Garmin Instinct 2X Solar and Instinct 2 Standard are excellent watches for individuals who want a rugged watch on their wrist. These smartwatches are packed with excellent battery life that can last for several days. They also offer various advanced health features for health-conscious buyers.
In this article, we’ll delve into the comparison of these two smartwatches on pricing, design, health and fitness tracking, battery life, and verdict to help you choose the smartwatch that fits your style and needs.
Instinct 2X Solar Main Difference
- Garmin Instinct 2X Solar comes in 50mm size with standard and tactical editions to choose from.
- It comes in Graphite, Flame Red, Whitestone, and Moss for the standard edition and Coyote Tan and Black for the tactical edition.
- Instinct 2X Solar has solar charging support that uses the sun to charge the smartwatch, which can provide extra juice while you are working out in direct sunlight.
- Instinct 2X Solar offers 40 days of battery life in smartwatch mode and unlimited battery life with solar charging.
- It also features Garmin Pay, multi-band GPS, an LED flashlight, and much more.
Instinct 2 Standard Main Difference
- Garmin Instinct 2 Standard comes in a 45mm size with standard, camo, surf, and dezl editions to choose from.
- It comes in Graphite, Electric Lime, and Mavericks colorways.
- It has 28 days of battery life in smartwatch mode and doesn’t support solar charging.
- It doesn’t offer Garmin Pay, multi-band GPS, or the LED flashlight that you get on the Instinct 2X Solar.
Garmin Instinct 2X Solar and Instinct 2 Standard: Comparison
| Device name | Garmin Instinct 2 X Solar | Garmin Instinct 2 Standard |
|---|---|---|
| Device type | Smartwatch | Smartwatch |
| Gender | Unisex | Unisex |
| Release date | April, 2023 | February, 2022 |
| Versions | Solar edition | Standard edition |
| Body | ||
| Dimension | 50 x 50 x 14.5 mm | 45 x 45 x 14.5 mm |
| Weight | 67 grams | 52 grams |
| Shape | Circular | Circular |
| Case material | Fiber-Reinforced Polymer | Fiber-Reinforced Polymer |
| Strap material | Silicone | Silicone |
| Bezel material | Fiber-Reinforced Polymer | Fiber-Reinforced Polymer |
| Strap size | 26 mm | 22 mm |
| Screen protection | Power Glass | Chemically Strengthened Glass |
| Water resistance | 10 ATM | 10 ATM |
| Swim-proof | Yes, recommended | Yes, recommended |
| Display | ||
| Display size | 1.1” x 1.1” | 0.9” x 0.9” |
| Display type | Transflective Memory-In-Pixel (MIP) | Transflective Memory-In-Pixel (MIP) |
| Display resolution | 176 x 176 pixels | 176 x 176 pixels |
| Pixel density | — | — |
| Always on | Yes | Yes |
| Custom watch face | Yes | Yes |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Connectivity | ||
| Bluetooth | Yes | Yes |
| Bluetooth calling | No | No |
| GPS | Multi-Band Gps | Yes |
| NFC | Garmin Pay | No |
| Wi-Fi | No | No |
| Memory | ||
| RAM | — | — |
| Internal Storage | 64 MB | 32 MB |
| Memory card slot | No | No |
| Cellular Connectivity | ||
| Technology | None | None |
| SIM type | None | None |
| Band | — | — |
| Sensors | ||
| Accelerometer | Yes | Yes |
| Altimeter | Yes | Yes |
| Ambient light | No | No |
| Barometer | Yes | Yes |
| Compass | Yes | Yes |
| ECG | No | No |
| Gyroscope | Yes | No |
| HRM | No | No |
| Pulse oximeter (SpO2) | Yes | Yes |
| Thermometer | Yes | Yes |
| Battery | ||
| Battery type | non-removable Lithium-polymer | non-removable Lithium-polymer |
| Battery capacity | — | — |
| Battery life | Unlimited | 28 days |
| Charging type | Plug Charger | Plug Charger |
| Charging time | — | 1-2 hours |
| Solar charging | Yes | No |
Garmin Instinct 2X Solar and Instinct 2 Standard: Pricing
The Garmin Instinct 2X Solar is more expensive than the Garmin Instinct 2 (standard). It is priced at $449 for the standard edition and costs $50 more, or $499 for the tactical edition.
The Garmin Instinct 2 is priced at $299 for the standard edition, $349 for the camo, $299 for the surf, and $399 for the dezl edition.
Garmin Instinct 2X Solar and Instinct 2 Standard: Design and Display
Both smartwatches offer a rugged build and a sporty look, but the Garmin Instinct 2X is bulkier than the Garmin Instinct 2.
