Having worn the Garmin Intuition 3 50mm AMOLED for every week, it is tough to determine methods to label it. A rugged Energizer bunny? A missed alternative? A palette swap of the Intuition 2X Photo voltaic? One other nail in MIP shows’ coffin? A “price range” choose that also prices quite a bit? Perhaps it is all the above!
Sunday Runday
On this weekly column, Android Central Wearables Editor Michael Hicks talks concerning the world of wearables, apps, and health tech associated to working and well being, in his quest to get sooner and healthier.
Many Garmin customers spend years between upgrades. Since I’ve reviewed the Intuition 2 Photo voltaic, Intuition 2X Photo voltaic, and a dozen different Garmins, it is simpler to take the flashlight, dual-band GPS, and different cool upgrades as a right, the place last-gen customers shall be excited by the innovation.
When Garmin supplied me the Intuition 3 AMOLED or Photo voltaic to overview, I selected the AMOLED without delay. Other than my deep dislike of MIP shows, I could not imagine that Garmin nonetheless gave a $450 watch the identical 1.1-inch, 176 x 176 decision show simply to prioritize “limitless battery life” and an epic 260 GPS hours over on a regular basis usability. To not point out the return of the continuously misaligned second window.
The complete-res, 1.3-inch AMOLED show seems to be beautiful on my Neo Tropic Intuition 3, decently brilliant in direct daylight and accentuated by the shiny orange aluminum bezel that catches mild alongside its edge. You dip from over a month or two of photo voltaic battery life to 18–24 days. However a minimum of your notifications and information graphs are extra readable, and it stays longer-lived than the Venu 3 or Forerunner 265.
Nonetheless, I feel the Garmin Intuition 3 AMOLED wanted a trademark characteristic, much like the Photo voltaic model’s “limitless” battery shtick. Garmin in all probability thought the flashlight and ruggedness certified. However I feel lastly placing offline maps or LTE on a mid-range Garmin watch would’ve been the actual game-changer.
As an alternative, Garmin made compromises with the Intuition 3 software program and options that really feel designed to upsell you to the $900 Enduro 3 to get the actual 2025 Garmin adventurer expertise.
Everybody besides Garmin received the offline maps memo
Garmin might have kicked off the MIP-to-AMOLED transition amongst working watch manufacturers, however its rivals rapidly adopted swimsuit. And while you have a look at the $399 COROS PACE Professional, $399 Polar Vantage M3, or $449 Suunto Race, you may discover all of them added offline maps to go along with their new AMOLED shows.
Most working watches allow you to obtain a GPX route from Strava or create one out of your watch’s companion app, then observe turn-by-turn instructions with a line exhibiting a breadcrumb path of GPS information factors you’ve got hit in case you might want to retrace your steps. That line appeared on a clean display, with no visible context for trails, streets, or hills.
Then, the higher-end watches began including downloadable offline maps that contextualized your route. You may see how the GPX route and GPS breadcrumbs aligned with real-world geography, making it simpler to know the place you are going or for those who’ve strayed from the right path.
Garmin restricts this characteristic to its Fenix, Enduro, and different $1,000-range collection, aside from the Forerunner 965 or Forerunner 955. Maps have been Garmin’s bargaining chip to upsell runners from the Forerunner 255/265, and so they weren’t essentially a precedence for the indoor-focused Venu 3 or the no-altimeter Vivoactive 5.
Nonetheless, the Intuition collection is designed for folks spending weeks out in nature, who would possibly want an offline map backup in case their cellphone dies and so they have not pre-downloaded a route. However this may’ve required giving the Intuition 3 a extra sturdy processor, an precise touchscreen, and (for the Photo voltaic collection) ditching the low-res, two-window answer.
As an alternative, Garmin minimize corners and prices: the Intuition 3 has noticeable lag and button-only enter to navigate by way of menus. You may have to purchase the Enduro 3 for photo voltaic charging and maps.
