Garmin’s new glow-in-the-dark hybrid sports watch promises infinite battery life

Garmin’s Instinct watches are built to withstand the outdoor elements and the most power-consuming users. You won’t find flashy color displays on these watches but, instead, utilitarian features that provide extensive health and wellness tracking for virtually all activities. I spent time earlier this year with the Garmin Instinct 2 and found it to be a fantastic GPS sports watch with an affordable price point.

The new Garmin Instinct Crossover is the newest addition to the Instinct series and provides a classic analog watch experience with the excellent 24/7 health and activity tracking you expect from a Garmin wearable. From photos alone, the Super-LumiNova coated analog hands and chapter ring look incredible, though I’ll have to see how they fair in low-light conditions. 

There’s a lot to say about the latest Garmin’s endurance. The Instinct Crossover is built to pass the MIL-STD-810 standards with 10ATM water resistance, the solar model has an infinite battery life in battery saver mode and up to 70 days of battery life in smartwatch mode, and Garmin’s new RevoDrive analog hand technology is designed to ensure precisely accurate time in nearly all weather conditions. Generally speaking, battery life is something you will not have to worry about with the Instinct Crossover.

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Like other Garmin hybrid watches, the analog hands move out of the way so that you can view detailed smart feature data. Speaking of which, the Instinct Crossover supports Garmin’s full suite of wellness features, including sleep stages, Body Battery, and stress tracking. Health features such as VO2 Max, fitness age, HRV status, and recovery time are also supported, along with standard functions like Garmin Pay and Garmin Connect.

For those heading out to explore new places, multi-GNSS support, TracBack routing, ABC sensors, and more are provided. If you opt for the more-expensive Tactical Edition, the watch comes suited with night vision compatibility, dual-format GPS, and a kill switch, too.

Garmin’s Instinct Crossover starts at $499.99. The solar model is priced at just $50 more, $549.99, with the solar Tactical Edition priced at $599.99. There are two color options for the standard and solar models, while the Tactical Edition is only available in black.