Watches in the Instinct and Instinct 2 series are designed with outdoor sports in mind, but they also have a decent set of smartwatch features for everyday use. All Instinct watches have a similar case design, but as mentioned above, the Instinct 2 also has a more compact 40mm variant (the Instinct 2S). All watches are controlled using a set of five physical buttons around the edge of the case, which can be easily operated with wet hands or while wearing gloves. There's no touchscreen. The Instinct – Tactical Edition GPS watch monitors your heart rate, activity and stress throughout the day, so you know how much you do — and how hard you’re working to do it. When you’re ready to train, we’ve got you covered with preloaded activity profiles for running, biking, swimming and more. It also has mission-specific training options, including Jumpmaster and a preloaded tactical activity.

By default – Auto position on screen – the Instinct monitors changes in pressure and uses an algorithm to decide if this change is a result of changing location – up or down the mountain – or the result of changing weather.

Some functions that are specific to the Instinct Tactical are a dual position display that uses both MGRS and degrees/minutes/seconds, and stealth mode, which stops the device from sharing and storing your GPS location and disables all wireless connectivity. Further, the watch comes with a night vision mode that allows the face to be viewed under night vision devices, as well as jumpmaster and waypoint projection apps.

The experience of using these features is good on the whole, but can be compromised by the small nature of the screen. When you’re following a route, it’s just a simple line to your destination, with room to show off distance left to reach a destination. It also makes use of that secondary screen to clearly point you in the right direction. It would definitely be nicer to have a bigger screen at play here, but it makes good use of that smaller space to still make it a good navigating experience. Pressing the ABC-button a few seconds reveals the first screen: the Compass. Press it again but shortly and I am on the Altimeter screen and repeating this gets me the Barometer screen. So… ABC should be CAB but that was probably not a marketing option. Let me go in depth on all three of them and let’s start with the C. Compass screen One sensor that doesn’t make the cut is the pulse ox sensor that’s started to appear on Garmin’s watches and is actually available on the new Instinct Solar model. While it’s definitely a feature that hogs the battery, it’s one that would be useful to have at your disposal when you’re training or exploring at altitude. If you don’t have time to browse through historic stats, that’s not an issue – the app will provide you with occasional ‘insights’ based on your lifestyle and workouts. For example, if you tend to take fewer steps on a Thursday, the app will nudge you to get outside and take a stroll before the day is out. Top Right: GPS (GPS) button. Pressing shows the activity list and also it starts or stops an activity. Press it again to choose an option in a menu. Press and hold shows the GPS coordinates and saves your location.

This display is less striking than the AMOLED screens of watches like the Venu 2, but it's easy to read in all lighting conditions and has more contrast than the color MiP display of the Garmin Fenix 7. All Garmin Instinct watches allow you to receive smartphone notifications on your wrist (Image credit: Garmin) Middle Left: Menu/scroll (Menu) button. Press to scroll UP through the widget loop and menus. Press and hold to view the menu.