Live Science Verdict
A tramp - friendly vigil like the Instinct 3 is solicit for the mathematical function stomach Garmin ’s mid - range watches miss , but it ’s otherwise a capable and long - lasting lookout that ’s also a lot more comfortable than it looks .
Surprisingly light and comfortable
ripe spread of tramp and fitness feature article
Despite its bulky design, the Garmin Instinct 3 was surprisingly comfortable to wear.
Clear , sharp organic light-emitting diode screen
foresightful electric battery spirit
May cause skin innervation in some
Our reviewer developed contact dermatitis on his wrist after wearing the Garmin Instinct 3 for several weeks.
It ’s one of Garmin ’s bulkier watch
No on - scout function
No euphony support
The Garmin Instinct 3 features a crisp 1.3-inch OLED screen.
Why you may entrust alive ScienceOur expert commentator spend hour testing and comparing products and services so you may opt the good one for you . determine out more about how we test .
If you like to pass a pile of sentence outdoors , you ’ll probably get on with Garmin ’s Instinct 3 . It is an outdoor and risky venture picket released in January 2025 and a more low-priced alternative to theFenixseries , with a bright , colorful OLED CRT screen tech coming to this family for the first clock time .
- inherent aptitude 3 E 40/45 mm - $ 299.99/£259.99
The display boasts good visibility in bright conditions.
inherent aptitude 3 45 mm Solar - $ 399.99/£349.99
Instinct 3 50 mm Solar - $ 449.99/£389.99
Instinct 3 45 mm OLED - $ 449.99/£389.99
The Garmin Instinct 3 has an array of fitness tracking features.
- Instinct 3 50 mm OLED - $ 499.99/£429.99
We are refresh the 50 mm organic light-emitting diode edition , the largest good example that has the new video display technical school . It be $ 499.99/£429.99 .
There is also a 45 mm model in the same style , variation with duller - bet transflective filmdom but even longer battery biography and solar charging . And , novel for this year , a more low-priced and smaller Instinct E.
The Garmin Instinct 3 has a lot of features for outdoor enthusiasts — except for on-watch maps.
Garmin Instinct 3: Design
Screen:1.3 in , 416 x 416 AMOLED
Dimensions ( in):2 x 2 x 0.6
dimension ( mm):50 x 50 x 14.4
The Garmin Instinct 3 features an advanced Elevate V4 heart rate sensor.
Weight:2.1 oz ( 59 gram )
Connectivity : Bluetooth only
water supply resistance:10ATM
The Garmin Instinct 3 boasts impressive battery life, but it does take a while to charge.
Storage:4 GB
Battery life : Up to 24 days
Garmin ’s Instinct 3 is not a subtle watch . It ’s for someone not afraid to wear a sports and open air watch out that confess what it is from across the room .
The Garmin Instinct 3 is a great adventuring and outdoor watch, but it is not without its flaws.
The experience of wear down it is not at all what you might carry , though . While the Instinct 3 is bulky , it is not remotely lowering thanks to its largely polymer plastic grammatical construction . It ’s just over half the weightiness of some Fenix 8 watches .
I ’ve wear it overnight throughout testing . And while surely not every Instinct 3 user will desire to do this , it ’s surprisingly easy to get used to .
Garmin has made sure you virtually never postulate to take the Instinct 3 off , really . It has 10ATM water opposition , tally the best taproom Garmin ’s dive - specific watches . And as the bezel forms a raised sass above the screen Methedrine , you do n’t have to be too deliberate when fall apart it .
We tested the Garmin Instinct 3 for several weeks, looking at its design, features, performance and value for money.
The materials here are nothing too especial — only the shiny orangeness highlight here are alloy ( aluminium ) and the screen meth is a non - specified " chemically strengthen ice . " But Garmin ’s plastic vigil are surprisingly forgiving of fierce discourse .
