TechSmartwatchesShould you buy the Garmin Instinct on Black Friday?We argue the pros and cons of buying a four-year-old rugged smartwatch from GarminWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TechSmartwatchesShould you buy the Garmin Instinct on Black Friday?We argue the pros and cons of buying a four-year-old rugged smartwatch from GarminWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
We argue the pros and cons of buying a four-year-old rugged smartwatch from Garmin
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Garmin)
(Image credit: Garmin)
The first-generation Garmin Instinct was released in 2018, with its Solar-powered counterpart, theGarmin Instinct Solar,hitting shelves two years later in 2020. Both devices are knocking on a bit now, but they’re much cheaper than their new and improved successors, theGarmin Instinct 2 and Instinct 2 Solar. Should you spend a little more money on the more recent models,buy the Garmin Fenix 6, or choose the runners' favouriteGarmin Forerunner 245 on Black Fridayinstead?
How much is the Garmin Instinct on Black Friday?
The Garmin Instinct retails for $300/£230/AU$400 atGarmin US,Garmin UKandGarmin AU, respectively. The Instinct Solar sells for $400/£240/AU$700, also at Garmin, and as you can tell, it’s a superb price for the solar watchin the UK. We’re not sure what the reason is for the disparity in the UK, but if you live there and fancy a new Garmin watch, the original Garmin Solar Instinct is the watch to buy right now.
In the UK,Amazoncurrently sells theGarmin Instinct for a mere £159.80, which is a total bargain. The best price we could find for the Garmin Instinct Solar in theUK is at Wiggle, where it sells for just under £300 - we see no point in getting it from there instead of directly from Garmin, where it’s £60 cheaper.
In the US, Amazon has the best price on the Garmin Instinct:it’s $159.17at the time of writing, which is almost 50% off MSPR. However, we’d recommendheading over to Walmartto buy the Garmin Instinct Solar in Cloudbreak colorway for $200. That’s actually half-price compared to how much it sells for at Garmin!
In Australia, the Garmin Instinct isAU$264.73 at Amazon(surprise, surprise!). Ryda.com has the best price on the solar version, where itsells for AU$398.85in Orchard colourway. For the best prices on this and all other Garmin watches, check out ourbest cheap Garmin dealspage now!
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Today’s best Garmin Instinct and Garmin Instinct Solar dealsGarmin Instinct$249.99$179.99ViewSee all pricesDeal endsMon, Jan 20, 2025Garmin Instinct Solar$29.99ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Garmin Instinct and Garmin Instinct Solar dealsGarmin Instinct$249.99$179.99ViewSee all pricesDeal endsMon, Jan 20, 2025Garmin Instinct Solar$29.99ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Garmin Instinct and Garmin Instinct Solar dealsGarmin Instinct$249.99$179.99ViewSee all pricesDeal endsMon, Jan 20, 2025Garmin Instinct Solar$29.99ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Garmin Instinct and Garmin Instinct Solar deals
Garmin Instinct$249.99$179.99ViewSee all pricesDeal endsMon, Jan 20, 2025Garmin Instinct Solar$29.99ViewSee all prices
Garmin Instinct$249.99$179.99ViewSee all pricesDeal endsMon, Jan 20, 2025
Garmin Instinct$249.99$179.99ViewSee all prices
Garmin Instinct
Garmin Instinct
$249.99$179.99View
$249.99$179.99
$179.99
See all prices
Deal endsMon, Jan 20, 2025
Deal endsMon, Jan 20, 2025
Deal endsMon, Jan 20, 2025
Garmin Instinct Solar$29.99ViewSee all prices
Garmin Instinct Solar$29.99ViewSee all prices
Garmin Instinct Solar
Garmin Instinct Solar
$29.99View
$29.99
$29.99
See all prices
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Which features does the Garmin Instinct have?
The Garmin Instinct is an immensely popular Garmin wearable, mainly due to the watch’s accurate heart rate sensor, solid GPS performance and accessible price point. The watch is especially sought-after for younger people who can’t quite afford theGarmin Fenix 6 Proor theGarmin Endurobut like to have a rugged Garmin wrapped around their wrists.
The original Instinct touts all the fitness tracking activities you’d expect from an advanced smartwatch, such as running, biking, swimming and strength, as well as health and wellness insights, encased in a case built to the U.S. military standard 810 for thermal, shock and water resistance rated to 100 meters.
