13.02.2025 
Health tracking with the Garmin Instinct 3
Even though the Garmin Instinct 3 doesn’t benefit from the company’s latest heart rate tracking sensor, it does benefit from the newest software, and the overall health-tracking experience is satisfactory.
- Heart rate - Instinct 3 constantly monitors your heart rate and gives you a detailed timeline. You can also see weekly, monthly, and yearly averages. I compared its heart rate reading with the one provided by a medical blood pressure monitor I’ve purchased recently. In the two readings I’ve taken, the heart rate reported by the Garmin Instinct 3 was not identical to the blood pressure monitor. However, it was very close, reporting values like 71 bpm instead of 73 or 69 bpm instead of 71 or 72.
- HRV (Heart rate variability) - Garmin Instinct 3 also analyzes the heart rate readings during sleep to determine your HRV. A balanced HRV indicates good health, with a good training and recovery balance, better cardiovascular fitness, and resilience to stress. An unbalanced HRV may indicate fatigue, increased stress, and unmet body recovery needs. For the best HRV readings, you should wear the smartwatch for three weeks to gather consistent sleep data.
- Pulse Oximeter (Pulse Ox) - measures the blood oxygen saturation while you are awake or asleep. By default, the Pulse Ox measurements are turned off because they drain the battery faster. However, you can enable such analysis to be performed automatically during sleep, have it enabled permanently, or you can simply run a Health Snapshot to get a reading when you’re interested in this data.
The stats measured by the Health Snapshot
Due to its size, some users may consider the Garmin Instinct 3 uncomfortable to wear during sleep. Luckily, its light weight helps your body get used to it, so you can use it to track your sleep. Here’s what features you get:
- Sleep tracking - you get an overview of how much sleep was recorded during the night, how it was split between sleep stages, and an overall sleep score.
- Nap detection - the Garmin Instinct 3 can automatically track, log your naps, and share how they benefit your body. You can also add naps manually.
- Sleep coach - monitors not only your sleep and its quality but also how much energy your body has and your stress level. It then shares useful recommendations on how to get your sleep needs met.
The Sleep Coach can be useful
The Garmin Instinct 3 also monitors your respiratory rate during sleep and throughout the day and uses it as an indicator for evaluating your physical fitness.
Garmin Instinct 3 also keeps an eye on your respiratory rate
People with very busy schedules may appreciate the continuous Stress evaluation by Garmin Instinct 3. If the smartwatch detects that you are too stressed, it recommends breathing exercises and gives you advice on how to get better rest at the end of a difficult day. You also get a daily report with an overall stress score and suggestions for what to do next.
How stressed are you during a normal day?
People who like to exercise regularly will appreciate Garmin’s Body Battery energy monitoring. It uses the data gathered from sleep monitoring to evaluate your energy level when you wake up, and then it adjusts it based on how much you exercise, how much you rest, and how stressed you are during the day. I regularly checked the Body Battery metrics and found the reports matched how I felt at the end of the day. I also found them useful for improving my exercise schedule.
Body Battery statistics
Even though this device is likely to be appreciated more by men and less by women, the Garmin Instinct 3 also features women’s health tracking. This smartwatch can monitor menstrual cycles and pregnancy and offer exercise and nutrition education that’s adjusted based on the data it collects.
Although it doesn’t use the latest sensors, the Garmin Instinct 3 does a good job of tracking your health and helping you maintain and improve it. Its health tracking features can help you manage and enhance your well-being, especially when you follow Garmin's advice and engage in regular physical activities.
Sports tracking with Garmin Instinct 3
At the beginning of December 2024, I had a meniscus surgery, and the recovery process is lengthy and slow. Therefore, during my time with the Garmin Instinct 3, I couldn’t do my usual sports activities. I was able to track only short walks and indoor cycling activities. Only toward the end of my testing period, could I go on a short, light, hiking session. Even with my limited mobility, I was able to identify a weird bug with the steps counting on Instinct 3: once every few days, the watch didn’t count my steps for several minutes in a row, even if I was walking constantly. One evening, I walked for 15 minutes, and Instinct 3 didn’t register anything. To make it work, I had to restart the smartwatch, which resumed counting steps correctly. On another day, the step counting resumed after 7-8 minutes of walking. I find this behavior strange, and I hope Garmin will fix this bug in a future firmware update.
Steps counting has a few bugs on the Garmin Instinct 3
Garmin Instinct 3 is a smartwatch for active people who need a durable device, so it’s not surprising that it provides users with 92 activity profiles for tracking, with many outdoor activities like triathlon, running, hiking, climbing, open water swimming, kayaking, snowboarding, skiing, football, and rugby.
Garmin Instinct 3 has 91 activity profiles for sports tracking
Outdoor enthusiasts, however, will be disappointed by the lack of maps. You can’t download maps to your Garmin Instinct 3, and you don’t get access to features like ClimbPro, which are found on more expensive models like the Garmin Fenix 8.
I’m guessing this is a cost-cutting measure so the company can offer the device for a more affordable price. However, some people in its intended audience may feel disappointed by this design choice and will be happier with an older Fenix 7, which has become less expensive after the launch of the Fenix 8.
Garmin Instinct 3 doesn't offer maps
During my testing, I’ve tracked several walks and one hiking session. As expected from Garmin, I was pleased by the precision of the GPS tracking. Garmin’s SatIQ technology works great in most conditions, especially outdoors. As expected, for each workout, you get access to tons of data about your heart rate, effort levels, pacing, etc. Sports enthusiasts will be pleased by the detailed information they receive and the fact that they can connect other devices to their Instinct 3 using the ANT+ protocol.
GPS tracking is excellent, especially when outdoors
Another great feature is Garmin Coach Plans, which gives you access to an excellent collection of workouts for different sports and objectives you may have. They’re well-designed and also included in the price of the Garmin Instinct 3. You don’t have to pay for a subscription, like you do with similar products from other brands.
You don't have to pay extra for Gamin's Coach Plans
Except for the bug I encountered with the step-counting feature, I was pleased with my sports tracking experience using Garmin Instinct 3. Even though it doesn’t have all the features of the more expensive adventure smartwatches from Garmin, the Instinct 3 is a competent sports tracker that offers its users plenty of useful data.
Do you like the Garmin Instinct 3?
It's time to wrap up this lengthy review. I hope you enjoyed reading it and now have useful information for deciding whether the Garmin Instinct 3 is the smartwatch for you. Before closing this browser tab, let me know your thoughts: Do you like the Garmin Instinct 3? Are you OK with it lacking a touchscreen? Are you thinking about buying it? Comment using the options below and let me know.🙂
