Garmin Instinct® 3 Tactical Edition, 50mm, Solar Charged Display, Rugged Outdoor GPS Smartwatch

I absolutely love this watch. The light feature on it is my favorite things because I often need light and not having to dig through my pockets for my other flashlight is a thing of the past with this watch. The size is perfect and so far it has been durable, I’m not testing it in harsh conditions because I love this watch to much to want it potentially broken but it feels like it can take a beating and keep going. Connecting everything can be confusing and challenging because there are so many different modes but that’s because it gives me a lot of features that are amazing.

I received the watch and was excited because I loved my Instinct 1. Out of the box, it’s an awesome looking watch, tons of useful features and comfortable.Then it updated. The update caused it to just constantly trigger a low power mode and wouldn’t stay connected to my phone. I sent an email to Garmin and the response back was that the problem was already addressed in a forum post and I can’t even keep either try that or just wait for an update to come out and fix it.I attempted the forum update, but since my watch wouldn’t stay connected, it couldn’t update and attempting to do that, the software version now shows 0.0.0. Garmin not only wasn’t helpful, but further broke the watch firmware after ignoring the fact I told them that the watch wouldn’t stay connected.I have put so much faith in Garmin products and this experience has lost them a customer along with more customers with the connections I have in the firearms and training industry. Unacceptable customer service for a company to just say “deal with it and wait” instead of working to fix the issue.

Great watch. The solar charging is an improvement over the last Instinct 2x. Gives me an estimated 48 days of battery life. Solar charging makes it last almost forever without the need to charge, assuming you aren't using everything all at once. I'm outside a lot and I've never had this watch drop more than 5% battery life since I got it. Would highly recommend it if you're an outdoors type of person. Fishing, hiking, camping. Well worth the price and it's comfortable enough to were even to bed. I'd recommend getting the larger size just for readability, and it stays connected to GPS without a problem. The size doesn't effect its weight, it's still just as lightweight as the last model.

Great battery life, easy navigation, super rugged.

Compared to the release of the original I3 and the crooked displays, this one was a good release. There really isn’t much to talk about from a feature standpoint, since it’s identical to the I3 with the exception of a green back light and some additional software features related to the tactical series. Overall, I think this is a good watch. One difference that I’m noticing is that the display seems a lot more recessed than previous models so it seems to be better protected.

I just bought this watch from Amazon about a week in a half ago. My watch constantly goes into low battery mode even though it is fully charged. I upgraded the firmware to the latest version after starting it. When plugged in it'll say 100% and 43 days but after you unplug it, it goes into low bat mode. I worked with Garmin trouble shoot tech Chat for almost an hour and Travis had me reboot, redownload the new firmware and finally reset to factory. It looked like it was working but about 15 minutes after the Chat ended the watch went back into low bat screen mode. Finally Garmin said to send it back. Spoke with Sports & Gadgets, who the watch came from, and they sent me a pre-paid return postage through UPS. I returned it through UPS on June 5, 2025 and am awaiting my refund. This is my second Garmin watch. My first I2 tactical was terrific and had no problems. Hope to try again with another I3 when the price is right.

I’ve had this watch for about a week now and I love it. I’ve owned many garmin instincts and I just love the all black on this. It is a little pricey and not many features that stand out but for me personally it was worth it and I’m enjoying it. All that matters is if YOU like it.

My new Garmin Instict 3 Tac jumps between 100% charge and 0%charge disabling most of the watches functionality. This happens every few minutes making the watch completely useless. I troubleshooted the issue but nothing helps. I've owned every instict, inreach, and even the MARQ, but I have ran into this much difficulty. Disappointing. Maybe wait a while untill you buy.Update: software issue with the last update. If this is happening to you the only way to fix it right now is to opt into the Beta program on the Garmin Connect website to unlock the next update early. You can opt out of the Beta program with a single click at any time.