Switching topics entirely, we’ve got some general bits, including smartphone notifications. The Instinct 2 series will show incoming notifications from your phone. Given there’s no cellular onboard the Instinct series, you’ll need to have your phone handy and within Bluetooth range. But, it’ll show the notification and you can dismiss it, or open it. Some basic emoji will show as well: With that, I think I’ve covered everything there is to cover here on navigation and routing, so, let’s dive into whether or not any of that is actually accurate in the real world. GPS & Altimeter Accuracy: Further, there’s no support for any sort of smart-wake features, such as timed to a given sleep phase. Though, given how unreliable and inaccurate most sleep phase detection is on most wearables (and even supposed gold standard devices), this probably isn’t such a bad thing. You can still set regular alarms though. They increased the efficiency of the panels themselves (just like we saw with the Fenix 7 Solar units) Garmin says the easiest way to think about it is that if you get 3-hours in 50K lux conditions, it’ll get you 1 hour of GPS time or 1 day of smartwatch/standby time. For context, 50K is semi-sunny weather, but not crazy summer sun at the beach time sun. You can find 50K sun in the winter without issue. Meanwhile, I can easily find 100K+ sun in the summer at the beach. What’s cool here is that if you over-achieve on finding sun, Garmin will leverage that. Meaning you’ll get more power faster.

Garmin Instinct® 2S Solar | Smaller-Sized Rugged GPS Smartwatch

The original Garmin Instinct was a brilliant sports watch, but its chunky, utilitarian design meant it wasn’t one we were inclined to wear it as a regular timepiece. The Garmin Instinct 2’s slimmer profile, optional 40mm case and new colorways mean it’s fun rather than purely functional, so you’re more likely to wear it as an everyday smartwatch. The I wasn’t about to test out the most exciting new development in the 2S Series because I’ve been using the 40mm 2S Solar, but the theoretical “unlimited” battery life of the 45mm Instinct 2 Solar watch is intriguing. Given how rarely I have to charge my first-gen Instinct Solar (about every two weeks in the winter), I could see a Florida fishing guide or an Arizona bird hunter go months without needing to charge their 2S Solar. Final Thoughts Note that Instinct 2 Series supports basically every coordinate type known to mankind, in fact, you can find the massive list here. And once your coordinates are entered, then you’ll simply follow the arrow till you get there (or, die trying).In any event, once you’re ready to start a workout or race, go ahead and tap the upper right button, which brings you to the sport list:

Garmin Instinct® 2S | Smaller-Sized Rugged GPS Smartwatch Garmin Instinct® 2S | Smaller-Sized Rugged GPS Smartwatch

I’d inversely counter for this particular workout that I’d be less stressed and more “productive” if the Instinct 2 hadn’t lost half my ride’s power data, but hey, I’m not salty about that or anything. There’s no microphone, so you can’t take calls or use your phone’s voice assistant from your wrist as you can with the Garmin Venu 2 Plus, but if you own an Android phone then you can automatically reject calls with a text message. Like many of the watch’s more advanced features, that’s easy to set up and customize in the Garmin Connect app. A monochrome face might seem an odd choice when more and more smartwatches are arriving with bright color displays, but it makes a lot of sense for the Instinct 2. It uses far less power than an AMOLED display (like that of the Garmin Epix and Venu 2), and it offers more contrast than a color MIP screen (which was one of our few complaints about the Garmin Fenix 7). This is also a good time to add any navigation/routes that you want. You can add previously designed courses, re-do an existing activity/workout’s route, go to a Saved Location, Sight ‘N’ Go, or input specific coordinates. One thing to keep in mind is there’s no Mapping on the Instinct series. Instead, it’s just a breadcrumb trail. But I’ll cover all that in the next section.

Garmin Instinct 2S Solar: Verdict

The solar models are a little more expensive, but the photovoltaic material doesn’t have any effect on the look of the display, so it’s well worth considering the extra investment to avoid frequent charging.