Garmin Instinct vs Fenix Comparison
Garmin has so many superb smartwatches in its line of fitness watches that it sometimes becomes hard to find out which is the better choice. The Garmin Instinct Solar is very similar to the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar. The Garmin Fenix 5 Plus has many functions and specs that make it stand out above both the Instinct Solar and the Fenix 6.
We have used all of these smartwatches extensively and are frequently inclined to wonder which is the better choice for certain activities, which is what this comparison of the Garmin Instinct Solar, Fenix 5, and Fenix 6 will seek to do.
The Garmin Instinct Solar, Garmin Fenix 5 Plus, and Garmin Fenix 6 are all primarily geared towards outdoor sports and fitness activities. Each watch is similar, yet the Garmin Instinct Solar has comprehensive performance tracking and barometric altimeter settings that make it the better choice for rugged terrain.
All three of these innovative smartwatches score high marks in all the essential key points for rating a fitness watch. This article will explore everything that needs to be known about all three products, with a specific emphasis on what makes the watches different from one another. Read on to find out more and discover which is better suited to your needs.
What Are the Similarities and Differences Between the Garmin Instinct Solar, Fenix 5 Plus, and Fenix 6 Pro Solar?
All of these watches share many similarities that it becomes easier to explore those similar features and point out which watch has different features. Each watch is tailored to hold up well in the roughest of outdoor terrain, yet each watch has a different approach to how its functionality and available features respond.
Let’s take a look at a look at the standout features of each watch:
Garmin Instinct Solar:
- Long-lasting battery performance. The main feature of the Instinct Solar is definitely the power of the battery, which helps set it apart from the Fenix 5 and Fenix 6. This model is designed for solar power charging capabilities, which are activated by UV rays with adequate outdoor experiences. You can now enjoy longer periods outdoors without having to worry about quickly finding a charging station to keep your watch running.
- Increased performance tracking capabilities. Many watches that are designed for runners and joggers promise technology that can monitor your heart rate. With the Garmin Instinct Solar, the smart technology keeps in sync with your heart rate through your wrist, which displays on the screen for easy monitoring.
- Improved GPS, Glonass, and Galileo. One common trait that you will notice across all three of these watches is the inclusion of GPS features like Glonass and Galileo. With the Garmin Instinct Solar, you can now have all of these great GPS features like pace, distance run, and customizable intervals that light up with frequency during your run. Gone are the inconveniences of having to keep a mental note of your distance running.
- New and improved adaptive training plans. For some of Garmin’s most select watch models, adaptive training plans through a Garmin coach of your choice are available to help guide you through your run. The Instinct Solar is one of the watches that includes this convenient coaching, which works well to help you reach your goals on those days when running or any fitness regime seems like a chore.
- Advanced tactical features. One of the other standout features of the Garmin Instinct Solar is the new editions to the tactical performance tracking features. You can now sync your watch with enhancements such as night vision, which syncs to a pair of compatible goggles. The Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) is also convenient for advanced tracking of longitude and latitude coordinates.
Garmin Fenix 5 Plus:
- New and improved adaptive training plans. For some of Garmin’s most select watch models, adaptive training plans through a Garmin coach of your choice are available to help guide you through your run. The Fenix 5 Plus is one of the watches that includes this convenient coaching, which works well to help you reach your goals on those days when running or any fitness regime seems like a chore.
- Advanced tactical features. One of the other standout features of the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus is the new editions to the tactical performance tracking features. You can now sync your watch with enhancements such as night vision, which syncs to a pair of compatible goggles. The Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) is also convenient for advanced tracking of longitude and latitude coordinates.
- Great for triathletes. The Garmin Fenix 5 Plus is designed with users in mind who want the knowledge that their smartwatch will be able to keep up with a wide range of performance statistics across a triathlon if need be. Through updated and improved features to measure cadence, ground contact time, stride lengths, and all of the capabilities that sync with accurate heart rate readings and performance statistics.
