The Garmin Intuition sequence stands out for its rugged, solar-recharging watches. Not counting the spin-off fashions for truck drivers, troopers, or surfers, most Garmin Intuition 2 patrons in all probability select it for its long-lived simplicity. You strap it in your wrist, begin an exercise, after which overlook about it.
With the Garmin Intuition 2X Photo voltaic, the prolific health watch model modified its technique a bit. On the software program entrance, the 2X is much much less bare-bones than its predecessors, including fashionable instruments like Coaching Readiness and the Morning Report that the sluggish Intuition 2 chip could not deal with. And for {hardware}, Garmin poached the extra environment friendly photo voltaic panel and LED flashlight from the thousand-dollar Fenix 7X.
I cherished the Garmin Instinct 2 Solar after I reviewed it final yr, however what a distinction a yr makes! The Intuition 2X Photo voltaic is not simply an iterative improve: its enhancements to ruggedness, battery life, and software program instruments make it much less of a stark downgrade in comparison with Forerunner or Venu fashions that price the identical however have a lot higher software program suites and shows.
The newly enlarged Garmin Intuition 2X Photo voltaic might really feel too cumbersome for smaller wrists, and it lacks key options that extra specialised Garmin watches provide. Regardless of that, this new mannequin is definitely top-of-the-line health watches of the yr, even when — like the opposite Instincts — it isn’t for everybody.
Garmin Intuition 2X Photo voltaic: Worth and fashions
The Garmin Intuition 2X Photo voltaic launched in April 2023 at $450, the identical value because the 2022 Garmin Intuition 2 Photo voltaic — although that mannequin typically sells at a reduction in the present day. It is obtainable via Garmin’s personal web site, in addition to just a few outdoorsy retailers like Backcountry and (technically) Amazon through third-party sellers.
Garmin additionally sells a Garmin Intuition 2X Photo voltaic Tactical Version for $500, with all the identical specs and perks together with just a few particular software program instruments like a Kill Swap, Stealth Mode, Evening Imaginative and prescient Mode, Jumpmaster Mode, and Ballistics software program. Our Instinct 2X vs. 2X Tactical information runs via the variations in additional depth.
Not like the usual Intuition 2 sequence, you will not discover a non-Photo voltaic model of the 2X for $100 much less. Additionally, the opposite Intuition 2 special-edition fashions (Camo, Surf, and dēzl) didn’t switch to the 2X sequence.
The primary Garmin Intuition 2X Photo voltaic colours embrace Graphite, Moss, Whitestone, and Flame Crimson; the Tactical Version ships in Black and Coyote Tan.
Garmin Intuition 2X Photo voltaic design and show
If you happen to examine the Garmin Instinct 2X Solar vs. 2 Solar on the floor degree, it is clear the newer mannequin took the identical design and made it bigger, with just a few tweaks. Except you’ve got educated your wrist muscle groups with the bigger Fenix or Enduro watches, the Intuition 2X Photo voltaic goes to really feel heavier than you are used to.
The unique Intuition 2 Photo voltaic weighed on the greater finish of a “regular” Garmin watch at 53g with strap, however due to the thick, elevated bezel, it might solely squeeze in a 0.9-inch show, a part of which is taken up by the second round window. That, mixed with the wimpy backlight, meant you needed to maintain it fairly near your face to learn notifications.
Selecting the Intuition 2X Photo voltaic means the case dimension jumps from 45mm to 50mm. That further area boosts the show to a extra affordable 1.1 inches however provides one other 14g of weight. The 2X rests flat in opposition to your wrist, and the bigger case means the additional mass distributes extra broadly in your wrist. It is extra snug than I anticipated at first, however I am unable to deny that it is heavier and extra noticeable than earlier than.
By itself deserves, the monochrome Intuition 2X Photo voltaic show is low-resolution and never particularly nice to take a look at, even in comparison with different memory-in-pixel Garmin shows. It is a trade-off that pays off in higher battery life.
However within the context of the Intuition lineup, the 2X has the finest show attributable to its dimension and brightness. And the elevated bezel seems extra pure on the 2X as a result of the bigger show does not really feel as tightly enveloped by it. It is extra proportional, in different phrases.
At the usual 20% backlight manufacturing facility settings, the Intuition 2X show is infinitely extra readable than the final technology. Higher distinction between the white textual content and black background makes the two Photo voltaic show look surprisingly boring in hindsight. Simply be certain to allow the “After sundown” setting for Gesture raise-to-wake; with out it, the Intuition 2X is totally unreadable away from direct lighting till you press a button.
