Today, Garmin launched the Instinct Crossover – a tough hybrid watch with both physical hands and a digital display to show key fitness stats. The company teased the new watch last week with a short video clip on Twitter after a series of leaks revealed its name and some of its key specs, but this is its official debut.
The Instinct Crossover is available in both standard and solar versions, with the latter being particularly well suited to long trips in the backcountry. Like the Instinct 2, Garmin claims the Instinct Crossover can deliver indefinite battery life on a single charge when in power saving mode.
There's also a tactical edition, which includes a night vision compatibility mode that makes the display easier to read while wearing night vision goggles, a stealth mode that turns off GPS communications and wireless connectivity, and a kill switch that immediately wipes all your personal data from the device.
Like many field watches, the Instinct Crossover has hands with a phosphorescent coating so you can easily read the time in the dark without using the backlight. It's also equipped with Garmin's new Revodrive technology, which keeps the hands in the proper positions for accurate timekeeping even when during activities like rock climbing and wood chopping.
On the fitness front, you get all the tracking and training tools you'd expect from a modern Garmin watch, including all-day heart rate monitoring, SpO2 measurements, stress tracking, a bevy of sports tracking modes, and support for GPS, Galileo, and GLONASS satellite navigation systems. It's rated water resistant to 10ATM, meaning it's suitable for activities like swimming and snorkelling (but not scuba diving).
The Instinct Crossover is available now direct from Garmin. The standard edition is available in black and blue granite colorways for $499.99, the solar edition comes in graphite and tidal blue for $549.99, and the tactical edition is available for $599.99 in black only.
We're hoping to put the Garmin Instinct Crossover through its paces and bring you a full review very soon. For the time being, check out our roundup of the best Garmin watches for out hands-on guide to all the latest releases.
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