TAKE MY MONEY: Garmin Instinct 3 Tactical Watch

This may be the ultimate backcountry smart watch, and my wallet must rise to the challenge.

Garmin knows exactly how to get me on board. Originally famous for GPS navigation, the company has stepped up its game with the Instinct 3 – Tactical Edition, its newest lineup of tactical smartwatches. It’s basically a failsafe for any outdoor adventure. It has a built-in LED flashlight, incredible battery life (with some models offering unlimited battery life via solar charging!), health and wellness monitoring, and superior multi-band satellite tech, this is the watch I want with me.

Rugged but intelligent: Featuring bolted construction with a metal-reinforced bezel, fiber-reinforced polymer case and scratch-resistant display, Instinct 3 – Tactical Edition sets a new standard for durability. The lineup is also built to MIL-STD 810 for thermal and shock resistance and is water-rated up to 100 meters. Plus, the built-in flashlight provides variable intensities, a green light to help protect natural night vision, and strobe mode to assist with location signaling in difficult terrain. For night operations, Night Vision Goggle (NVG) mode dims the display to levels functional to the primary user (including those wearing night optic devices) but nearly invisible to anyone else.

Rucking activity: The dedicated activity profile allows users to input pack weight to better understand the physical exertion associated with rucking. During various activities like trail running, hiking, and walking, users can also add their pack weight.

Ballistic solutions: All Instinct 3 – Tactical Edition units come with Applied Ballistics solver (unlock fee required) and are compatible with the Applied Ballistics Quantum app.

Dedicated tactical features: Purpose-built with dedicated features like Stealth Mode, Kill Switch, and Jumpmaster, Instinct 3 – Tactical Edition provides the tools for any mission.

Two sizes: Available in a 45mm or 50mm solar-powered display and a 50mm AMOLED display.

Increased solar efficiency: A larger, more efficient solar lens harnesses the power of the sun even better. Compared to Instinct 2 Solar, the new 50mm Instinct 3 – Tactical Edition solar model gets more than five times the battery life in GPS mode when solar charging.

Multi-band GPS with SatIQ technology: Experience superior positioning accuracy while optimizing battery life.

24/7 health and wellness monitoring: Track steps, heart rate, advanced sleep monitoring, wrist-based Pulse Ox2, heart rate variability (HRV) status and more3.

Smart notifications: Receive emails, texts and alerts right on the watch when paired with a compatible Apple® or Android™ smartphone.

Users can navigate confidently with a 3-axis compass, barometric altimeter and multi-band GPS with SatIQ technology, delivering superior positioning while optimizing battery life. Users can also pair their Instinct 3 – Tactical Edition with the Garmin Explore App to review more detailed maps, create waypoints and courses and more to stay on course.

In sensitive locations, users can utilize Stealth Mode, which turns off wireless communications but still collects distances traveled and biometric data without recording location data. Leveraging this feature allows the watch to be used – and even upload logged data – while concealing its location, which is typically visible through popular mobile training apps. If security becomes an issue, the watch’s Kill Switch wipes the device of all user memory. Other mission-focused features include a dual-position format, which simultaneously displays two sets of coordinates on a single screen, Jumpmaster, a preloaded tactical activity, and projected waypoints.

Train for the mission

With sports apps like rucking, hiking, running, climbing, hunting, skiing and more, Instinct 3 – Tactical Edition is the ultimate wingman for any training experience. While in-field, TracBack routing helps provide a route back to the starting point as well as reference points of known spots relative to that location. In addition to built-in sports apps for outdoor adventures, Instinct 3 – Tactical Edition is loaded with apps for activities like HIIT, cardio, indoor and outdoor track running, basketball and more.

Users can prepare for the next race, train for a milestone, or strive to improve overall fitness with Garmin Coach adaptive and prebuilt training plans for running and cycling. View an entire week of daily suggested workouts that adapt after every run or ride or create step-by-step workouts from more than 1,600 exercises in the Garmin Connect™ app, then send them directly to the watch. And track intensity minutes, VO2 max and recovery time to receive guidance on recommended recovery times to reduce fatigue and burnout.

Safety and tracking features include incident detection (during select outdoor activities) and Assistance, which can send a message with the user’s GPS location (if available) to emergency contacts when paired with a smartphone4.

Available to order on Garmin.com on April 30, the Instinct 3 – Tactical Edition AMOLED model has a suggested retail price of $599.99 while the solar charging models start at $499.99.