Garmin additionally made the newer watch MIL-STD-810 compliant for thermal and shock harm; though the Intuition 2 Photo voltaic was thermal and shock resistant, you needed to pay further for the Tactical Version to get “official” safety. Not anymore! Maybe that is simply affirmation bias, however the Intuition 2X Photo voltaic bezel polymer appears to be barely firmer than the older watch, which tracks with this alteration.
I additionally respect that the Garmin Intuition 2X buttons provide a satisfying click on whenever you press them, a returning high quality from the final mannequin. I’ve discovered many Garmin Forerunner and Venu watch buttons annoyingly squishy and unreliable, however the Intuition provides you a pleasant textured really feel and deliberate tactile suggestions.
Nonetheless, you are going to miss the shortage of a touchscreen whenever you click on one-by-one via plenty of Settings and Look widgets.
The 2-window show makes use of the devoted round area to point out vital information like your coronary heart price throughout a exercise, or an icon when a notification or menu. Typically talking, I discover this mini-data window helpful.
Since I have not examined a Garmin Fenix but, that is my first mannequin with exterior screws on the outer case. I will admit my ignorance right here and say I do not know what the profit is of exposing these, besides maybe for simpler repairs or match changes. Subjectively, I would say they appear fairly neat, however others will not like how they conflict with the remainder of the bezel.
Garmin Intuition 2X Photo voltaic sensors and software program
| Specs | Garmin Intuition 2X Photo voltaic |
|---|---|
| Supplies | Polymer case & bezel, Energy Glass lens |
| Show sort | Monochrome, sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) |
| Show dimension | 1.1-inch, 176 x 176 |
| Safety | 10ATM, MIL-STD-810 for thermal, shock and water resistance |
| Measurement & weight | 50 x 50 x 14.5 mm, 67g |
| Watch band | 26mm band, 145-228mm wrist circumference |
| LED flashlight | White (4 intensities), Crimson (low), Strobe: Blink, Blitz, Beacon, Pulse, and Customized |
| Positioning | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, All Programs GNSS, Multi-Band GPS |
| Sensors | Altimeter, Compass, Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Thermometer, Pulse Ox |
| Reminiscence/ historical past | 64MB |
| Colours | Graphite, Moss, Whitestone, Flame Crimson |
Garmin gave the Intuition 2X Photo voltaic the entire sensors you’d want in a mountaineering watch: an altimeter to correctly measure elevation, a compass for orientation, and an accelerometer and gyroscope to correctly measure (amongst different issues) distance calculations, swimming motions, and fitness center train reps.
Just like the Forerunner 265 and different current Garmin fashions, the Intuition 2X Photo voltaic has each All-Programs GNSS and Multi-Band GPS monitoring choices, supplying you with rather more pinpoint outcomes on your runs and hikes. I discovered the Intuition 2X Photo voltaic extremely correct to my real-life working path on the upper settings, sticking to my precise path even when my routes took me beneath satellite tv for pc obstacles.
The one factor it is lacking is the brand new SatIQ system that auto-switches between settings each time it senses these obstacles, so that you solely use the battery-guzzling multi-band setting whenever you want it. Although the Intuition 2X Photo voltaic has an absurdly {powerful} battery life on paper, it isn’t limitless; SatIQ would have been a welcome addition.
Reasonably than checklist out each Garmin software program characteristic obtainable on the Intuition 2X Photo voltaic, I’ve grouped them into classes beneath exhibiting what you possibly can count on from it.
Well being monitoring: As with most Garmin watches, you get all-day coronary heart price monitoring, stress monitoring, respiration information, and (in case you allow it) blood oxygen ranges, in addition to detailed sleep monitoring information. It makes use of this information to assist generate a Body Battery score. A much less widespread instrument is coronary heart price variability (HRV) standing, which may be very helpful for precisely judging your restoration from robust exercises (or an excessive amount of ingesting).
Coaching information: Utilizing working for instance, your Intuition 2X Photo voltaic will present you the coaching impact of a run, advocate how lengthy you’ll want to recuperate afterward and recommend each day exercises based mostly in your vitality degree and coaching readiness. You may see your present efficiency situation and certain race tempo earlier than an occasion, and get guided throughout a run in case you’re off your goal tempo.
