Wearables are broadly categorized into fitness bands and smartwatches, but I struggle to put a label on the latest Instinct Crossover. Garmin calls it a rugged GPS multisport smartwatch, and that sounds appropriate. Part of the Instinct series, the Crossover is a device that stands out from the flock — both visually and because of the features it brings to the table…or, in this case, your wrist. At Rs 55,990, it’s definitely not for the faint-hearted or light-pocketed, and it requires some serious commitment beyond its cool looks. Let me try to summarize the pros and cons below.
what is good
- Right from the start, the Instinct Crossover impresses with its looks. Of course, you might not like it if you don’t like chunky watches, but other than that, it’s a great looking Casio G-Shock that can’t be missed. The Crossover is actually a hybrid device that features physical clock hands placed on a digital display. Hands with time markings are luminous and can be seen from up to a mile away. Whichever way you swing it, the bold look of the Instinct Crossover is hard to ignore if it’s sitting on any wrist in the vicinity. Plus, it’s a design that shouldn’t look out of place no matter where you are – in the club or inside a boardroom. Of course, they feel at home in the great outdoors, which is their natural habitat anyway.
- The Instinct Crossover is very durable and inspires confidence. Now I usually handle reviewers using kid gloves, avoiding situations where they are likely to be subjected to rough use. But the crossover is built to handle that, and its rugged build made me feel confident enough to wear it on a recent outdoor trip. It meets MIL-STD-810 military standards as far as durability is concerned and is impervious to rain, dust, temperature extremes, shock, high altitudes, and low air pressure as well. It is water resistant up to 100 metres.
- Despite its sturdy build, the watch is surprisingly lightweight and can be worn for extended periods of time without weighing down your wrist. The straps are completely comfortable and do not cause any kind of irritation to the skin.
- With the upgraded chip and support for a large number of positioning systems, the GPS tracking on the Instinct Crossover is extremely accurate. Apart from tracking outdoor running and cycling, the device offers advanced features like TracBack, which allows you to retrace your steps. There’s also LiveTrack, a feature that lets emergency contacts track your location while you’re out jogging.
- While I’m on the topic of safety features, there are others too. There is an Assistance feature that allows you to request assistance from your emergency contacts directly from the watch, an Incident Detection feature that uses the sensors on the watch to determine if you are in a mishap during an outdoor activity, and alerts emergency contacts via SMS or SMS. e-mail. Incident Detection can be set on or off on a per-activity basis, although I really can’t understand why anyone would want to turn it off.
- There’s support for over 30 indoor and outdoor sports modes, and everything from skiing, swimming, hiking, rowing, and strength training to basics like running and cycling are covered. The health features include pretty much everything you’d expect too — steps, calories, distance, heart rate, blood oxygen, stress, and sleep. While most are quite accurate in terms of the data captured, the blood oxygen levels displayed seem minuscule to me, though I wouldn’t really count that as a deal breaker.
- In terms of smart features, the watch displays notifications from a paired smartphone, automatically moving the analog hands to the 9.15 time position so you can read the digital screen without hindrance. There is no way to respond to these notifications, at least not when the watch is paired with an iPhone. Other features include standard features like weather, calendar, etc.
- The watch syncs to a smartphone using the Garmin Connect app, and you’ll also need ConnectIQ to download more watch faces, apps, etc. While I think the Connect app is quite overloaded and a little confusing at first glance (more on that later), it shows a lot of data and directions About your physical activity…something that could be used for fitness enthusiasts, those training for marathons or others just generally interested in a little more insight.
- I think the battery life is pretty good. On paper, the Instinct Crossover is rated to deliver up to 28 days, and they also have a solar version (priced around Rs 6,000 more) that can last even longer. In real-world use though, with usage that includes 30 minutes of daily GPS-based workouts, constantly paired with a phone and several apps that send notifications, the Crossover is my latest in a week. By switching to intermittent syncing, it can extend to 10-14 days or so, which is pretty good. One point to note is that if you have a lot of apps pushing notifications to the watch, your battery life takes a hit because the clock moves to the 9.15 time position for each notification. So limiting notifications might be one way to extend battery life.
- It’s also worth noting that since this is a hybrid smartwatch, the customization options in terms of watch faces etc. are quite limited, at least when compared to regular smartwatches. Just something to keep in mind.
What is not good
- The Garmin Instinct Crossover doesn’t let you store and play music from local storage, which seems like a miss considering it’s a premium smartwatch. Comes with music controls, allowing you to control playback on a paired phone.
- The Garmin Instinct Crossover doesn’t have a touch screen, and the 0.9-by-0.9-inch monochrome transflective display, while easy to read in bright light, feels a bit cramped for all the information it displays. Your interaction with the watch is done through the five buttons on the side – three on the left and two on the right. The good part is that the button-based interaction allows you to use the watch with gloves on, but it’s not as intuitive as using a touch screen and involves a bit of a learning curve before you get used to the process.
- The Garmin Connect app, as mentioned earlier, seems a bit dense and may be confusing for first-time users. It packs a lot of data, which is both a good and a bad thing depending on how you feel about it. However, it does take some time to get used to where each function, option, and setting is located..both in the app and on the watch.
to rule
Garmin Instinct Crossover comes with a sticker price of Rs 55,990 and if you pay another Rs 6,000, you can get the solar version which promises longer battery life. Just to put things into perspective, 6,000 rupees can get you a decent fitness watch these days. Of course, this is not relevant here. However, what is clear is that the Garmin Instinct Crossover isn’t for everyone. If you are into outdoor sports and consider yourself a serious fitness enthusiast, this might be an investment worth making. There’s no real competition for it either, except for the much more expensive Apple Watch Ultra. I haven’t tried it, so I can’t say how good or bad it is in comparison, but it looks like Apple has a long way to go before it can catch up with Garmin in terms of adventure watches. That day, while window shopping, I stopped outside a watch shop window and noticed the words, “It looks good, it tells the time.” I can’t help but think how core fitness teams can do so much more. Applying the same to the Garmin Instinct Crossover, I think the watch does a lot more than your typical premium smartwatch, and its capabilities can help you push your boundaries, if you feel like it.
Editor’s rating: 4/5
Positives:
- Good looking, solid build
- Comfortable and lightweight
- Tons of health, fitness and safety features
- Strong battery life
cons:
- It can be too bulky for some
- No touch screen
- It may not be to everyone’s liking
- The price