The new year is almost here. This is when many of us will make a resolution to better ourselves in the new year by working out more often and eating better. Buying a new fitness watch probably won’t make you stick to your new exercise habit, but it might. If you’ve been thinking about buying a new fitness watch to start 2023, Garmin is currently offering a great deal on a great watch, the Garmin Instinct.
Depending on the color scheme that you choose, you can get the Garmin Instinct for as little as $117.99 (49% off list price). The one that I personally own and use is the Garmin Instinct in the “tundra” version and it’s available for 169.99 (32% off list price). Black, light blue, and an orange-ish color scheme are also available at similar price points (as of 10am ET on December 30th).
Garmin Instinct Review
A few years ago I wrote an extensive review of the Garmin Instinct and why I chose it. What I wrote then is still largely true today. Since then I’ve tried a similar priced watch from Suunto and more expensive watches including the Polar Grit X Pro and the Garmin Fenix 5 Series. And while subjectively the Polar Grit X Pro and Garmin Fenix series look cooler, they’re probably not worth the money for how I use them. I use all of them simply for monitoring my heart rate my workouts and for keeping track of my workout data. I have also successfully paired my Garmin Instinct to Training Peaks to display my structured workout data while I’m on my bike.
If you want features like mobile payments and music streaming on your fitness watch, the Garmin Instinct isn’t for you. Those are features you’ll get in the Fenix series watches and in some of the Forerunner series watches.
It should be noted that all of the watches I’ve mentioned above will sync to Strava.
Should You Get a Fitness Watch?
As I mentioned above, buying a new fitness watch probably isn’t going to make you stick to your New Year’s resolution to exercise more often. But they are fun to play with and it just might give you a little psychological boost to get started.