Garmin Instinct 2 Solar vs Garmin Fenix 7S
🗓️ Release Year
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: 2022
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: 2022
🏃 Activity
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: The Garmin Instinct 2 Solar is a purpose-built, rugged outdoor GPS smartwatch designed for extended adventures and comprehensive activity tracking, featuring enhanced battery life through solar charging. It accurately tracks steps, distance, calories burned, and active minutes with customizable daily goals. Its extensive activity profiles are tailored for a wide range of outdoor pursuits, offering reliable data for prolonged training and exploration in demanding environments.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: The Garmin Fenix 7S is a high-performance multisport GPS smartwatch designed for demanding outdoor activities and comprehensive fitness tracking, specifically scaled for smaller wrists. It meticulously records steps, distance, calories burned, and active minutes with personalized daily goals. Its robust activity profiles and performance metrics are tailored for a wide range of sports and adventures, offering detailed insights into every movement in a more compact form factor.
❤️ Health Monitoring
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: This device provides continuous heart rate monitoring, stress tracking, and detailed sleep tracking for insights into daily well-being and recovery. The integrated Pulse Ox sensor allows for blood oxygen saturation monitoring, particularly useful for altitude acclimatization and assessing physiological status during extended demanding activities, supported by consistent power from solar input.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: This device provides continuous heart rate monitoring, advanced physiological metrics including VO2 max estimation, performance condition, and training status. It also tracks respiration rate, Pulse Ox for blood oxygen saturation, and sleep analysis, offering critical health and recovery data essential for optimizing training and overall well-being in challenging environments, adapted for a smaller size.
🔋 Battery Life
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: A key highlight of the Instinct 2 Solar is its exceptional battery life, significantly extended by solar charging. It provides up to 28 days in smartwatch mode and up to 30 hours with continuous GPS active, with the potential for virtually unlimited battery life in smartwatch mode with sufficient solar exposure, making it an ideal companion for multi-week expeditions where charging is impractical.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: The Fenix 7S offers strong battery longevity for its size, providing up to 11 days in smartwatch mode and up to 37 hours with continuous GPS tracking. This extended battery life is crucial for multi-day expeditions and ultra-endurance events, minimizing the need for frequent recharging.
😴 Sleep Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: Sleep tracking on the Instinct 2 Solar monitors sleep stages and provides valuable insights into sleep quality, contributing to a better understanding of recovery. The data, combined with other metrics like Body Battery, helps users optimize their rest and training, with reliable overnight tracking ensured by the efficient battery management and solar capabilities.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: Advanced sleep monitoring on the Fenix 7S tracks detailed sleep stages and utilizes the Pulse Ox sensor to monitor blood oxygen levels during sleep. This provides valuable data for assessing recovery quality and informing training decisions, especially important for athletes pushing their limits, with comfortable wear during the night.
📍 GPS Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: Equipped with built-in GPS, the Instinct 2 Solar provides accurate outdoor activity tracking without needing a paired smartphone. It supports multiple satellite systems (GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo) for reliable positioning in diverse and challenging terrains, essential for navigation and route tracking during extended outdoor excursions.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: Equipped with advanced built-in GPS capabilities, the Fenix 7S provides highly accurate outdoor activity tracking and navigation without requiring a paired smartphone. It supports multiple satellite systems and offers detailed mapping features, essential for exploring remote areas and navigating complex routes, even in a compact device.
🏋️ Workout Modes
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: The Instinct 2 Solar supports a wide variety of workout modes beyond standard running and cycling, including profiles for hiking, climbing, swimming, strength training, tactical activities, and more, providing relevant metrics for each activity, with the battery capacity to track even the longest sessions.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: The Fenix 7S supports an extensive range of multisport and individual workout modes, including running, biking, swimming, hiking, trail running, skiing, snowboarding, strength training, and more. Its customizable profiles and real-time data screens provide comprehensive metrics for performance analysis across diverse activities.
💫 Exercise Recognition
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: The device includes automatic exercise detection for common activities like walking and running through its Move IQ feature, ensuring these movements are captured in the activity log even when a specific workout isn't manually started, contributing to seamless and comprehensive tracking over extended periods.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: The device includes automatic exercise detection for common activities like walking and running through its Move IQ feature, ensuring seamless recording of basic movements within the overall activity log, even during varied training days.
🍎 Compatibility
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: The Instinct 2 Solar is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones, connecting via Bluetooth for seamless data synchronization and smart notifications, ensuring connectivity is maintained even during prolonged periods in the outdoors.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: The Fenix 7S is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones, connecting via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for seamless data synchronization and smart notifications.
📲 App Support
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: Synchronization with the comprehensive Garmin Connect app provides users with detailed analysis of activity data, performance metrics, and health statistics. The app allows for planning routes, customizing watch settings, and connecting with the Garmin community, leveraging the extensive data collected by the watch during extended use.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: Synchronization with the comprehensive Garmin Connect app is central to the Fenix 7S experience, providing in-depth analysis of all tracked data, performance metrics, training insights, and recovery recommendations. The app allows for creating and syncing detailed training plans, courses, and customizing device settings.
