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Garmin Forerunner 945 vs Garmin Instinct Solar

Garmin Forerunner 945

Garmin Forerunner 945

137 reviews

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Garmin Instinct Solar

Garmin Instinct Solar

108 reviews

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#1 most mentioned

Reddit · r/garmin

Feature-Rich Sports Watch for Endurance Athletes

Switchback Travel · Best Sports Watches of 2022

#14 most mentioned

Reddit · r/garmin

Best Solar-Powered Sports Watch

Switchback Travel · Best Sports Watches of 2022

Best Overall Altimeter Watch

Switchback Travel · Best Altimeter (ABC) Watches of 2022

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 hybrid of a rugged G-Shock and a GPS watch

Impressive battery life, with solar power feature allowing for even longer use

Compatible with Amazon Prime, making it more affordable for those who have the membership

Screen phone calls and texts functionality

Continuous HR and HRV monitoring

Not living up to its potential in terms of battery life

GPS accuracy is not reliable when running under trees

High price tag

Not always reliable when syncing with phone

Clunky at times when syncing with phone

Some users have reported skin irritation from the silicon band

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

The Garmin Instinct Solar is a great hybrid of a rugged G-Shock and a GPS watch. It has an impressive battery life, with the solar power feature allowing for even longer use. The watch is also compatible with Amazon Prime, making it more affordable for those who have the membership. However, some users have reported skin irritation from the silicon band.

Reviews by Topic

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

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

One of the best adventure watches on the market, with one serious design flaw

The battery life is incredible, as long as you're not running the GPS constantly. I've gotten ten days on one battery charge with intermittent, manual GPS fixing while hiking in extremely remote places. The watch face is serenely simple. The two tone display couldn't be improved in any way, for me

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

A GOOD BUY. This is a survival smartwatch in a traditional watch body. Really great.

The Garmin instinct is the one I chose. It doesn't look as fancy as the Fenix models, but the Instinct is so much better as a practical smartwatch for the price. The Vivoactive 3 is terrible compared to the functionality and durability of the Instinct. The Instinct does not have a fancy touch screen, but it makes up for it in terms of features

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.

A well built rugged solar watch

Notifications can be easily dismissed on the watch and they immediately disappear from your phone. Just be aware that it is the down button that dismisses the notification. It is also the same button used to scroll down though the notification content when you select the notification. More than once, I've accidentally dismissed the notification thinking that I was going to scroll down to see the additional content

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