First pictures of Garmin Instinct 2X emerge – and it looks awesome

By Cat Ellis
published

The king-sized adventure watch includes a built-in flashlight, and seems to be built like a tank

Woman checking GPS sports watch during hike
(Image credit: Getty)

Pictures of the upcoming Garmin Instinct 2X have emerged online, and the king-sized watch looks like it means business. We got our first hint about the new watch a couple of weeks ago, when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a report including a few tantalizing details, including the watch's enormous size.

Now we've got our first glimpses of the device itself courtesy of German site WinFuture, which has obtained images showing the solar edition of the new watch from various angles, in both red and black colorways (visit the site to see the pictures yourself).

The new device is clearly much larger than the regular Garmin Instinct 2, with am extra rugged design that now includes visible external screws like those of the Amazfit T-Rex series. It's not just the case; the watch also has a bigger screen, which allows much more data and text to be displayed at once. 

We don't have any details of battery life, but it's likely to be impressive. The Instinct 2X still appears to have a monochrome memory-in-pixel (MiP) display, which should help reduce power consumption, the larger case means there's room inside for a bigger battery cell, and for the solar edition, Garmin's Power Glass should keep it topped up with regular exposure to sunlight.

The future's bright

As the5krunner notes, the new Instinct 2X also appears to have a built-in flashlight at the top. This was one of my favorite features of the Fenix 7X and Enduro 2, and you don't realize just how handy it is until you try it. I tested it while running through a dark, mile-long tunnel, and it was a game-changer.

A flashlight would be extremely useful for emergency responders. and I predict that the Garmin Instinct EMS edition I spotted on the company's website a few days ago will be a modified version of the Instinct 2X built with medical personnel in mind. I'm not sure what other features it may have, but easier access to a stopwatch for measuring patients' vitals is one possibility, with one-touch access through a dedicated button.

These leaked images suggest that the Instinct 2X might be nearly ready to launch, so we might not have to wait much longer to find out. As always, I'll keep my ear to the ground for more news, and bring you further details as soon as they emerge.

Cat Ellis
Cat Ellis
Editor

Cat is the editor of Advnture, She’s been a journalist for 15 years, and was fitness and wellbeing editor on TechRadar before joining the Advnture team in 2022. She’s a UK Athletics qualified run leader, and in her spare time enjoys nothing more than lacing up her shoes and hitting the roads and trails (the muddier, the better), usually wearing at least two sports watches.