Garmin releases new Instinct Crossover Tactical Edition with major upgrades over existing stealthy smartwatch
The Instinct Crossover Tactical Edition is one of several new smartwatch releases that Garmin has offered up today. For context, the Fenix 8 Pro is less than a month old (curr. $1,199 on Amazon). Nonetheless, the company has also decided to update the regular Instinct Crossover today while introducing the Bounce 2 and Venu 4 too.
Previously, Garmin had only sold a Tactical Edition of the Instinct Crossover Solar rather than the standard Instinct Crossover as well. Almost three years on, the company has ditched solar charging capabilities for the Crossover AMOLED Tactical Edition. In short, while the new model expands on the previous Instinct Crossover Tactical Edition in several areas, it also falls short in others.
On the one hand, the AMOLED variant delivers drastically less battery life than its Solar counterpart. According to Garmin, the Crossover Instinct Solar could last up to 70 days with solar charging enabled. By contrast, the AMOLED variant drops to 14 days or 5 days with always-on display functionality enabled, just like the regular Instinct Crossover AMOLED.
On the other hand, the Crossover AMOLED Tactical Edition has gained a dimmable LED flashlight. Additionally, the Tactical Edition features a green flashlight that the regular Crossover AMOLED lacks. The two new Instinct Crossover releases share hardware like a 390 x 390-pixel AMOLED display, multi-band GPS and 4 GB of built-in storage, too.
As its name suggests, the Tactical Edition adds dedicated 'tactical' features like an Applied Ballistics app, Garmin's rucking and tactical activities, and a dedicated night vision mode for use with night vision goggles. On top of that, the Tactical Edition adds a Stealth Mode, project waypoints, a Jumpmaster Mode and a kill switch for immediately wiping the device.
All these extra features command a $100 surcharge over the regular Crossover AMOLED. As a result, the Instinct Crossover AMOLED Tactical Edition retails for $749.99. Currently, Garmin offers its latest Tactical-branded smartwatch in a single black colour option.
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