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Garmin Instinct Solar Tactical: the fair-weather adventure watch

29.10.2020

Translation: machine translated

Garmin promises extra power thanks to solar energy with the Instinct Solar Tactical models. How long does the battery of the fair-weather adventure watch last? For my taste, it could be a little longer.

"Do it like the sundial" ... you know the rest. The more cheerful, sunny hours you spend outdoors in nature, the longer the battery of the Instinct Solar Tactical from Garmin should last. In smartwatch mode, it delivers up to 54 days of juice, and even more in battery saver mode. I ran out after around three weeks. That's okay. However, there are products from the competition that boast almost twice as long a battery life. And that's without solar glass.

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The battery has to deliver

Battery life is currently the number one selling point for a GPS multisport watch. Apart from that, these watches all do more or less the same thing. More or less accurately. They measure your pulse, count your steps and also determine the oxygen saturation of your blood. Or, like the Instinct Solar Tactical, they are equipped with additional army functions:

Mode for night vision goggles: Here you can reduce the illumination of the smartwatch so that you can also use night vision goggles.
Cloaking mode: In cloaking mode, you hide your GPS data and deactivate wireless connectivity to remain undetected.
Dual position format: The Instinct Tactical shows you the coordinates in two different formats. You can see both the UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) and the MGRS system (Military Grid Reference System).
Waypoint projection: This allows you to determine new coordinates based on your current position and by specifying a distance.
Jumpmaster mode: This function is used to calculate HARP (High Altitude Release Points) in accordance with military guidelines and helps you to navigate to your destination after the parachute jump.

Smartwatches

Garmin Instinct Solar Tactical

45 mm

Compatible devices

The Instinct Solar Tactical is compatible with various other products from Garmin. There are also various accessories, such as the HRM Dual chest strap.

Heart rate belts

EUR58,98

Garmin HRM-Dual

More specs

Material of the watch glass	Power Glass
Bezel material	Fibre-reinforced polymer
Housing material	Fibre-reinforced polymer
Quickfit watch straps	Yes (22 mm)
Bracelet material	Silicone
Physical size	45 x 45 x 15.3 mm For a wrist circumference of 132 to 224 mm
Display size, W X H	Customised, two-part design; 23 x 23 mm (0.9 x 0.9 inch)
Display resolution, W X H	128 x 128 pixels
Display type	Monochrome, transflective MIP display (Memory in Pixel) that is easy to read in sunlight
Weight	53 g
Battery life	Smartwatch: Up to 24 days/54 days with solar charging* Energy-saving watch mode: Up to 56 days/unlimited with solar charging* GPS: Up to 30 hours/38 hours on solar charge Maximum GPS battery mode: Up to 70 hours/145 hours on solar charge GPS expedition activity: Up to 28 days/68 days on solar charge* * With solar charging; assumes all-day wear time with 3 hours outdoors at 50,000 lux. ** With solar charging; use at 50,000 lux is assumed.
Watertightness	10 ATM
Memory/log	16 MB

Garmin Connect and Explore

Use the Connect app to analyse all the data you have collected with the Instinct Solar Tactical. Practically all standard and trend sports and outdoor activities are pre-installed on the watch. This autumn, I did strength training with it, was on the treadmill, sat on the bike ergometer, went on a few trails, hiked in the Engadine and went for a leisurely walk with the dog at home.

It's not skydiving but it's still nice: Here it goes from Pontresina up towards Muottas Muragl.

The Explore app is specifically for outdoor activities. These can be recorded with the app even without a network, such as the descent from Muottas Muragl to Samedan.

About 700 metres in altitude in between.

My impression

The Instinct Solcar Tactical from Garmin also works in bad weather, of course. More sunshine simply means a longer battery life. How much longer this is depends on many factors. Look again in the specifications under "Battery life". After two weeks of using the smartwatch and then in energy-saving mode for ten days, I ran out of battery. That's good, but not outstanding.

On the other hand, the display is very easy to read even in direct sunlight. This is often not the case with competitor products. A Garmin Instinct with solar glass costs around 400 francs. This puts it somewhere in the middle of the price range between the Vivoactive 3 and the Fenix 6 Pro. Overall, it is a good adventure watch with a few additional functions that may be of interest to members of the army or hunters. For me as a health athlete, the camouflage mode or the mode for night vision goggles are not so exciting.

Here you can find all Instinct Solar models from Garmin in our range.

16 people like this article

Patrick Bardelli

Senior Editor

Patrick.Bardelli@digitecgalaxus.ch

From radio journalist to product tester and storyteller, jogger to gravel bike novice and fitness enthusiast with barbells and dumbbells. I'm excited to see where the journey'll take me next.

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