The Instinct 2X resembles a sporty, rugged look appealing to fitness enthusiasts and adventure seekers. The 1.1” x 1.1”, 226 PPI, 176 x 176 pixels transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) display is surrounded by a fiber-reinforced polymer bezel and casing with Power Glass protection on top. It comes with a 26-mm quick-fit silicone band as standard.
The Garmin Instinct 2X measures 50 x 50 x 14.5 mm and weighs 67 grams. It comes in Graphite, Flame Red, Whitestone, Moss, Coyote Tan and Black colorways.
The Garmin Instinct 2 (standard), on the other hand, is slimmer with a rugged build, appealing to individuals with slightly smaller wrists. The 0.9” x 0.9”, 124 PPI, 176 x 176 pixels transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) display is surrounded by a fiber-reinforced polymer bezel and casing with chemically strengthened glass on top.
At 45 x 45 x 14.5 mm and weighing 53 grams, the Instinct 2 comes in Graphite, Electric Lime, and Mavericks colorways. It offers a 22-mm quick-fit silicone band.
Both models come with Garmin’s typical five-button setup, with two on the right and three on the left. They don’t support touchscreens, but most of the features on Garmin smartwatches turn off touch screens, so it isn’t required anyway. But they have always-on display support, which means your watch will show something instead of a black, blank screen.
Both have a rating of 10 ATM for water resistance, and they can withstand underwater for up to 100 metres, meaning you can use them while swimming and deep diving.
Garmin Instinct 2X Solar and Instinct 2 Standard: Health and Fitness Tracking
In terms of health and fitness tracking, both models offer identical features. Both can track heart rate, SpO2 (blood oxygen), resting heart rate, abnormal HR, respiration rate, stress, sleep, hydration, and women’s health.
They also offer a body battery that uses physical activity, stress, rest, heart rate, and heart rate variability (HRV) to help you get a better understanding of your health, which you can use to make smarter decisions about your body. Plus, a health snapshot tracks heart rate, stress, sleep, and respiration in 2-minute intervals.
Both can track basic activities like steps, calories burned, distance travelled, floor climbed, intensity minutes, and more. They also added a few safety features, like incident detection, live tracking, and assistance.
In terms of fitness tracking, both can track multiple sports modes, including swimming, running, walking, and cycling, while the Garmin Instinct 2X (solar) can also track team sports like basketball, volleyball, and ring sports like boxing, mixed martial arts, and much more.
Both offer VO2 max tracking, training plans, virtual partners, and much more, like the other Garmin smartwatches. But they feature recovery time (which uses training load, physical fitness, training effects, and daily health data to estimate your recovery time) and training load, providing deeper insights into your health.
Garmin Instinct 2X Solar and Instinct 2 Standard: Smartwatch Features
In terms of smartwatch features, there’s not much to get in these smartwatches as they are designed for fitness and sports activities.
Both have smart notifications, calendars, weather forecasts, battery savers, smartphone music control, find my phone, find my watch, and more. But the Garmin Instinct 2X offers few additional features, like Garmin Pay for contactless payments, multi-band GPS (that uses multiple band frequencies to get more accurate and faster readings and avoid distractions), and an LED flashlight (a handy feature for darker places and ultra runners).
These models don’t offer music support, so the storage capacity you get on other Garmin smartwatches is not available here. But they offer little storage, like the Garmin Instinct 2X, which has 64 MB, while the Garmin Instinct 2 has 32 MB to store data.
Garmin Instinct 2X Solar and Instinct 2 Standard: Battery Life
Both devices offer excellent battery life, but the Garmin Instinct 2X Solar excels with its solar charging ability.
The Instinct 2X Solar offers a battery life of 40 days in smartwatch mode and unlimited battery life with solar charging. In GPS mode, it can last up to 60 hours and 145 hours with solar. With all satellite systems and multi-band, the devices can still survive for 27 hours and 36 hours with solar.
The Instinct 2 (standard) can last for about 28 days on a single charge. With GPS enabled, the battery drops to 30 hours, which is still good compared to other watches on the market.
Remember, battery life highly depends on the individual’s usage and the features they are using on their smartwatch. Battery-consuming features like GPS and an always-on display drain more battery, which can give you more or less battery life.
Which should you choose?
The model you choose between the Garmin Instinct 2X solar and the Instinct 2 standard depends on the features you want in your smartwatch.
If you want a smartwatch with a bigger display, larger battery life, extra smartwatch features, and pricing is not your concern, then the Garmin Instinct 2X Solar might be the way to go.
But if you are tight on budget or have a slightly smaller wrist, then the Garmin Instinct 2 (standard) can be a better choice for you.
For women, people with smaller wrists or those who prefer a smaller watch, take a look at my comparison of the Garmin Instinct 2S ($299) 40-mm version vs. the Garmin Instinct 2 Standard ($299) 45-mm.