The main difference between the regular and the solar edition of the first edition Garmin Instinct is that the latter boasts a light-sensitive layer sandwiched between the protective lens and the display, which helps to give the battery a little boost when exposed to sunlight. This means longer battery life, even in GPS mode.
As for the Garmin Instinct 2, it’s slightly slimmer than the original Instinct, making it somewhat more comfortable to wear on the wrist. It added a few additional training features around recovery, training effect, and performance condition, which are common on Garmin’s pricier Fenix range. Battery life is the biggest improvement, though, doubling that of the Instinct from 14 days (or 54 days with solar) to up to 28 days (65 days with solar).
Should you buy a Garmin Instinct on Black Friday?
Looking at the deals mentioned above, the Garmin Instinct and Garmin Instinct Solar are significantly cheaper than the newer Instinct 2 and Instinct 2 Solar. The newer models are certainly more capable than the original Instincts, but they look more or less the same, and the displays are also very similar. Under the hood, though, you get a newer GPS chip and an updated heart rate tracker, providing more accuracy, which might convince some to choose the Instinct 2 over its predecessor.
That said, the Garmin Instinct isn’t a dumb watch, and since Garmin released many software updates over the year, it’s also not outdated. Sure, the hardware can’t be improved via these updates, but the algorithm that evaluates data is constantly tweaked, so although you buy a watch that was launched years ago, you still get a lot of up-to-date features and training advice. Check out more big tech bargains at ourBest Black Friday deals and early salespage.
Today’s best Garmin Instinct, Garmin Instinct Solar, Garmin Instinct 2 and Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Standard Edition dealsGarmin Instinct$249.99$179.99ViewSee all pricesDeal endsMon, Jan 20, 2025Garmin Instinct Solar$29.99ViewSee all pricesGarmin Instinct 2$199.99ViewSee all pricesGarmin Instinct 2 Solar Standard Edition$276.95ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Garmin Instinct, Garmin Instinct Solar, Garmin Instinct 2 and Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Standard Edition dealsGarmin Instinct$249.99$179.99ViewSee all pricesDeal endsMon, Jan 20, 2025Garmin Instinct Solar$29.99ViewSee all pricesGarmin Instinct 2$199.99ViewSee all pricesGarmin Instinct 2 Solar Standard Edition$276.95ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Garmin Instinct, Garmin Instinct Solar, Garmin Instinct 2 and Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Standard Edition dealsGarmin Instinct$249.99$179.99ViewSee all pricesDeal endsMon, Jan 20, 2025Garmin Instinct Solar$29.99ViewSee all pricesGarmin Instinct 2$199.99ViewSee all pricesGarmin Instinct 2 Solar Standard Edition$276.95ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Garmin Instinct, Garmin Instinct Solar, Garmin Instinct 2 and Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Standard Edition deals
Garmin Instinct$249.99$179.99ViewSee all pricesDeal endsMon, Jan 20, 2025Garmin Instinct Solar$29.99ViewSee all pricesGarmin Instinct 2$199.99ViewSee all pricesGarmin Instinct 2 Solar Standard Edition$276.95ViewSee all prices
Garmin Instinct$249.99$179.99ViewSee all pricesDeal endsMon, Jan 20, 2025
Garmin Instinct$249.99$179.99ViewSee all prices
Garmin Instinct
Garmin Instinct
$249.99$179.99View
$249.99$179.99
$179.99
See all prices
Deal endsMon, Jan 20, 2025
Deal endsMon, Jan 20, 2025
Deal endsMon, Jan 20, 2025
Garmin Instinct Solar$29.99ViewSee all prices
Garmin Instinct Solar$29.99ViewSee all prices
Garmin Instinct Solar
Garmin Instinct Solar
$29.99View
$29.99
$29.99
See all prices
Garmin Instinct 2$199.99ViewSee all prices
Garmin Instinct 2$199.99ViewSee all prices
Garmin Instinct 2
Garmin Instinct 2
$199.99View
$199.99
$199.99
See all prices
Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Standard Edition$276.95ViewSee all prices
Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Standard Edition$276.95ViewSee all prices
Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Standard Edition
Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Standard Edition
$276.95View
$276.95
$276.95
See all prices
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
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