Review: Garmin Instinct 2X Solar Tactical edition

Like a multi-purpose Swiss knife, Garmin's Instinct 2X Solar Tactical edition is loaded with features.

Garmin watches are not only uniquely designed but also built to last long. These very aspects attract fitness enthusiasts and outdoor junkies.

The company recently launched a new line Instinct 2X Solar series. I have received the top-end Instinct 2X Solar - Tactical Edition model and here are my thoughts.

Design, display and build quality

Garmin Instinct 2X Solar Tactical Edition is a beautifully designed rugged watch. Like a multi-purpose Swiss knife, it is loaded with features.

It has five physical buttons-- three-- Menu, control, ABC (altimeter, barometer and compass) shortcuts on the left and two-- GPS and Set- keys on the right. Add to that, the Tactical edition boasts a multi-LED flashlight that offers both white and dedicated green illumination options.

The green light is particularly beneficial as it helps users maintain their natural night vision during night operations.

There is an LED torch at the top. You just have to press the CTRL (control) button twice (like double-clicking the mouse) to turn on and off. It comes in handy during trek camping at night.

Garmin's Instinct 2X Solar Tactical Edition

The display is encased in a rugged 50 mm polymer enclosure. Also, the watch is water-rated and can survive up to 100 meters in depth. And, it is tested to U.S. military 810 standards for thermal, shock, and water resistance, ensuring the watch can function in extreme weather conditions.

The default display watch face shows the sunrise and sunset details of the day, battery life, time, and lux lighting (more than that in performance) along with day, date, and time as per IST. There is also a special circular modular panel on the display that shows Zulu time (Universal Coordinated Time) which will surely appeal to military and aviation enthusiasts.

The company has incorporated Solar charging Power Glass lenses on the display too. Whenever you are outdoors, the watch can get charged and ensure the watch deliver long battery life.

Garmin's Instinct 2X Solar Tactical Edition

User Interface and Performance

Setting up the Garmin Instinct Solar Tactical edition takes a few minutes. The user has to install the Garmin Connect app on the phone and turn on the watch. And, just follow the on-screen instructions. I took less than 10 minutes to login into the previously registered account and pair it with the new model.

Garmin Instinct 2X Solar Tactical edition can be paired with phones via Garmin Connect app

Once done, you don't have to check on the watch to see any health metrics. As noted earlier, fitness data on the display don't look appealing like other watches with a full-view screen.

You just go to the Garmin Connect app on the phone. It is really good at showing data in simple and colourful graphs for easy understanding. You can view all the health metrics from sleep score to HRV (Heart Rate Variation) and even stress level too.

Garmin Instinct 2X Solar Tactical edition can help users track their Heart Health via Garmin Connect app

The watch comes with built-in sports apps to track running, biking, swimming, strength training, VO2 (oxygen uptake ) max, and other training features.

Garmin Instinct 2X Solar Tactical edition can help users track their body health via Garmin Connect app

Also, it promises 24/7 health and wellness tracking, including wrist-based heart rate, advanced sleep monitoring, respiration tracking, Pulse Ox, and more.

I love the body battery feature. Garmin's Firstbeat Analytics tech uses a combination of heart rate variability, stress, and activities, to show how much energy I have to go through the day or hours.

Garmin Instinct 2X Solar Tactical edition can help users track their sleep pattern and respiration rate via Garmin Connect app

Besides the usual physical activities such as running, cycling, swimming, strength training, indoor climbing, skiing, snowboarding, golf, yoga, Pilates, and more, it can track several HIIT workouts such as AMRAP, EMOM, Tabata, and users can set up custom option too.

Users can even track their performance during obstacle course events — with split times recorded between running and obstacle sections during the race.

Also, while swimming too, it is capable of understanding different strokes too.

Garmin Instinct 2X Solar Tactical Edition

There are dedicated features for adventure junkies. Those include the multi-band frequency support for GPS via satellite. Users have to just press the GPS button and this way users can get accurate location details.

With the new Multi-Band GNSS Support, Garmin's watch can offer improved positional accuracy. Users can navigate the outdoors with built-in sensors for a 3-axis compass and barometric altimeter.

Amateur trekkers who want to check out an unexplored area, can make good use of TracBack routing, Track Me, and Reference Point features that ensure they return back to the starting point without any issue of roaming in the loop and less chance of straying into the wilderness.

Garmin watch owners in cities can also use this Reference Point feature to mark their parked cars and return back without any hassles.

Garmin Instinct 2X Solar Tactical Edition

As far as battery life is concerned, it is a marathon runner. I only charged once soon after setting up the device, and I used it for more than three weeks and yet (at the time of writing this review), it still got enough juice to run for three more days.

Under normal usage, it can easily last more than a month. It also comes Solar charging Power Glass lens, which is said to be 50 per cent more efficient than the previous edition. You have to be outdoors most of the day, to make full use of this feature. Since I was indoors most of the time, I didn't any noticeable increase in battery life.

For the uninitiated, the new Garmin watch needs 50,000 lux lighting for three hours a day to run without losing the battery life.

But, I have to note that the last three weeks have been anxiety-free life for me, as I never had to worry of watch dying at any point in time. This is a very big advantage of owning a premium Garmin watch.

Garmin Instinct 2X Solar Tactical Edition

Final thoughts

Garmin's Instinct 2X Solar Tactical edition is the perfect companion for athletes who are just focused on improving on body fitness and outdoor junkies, who just want to enjoy the adventurous tracks and return safely home.

The monochrome display-like design ensures the user is not distracted during their workouts. He/she gets to view the required metrics and time and even if there are messages, the preview can help them either ignore them or call back only if it is urgent. This is very different compared to the colourful display on smartwatches, they support thousands of fancy watch faces that can be matched to the user's outfit and this actually gets you hooked to digital devices.

But, it is not the case with Instinct 2X Solar Tactical edition and most of the other Garmin watches. They mean business and that is users can fully focus on fitness and help navigate rugged tracks with accuracy.

Most regular users are just happy with smartwatches with full-view colour display, Bluetooth voice calling, and health tracking features. They don't necessarily get overly excited with ABC sensors to see the compass or height of the land I am standing on, night vision mode, Tracback routing using satellite-guided GPS, kill switch, and other military-related aspects on the watch.

But, those very aforementioned features are loved by adventure seekers, who love to explore new trekking places every weekend or month-ends. Garmin Instinct 2X Solar Tactical edition is one perfect companion for them.

Depending on the variant, the Garmin Instinct 2X Solar series' price ranges from Rs 33,490 to Rs 55,990.

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