💡 Smart Features
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: Beyond its rugged outdoor focus, the Instinct 2 Solar includes practical smart functionalities such as on-wrist notifications for calls, texts, and calendar alerts. It also features a barometric altimeter for accurate altitude tracking, a crucial tool for hikers and climbers, all powered for the long haul by solar charging.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: Beyond its primary focus on outdoor and sports performance, the Fenix 7S includes practical smart functionalities such as on-wrist notifications, Garmin Pay for contactless payments, and on-device music storage with support for streaming services, offering convenience during training and daily use in a smaller form factor.
💦 Water Resistance
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: With a robust water resistance rating of 100 meters (10 ATM), the Instinct 2 Solar is built to withstand swimming, showering, and various water activities, making it a durable and reliable device for watersports and wet environments encountered during outdoor adventures.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: With a robust water resistance rating of 100 meters (10 ATM), the Fenix 7S is engineered to withstand swimming, showering, and various water activities, making it suitable for serious water sports and providing durability in wet environments, without compromising its compact size.
⌚ Display Quality
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: The Instinct 2 Solar features a monochrome, sunlight-readable, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) display with an integrated solar charging lens. While not a color screen, this display offers excellent contrast and unparalleled readability in direct sunlight, which is essential for outdoor use, and is highly power-efficient, directly contributing to its exceptional battery life.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: The Fenix 7S features a sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) color display with a compact screen size optimized for smaller wrists while maintaining readability. This display technology offers excellent visibility in bright direct sunlight and is power-efficient, crucial for extended outdoor adventures.
👌 Ease of Use
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: The device utilizes a five-button interface, designed for reliable operation and easy navigation through menus and data screens, particularly useful in challenging conditions or while wearing gloves. This button-based interface prioritizes functionality and durability over touchscreen complexity for demanding outdoor use.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: The device offers a reliable five-button interface, which is highly functional for navigation and data access during activities, especially in challenging conditions where touchscreen interaction may be difficult. The interface is designed for intuitive use and quick access to critical information on a smaller watch face.
✨ Design and Comfort
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: The Instinct 2 Solar features a rugged and durable design built to withstand tough outdoor conditions, incorporating the solar charging lens seamlessly into the display. Its construction prioritizes resilience, while the comfortable silicone band ensures suitability for extended wear during activities and throughout multi-day excursions.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: The Fenix 7S features a compact and lightweight rugged design with a high-quality stainless steel or titanium bezel, built to withstand extreme conditions while maintaining a comfortable fit for smaller wrists during all-day wear and extended outdoor use. The design balances robust construction with wearability.
🩸 SpO2 Monitoring
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: An integrated Pulse Ox sensor allows for monitoring blood oxygen saturation levels during sleep and at altitude. This feature provides valuable data for assessing acclimatization and overall physiological well-being in varied environments, with continuous monitoring supported by the extended battery life.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: An integrated Pulse Ox sensor allows for on-demand spot checks and continuous monitoring of blood oxygen saturation levels, particularly valuable for acclimatization at altitude, monitoring sleep quality, and assessing overall physiological status during demanding activities, integrated into a smaller device.
💖 ECG Functionality
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: It is important to note that the Garmin Instinct 2 Solar does not support ECG (Electrocardiogram) functionality.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: It is important to note that the Garmin Fenix 7S does not support ECG (Electrocardiogram) functionality.
🧘 Stress Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: The Instinct 2 Solar tracks stress levels throughout the day based on heart rate variability and offers guided breathing exercises to help users manage stress, contributing to a more complete picture of their daily physiological state and recovery, essential for sustained performance in challenging situations.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: The Fenix 7S tracks stress levels throughout the day based on heart rate variability and offers guided breathing exercises to help users manage stress and promote mental well-being alongside physical training and recovery.
🩹 Recovery Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: The Body Battery energy monitoring feature provides insights into the body's energy reserves based on activity, stress, and sleep data, helping users understand their physiological readiness for training or the need for rest. This is a key feature for optimizing recovery in demanding training cycles and extended trips, with reliable data available due to the device's battery performance.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: The device provides advanced recovery insights, including a daily readiness score, recovery time advisor, training status, and training load focus, offering detailed guidance to help athletes understand their recovery needs and optimize their training schedule to prevent overtraining and improve performance in demanding activities.
💳 Subscription
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: A significant benefit of the Garmin platform is that all features and data tracked by the Instinct 2 Solar are accessible through the free Garmin Connect app, requiring no additional subscription fees for core functionality or advanced tracking features, providing comprehensive and enduring value for a rugged, outdoor-focused device with exceptional solar-enhanced battery life.
2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: A significant benefit of the Garmin platform is that all features and data tracked by the Fenix 7S are accessible through the free Garmin Connect app, requiring no additional subscription fees for core functionality or advanced training analysis, providing comprehensive value for a premium compact device.
🏷️️ Price
1️⃣ Garmin Instinct 2 Solar: $399.99
Check Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Price *2️⃣ Garmin Fenix 7S: $649.99
Check Garmin Fenix 7S Price ** If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you