Garmin EMS Instinct 2 Series & 2X

The pieces are falling into place around a mini-revolution in Garmin’s Instinct Watches.

We’ve already reported on the addition of a larger size to the existing 2 Series which, as @fttest_en suggested, will likely be referred to as the Instinct 2X also coming in a Solar variant. I don’t expect anything too exciting there other than a supersized display, case and battery life. Maybe a new GPS chip will give it SatIQ; maybe.

Garmin Instinct 2X and 2X Solar – inbound

Florian (@fttest_en) also noticed an unusual occurrence of three consecutive FCC filings by Garmin, which may indicate three different size variants of one Garmin watch. It is important to consider which Garmin watches could come in three sizes, and the only options are the Fenix and Instinct, possibly a new 2nd tier tri-series based around an improved FR745. It is unlikely that a (confirmed) new Instinct 2X would be released at the same time as a Series 3 Instinct. Therefore, we might conclude that a Fenix 8 is on the way. These 3 watches do support WiFi…so that immediately favours a Fenix 8 or some new, exotic Forerunner.

To better understand the likely situation, we should examine a discovery made by Cat Ellis at Advnture, who found the EMS Instinct 2 Series listed on Garmin UK’s website. The EMS Instinct appears to be designed for emergency responders and medical staff, with a need for features such as long battery life, readable screen, and durable design. The key detail in Cat’s finding is the word “series,” indicating that this is not just one watch but a range of sizes, such as 2s, 2, and 2X, with added medical features!! The original image also mentioned TACTICAL features, including a flashlight, but those might simply have been a cut and paste from an existing Instinct model, so don’t read too much more into that.

Therefore, while the reality may not be as exciting as a new Fenix 8, the EMS Instinct 2 Series, perhaps with new SatIQ and WiFi, is still an interesting development to watch out for.

Fenix 8 Sanity Check – Fenix 7 was released in January 2022. It IS CERTAINLY possible that we will see an 18-month refresh that would give us a Fenix 8 in the Summer. Garmin always needs the money…so there is a reasonable chance this could happen. This is further backed up by the 2023-09-13 date for the release of all info (ie the product’s approximate launch date). I would bet my money on this outside possibility.

What else could the consecutively-numbered 3x FCC filings be? – It could be a new version of the FR745 with an AMOLED version and/or an LTE version and/or small+medium versions.