New options: The Morning Report widget sleep high quality, native climate, beneficial exercise, and different information whenever you first get up. Grade-adjusted tempo reveals how briskly you are working or biking relative to the uphill or downhill slope you are on. Coaching Readiness is my favourite new characteristic from the Forerunner sequence, combining your sleep and stress scores, acute load, HRV standing, restoration time, and different information to inform you in case you’re able to work out — and at what depth.
In comparison with most Forerunner watches, you will miss out on particular instruments like Pacepro, wrist-based working type information, or full-color maps. However you’ve many extra outside sports activities profiles like impediment course racing to take pleasure in, and you may pre-download mountaineering trails and use breadcrumb path routing to comply with a mapped line to your vacation spot.
Actually, the largest drawback with the Intuition 2X Photo voltaic, identical to its predecessor, is that it typically suffers from lag. You may discover minor delays when scrolling via menus, or lengthy loading screens in particular situations like ending a exercise. There is no Wi-Fi for downloading updates or course information, both.
Garmin Intuition 2X Photo voltaic flashlight
Essentially the most thrilling characteristic of the Intuition 2X Photo voltaic is the LED flashlight, or “Torch” because it’s labeled on the watch itself. It provides you a technique to sign your presence or mild your path ahead throughout evening runs and rides.
At any time, you possibly can double-tap the top-left button to show the flashlight on or off. Maintain down that button, and you will find the Torch and Strobe settings. Torch helps you to select one in every of 4 intensities for the white LED, the one pink LED, or (on the Tactical Version) the inexperienced LED.
Strobe helps you to select between completely different LED-blinking patterns: Blink, Blitz, Beacon, Pulse, and Customized. The latter helps you to select the sample, pace, and shade. Utilizing a Strobe setting will be a good way to sign to different runners and cyclists that you simply’re there.
There’s additionally one final Torch setting: Cadence. If you happen to go into your Run exercise settings, you possibly can allow it so the flashlight shines to match your working stride, both always or solely after sundown.
My smartphone digital camera’s automated mild adjustment makes it tough to point out precisely how a lot the Intuition 2X Photo voltaic brightens an space. In individual, the white LED does handle to light up the realm in entrance of you at greater intensities…however provided that you retain your arm parallel to your chest, so the flashlight faces ahead.
With a pure working or strolling movement, you will get glimpses of what is forward, however then your arm will draw again. The Intuition 2X flashlight is undoubtedly useful, nevertheless it does imply holding your watch hand extra rigidly than you usually would.
The opposite caveat to recollect is that the LED completely consumes the Garmin Intuition 2X Photo voltaic battery, particularly at excessive intensities and paired with GPS monitoring.
Whenever you activate the flashlight, the battery estimate on the watch auto-updates. When my watch confirmed 14 days of battery left, I began working with the flashlight energetic and swapped between the 4 intensities; the estimated time remaining switched to six hours on the lowest depth and 1–2 hours on the highest depth, finally exhibiting a “Low” battery warning.
In different phrases, in case you go for a run with multi-band GPS and the full-power flashlight energetic, even at full cost, the Intuition 2X Photo voltaic might solely final you a few hours at most. However in case you make do with a lower-intensity setting, it ought to simply final via a protracted nighttime run with battery to spare.
Garmin Intuition 2X Photo voltaic battery and photo voltaic recharge
The most important enhance between the Intuition 2 Photo voltaic and 2X Photo voltaic is in battery life. Apart from having a bigger battery capability, the 2X Energy Glass panel is (based on Garmin) 50% extra environment friendly than the earlier technology.
I assumed to check this for myself by placing each watches in a sunny spot in my yard and see how the lux hours registered on each gadgets. Sadly, I forgot that the older mannequin solely reveals a proportion, so I could not immediately examine what a “100%” cost means for one or the opposite.
