Garmin's best outdoor sports watch could soon get an enormous sequel

Garmin is working on a super-sized new watch that could be a sequel to its five-star outdoor sports watch, the Garmin Instinct 2, according to several listings on regulator websites.

First spotted by Flo of Fitness Tracker Test, who frequently reports on hints and leaks of upcoming models, a listing with the same registration number showed up on a Singapore government website as well as the US Federal Communications Commission.  It was also covered on our sister site Advnture.

The report details a ‘low power communication device transmitter’ watch with the Instinct’s distinctive screen-within-a-screen design, suggesting that the watch is in the Instinct range, and that it has has sizable dimensions – 57mm x 13mm, which is larger than any other watch in the Instinct range, and even bigger than the Garmin Enduro 2. 

If these dimensions are correct, it would make it Garmin’s biggest watch to date, although Flo does add that “I wouldn't put too much stock in the dimensions found in the test reports, other than the fact that the watch is larger than the Instinct 2”.

This is exciting news, as the Garmin Instinct 2 is (at the time of writing) near the top of our best Garmin Watches list. Two other variations on the watch – the Instinct 2 Solar, which incorporates Garmin’s life-extending Power Glass technology, and the analog hybrid Garmin Instinct Crossover – have been released since the initial launch of the Instinct 2 in February 2022.

As the Instinct 2 was released only last year, it’s thought the large watch would be the Instinct 2X, a larger version of the original watch, rather than an Instinct 3. However, we didn't think the Garmin Forerunner 955 and 255 would get fully fledged sequels less than a year after they were released; but lo and behold, the Forerunner 965 and Garmin Forerunner 265 arrived nine months after their predecessors.

Analysis: Garmin's getting bigger – but what about better?

The Garmin Instinct 2 is already one of the best Garmin watches overall for the outdoor sportsperson. In terms of value for money, it's far more affordable than the ultra-premium Garmin Enduro 2, which, at the time of writing, is the biggest watch in Garmin's lineup. 

The Enduro 2 is a beast of a watch, with a GPS battery life of over 100 hours, a massive face, and all the bells and whistles you might need to survive a multi-day endurance event. The Instinct 2, on the other hand, could be seen as a more affordable outdoor watch for all-day adventures. Does this increased size mean the boundaries between the two watches will be blurred? What will separate the Instinct 2X from the Enduro series? 

Garmin is bringing out more and more models at a faster pace than ever before – you only have to see the speed at which the new Forerunners were released to see the gaps between watch releases are getting smaller. Whereas rivals like Apple only have two or three models to choose from, a layperson might be completely unable to distinguish different Garmin watches. 

Fortunately, we ranked all the Garmin watches released last year, to help newcomers get started. We're currently testing the Forerunner 265, and it's changing our fitness editor's training with its recommended sprinting exercises.