Live Science Verdict
A hiking - friendly watch like the Instinct 3 is implore for the map support Garmin ’s mid - range watches lack , but it ’s otherwise a capable and long - lasting sentinel that ’s also a lot more well-off than it look .
Surprisingly light and comfortable
Good spread of hiking and fittingness features
Despite its bulky design, the Garmin Instinct 3 was surprisingly comfortable to wear.
Clear , sharp OLED CRT screen
prospicient battery liveliness
May cause skin irritation 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 sentry
No on - picket maps
No music musical accompaniment
The Garmin Instinct 3 features a crisp 1.3-inch OLED screen.
Why you may intrust Live ScienceOur expert referee pass hours testing and compare products and services so you may choose the best ones for you . feel out more about how we test .
If you wish to spend a lot of fourth dimension out of doors , you ’ll likely get on with Garmin ’s Instinct 3 . It is an outdoor and adventure watch unloosen in January 2025 and a more affordable choice to theFenixseries , with a bright , coloured OLED screen technical school come to this family for the first time .
- Instinct 3 eastward 40/45 mm - $ 299.99/£259.99
The display boasts good visibility in bright conditions.
Instinct 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 review the 50 mm OLED translation , the largest model that has the new display tech . It costs $ 499.99/£429.99 .
There is also a 45 millimetre model in the same panache , variation with duller - looking transflective silver screen but even longer battery life sentence and solar charging . And , new for this year , a more low-cost and small 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 g-force )
Connectivity : Bluetooth only
pee 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 outdoors view 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 wearing it is not at all what you might expect , though . While the Instinct 3 is bulky , it is not remotely heavy thanks to its largely polymer charge card expression . It ’s just over half the weight of some Fenix 8 watches .
I ’ve worn it overnight throughout testing . And while surely not every Instinct 3 drug user will want to do this , it ’s surprisingly easy to get used to .
Garmin has made certain you well-nigh never want to take the Instinct 3 off , actually . It has 10ATM water resistivity , matching the good bar Garmin ’s dive - specific watches . And as the bezel form a raised lip above the screen methamphetamine , you do n’t have to be too deliberate when fatigue it .
We tested the Garmin Instinct 3 for several weeks, looking at its design, features, performance and value for money.
The material here are nothing too special — only the shiny orange tree highlighting here are metal ( aluminium ) and the screen glass is a non - specified " chemically strengthened glass . " But Garmin ’s charge card spotter are surprisingly forgiving of rougher treatment .
There ’s one other likely outcome here . I ended up with a spot of contact dermatitis on my wrist after wearing the Instinct 3 almost 24/7 for several week . I have n’t had this with a Garmin watch before , but it is a fairly plebeian issue with wearable like this . It ’s the back of the lookout soundbox stimulate the issue , not the shoulder strap .
“ Some users may go through skin irritation after prolong function of the vigil , especially if the exploiter has sensitive skin or allergic reaction , ” admonish the Instinct 3 manual .
Garmin Instinct 3: Display
The 50 mm Instinct 3 has a 1.3 - inch OLED screen . This is every flake as sharp and as clear as that ofGarmin ’s good watches .
you could opt between countless watch faces , edge is first-class and outdoors visibleness even on a sunny day is unspoilt . As with any OLED watch , the screen light incline up in bright conditions .
This naturally uses more battery top executive , which is why there ’s still room for the " Solar " versions of this watch . They alternate the situation by not only get clearer in direct sunlight without using extra power , they top up the vigil shelling using an unseeable solar panel .
Which should you pick ? If you ’re not going to be heading out on week - longsighted expeditions , do n’t undervalue OLED ’s charm . It gives the watch more personality , a more liquid feel and can fit more stats on - screen intelligibly .
In the Solar version , there ’s a separate rotary area in the screen , which has been a series quirk since the first . Some of the OLED sentinel ’s side reanimate this . Others do n’t .
No reading of the Garmin Instinct 3 has a touchscreen , though . It ’s push surgical procedure all the path , but that ’s less of an outcome than you might guess . There are few things more annoying than accidentally end a workout early on , which can materialize a lot with the touch screen Garmin Venu 3 .
Garmin Instinct 3: Features
Garmin leans into the outdoors angle of the Instinct 3 in a few obvious way . Long - press the side button label " ABC , " for deterrent example , and you get quick access code to the compass , altimeter and barometer functions . It ’s a watch befit even to hikers who rick their nose up at an over - trust on tech .
Up on the top side wall of the watch is a dual - LED flash , which could be a godsend for night ( or early dawn ) bodily process , or just line up your keystone at your front door . There ’s a red LED too , which increases visibility without putting out too much illumination .
One important Garmin best-loved feature article is leave out : map . you’re able to design hiking , run and cycling routes on the Garmin Connect app and station them to the Instinct 3 . But when you load them , you navigate by a line on a vacuous background — no indication of streets or terrain .
You need to spend more to get downloadable map . agree out the Fenix andForerunner 965families for that .
