Fitness enthusiasts can be hard on their trackers, but the MIL-Spec certified Garmin Instinct the new GPS enabled watch they’ve announced today should be able to hold up to the most severe punishment and it can be yours for $399.
The new watch has all the features you could ask for with GPS tracking (including support for GLONASS and Galileo as well) and a multitude of sensors such as 3-axis compass and barometric altimeter built-in.
The watch is durable and is built to military standards (MIL-STD-810G) with thermal, shock and water resistance (rated to 100 meters) inside a fiber reinforced polymer case and comes with a chemically-strengthed and scratch-resistant display that they say is easy to read in direct sunlight.
Adam Howarth, General Manager Garmin Australasia said of the Instinct
We are thrilled to add Instinct to our adventure watch lineup, an approachable smartwatch that is rugged and reliable. Instinct is perfect for a younger urban market, those who spend their time outdoors; from dirt trails to skate-parks to point breaks, and demand a device built tough to stand up in these environments, and more.
With smartwatches, battery life is paramount and the Instinct features impressive battery life with up to 14 days in smartwatch mode. For the extreme fitness fanatics up to 16 hours in GPS mode or up to 40 hours in UltraTrac battery saver mode.
The Garmin Instict can of course be paired with your smartphone to receive notifications including texts, emails and other alerts all delivered right on the wrist. There’s fitness software built-in with features like TracBack which can navigate the same route back to the original starting point – basically you won’t ever be lost. You also get access to the Garmin Connect online fitness community where you can track workouts, sleep patterns such as how much time spent in light, deep and REM cycles, and even compete in virtual fitness challenges.
It is available in Graphite, Tundra and Flame Red for a recommended retail price of $399.
I wonder how it compares to the Fenix 5 series of watches, the pricing is really quite good, is the screen lower quality or is it missing features at nearly $500 cheaper?