So we’ve got to depend on the official numbers from Garmin, which inform a fairly clear story:
| Battery mode | Garmin Intuition 2X Photo voltaic | Garmin Intuition 2 Photo voltaic |
|---|---|---|
| Smartwatch mode | 40 days / Limitless with photo voltaic | 28 days / Limitless with photo voltaic |
| GPS solely | 60 hours / 145 with photo voltaic | 30 hours / 48 with photo voltaic |
| All Satellite tv for pc Programs | 40 hours / 65 with photo voltaic | 🚫 |
| All + Multi-Band | 27 hours / 36 with photo voltaic | 🚫 |
| Max Battery GPS Mode | 150 hours / Limitless with photo voltaic | 70 hours / 370 with photo voltaic |
| Expedition GPS Exercise | 60 days / Limitless with photo voltaic | 32 days / Limitless with photo voltaic |
If you happen to stick with GPS or one of many extra intermittent monitoring settings like Expedition Mode, you possibly can monitor your self for weeks at a time, although provided that you get not less than 3 hours of daylight per day. The impact is lessened considerably in case you use extra correct monitoring, however even then, the 2X Photo voltaic in multi-band mode lasts simply 3 hours lower than the two Photo voltaic in GPS mode (ignoring photo voltaic recharge).
The Intuition 2X Photo voltaic will solely be “limitless” in case you stick with very primary well being monitoring and notification checking. The extra you activate GPS, or most particularly the flashlight, the extra you will miss out on battery life.
Regardless of this, over 100 hours of GPS monitoring, or 65 with the default All-Programs monitoring, is head and shoulders above another GPS watch I’ve ever examined. This is what makes the low-res show price it to individuals who want constant battery life for lengthy intervals with no assure of with the ability to cost their watch.
With out this {powerful} capability, you would not be capable to help a built-in LED flashlight within the first place!
As a last level, I really like that I can truly see the real-time daylight information on my watch, each in graph type and on the primary watch face. Like monitoring my each day steps, it feels prefer it virtually gamifies the solar-recharging perk, as I attempt to get outdoors extra and hit a sure lux threshold to regain misplaced battery life.
Competitors
As this overview has in all probability made clear, the Intuition 2 Photo voltaic is smaller, has no flashlight, is lacking just a few key software program instruments, and has a much less readable show. However in case you see one for $100 lower than the 2X Photo voltaic, and also you’re somebody with a smaller wrist, chances are you’ll settle for these downgrades. Or, you possibly can take a look at the hybrid Instinct Crossover mannequin with comparable options (together with a photo voltaic panel) and conventional watch fingers for a extra retro look.
If you’d like a long-lasting smartwatch however do not persistently get open air sufficient for a photo voltaic panel to repay, take into account the COROS APEX 2 Pro. It truly beats the Intuition 2X with 75 GPS hours or 45 All-Programs GNSS hours (with out taking photo voltaic into consideration), and has a a lot greater shade LCD show, trendy titanium casing and Sapphire Glass, and loads of helpful software program instruments that mirror Garmin’s.
In any other case, you will clearly need to take a look at the opposite fantastic Garmin watches on the market. The Venu sequence is, in some ways, the inverse of the Intuition sequence, focusing extra on a trendy show and way of life options like music storage and a mic/speaker for cellphone calls. Or, for rugged designs paired with higher shows, you will have to show to the costlier Fenix sequence.
Garmin Intuition 2X Photo voltaic: Must you purchase it?
You should purchase the Intuition 2X Photo voltaic if…
- Lengthy battery life is your primary concern.
- You want a design rugged sufficient to deal with something you throw at it.
- You possibly can’t afford a Garmin Fenix, Enduro, or Epix watch, however need the subsequent neatest thing.
You should not purchase the Intuition 2X Photo voltaic if…
- You need a watch that feels mild and breezy.
- Tons of battery life is superfluous to you.
- You care extra about smarts and cellphone connectivity than health monitoring.
The Garmin Intuition 2X Photo voltaic is not designed with me in thoughts. I, sadly, do not get sufficient outing within the daylight to learn from the photo voltaic panel or embark on excursions the place an ultra-rugged design is important. Nonetheless, I can respect a terrific health look ahead to what it’s, even when I am not the target market.
I do actually like having the flashlight for when my night runs take longer than anticipated, and I would positive love for this instrument to finish up on different Garmin fashions just like the Forerunner sequence sooner or later. But it surely in all probability will not work on one other mannequin since you want an ultra-powerful battery for it to persist lengthy sufficient to be definitely worth the addition.
In the end, I extremely advocate the Garmin Intuition 2X Photo voltaic to anybody who suits the standards above and may deal with carrying a bigger watch than what most individuals are used to. I referred to as the Intuition 2 Photo voltaic the “marathoner of health smartwatches” in my overview final yr, which makes the Intuition 2X Photo voltaic the ultramarathoner.
A rugged design, improved software program, ridiculously good battery life and photo voltaic recharge, and the helpful new flashlight make the 2X top-of-the-line health watches of the yr.