Garmin has a line of hybrid smartwatches called Vivomove. “Hybrid” means that there are analog watch hands like classic watch (well, not quite – they are electronically controlled) as well as a digital display. The Vivomove series has a stylish design and is not particularly rugged. The more adventurous types should look at the new model instead – the Garmin Instinct Crossover.
It based on the new Instinct 2 series,
making it pretty rugged – the watch is rated for 10 ATM water resistance and is
built to a MIL-STD-810 standard for thermal and shock resistance. Unlike its
siblings, the Crossover has analog hands controlled by the new RevoDrive
technology. It can automatically calibrate itself if the hands go out of
alignment after the watch suffers a hefty whack. The analog hands give it a
classic look (we get G-Shock vibes from those chunky bezels) and serve as an
always-on display – you can always tell the time, even in the dark thanks to
the Super-LumiNova coating on the hands and chapter ring.
Like other Instinct watches, the Crossover
has a solar charging option – in battery save mode the watch has practically
infinite battery life (assuming it spends at least 3 hours out in the sun each
day). You will be using it in smartwatch mode most of the time, then battery
life is up to 70 days and GPS tracking time is up to 31 hours. This is with
frequent tracking, the solar-powered watches in Expedition GPS mode can last
nearly a year! Even without solar charging (which costs a bit extra) the
battery life can make other smartwatches jealous – up to 28 days in smartwatch
mode (up to 71 hours in power saver mode) and up to 25 hours of GPS tracking.
The Instinct Crossover brings the typical
smartwatch and health tracking features. It can measure your VO2 Max, calculate
your “fitness age”, report training status/load/effect and calculate a recovery
time. It also features Advanced Sleep Monitoring with a Sleep Score and Body
Battery. It supports Garmin Pay as well as the Connect IQ app store. It has
multi-GNSS tracking and TracBack routing (which can guide you to your starting
location). The watch has the so-called ABC sensors – Altimeter, Barometer and
Compass. It can also connect to additional sensors and other hardware over
Bluetooth and ANT+.
The Garmin Instinct Crossover starts at US$ 500 for the base version, solar costs US$ 50 on top of that (for comparison, the
Instinct 2 line starts at US$ 350). You can find the new model over on Garmin.com.
There is also a Tactical edition, which is compatible with night vision
goggles, has a stealth mode, a dual-format GPS readout and a kill switch
(Garmin sells watches to the military and is popular with hunters).