For two days I have played with the Garmin Instinct Solar and I already see a niche for it. If I want to be like every other reviewer I will say, "use the expedition mode for up to 127 days or hours of battery life, but I won’t because I think there is another more interesting niche. Activity tracking, without needing to take off the watch for weeks or months at a time. With Suunto, Apple and other devices you need to remove a watch at least every three or four days to recharge it, which means that you have a gap in heartrate and activity data....
Posts tagged “solar”
-
The Garmin Instinct Solar And Activity Tracking — Nov 11, 2021 -
Solar Watches and Spain — Dec 24, 2022One nuissance of most modern smart watches is that you must charge then once a day, once a week, or once a month. When you’re in Spain though, with a solar watch things change. At first you go from “26 days of battery remaining” to “36 days of battery remaining”, to “39 days remaining”. Before long the watch displays “infinity time remaining”. When you’re in watch the sun charges the batteries faster than normal use depletes the batteries.... -
Reading About Hiking While Charging A Watch — Nov 30, 2021People Fishing....
-
A Solar Powered Watch in Spain — Nov 29, 2021A solar powered watch in Spain... -
Blinded by Solar Panels For a Few Minutes — Apr 9, 2025There is an amusing situation. In the morning, when I sit at a table I get brilliant light shining into my eyes. As a result I wear sunglasses indoors. This might sound absurd but it’s for a simple reason.... -
Electricity Maps and HomeAssistant — Jan 27, 2025The building I live in has solar panels on the roof and a heat pump. This allows it to be more energy efficient than other buildings. It also has thick insulation on the walls and more. Recently I have been playing with Homeassistant and electricity Maps. Electricity Maps is a real time representation of energy flows showing which countries are using green energy as well as how much of that energy is currently green. In Switzerland as I write this it’s about 97 percent green.... -
Silent Walking and Garmin Instinct Battery Modes — Dec 9, 2023It rarely happens. I rarely forget my airpods at home, and when I do I usually turn around to get them. Yesterday I didn’t turn around. I went for my walk anyway. You might think “so what?” and you’d be right to. It doesn’t change much. I usually listen to podcasts and audiobooks, rather than music. I like my walks to be intellectually stimulating, as well as physically good for me....