There ’s one other potential issue here . I ended up with a spot of contact dermatitis on my carpus after wear the Instinct 3 almost 24/7 for several workweek . I have n’t had this with a Garmin watch before , but it is a fairly common issue with wearables like this . It ’s the back of the watch body have the issuing , not the strap .
“ Some users may have skin irritation after prolong usance of the picket , especially if the user has sensitive peel or allergies , ” monish the Instinct 3 manual .
Garmin Instinct 3: Display
The 50 mm Instinct 3 has a 1.3 - inch OLED screen . This is every minute as sharp and as clear as that ofGarmin ’s best scout .
you may prefer between countless ticker face , sharpness is excellent and outdoors visibility even on a sunny 24-hour interval is good . As with any OLED watch , the silver screen smartness incline up in bright conditions .
This naturally employ more bombardment power , which is why there ’s still way for the " Solar " versions of this watch . They flip the situation by not only get clearer in verbatim sunshine without using extra world power , they top up the watch assault and battery using an inconspicuous solar panel .
Which should you break up ? If you ’re not going to be heading out on workweek - long expeditiousness , do n’t devaluate organic light-emitting diode ’s appeal . It devote the watch more personality , a more fluid feel and can fit out more stats on - screen clearly .
In the Solar version , there ’s a separate circular area in the screenland , which has been a series quirk since the start . Some of the OLED watch ’s facial expression recreate this . Others do n’t .
No variant of the Garmin Instinct 3 has a touchscreen , though . It ’s button surgical procedure all the way , but that ’s less of an issue than you might guess . There are few things more annoying than accidentally ending a workout early , which can happen a tidy sum with the touchscreen Garmin Venu 3 .
Garmin Instinct 3: Features
Garmin leans into the outdoors angle of the Instinct 3 in a few obvious mode . Long - mechanical press the side push labelled " ABC , " for exemplar , and you get quick access to the compass , altimeter and barometer mathematical function . It ’s a watch suited even to hiker who turn their noses up at an over - reliance on tech .
Up on the top side paries of the watch is a dual - LED jiffy , which could be a godsend for night ( or early morning ) activities , or just finding your keys at your front door . There ’s a red LED too , which increases visibility without putting out too much light .
One crucial Garmin favorite feature article is missing : maps . you may plan hike , running and cycling routes on the Garmin Connect app and send them to the Instinct 3 . But when you lade them , you sail by a line on a blank desktop — no indication of street or terrain .
You demand to spend more to get downloadable mapping . Check out the Fenix andForerunner 965families for that .
The Instinct 3 also miss medicine support , but this feels much less of a large emergence for potential buyers . It can only control audio fiddle through a connected headphone .
Elsewhere , the Instinct 3 catch the usual encyclopaedic array of features in any mid - tier Garmin vigil . It also has more enthusiast training stats , like Training Readiness , and unlike the some comparableForerunner 265 , has a depository library of golf features . This include access to a library of X of thousands of courses worldwide . And those can be sync’d to the watch .
Garmin Instinct 3: Performance
Most Garmin watches are reliable performing artist . While the Instinct 3 does n’t have every recent innovation , it does have the ace that beseem this series ’s niche well .
The Instinct 3 has twofold - band Global Positioning System for example . It ’s a more battery - sapping manner that can help out in tricky environments like mystifying valleys , dense forests or skyscraper - compact city .
We had zero take with the GPS , and it ’s fairly tight to happen upon signal . As with the Fenix 8 , we ’ve base last - gen watches were really dissolute , but it still take just a handful of second .
The affectionateness charge per unit regalia does n’t get the same tending . A last - genesis Elevate v4 array ride on the back of the vigil . This miss the additional light-emitting diode used to help brace readings during use . But in our testing it has been mostly emblematic , and in one running memorialise using the Instinct 3 and Fenix 8 , they came out with exactly the same ordinary and maximum affectionateness rate interpretation .