- Comes with preloaded activity profiles. The Fenix 5 Plus is designed to appeal to a wide range of fitness activities. Innovative and detailed activity profiles for swimming, running, bicycling, and triathlons, are all part of the profile selections that you can pick from with this model. This model also includes a range of recommendations if you wish to have some ideas to change up your fitness routine.
- V02 Max indicator. When you are training hard, you sometimes have technology that can give accurate readings that account for variables outside of your control. Wind, altitude, and outside heat and cold temperature variations can all collide to give a slightly skewed performance reading but the V02 Max indicator in the Fenix 5 Plus lists accurate variabilities with this in mind and gives you an accurate reading.
- Innovative performance condition technology. The Fenix 5 Plus also analyzes heart rate, heart performance conditioning, and heart rate variability based on a wide range of different performance types to give real-time assessments of how you are faring during your workout and how long you can continue before you reach various thresholds.
Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar:
- Power glass solar charging lens. Building on the craftsmanship for solar power that was seen in the Fenix 6X, the Fenix 6 Pro Solar Edition contains a power glass lens material that covers the display screen of the watch. This new and improved panel increases the ability of the lens to absorb UV and transfer this power to the battery pack. You can now have a full solar charge to the battery that limits charging time.
- Wrist-monitoring heart rate technology. Many watches that are fashioned for runners and joggers promise technology that can monitor your heart rate, yet this can be an inconvenience in most models. With the Garmin Fenix Pro Solar Edition, the smart technology keeps in sync with your heart rate through your wrist, which displays on the screen for easy monitoring.
- Equipped with GPS. One of the many things to appreciate about a treadmill is the convenience of your distance stats on a monitor right in front of you. With the Garmin Fenix Pro Solar Edition, you can now have all of these great GPS features like pace, distance run, and customizable intervals that light up with frequency during your run. Gone are the inconveniences of having to keep a mental note of your distance running.
- Pace Pro feature. For some of Garmin’s most select watch models, adaptive training plans through a Garmin coach of your choice are available to help guide you through your run. The Fenix 6 Pro Solar is one of the watches that includes this convenient coaching, which works well to help you reach your goals on those days when running or any fitness regime seems like a chore.
- Solar-powered battery booster. One of the standout features of a Garmin watch is the great detail that is put into creating batteries that can last for long periods in-between charges. The Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar can hold a successful charge for up to 7 days between charges, which allows you to worry less when it comes to waiting for battery charges when you are ready to get out and run.
Similarities and Differences Between Garmin Instinct and Fenix
When looking at the key features of each of these watches, you probably noticed that each watch is very similar. In fact, all three watches can do the same thing for the most part. The Garmin Instinct Solar features many new updates to the previous models that featured solar technology, which is also on full display with the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar.
For one, all three watches are completely altered in size and dynamics to fit the needs of the increased technology that comes with the advanced battery capabilities. All three watches are designed for rugged outdoor use, and will certainly not disappoint in that kind of environment.
All three watches are well-calibrated to handle the influx of new features. The lens of both the Garmin Instinct Solar and the Fenix 6 Pro Solar combine the best of solar technology with powerful battery-saving performance.
But perhaps the biggest and most noticeable difference between the three watches is the Garmin Instinct Solar and the inclusion of advanced performance tracking features. Many of these, such as MGRS, is perfect for outdoor enthusiasts who take adventures into rugged mountains or tough terrain. The Military Grid Reference System takes outdoor training to a whole new level of possibilities.
Additionally, the Garmin Instinct Solar has more pushable buttons than what is seen with the Fenix 5 Plus or Fenix 6 Pro Solar. This feature eliminates the need to go through an app to change settings. You can now interchange settings and customizations through a simple push of a button.
The Fenix 6 Pro Solar also has some noticeable differences between the Garmin Instinct Solar and the Fenix 5 Plus. The Power Glass lens combines the best of solar technology with powerful battery-saving performance. and is perhaps the biggest standout of the Fenix 6 Pro Solar Edition.
Additionally, the Fenix 6 Pro Solar is the winner in terms of comfort and size variations. This makes the watch great for running, cycling, swimming, and other activities in terms of wrist comfort; the watch feels incredibly lightweight against the wrist unlike the bulkier feel of the Garmin Instinct Solar or Fenix 5 Plus.
