Back in January I purchased the Garmin Instinct fitness watch. As I detailed here, I considered some other Garmin watches but they were all out of my price range. One of the watches on my preliminary list until I saw the price was the Fenix 3. At a list price of $499 the Fenix 3 was out of my price range which is part of why I ultimately purchased the Instinct. Amazon now has that watch listed at $319.
I don’t at all regret buying the Garmin Instinct. Other than the minor annoyance of it or the Garmin Connect app not always syncing with Strava, I’m very happy with the Instinct. That said, if I could have gotten the Fenix 3 for it’s current sale price, I would have jumped on it.
Should You Buy a Fitness Watch?
Ultimately, only you can make that call. As I wrote a couple of weeks ago,
the decision to buy a fitness watch depends on your goals, needs, and budget. If you’re just starting to work on your physical fitness, there are much better places to spend your money (better food, a trainer, yoga classes, fitness class). If you already have the exercise habit and want to improve your training, a fitness watch could help you get a little more out of your workouts and or create a little more accountability in your fitness habit.