your fitness level and intensity of your workouts.
• Outdoor sensors: The Instinct 2 has a 3-axis compass, barometric altimeter, and thermometer, which can be useful for outdoor activities such as hiking and climbing.
• Connectivity: The watch has Bluetooth connectivity, allowing you to sync your data with the Garmin Connect app and share your workouts with friends and family. It also has a built-in GPS and GLONASS receiver, which allows you to track your location even when you don’t have a phone with you.

Overall, the Garmin Instinct 2 is a reliable and rugged GPS watch that is well-suited for outdoor activities. It has a variety of features that can be useful for tracking your workouts, monitoring your fitness level, and navigating the outdoors. The watch has a 3-axis compass with automatic calibration. The compass features and appearance change depending on your activity, whether GPS is enabled, and whether you are navigating to a destination.

The Garmin Instinct 2 watch contains an internal altimeter and barometer. The watch collects elevation and pressure data continuously, even in low-power mode. The altimeter displays your approximate elevation based on pressure changes. The barometer displays environmental pressure data based on the fixed elevation where the altimeter was most recently calibrated.

While you are sleeping, the watch automatically detects your sleep and monitors your movement during your normal sleep hours. You can set your normal sleep hours in the user settings on your Garmin Connect account. Sleep statistics include total hours of sleep, sleep stages, sleep movement, and sleep score. You can view your sleep statistics on your Garmin Connect account.

All watch models have excellent battery life, and ones with Garmin’s photovoltaic Power Glass are very difficult to surpass. Even if your way of life prevents you from getting enough sun to keep the watch operating permanently, it will still last for weeks rather than days between charges.

Similar to the original Instinct, the Instinct 2 also comes in specific Surf, Tactical, and Camo variants. The Surf edition includes additional tools including tide information and a special surf tracking mode that logs information like the height of the highest wave surfed and the total distance traveled. Additionally, it has the pre-installed Garmin Surfline software, which displays the conditions at the 5 surf spots closest to you.

According to a statement on Garmin’s website, the new firmware update adds some of the features of the greatest Garmin watches that were released this year to the Instinct 2. The capabilities will initially only be accessible to participants in Garmin’s early-access beta testing program, but they are scheduled to automatically roll out to all Instinct 2 users in late January.
The following is a list of all the features that will be available on the Garmin Instinct 2 and is taken directly from the Garmin website:
Morning report was added.
Sleep Mode was added.
Primary Race and Race Calendar glimpses have been added.
Wrist-Based Running Power Added.
Improvements to the Daily Suggested Workouts.
Grade-Adjusted Pace was added.
Backcountry snowboarding activity was added.
Improved Training Status with Physio TrueUp.
Activity notifications now support Real Time Settings.
Added activity setting for temperature recording.
updated PIN comparison process for phone app pairing.
Fixed a problem where the daily active calorie total can be off.
It was resolved that the Indoor Bike activity could begin on the incorrect data screen.
Updated activity summary page for surfing waves.

The Morning Report is the main draw here and the function that we utilize the most. As soon as you wake up, The Morning Report sends a selection of curated information to your wrist, including data on your previous night’s sleep, the current weather, your Training Readiness score, and a suggested training intensity. Photo: Garmin

Another absolutely awesome feature is race calendar glances, which lets you view the races you’ve entered into Garmin Connect on your wrist and provides a countdown to the next significant event. A great technique to estimate the entire effort and physical strain imposed during a run is to use wrist-based running power.

The Garmin Instinct 2 upgrades the original Instinct’s best features, such as its incredibly durable case and high-contrast dual-screen display, to make the device more enjoyable than functional. The smartwatch is slimmer, more customisable, and comes with cutting-edge fitness training capabilities and personalized workout ideas, in addition to having a smaller 40mm casing option and a variety of jazzier new colors. It doesn’t do a great job at mapping, but that’s a tiny price to pay for its extraordinary battery life. This watch is for you if you’re looking for something that’s both useful and enjoyable to wear.