All three watches earn high marks in terms of having a powerful heart rate monitor. The ultratrac mode in the Fenix Plus 5 is also a noticeable difference worth mentioning between the three watches.
This GPS setting allows multiple hours of tracking across a wide range of activities that saves on battery power by reducing the screen resolution and allowing tracking specs to be displayed via the accelerometer if you choose to switch off GPS as well.
With these differences in mind among so many similarities, it becomes a challenge to determine which of the three is the best watch through a comparison.
Should I Buy the Garmin Instinct Solar, Garmin Fenix 5 Plus, or the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar?
We feel that the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar is the superior watch of the three.
The Garmin Instinct Solar is a decent watch considering the ton of features that are crammed into this model, yet it isn’t always imperative for some users to want a smartwatch that is packed with features; simplicity is sometimes all that is needed.
The MGRS technology is very impressive in the Garmin Instinct Solar, and this feature alone was enough to nearly tip the scale in this watch’s favor. But, the Pace Pro feature in the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar is somewhat similar to the MGRS of the Instinct Solar, and you have the added benefit of being able to access a wide range of additional features for expert tracking when using the Pace Pro in Fenix 6.
The Garmin Fenix 5 Plus is all about variety; variety in fitness selections and variety when it comes to what you need to be tracked and monitored and how. But this feature is fairly universal across the entire Fenix series, and nearly the same amount of variety, with the addition of solar power technology, can be found in the Fenix 6 Pro Solar.
One of its biggest advantages is the inclusion of the ultratrac mode, which is very similar in many ways to MGRS. This feature is superb in its capabilities of tracking so many different types of activities, yet this is also a bit similar to what the Fenix 6 Pro Solar has with the Pace Pro feature.
When it comes down to it, the Fenix 6 Pro Solar is the superior watch of the three. The resolution is so clear and innovative, which combined with the solar capabilities of the watch, make it one of the most shining and useful watches in the Garmin line.
The Garmin Instinct Solar runs very close, but there are just far too many similarities between the Instinct Solar and the Fenix 6 Pro Solar that both watches equally win in many categories. If you like the sound of the ultratrac mode with the Fenix 5 Plus, this smartwatch is also a great choice to consider.
Is the Garmin Instinct and Fenix worth the expensive cost?
Price ranges for the watches are also a varied mixture of expensive and affordable. When it comes to affordability, the Garmin Instinct Solar is one of the standout watches in the series for those looking for a cheaper smartwatch. The quality is not sacrificed for a smaller price, and as long as you like larger watches, this model is a great value for such a smaller price.
The Fenix 5 Plus is also not going to break the bank if you decide to go with this superior watch. With that said, there is a noticeable rise in price over the Instinct Solar, yet this watch is not the most expensive of the three and can be considered to have a medium-range price point when it comes to analyzing price and Garmin smartwatches.
If you are looking for a smartwatch that makes the process of checking your performance statistics easy to navigate with enhanced performance features and project charts, then the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus is certainly a model worth considering and is a nice medium-priced watch between the three.
But, if you are looking for a very similar watch that also has many more features that are accessible with a larger frame and performance metrics for tracking a wide range of activities, the Fenix 6 Pro Solar is certainly the watch to consider.
With that said, be prepared to shell out a lot of money for this watch; it is incredibly expensive for a smartwatch and the most expensive of all three watches.
There are very few downsides to Fenix 6 Pro Solar, and the sheer compatibility enhancements of this model are hard to resist. Rather you enjoy running and jogging or, swimming, bicycling, or triathlons, the Fenix 6 Pro Solar is certainly the highlight of the Garmin Fenix series.
Conclusion
So, which of these three watches wins the overall comparison challenge? The Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar is the watch to purchase when compared to the Instinct Solar and the Fenix 5 Plus. You may have to contend with a slightly larger frame with this watch, but if you are after a watch that offers a sizable array of features with power solar technology, then this is certainly the watch to choose from.
The Garmin Instinct Solar and the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus are equally as good smartwatches.
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