The Instinct 3 also lacks music support , but this feel much less of a large issue for potential buyers . It can only control audio played through a connected phone .
Elsewhere , the Instinct 3 bring the common encyclopedic array of feature in any mid - level Garmin spotter . It also has more enthusiast breeding stats , like Training Readiness , and unlike the rough comparableForerunner 265 , has a library of golf features . This includes access to a library of tens of thousands of courses worldwide . And those can be sync’d to the watch .
Garmin Instinct 3: Performance
Most Garmin watches are dependable performing artist . While the Instinct 3 does n’t have every recent instauration , it does have the ones that suit this series ’s niche well .
The Instinct 3 has dual - band GPS for example . It ’s a more assault and battery - sapping manner that can help out in tricky environments like rich valleys , dim timber or skyscraper - packed cities .
We had zero issues with the GPS , and it ’s middling tight to fall upon signal . As with the Fenix 8 , we ’ve found last - gen watches were really faster , but it still take just a smattering of second .
The center pace array does n’t get the same attention . A last - generation Elevate v4 array sits on the back of the watch . This lacks the extra LED used to help steady readings during exercise . But in our testing it has been mostly exemplary , and in one discharge read using the Instinct 3 and Fenix 8 , they came out with on the nose the same average and maximal heart rate readings .
sum pace accuracy is as much drug-addicted on limited ( or ideally no ) on - wrist move during recitation , and the Instinct 3 ’s moulded strap and amazingly low-toned free weight helps here . Last - gen hardware does absolutely rule out the sentry ever stupefy Garmin ’s ECG centre understand lineament , though , which can be used to monitor for sign of arrhythmia .
The best part of the Instinct 3 ’s performance is its stamp battery living . We tested it in the most challenging way we could muster , using the lookout ’s always - on screen manner and track plenty of exercise . It lost 49 % after four day of solid use , close to Garmin ’s title the lookout will last nine Day when maintain the clock face participating all mean solar day . Much longsighted stamina of “ up to 24 days ” is potential . 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 - mile ( 17 kilometre ) get across foot race , which took around 90 minute , took 7 % off the battery . This suggests it will last for more than 20 hours of active trailing . Garmin claims 30 hour even when using the more barrage - tire Multi - Band fashion .
However , this is largely a reminder of how much the screen has a part to play in substantial - world battery life . When you ’re out for a running play on a bright day and use the Instinct 3 to pilot 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 bearing it has , even if your prospicient running game and ride extend into multi - hour efforts . The Instinct 3 uses Garmin ’s classical four - pin connector cable length to charge and — one matter Garmin should think about improving one Clarence Day — charging is n’t super - tight .
After an 60 minutes , the Instinct 3 go from 6 % to 64 % . A full charge takes a while .
Garmin Instinct 3: User reviews
At the time of review , the Garmin Instinct 3 is a footling too recent to get a full word picture of user reviews just yet . This exceptional model had an average 3.8 out of 5 grade at Amazon .
One reviewer echoed our sentiments about the Instinct 3 ’s weight unit . “ I ’m also surprised that the watch still feels very lighting on my wrist joint in regards to the weight , ” they said .
The 50 mm Solar version had a lower fair score of 2.8 out of 5 , with some early referee knock the cost and invention . One reviewer say it “ seem like something that would be $ 19.99 at Walmart . ”
Should you buy the Garmin Instinct 3?
The Garmin Instinct 3 is an adventuring and outside check that is less intimidating in use than it may appear on a retailer ’s website .
It ’s a routine bulky , but the low weightiness keeps it comfy . And the large size lets Garmin gibe in a battery that , for some , can be measured in weeks rather than twenty-four hours .
Those not well - schooled in the Garmin range may be surprised by a mates of the lack feature film , though . There ’s no full mapping in the Instinct 3 , even if it ’s made for explore , because that is a feature only available to higher - end watches .
If the Garmin Instinct 3 isn’t for you
Turned off by the Instinct 3 ’s bulk ? Check out theForerunner 265and 265S. These are a slightly more mainstream alternative , available in small size of it and a less bulky casing . You also get euphony keep , with 8 GB of storage for line and podcasts .
Want mathematical function ? You ’ll need to spend more to last out within the Garmin range , the Fenix E orForerunner 965being the key models to look out for .
The Coros Pace Pro also institute OLED screenland tech and offline maps at a cost like to the Instinct 3 . But we find Coros software is less slick , and Garmin ’s substance rate accuracy is good .
Garmin Instinct 3: How we tested
The Garmin Instinct 3 was worn for several weeks , almost 24/7 , until a skin vexation topic creep in . This is because the lookout man declare oneself sleep trailing as well as usage monitoring .
It has principally been used to track runs , including a marathon - distance run one day , and gymnasium sessions .
Throughout testing the Instinct 3 was predominantly used in its “ always on ” screen mode . It was also connect to a earphone feeding through email and WhatsApp notification , to provide a more realistic and unflattering rating of its battery life .
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