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Garmin Instinct 2X Solar
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Garmin Instinct 2X Solar
garmin.com
I’ve had an Apple Watch since 2021, as part of a Black Friday deal. And every year or so, I would upgrade to the new Apple Watch. At first, it’s kind of cool to have so much function on my wrist, particularly the heart rate sensor and the ability to see notifications and the weather on my watch.
Lately, I keep forgetting to charge my watch. When I get home from a long day at work, I just fall asleep and wake up the next morning with a dead watch.
Recently, I just about had it with the constant dead watch, because I would forget to charge my watch. So, I decided to get a new smart watch, one that would last more than a few days on a charge.
After some searching around, I’ve settled on the Garmin Instinct 2X Solar, the follow-up to the Instinct Solar that originally came out in 2020. This new 2023 doubles the battery life (40 days vs 20 days of the original), and comes with everything from the original watch, plus adding a few new features, such as a flashlight.
There are a few things I’m looking for in a smart watch: tracking my sleep and heart rate. Everything else, like that flashlight, is just icing on the cake. I know the Instinct watches offers GPS, working (running, biking, hiking, etc), but I don’t care or use those features. Still, I like how those options are available to me.
To access any activities or any action, you have to navigate through the watch’s tiny display via the five physical buttons: CTRL, MENU, ABC, GPS, or SET. I’ve quickly learned that ‘set’ also doubles as the back button. So, you if you need to go back one menu, you press the set button.
The Menu doubles as the up button, the ABC button doubles as the down button. It sounds complicated, but when you’re operating the watch, it should be intuitive and easy to understand. Still, some people find it hard to understand the menu system.
With smart watches, you do need the app to get it going. The Garmin Connect app works pretty well on the iPhone. Once it connects for the first time, the app will display the proper time and will now hand off notifications, such as text messages or alerts. It even gives you the weather (if it syncs correctly). I find that sometime it doesn’t display the weather so I have to force sync it with the app.
Let’s talk about Solar. When you think of Solar, you think it will charge the watch, but that’s not how it works. I do not believe the solar energy actually stores or charges the battery, instead, it just uses solar to power the watch and not use the watch’s battery. That means if the watch has enough sunlight, it will extend your battery to, say, six months without having to charge it. I thought I read that it’s “unlimited”, but I do not believe it as during night time, it does draw battery power.
Still, despite the drawback, this watch lasts much longer than any “smart watch”.
Overall, despite the expensive price, I think it’s worth it. The watch is very readable, it has all the stats I’m interested in (sleep tracking, heart rate), and I rarely have to charge the watch. It’s perfect for my needs.
garmin.com
I’ve had an Apple Watch since 2021, as part of a Black Friday deal. And every year or so, I would upgrade to the new Apple Watch. At first, it’s kind of cool to have so much function on my wrist, particularly the heart rate sensor and the ability to see notifications and the weather on my watch.
Lately, I keep forgetting to charge my watch. When I get home from a long day at work, I just fall asleep and wake up the next morning with a dead watch.
Recently, I just about had it with the constant dead watch, because I would forget to charge my watch. So, I decided to get a new smart watch, one that would last more than a few days on a charge.
After some searching around, I’ve settled on the Garmin Instinct 2X Solar, the follow-up to the Instinct Solar that originally came out in 2020. This new 2023 doubles the battery life (40 days vs 20 days of the original), and comes with everything from the original watch, plus adding a few new features, such as a flashlight.
There are a few things I’m looking for in a smart watch: tracking my sleep and heart rate. Everything else, like that flashlight, is just icing on the cake. I know the Instinct watches offers GPS, working (running, biking, hiking, etc), but I don’t care or use those features. Still, I like how those options are available to me.
To access any activities or any action, you have to navigate through the watch’s tiny display via the five physical buttons: CTRL, MENU, ABC, GPS, or SET. I’ve quickly learned that ‘set’ also doubles as the back button. So, you if you need to go back one menu, you press the set button.
The Menu doubles as the up button, the ABC button doubles as the down button. It sounds complicated, but when you’re operating the watch, it should be intuitive and easy to understand. Still, some people find it hard to understand the menu system.
With smart watches, you do need the app to get it going. The Garmin Connect app works pretty well on the iPhone. Once it connects for the first time, the app will display the proper time and will now hand off notifications, such as text messages or alerts. It even gives you the weather (if it syncs correctly). I find that sometime it doesn’t display the weather so I have to force sync it with the app.
Let’s talk about Solar. When you think of Solar, you think it will charge the watch, but that’s not how it works. I do not believe the solar energy actually stores or charges the battery, instead, it just uses solar to power the watch and not use the watch’s battery. That means if the watch has enough sunlight, it will extend your battery to, say, six months without having to charge it. I thought I read that it’s “unlimited”, but I do not believe it as during night time, it does draw battery power.
Still, despite the drawback, this watch lasts much longer than any “smart watch”.
Overall, despite the expensive price, I think it’s worth it. The watch is very readable, it has all the stats I’m interested in (sleep tracking, heart rate), and I rarely have to charge the watch. It’s perfect for my needs.
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Clicks Keyboard
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Clicks Keyboard
clicks.tech
I honestly have nothing good to say about the Clicks Keyboard. I thought having physical keyboard buttons would be amazing, but in reality, my fingers are way too big for the tiny, tiny buttons and as a result I’m much slower at typing with the Clicks Keyboard.
That’s not all, the case makes my iPhone Pro Max into a giant monster. The Pro Max is already big, in my opinion, but putting on the case adds another two inches! Plus, the iPhone’s weight makes it top-heavy and holding it doesn’t feel right.
Using the keyboard without a backlight is impossible in the dark… which drains the battery. Using the case on a normal day drains my iPhone to 18% at the end of the day, when I’m used to about 30%.
On top of that, it’s not Mag Safe compatible so none of my magnet holder charger will work with the case on! It’s super annoying to take off the case just to charge it.
Finally, the $160 asking price is just too expensive. Ordering it directly from the company (it’s not available on Amazon) took a month for it to arrive (I thought it was lost in the mail at some point).
Again, I have nothing good to say about this Clicks Keyboard… well there is one good thing: the case is a head turner. A lot of people asked about it, “What phone is that?” and I have to break it to them that it’s not as cool as it looks.
clicks.tech
I honestly have nothing good to say about the Clicks Keyboard. I thought having physical keyboard buttons would be amazing, but in reality, my fingers are way too big for the tiny, tiny buttons and as a result I’m much slower at typing with the Clicks Keyboard.
That’s not all, the case makes my iPhone Pro Max into a giant monster. The Pro Max is already big, in my opinion, but putting on the case adds another two inches! Plus, the iPhone’s weight makes it top-heavy and holding it doesn’t feel right.
Using the keyboard without a backlight is impossible in the dark… which drains the battery. Using the case on a normal day drains my iPhone to 18% at the end of the day, when I’m used to about 30%.
On top of that, it’s not Mag Safe compatible so none of my magnet holder charger will work with the case on! It’s super annoying to take off the case just to charge it.
Finally, the $160 asking price is just too expensive. Ordering it directly from the company (it’s not available on Amazon) took a month for it to arrive (I thought it was lost in the mail at some point).
Again, I have nothing good to say about this Clicks Keyboard… well there is one good thing: the case is a head turner. A lot of people asked about it, “What phone is that?” and I have to break it to them that it’s not as cool as it looks.
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