Mastering the Wilderness with Garmin Instinct 3: A Hands-on Review of the Ultimate Outdoor Companion

Garmin Instinct 3: One-Minute Review
As I dive into my Garmin Instinct 3 review, I know this watch has a lot to live up to. After all, the Garmin Instinct 2 received a rare, coveted five-star rating in our official review. With a variety of sizes (from 40mm to the Instinct 2X Solar at 50mm), solar-powered and non-solar versions, a smorgasbord of fun colorways, and – my personal favorite – a hybrid Garmin Instinct Crossover, there truly was an Instinct 2 for everyone.
The Instinct 3 runs along very much the same lines, with a selection of cool colorways, a variety of sizes, and two key screen options. The smallest 40mm size is called the Instinct E, and is most reminiscent of the Instinct 2: there’s only the MIP (Memory in Pixel) option with no solar charging and no flashlight. In 45mm and 50mm sizes, you can choose between a bright, smartwatch AMOLED screen and a classic Garmin MIP screen equipped with Garmin’s Power Glass solar charge technology, offering ‘unlimited’ battery life in bright enough conditions, if you’re out and about with it exposed to sunlight for several hours.
I got the AMOLED 45mm version to test in its cool, minty Neotropic colorway, but I do have a soft spot for the digital watch-esque MIP screens that the best Garmin watches used to use as standard. As is, this feels more like a Garmin Forerunner 265, with limited map capabilities, although the case design is still stereotypical Instinct.
The Instinct series has never offered full-color topographical maps like the premium watches in Garmin’s range have, and I was wondering if the AMOLED screen meant we’d finally see topographical maps on an Instinct, but there are no maps or touchscreen here. I suppose Garmin has to differentiate between the ranges and keep the Instinct’s price down somehow. I’ve recorded two workouts with the Instinct 3 so far – a run and a boxing session – and it handled both with accuracy, and was as intuitive to use as the Instinct 2. It was easy for me to swap my daily Instinct Crossover with this, barely three minutes of setup, seamlessly taking over with my sleep tracking, Body Battery, and Training Readiness scores from my old watch.
Overall? As a pre-existing Instinct fan, I’m loving it. It’s fast, it’s bright, it looks fun, and most importantly, it’s useful. Yes, it’s chunky and plastic-y, and if you don’t like the old design, you won’t like this one either. But it’s not a sleek metal communication tool: it’s a toy, and it’s best played with outside.
Garmin Instinct 3: Price and Availability
- Instinct E starts at $299 / £259 / AU$549
- 45mm Instinct 3 starts at $399 / £349 / AU$829
- 50mm Instinct 3 starts at $449 / £429 / AU$929
The Garmin Instinct 3 is available now on Garmin’s website and other retailers, slightly confusingly with different sizes and configurations to choose from. So, which one is right for you?
Design and Features
The Instinct 3 builds closely on the design legacy of the Garmin Instinct 2, and the casing looks mostly the same. It’s got loads of colors, it’s roughly the same thickness, roughly the same weight (with just a gram of difference between the 45mm Instinct 3 and the 45mm Instinct 2), and it’s still got five buttons and similar bezel indentations. The main differences are the metal accents, the new AMOLED screen option, and the flashlight, neither of which are available on the smallest Instinct E.
The new AMOLED screen is clear and bright, and seems at first glance to have a faster refresh rate than slightly older AMOLEDs like the Garmin Epix Pro and Garmin Forerunner 965, although I’ll have to confirm that’s the case in my full review. I like the default watch face layout, although this is easily changed, and navigating around the watch with the five-button control interface is intuitive for me (a regular Garmin user) even if my Apple Watch-wearing fitness writer, Stephen Warwick, was offended at the lack of touchscreen.
What’s New in the Garmin Instinct 3
- Elevate Gen 5 heart rate and skin temperature sensor array
- New torch with four intensities and a less dazzling red option
- Basic directional guidance, but no topographical maps
- New AMOLED screen option
- Intuitive, unchanged Garmin layout
- Choice of 40mm, 45mm, and 50mm sizes
- Solar charging option on 45mm and 50mm sizes
Our Performance Section, Final Scores, and Verdict Will Be Added After Around Two Weeks of Testing – Watch This Space!