When you think about that the freaking $99 Amazfit Lively 2 has offline maps, it makes Garmin begin to look out of contact on this space, even when it is properly forward of its rivals in different methods. Manufacturers like Apple and Samsung might price-lock the most effective sensors and instruments out of their cheaper SE or FE watches… however these watches price half as a lot because the Intuition 3.
Coasting on last-gen sensors
The Intuition 3 has the identical coronary heart charge sensor because the Intuition 2 when it launched three years in the past. Does that matter?
You may argue that the majority wholesome Garmin customers do not want the Elevate v5’s ECG software, however out of doors sports activities like mountaineering are very fashionable with the middle-aged to aged crowd that may need to sometimes verify on their coronary heart well being. And pores and skin temperature is changing into more and more frequent as a metric to evaluate every part from attainable illness to interval signs.
On the very least, you may relaxation assured that the Garmin Intuition 3 coronary heart charge information is as correct as most different Garmin watches. I gave it my conventional anaerobic monitor exercise take a look at, which most wrist-based optical sensors wrestle with. Regardless of the speedy HR modifications and chilly (for California) climate, it stayed comparatively near my COROS HRM information, solely falling 1 bpm brief on common.
For a extra “regular” run, it is also about what you’d anticipate: The Garmin Intuition 3 could be very near the armband information always with a minimal 1 bpm hole at nearly each level and the identical HR common on the finish.
After all, you might actually want that there wasn’t such a frequent hole, small as it’s! However to be truthful, the Elevate v5 sensor on the Fenix 8 is not good both, although it does are likely to course-correct to match my arm or chest monitor information just a little sooner.
The actual fact stays that Garmin should not have coasted with last-gen sensors whereas charging current-gen costs. If the $299 Garmin Intuition E had used last-gen sensors, that would’ve been an affordable compromise.
As for GPS information, I am going to save the satellite tv for pc maps and contours for my overview. However you may relaxation assured that its multi-band GPS information is as correct as what you get with the most costly Garmin fashions — and most of the people shall be completely glad with SatIQ or GPS mode accuracy.
That is why I am making an attempt to be cognizant that I take sure issues as a right. Anybody coming from an older Garmin watch or switching from one other model shall be thrilled by the accuracy. It is solely energy customers and tech reviewers who would possibly ask, “However what have you ever performed for me currently?”
The Garmin Intuition 3 is lacking one thing
I do not need to downplay the Intuition 3’s new options. I love coaching load focus for planning my subsequent exercise; nap detection and sleep teaching are helpful for day by day insights; working and biking dynamics present some area of interest data, and the AMOLED show is such a reduction to my eyes.
However these are 2023 Forerunner and 2024 Venu perks primarily ported over. What’s the Intuition collection’ specialization?
If that is for hikers or winter sports activities fanatics who want a rugged, long-lasting watch, I feel they’d be extra interested by built-in mobile help for emergencies, a rucking mode, or an estimated hydration and electrolyte loss widget throughout actions. Sure, I needed offline maps, but it surely’d be simpler to swallow their absence if the Intuition 3 had dazzled us with different new tips.
The Fenix 8’s huge success proves Garmin customers pays a small fortune for the most effective options. However this implies Garmin has much less stress to maintain its mid-range fashions as aggressive. Need higher options and good battery life? Pay double for the Enduro 3 or Fenix 8!
I want Garmin did not limit software program so rigidly by value, however that is simply how they do enterprise. And its prospects — who would possibly grumble about lacking options and huge software program crashes — will not abandon Garmin over a disappointing launch. They’re going to simply watch for the inevitable Garmin Intuition 3X.
In my case, similar to I felt underwhelmed by the Fenix 8 at the same time as I acknowledged how nice it was, I am side-eyeing the Intuition 3’s stagnation whereas recognizing that, in a vacuum, it is a nice health watch for anybody who makes use of their cellphone for maps and prioritizes battery life, sturdiness, and “regular” Garmin smarts over any flashy new tips.
