The Garmin Instinct 3 just landed, but the Instinct 2 is a better buy this President’s Day matt.evans@futurenet.com (Matt Evans) | usagoldmines.com

The President’s Day sales are hotting up and there are deals to be had on all sorts of gadgets. For those of you looking for an excellent fitness watch, it’s well worth looking around for some of the best Garmin watches this weekend.

Garmins are perfect for people looking to supercharge their outdoor training, be it cycling, hiking, running, swimming, surfing, climbing, or a mix of disciplines. As it’s the latest high-profile release by Garmin, all eyes might be on the Garmin Instinct 3, which we rated highly and gave 4.5 stars in our recent review.

However, it’s not going to be the best bang for your buck on President’s Day, as I believe it’s not going to receive many discounts based on the fact that it’s very new. Instead, there’s a three-year-old watch we rated even higher, that I believe is going to be very good value based on past sales events.

That watch is the Garmin Instinct 2. We rated the Garmin Instinct 2 an impressive five stars in our original 2022 review. We loved its extra-long battery life and superb fitness tracking features, and it’s often heavily discounted in sales events, making it an easy recommendation. It’s already on offer at Amazon in 40mm and 45mm sizes, from $299.99 down to just $199.99.

Check out that deal in full below:

Today’s best Garmin Instinct 2 deal

This is the first major sales event that has occurred since the Garmin Instinct 3’s release, so this could mean the Instinct 2 gets a bigger-than-usual price drop and go even lower than the deal above, as retailers look to clear old stock. It was a super-popular watch, and continues to be so: there are a lot of Instinct 2s out there, so we should see some great deals on it.

Why get the Garmin Instinct 2?

Why get a three-year-old watch over its sequel, I hear you ask, even if it’s cheaper? Even though the Instinct 3 builds on its predecessor’s features in new ways, adding hardware like a torch and a new AMOLED screen option in addition to updated software, the Instinct 3 actually uses the same heart rate sensor as the Instinct 2.

The Instinct 2 continues (for now) to be supported with regular updates, so your experience tracking your health with the Garmin Instinct 2 won’t drastically differ or be wildly inaccurate compared with the Instinct 3.

The Instinct 3 does happen to have new SatIQ technology the Instinct 2 doesn’t, so it’s less likely to lose your GPS signal, but the Instinct 2 should continue to be more than sufficient for most hobbyist exercisers.

Not so keen on the Instinct 2? Check out our guides to the best smartwatch, best cheap smartwatch and best running watch to find the right one for you.