Heart rate truth is as much drug-addicted on limited ( or ideally no ) on - wrist campaign during exercise , and the Instinct 3 ’s moulded strap and astonishingly low system of weights help here . Last - gen ironware does absolutely rule out the watch ever getting Garmin ’s ECG heart reading feature , though , which can be used to supervise for signs of cardiac arrhythmia .
The good part of the Instinct 3 ’s operation is its stamp battery life . We quiz it in the most challenging way we could muster , using the watch ’s always - on blind manner and get over plentitude of exercise . It lose 49 % after four day of solid utilisation , close to Garmin ’s title the watch will last nine days when keep back the clock face active all day . Much longer stamina of “ up to 24 Day ” is possible . But a Garmin Instinct 3 is such a better watch with the always - on mode switched on , you ’re not getting the best from this wearable without it .
A 10.5 - international mile ( 17 kilometre ) tracked run , which take around 90 minutes , took 7 % off the battery . This suggests it will last for more than 20 hours of dynamic trailing . Garmin claims 30 hours even when using the more battery - sapping Multi - Band mode .
However , this is for the most part a reminder of how much the screen has a part to play in real - world electric battery life . When you ’re out for a run on a bright day and use the Instinct 3 to navigate or look at your stats often , its brightness will rise very high .
This watch lasts long enough that you only rarely have to think about how much charge it has , even if your foresightful run and rides stretch into multi - hr efforts . The Instinct 3 uses Garmin ’s classical four - PIN number connector cable to charge and — one matter Garmin should reckon about improving one Clarence Day — saddle is n’t super - tight .
After an hour , the Instinct 3 go from 6 % to 64 % . A full charge take on a while .
Garmin Instinct 3: User reviews
At the fourth dimension of review , the Garmin Instinct 3 is a piffling too late to get a full picture of drug user review just yet . This particular exemplar had an average 3.8 out of 5 score at Amazon .
One reviewer reverberate our thought about the Instinct 3 ’s weight . “ I ’m also surprised that the watch still feels very light on my articulatio radiocarpea in regard to the weight , ” they said .
The 50 mm Solar version had a downcast average score of 2.8 out of 5 , with some other reviewers criticising the price and excogitation . One reader said it “ looks like something that would cost $ 19.99 at Walmart . ”
Should you buy the Garmin Instinct 3?
The Garmin Instinct 3 is an risk and outdoors watch that is less intimidate in exercise than it may appear on a retail merchant ’s internet site .
It ’s a bit bulky , but the low weight keep it comfortable . And the larger size lets Garmin fit in a battery that , for some , can be measured in week rather than days .
Those not well - train in the Garmin reach may be surprised by a couple of the leave out feature film , though . There ’s no full map in the Instinct 3 , even if it ’s made for exploring , because that is a feature only available to higher - goal lookout .
If the Garmin Instinct 3 isn’t for you
turn off by the Instinct 3 ’s bulk ? Check out theForerunner 265and 265S. These are a slenderly more mainstream option , available in smaller sizes and a less bulky casing . You also get music support , with 8 GB of storage for tunes and podcasts .
Want map ? You ’ll need to spend more to stay within the Garmin mountain range , the Fenix E orForerunner 965being the key models to see out for .
The Coros Pace Pro also brings OLED screen tech and offline maps at a price like to the Instinct 3 . But we discover Coros software program is less slick , and Garmin ’s nub rate truth is adept .
Garmin Instinct 3: How we tested
The Garmin Instinct 3 was wear down for several week , almost 24/7 , until a skin irritation issue crept in . This is because the watch offers eternal sleep tracking as well as exercise monitoring .
It has primarily been used to track campaign , including a marathon - distance running game one day , and gymnasium sessions .
Throughout testing the Instinct 3 was predominantly used in its “ always on ” concealment modal value . It was also connected to a phone feeding through email and WhatsApp notifications , to provide a more naturalistic and unflattering evaluation of its assault and battery life .
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