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Garmin Forerunner 945 vs Garmin Instinct 2

Garmin Forerunner 945

Garmin Forerunner 945

137 reviews

View Product Details

Garmin Instinct 2

Garmin Instinct 2

71 reviews

View Product Details

#1 most mentioned

Reddit · r/garmin

Feature-Rich Sports Watch for Endurance Athletes

Switchback Travel · Best Sports Watches of 2022

#32 most mentioned

Reddit · r/smartwatch

Great features such as music, an oximeter, and improved battery life compared to the 935

Journaling features are fantastic

Can charge it while it's on your wrist

Strap hog with plenty of options for straps

Compatible with other sports and activities

Great GPS accuracy

Rugged and durable design

Excellent battery life

Body Battery metric provides useful information about rest and recovery

Suitable for outdoor activities like hiking, trail running, and fishing

Not living up to its potential in terms of battery life

GPS accuracy is not reliable when running under trees

High price tag

Not as user-friendly as some other smartwatches

Can be overly complicated to set up and use

Workout features can drain battery life faster

Verdict

The Garmin Forerunner 945 is a feature-packed sports watch with a high price tag. It has great features such as music, an oximeter, and improved battery life compared to the 935. However, it does not live up to its potential in terms of battery life and GPS accuracy when running under trees.

Verdict

Overall, the reviews for the Garmin Instinct 2 are positive, with many users praising its ruggedness, GPS accuracy, and fitness tracking features. The watch is particularly well-suited for outdoor activities like hiking, trail running, and fishing. Some users find the watch overly complicated to set up and use, but most agree that it is a significant upgrade from the original Instinct. The battery life is also highly praised, although it does drain faster when using workout features. The Body Battery metric is a standout feature for many users, providing useful information about their rest and recovery. Overall, the Garmin Instinct 2 is recommended for those looking for a durable, feature-packed smartwatch for outdoor activities and fitness tracking.

Reviews by Topic

Our analysis shows how reviewers feel about different topics. Please note these are not full reviews.

Durability

It happened to me and I ended up regretting my purchase big time. Anyone claiming that the FR series is of equal durable to the Fenix series is performing some serious mental gymnastics. Get your hands on both and you'll understand what I mean.

When I think of frugality I think of value. What are some items or services that have great VALUE to you?

2+ years ago I got a Garmin Instinct outdoors watch on sale for about $250. One of the best purchases I've ever made. Very rugged watch that I wear pretty much every day for work and tracking daily activities like hiking, trail running, biking, etc. Great mix of activity tracking and smartwatch features without being annoying

Positive

reddit.com/r/Frugal

Battery Life

Forerunner 935 is better

5 of those were with music) over about 4 days and was down to 14% battery. When new, my 935 would have gotten probably about double that. I don’t know if I got a defective model or something but my commute to and from work via bicycle is about 50 mins each way. Without music, it would drain 8-10% battery

A lot to learn but worth it.

Pretty good watch. Battery life is excellent. It drops a lot faster if you are actually using the workout features, but still pretty good. I wear it almost 24/7 to help track my sleep and heart stuff so the fact that i dont need to charge it everynight like every other smart watch helps

Activity Tracking

I haven’t used a sports watch before, and as well as using it for triathlon-specific training, I’d like to use it for the other sports which I usually partake in (football, tennis, weight training etc), and general day-to-day activities. Looking online, it appears the Garmin Forerunner 945 is my best bet.

Positive

reddit.com/r/triathlon

From a watch enthusiast perspective, needs improvement

Had it worked, I would have kept the Instinct 2. As mentioned, if you want a gps enabled fitness watch, and don’t care about the shortcomings I’ve mentioned, either of these would work, but I think the real value is the Instinct 2. As it stands, both of these watches left me wondering, “Why not just purchase a handheld Garmin GPS with an inherently larger screen for times when I need Garmin gps features? Or why not buy an Apple Watch for the premier smart watch experience and add the Workoutdoors app to it? Ultimately I put All Trails on my phone, and a regular watch on my wrist.

Connectivity

For a $500 watch, I expected better.

to me. I decided to keep the Marq after experiencing both watches for over a month. First, the most annoying thing for me was the Forerunner often lagged a half second after each press of the buttons. It felt like it wasn’t responding so I would often press the buttons multiple times and then it caught up and jumped menus on me

OK, but syncing is terrible

I don't know what their problem is -- why don't they fix it? Are their electronic techs and engineers hired base on political bases like inclusiveness and diversity rather than competency? Probably, just like most companies today. I have no trouble with Bluetooth connectivity for all my other Non-Garmin devices, so it is not the smart phone.

Price

ALMOST as good as it gets... almost...

excellent watch with crummy buttons. If I hadn’t caught it on sale, I think I would’ve regretted the purchase, as I would’ve just gone straight for the 955 (which is current right now). However, if you find this watch for a nice price (like I did), it’s worth it… crummy buttons and all

youtube

Garmin Instinct 2 In-Depth Review - YouTube

So the base model, the non-solar Instinct 2 and 2S starts at $349. If you upgrade to the solar model, it comes in at $449. On top of that, you've got ...

Positive

Fit

I do like it though. I am glad I bought it. It talks to my cell phone which talk to my ear buds which is cool. i like having texts displayed

youtube

Garmin Instinct 2 In-Depth Review // 2 Sizes, VO2 Max, Unlimited Battery Life, and more!

Again, very much in line with the phoenix 7x solar. The new instinct 2s also come with garmin's latest 4th generation, elevated heart rate sensor, whi...

Positive

Comfortability

Like it more than the Fenix 5s Plus

I had the Fenix 5s Plus, returned it and got this. It's much lighter, thinner, and the band is noticeably for comfortable (softer and more stretchy). The Fenix series are just bulky heavy and for some reason the bands are uncomfortable. That means the 945 is more comfortable to sleep with, run with, and wear throughout the day

Great Functionality and Look

There was not much of a learning curve at all for me to start workouts or runs or set up the features the way I wanted them. I have not yet found much value in the widgets through the ConnectIQ, but it is good to know that the Instinct2 has those features available (unlike the Instinct1). We have done lots of runs and bootcamp-style workouts, and the heart rate and tracking for maps is very smooth.

Comfort

The Garmin Coach?

1 and anaerobic effect of 3.5. Translation? It was time to chill. Instead, I decided to go on a short 2

Honestly, I have no complaints. The more expensive watches might have more bells and whistles, but I wouldn't use those even if I had them.

Positive

reddit.com/r/triathlon

Notifications

Good, not eveything I wanted, but most of it

Getting addresses into it should be easy. Instead I'm using a third party app to read notifications for turn by turn directions in Google on my phone. Admittedly not a must have.

Screen to difficult to read

Majority of the time when I get a notification vibration I pull out my phone to read it because its not easy to read on this screen.

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