Having worn the Garmin Intuition 3 50mm AMOLED for per 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” decide that also prices rather a lot? Possibly it is the entire 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 operating and well being, in his quest to get quicker 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 can be excited by the innovation.
When Garmin supplied me the Intuition 3 AMOLED or Photo voltaic to overview, I selected the AMOLED directly. Apart from my deep dislike of MIP shows, I could not consider 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 pretty 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 at the very least your notifications and information graphs are extra readable, and it stays longer-lived than the Venu 3 or Forerunner 265.
Nonetheless, I believe the Garmin Intuition 3 AMOLED wanted a trademark function, much like the Photo voltaic model’s “limitless” battery shtick. Garmin in all probability thought the flashlight and ruggedness certified. However I believe 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 could have kicked off the MIP-to-AMOLED transition amongst operating watch manufacturers, however its rivals shortly adopted go well with. And if you take 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 together with their new AMOLED shows.
Most operating watches allow you to obtain a GPX route from Strava or create one out of your watch’s companion app, then comply with turn-by-turn instructions with a line exhibiting a breadcrumb path of GPS information factors you have hit in case it’s essential retrace your steps. That line appeared on a clean display screen, with no visible context for trails, streets, or hills.
Then, the higher-end watches began including downloadable offline maps that contextualized your route. You possibly can see how the GPX route and GPS breadcrumbs aligned with real-world geography, making it simpler to know the place you are going or when you’ve strayed from the right path.
Garmin restricts this function to its Fenix, Enduro, and different $1,000-range sequence, apart from the Forerunner 965 or Forerunner 955. Maps had been Garmin’s bargaining chip to upsell runners from the Forerunner 255/265, they usually weren’t essentially a precedence for the indoor-focused Venu 3 or the no-altimeter Vivoactive 5.
Nonetheless, the Intuition sequence is designed for individuals spending weeks out in nature, who would possibly want an offline map backup in case their cellphone dies they usually have not pre-downloaded a route. However this is able to’ve required giving the Intuition 3 a extra sturdy processor, an precise touchscreen, and (for the Photo voltaic sequence) ditching the low-res, two-window resolution.
As an alternative, Garmin lower corners and prices: the Intuition 3 has noticeable lag and button-only enter to navigate via 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 effectively forward of its rivals in different methods. Manufacturers like Apple and Samsung could 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 possibly can argue that the majority wholesome Garmin customers do not want the Elevate v5’s ECG instrument, however out of doors sports activities like mountain climbing are extremely popular with the middle-aged to aged crowd that may wish 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’ll be able to 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 check, which most wrist-based optical sensors wrestle with. Regardless of the fast HR adjustments and chilly (for California) climate, it stayed comparatively near my COROS HRM information, solely falling 1 bpm quick 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 virtually each level and the identical HR common on the finish.
After all, you might definitely 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 inclined to course-correct to match my arm or chest monitor information a little bit quicker.
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 inexpensive compromise.
As for GPS information, I will save the satellite tv for pc maps and contours for my overview. However you’ll be able to 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 can be completely happy 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 can be thrilled by the accuracy. It is solely energy customers and tech reviewers who would possibly ask, “However what have you ever executed for me recently?”
The Garmin Intuition 3 is lacking one thing
I do not wish 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 each day insights; operating and biking dynamics present some area of interest information, and the AMOLED show is such a aid to my eyes.
However these are 2023 Forerunner and 2024 Venu perks basically ported over. What’s the Intuition sequence’ specialization?
If that is for hikers or winter sports activities fanatics who want a rugged, long-lasting watch, I believe they’d be extra eager about built-in mobile help for emergencies, a rucking mode, or an estimated hydration and electrolyte loss widget throughout actions. Sure, I wished offline maps, but it surely’d be simpler to swallow their absence if the Intuition 3 had dazzled us with different new methods.
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 strain 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 worth, however that is simply how they do enterprise. And its clients — 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 look forward to the inevitable Garmin Intuition 3X.
In my case, identical 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 methods.
