Garmin Instinct 2X Solar Smartwatch Flexes Infinite Battery Life And LED Flashlight
Popular GPS navigation and wearable brand Garmin has added two more solar-powered watches to its catalog, putting extra heat to the highly contested purpose-built GPS smartwatch arena. The Instinct 2X Solar takes the previous Instinct 2 Solar and adds a display that absorbs 50 percent more electrons from our Sun, plus it incorporates a dedicated smart LED flashlight.
Called Power Glass (in Garmin parlance), the in-display solar panel can drive the watch indefinitely when left in smartwatch mode. Obviously, that takes a hit whenever GPS and/or fitness tracking are activated, but having a watch that self-charges via the sun is definitely handy if you don't have access to a charger.
New to the 2X line is a built-in LED flashlight located on the topside of the watch. Garmin did not provide the max lumens rating on the variable brightness white/red diode, but based on the photos, it looks to at least match your average smartphone flash. The light also has a neat smart safety strobe feature where the light will match your running cadence while alternate between white and red for greater visibility.
The Instinct 2x Solar - Tactical Edition is, as the name and much bulkier size implies, is built for tactical operations. It comes with features to match its mission such as Jumpmaster parachuting mode, ballistics calculator, kill switch to immediately wipe all user data from the device, Stealth mode that prevents GPS position and wireless sharing, among others. Instead of the white/red LED setup in the standard 2X, the Tactical Edition has a white/green type instead.
Both watches pack Garmin's latest in 24/7 health tracking functions (such as respiration, HR, sleep, SpO2, and hydration tracking), fitness/training tracking and analysis for a wide range of sports, GNSS multi-band support, breadcrumbing, plus access to Garmin's vast community of users and support.
The Instinct 2X Solar retails right now for $450, while the 2X Solar - Tactical Edition can be had for $500.
