AMOLED SHARPNESS or SOLAR POWER? Garmin Instinct 3 HANDS-ON at CES 2025!

[@BirdJumble]

The black and white display, solar charging and nearly unlimited battery life if what made the Instinct cool. If I wanted AMOLED I would just get an Apple watch. Solar Instinct 3 is my choice easily.

[@RealMTBAddict]

Agreed. Not a fan of squinting to see maps on a watch. I'm getting too old for that at 42! 😂

[@shogun9x1]

The whole idea of instinct series is to have mip display and unlimited battery at affordable price. Amoled version make no sense. Enduro 3 is so much better for that

[@robhunt8378]

Agree but as long as it's an additional choice it's all good. It's not good that they destroyed the 40mm model with this ridiculous Instinct E crap.

[@noisetin]

Then go for Solar version - simple as that. More options is only better.

[@pieterrossouw7507]

Agreed

[@wildcoastkayaks75]

in SA the enduro is twice the price than the new instinct 3 amoled and as a first garmin it suits my needs perfectly and my budget. Each to their own for sure.

[@RealMTBAddict]

Enduro 3 is $899 and 51mm. Some people don't want the big watch face or maps at all. Maps are for phones.

[@NeoVdV]

I WAS a Garmin user for many years and had several watches, F 3, F 3hr, vivoactive 3 and 4, F5, F 6pro, F 7x. I now decided I'm done with Garmin !! The became way to expensive for what it is ! And there are now other brand and models that are offering about the same for less money. And then this new watch ,,,,, the biggest disappointment of all so far. Where is the innovation ? AN AMOLED without touch, no maps and a 3y old sensor for a ridiculous high price. Sorry but Bye Bye Garmin.

[@thundergato84]

That's why I'm going with a Coros Pace Pro watch. Goodbye Garmin.

[@sethriddle7615]

What watch would you say is a better priced comparable alternative?

[@duratiowork2162]

yeah which one is better priced?

[@gelob]

@@thundergato84 coros looks like a platic toy and it ain't cheap much more...

[@RealMTBAddict]

The new Instinct is $50 less expensive dude. Lol

[@leocmen]

Amoled in Instinct, IMHO seems to be pointless I would prefer a very resistant glass, shock resistance, no fancy colors, and long battery

[@RealMTBAddict]

I work in concrete, and my Instinct 2 Solar doesn't have any marks on the screen after 2.5 years of use, 40 hours a week working. Jackhammering, pushing wheelbarrows, using hammer drills, mucking concrete. No scratches.

[@BrianHartman]

I can live without the touch screen if the button navigation is intuitive. A lot of smartwatches nowadays are discouraging you from touching the display by having buttons and spinning crowns and whatnot. I think the cost of these units is way out of my price range, but depending on the brightness of the screen, I'd go with the solar one. It would be nice to not have to charge the watch, unless it weren't legible in bright sunlight. :)

[@HeDoesNotRow]

I have touch disabled on my Fenix 7X since I bought it. It's only mandatory on the maps screen, which Instinct doesn't really have. Garmin's button navigation makes a lot of sense. Instinct 3, however, does not. Seems like a lateral move compared to 2X.

[@forest9997]

I actually really dislike having a touch screen watch because of how water interacts with the screen. If I have to navigate the watch while in the water buttons are the only way to go

[@jarethpalmer8672]

I have a touch screen Fenix and almost only use the buttons (which are the same as the instinct). They're really nice and intuitive. Man had the AMOLED instinct been around last year I probably would have gotten it.

[@GIBSONGASPER123]

For smartwatches, power consumption is very high than normal digital watches. As such,battery power is more important than colour display or touchscreen.

[@MartinVisser]

I'm not sure why you would say the AMOLED display is better than the MIP "blank & white" display in bright sunlight. The whole point of MIP is that it users the ambient light to be reflective. My experience with the the OG Instinct with the MIP display is the brighter the sun or ambient light, the easier the display is to read. AMOLED displays readability is determined by how bright the OLED can light u the display compared to the ambient light

[@mwboost]

I'm guessing a . 5 version will come of some kind with upgraded sensors instead of the old sensor.

[@HeDoesNotRow]

yup, expecting a 3X in the future

[@jnrfalcon]

Does the MIPS versions support East Asian languages? Also, if you ever used MIPS before, you'd know MIPS performs much better in bright sunlight as it uses reflected sunlight as backlight, as opposed to light from pixels in OLED. It is in darkness they struggle a little. But the watches built-in backlight is sufficient enough

[@forest9997]

I would prefer not having a screen that's bright on my watch for night hikes and being in low light scenarios it's annoying to have a shining light on my wrist

[@RealMTBAddict]

It's wild how nobody is saying anything about the 5x more efficient solar panel making some gps modes unlimited! Also the price is $50 less than the Instinct 2 Solar was!

[@greg15911]

@@RealMTBAddict 5x efficiency is wild! I was hoping to get unlimited battery with my 2x but I'm just not outside enough. This $450 should fix the problem lol

[@RealMTBAddict]

@greg15911 The 45mm version is $399. Also the Instinct 3 solar has a 5mm larger screen while keeping the same 45mm case size. 50mm is more efficient but $50 more.

