Quote Originally Posted by PeteS View Post
So I went for the Garmin Instinct. In the end, it was the more rugged styling and barometric altimeter that swung it. I felt the Garmin 735 XT would have got trashed a some point during a fell race and the extra protection of the bevel on the Instinct would certainly protect the screen more. I have been very impressed so far - so much so that although I intended to really only use it as an activity watch, I now wear it on a daily basis. I've only done one race and few training runs but it has been great for those. Had to reconfigure the display so make it more readable at speed but otherwise no real problems. The Garmin Connect app is great, connects seamlessly to the watch and uploads direct to Strava. All the stats you could possibly want on your phone.
Battery life so far has been excellent. I've charged it once since its initial charge 10 days ago and it is still on 80% battery.
GPS acquisition is quick - less than a minute each time I've recorded an activity.
Altimeter/barometer seem accurate. I had to manually recalibrate after I got home from a trip to Wales but I guess that would be normal after a long trip.
Compass also accurate and not needed calibrating yet.
HRM - although I wasn't that fussed for this initially, it doesn't seem to have any problems and it provides some good metrics I may incorporate into my training. Seems possible to broadcast this to other devices so hoping I can get connect this up to my cycle computer.
Not tried any of the finer points on the navigation side but that's not really why I bought it.
All round, I've been very impressed so far and would certainly recommend it.
It looks good Pete. I'm considering treating myself at Xmas.

the 735 XT has a look of the Forerunner 220 which I've had for around 4-5 years now and the only issues I have with it are battery life which used to be OK for 5-6 hours and now is down to around 3-4, and then the occasional software glitch as I think the device isn't supported as it was in the early years.

I haven't actually looked at what is in the market at the moment so pleased to see your comments.