Garmin is more than just a navigation company. It produces some of the best GPS smartwatches for outside pursuits. The company’s lineup ranges from the flagship Fenix, which has all the bells and whistles you could conceive to the entry-level Garmin Instinct which check all the essential boxes. The Instinct is one of the newest watches in Garmin’s lineup debuting late last year. In time for the spring season, the GPS company is refreshing the Instinct line with a fresh coat of paint that bring some color to these outdoors watches.
When it launched last fall, the Instinct debuted in three basic colors: Graphite, tundra, and flame red. Starting Wednesday, March 20, the Garmin Instinct now is available in an additional three lively colors of seafoam, lakeside blue, and sunburst. These fun, fresh colors move beyond the traditional dull hues that are commonplace among outdoors-focused watch. The colors may be new, but that is all that has changed on the outside. The Instinct still has the rugged, durable outer casing that people have come to expect from Garmin.
The Garmin Instinct falls just under the Fenix series in the company’s smartwatch lineup. It has all the necessary features that you need for traveling in the backcountry. The Instinct ships with built-in GPS, navigation, and a handy TracBack feature that lets you follow the saved route back to your starting point. There’s also a heart rate sensor, a 3-axis compass, and a barometric altimeter to track your change in altitude.
Though the smartwatch is geared toward outdoor pursuits, there’s much more it can do. It also serves as an extension to your smartphone so you can receive notifications as well as answer or reject incoming phone calls. The watch tracks your daily activities and syncs that data to the Garmin Connect mobile app, where you can view and analyze your health and fitness stats. This data is then available online for you to review or share with third-party services such as Strava.
The Instinct is available for an affordable $299 from Garmin’s website and other retailers such as Amazon.
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