[@ZsoltVajda]

Ben 10 called he want his watch back.

[@killertofu]

What are you talking about ? If thats the case all g shocks are Ben 10s, stop it.

[@ZsoltVajda]

@@killertofu No G-Shock look like hubcaps

[@artemi_sg]

As a second watch on top of Apple Watch, I am definitely going for the solar!

[@BroAnarchy]

24 days? With an AMOLED display?? Sign me up!!

[@robhunt8378]

Gesture mode ofc. Amoled is very efficient when it's off :D

[@hardknuckle8143]

Yes - these are great watches - BUT where is the touch screen? where is the microphone? where is the speaker? My old 2018 Samsung Galaxy smartwatch has these functions - can make and receive calls when the watch is in Blue tooth range of the phone. As I said - great watches - but missing some key features.

[@andrewchong79]

Gen 4 heart rate sensor. I'll pass.

[@RealMTBAddict]

Ok

[@Liverblow1]

Still no google pay support?

[@omenasseptimas7640]

Garmin pay is the same thing, with different name on it

[@Liverblow1]

@omenasseptimas7640 Garmin pays bank support is woefully poor

[@cassiofonte8172]

Overpriced. Garmin is becoming hard to justify.

[@thundergato84]

I'm going for a Coros Pace Pro watch. Garmin is becoming like Apple.

[@Stevenwalks]

Very true.

[@Stevenwalks]

@@thundergato84I have one, good battery and screen.

[@cresbonz5554]

Really depends what features you value and how much you're willing to pay for it. For example, you would be hard pressed to find a similar sized watch with a torch, ability to tap and pay, and solar charging, for a similar price.

[@cassiofonte8172]

@@cresbonz5554 I could agree with you if the Garmin Instinct had an user replaceable battery. However for a disposable product I think it's overpriced. They rely on their software (which is very good) to keep pushing overpriced, last year tech hardware. They are not even bothering to include the latest tech in their latest releases anymore just to make up for higher profit margins. Their value/price proposition for a disposable product keeps going down steadily. Look at Amazfit prices and hardware.... It blows Garmin completely. Garmin wins in software but consumers are becoming aware about their reliance on it. I really hope Garmin delivers better prices for the hardware they offer and just don't rely on the software to make people buy their watches.

[@cedryk5376]

No maps no gen 5 sensor

[@AnoNym-zi5ty]

No buy

[@RealMTBAddict]

Don't need maps, we have phones!

[@cedryk5376]

@ garmin instinct was Never about phones my man! Was about firefighters, police officers, active duty, and so on. Not about woke and rainbow kids. I used foretrex and instinct 1 crumbs to go from FOB to FOB in mountains in countries you will never dream about. So, i stand my call: no phones needed, just better instinct

[@RealMTBAddict]

@@cedryk5376 We can download maps on phones, it's ok.

[@AnoNym-zi5ty]

@@cedryk5376 woke kids live in your head rent free lol

[@JB50713]

Nice but wow, no touch screen!? Come on it's 2025.

[@JB50713]

@Jay151 Oh nice. I have the Instinct solar 2 and wish it was touch screen. Maybe I wouldn't like it? Just seems like it would be easier.

[@DoglinsShadow]

No offense I really don’t get why people want touch screens with the instinct series. This is supposed to be a rugged adventure watch. The last thing I want is random things being touched via a touch screen and one extra thing that can be broken. If you want a touch screen, research some of the other Garmins- they have tons of touch screen watches…

[@JB50713]

@DoglinsShadow Maybe you're right and that's why they haven't done it for this series. 🤷🏼 Honestly I didn't know they had other watches that are touch screen.

[@NeoVdV]

For me, as a long time Garmin watch user for over 8y with owning the F3, F3hr, Vivoactive 3 and 4, F5, F6pro and F7x, ... I say Goodbye to Garmin. They became waaaaaaay to expensive ! And now there are other brands and models that give about the same for much less money !!! Instinct 3 WTF Amoled without touch, no maps a d a 3y old sensor for a very high price. Bye-bye Garmin.

[@foetor]

You wrote that already…

[@killertofu]

Damn the design of the 3 is miles better than the 2 solar. 2 solar now looks like a temu watch ever

[@AnoNym-zi5ty]

Old gen sensor in a 2025 watch. Lol

[@michaellanger5671]

No maps? Overpriced…

[@RealMTBAddict]

$50 less expensive than the Instinct 2 Solar 😂

[@omaniac]

Супер, спасибо за обзор!

[@JB-hq9yj]

Whoever decided amoled for a watch used significantly but the military was a good idea needs to get kicked to the curb. Whoever though the HR sensor from 4 years ago is a good idea also needs to go. Finally - whoever thought it’d be cute to put a huge red/orange ring around the watch instead of black like nearly everyone wants - you are literally the worst. Hard pass.

[@greg15911]

My guess is they will release a tactical or 'pro' version soon that is all black.

[@greg15911]

And by 'soon' I mean 6 months...

[@RealMTBAddict]

Optical HR sensors aren't known to be the most accurate, that's a well known fact. I'm sure you can paint the red ring if you really want to. 😮