Garmin Instinct Escorts Edition with exclusive software: a kind of critic

File this under ‘Things You Don’t Have on the 2020 Bingo Card’, Garmin has launched a new version of the Instant lineup focused on Exports, which keeps your heart rate, stress and physical battery metrics alive via Bluetooth Smart (three on Garmin Wearable) General matrix). These three live data feeds can then be selected on your PC by a new piece of Gatrin software software called Straight 3 MAP! Called, which in turn is covered above your current stream by streaming apps like OBS or Explit. While it seems complicated, from an esoteric streaming point of view – it’s all quite straightforward.

At its core, this is the only Garmin Instinct watch with a sports activity profile. In one theory Garmin could possibly easily port the other watches, as they ported a virtual running activity profile to a number of watches earlier this year. It remains to be seen whether they do.

The new Sportus Edition is priced at 29 9,299, essentially the same official retail price non-solar instinct watch. However, the non-solar instinct version has been floating between 199 199 and 24 249 since last year. So we have to see if the variants of Instinct Esporto are the same.

In any case, let us run through some quick tech spec basics, and then take a look at the new streaming software.

Default:

As noted earlier, the Instinct Esports version is an existing Garmin Instinct watch with an additional game profile. But more specifically it is the first Jane Instinct watch instead of the solar version. Sure, the solar versions have… good… solar, but they also have an updated heart rate sensor package that includes PulseOx (SPO2 readings) as well as underwater heart rate measurements. Neither of these, thus, is the first birth unit. Which, of course, made the video an overnight sensation, with the exception of a few aspects related to power management (and thus, tweak battery life).

In any case, here are the main specs:

– 14 days smartwatch battery life
– 16 hours in GPS-no mode for outdoor workouts
– 80 hours in Esports streaming mode
– Nifty game controller icon on the face
– 24 activity 7 activity tracking with steps / sleep / heart rate / stress
– Includes optical HR sensor, barometer, altimeter
– Bluetooth smart notifications
– Mill-STD 810 durability specification compatible

For regular readers of this site, you will find that it is found on any other Garmin Instinct, except the new Normal Esports mode and the Nifty icon. There is no music storage on the watch, so you have to play it from your phone or computer as usual. And again the new solar version (or not this one) has a variety of internal, especially separate GPS (Sony instead of MediaTek), new optical HR sensor package, added Pulse Ox sensor with different battery drain profiles (and longer battery life), of course Solar panels.

What’s interesting to readers here is that you may have added a Bluetooth heart rate broadcast to the original Instinct via a firmware update last summer, which is the top tier of ANT + broadcasting that already exists. It semi-quietly set the stage for what Germin did here in terms of Bluetooth broadcasting of other metrics using their new streaming focused software (it doesn’t stream itself, but supports streaming software). Here, let me explain.

Straight 3 AM Appup Software Software:

There has never been an official piece of software that has been tried so hard to sound like it never happened in Kansas than Straight 3 AMAP! – And yes, “!” Is really part of the name. Clearly, Straight 3 AMAP! The vocabulary is just a play on the word, even though the spell sounds like you’re trying to spell your keyboard repeatedly in anger. It’s awesome to type, or try and remember.

And sure – maybe I’m not the main target audience for spelling in Lite, but, I can’t even think of popular streaming tools or apps that spell things 12 years old. Buying a 12-year-old $ 299 smartwatch that looks like Casio? I mean, ask for clarification. To be clear, most streamers are not 12 years old, and there is also real money to spend on things.

In any case, my ad is with Str3 3 AMP properly written! On the one hand, here’s how it should work. I say, because I don’t have a unit yet. But essentially, you install Straight 3 AMAP first! Application. At that point it will start scanning via Bluetooth for the Garmin Instinct Esports version watch.

You will see that they say it needs to be in the Esports Activity activity, which is just another activity mode like running or cycling, but more similar to a virtual run profile where it transmits ancillary Bluetooth of data. In this case, it is broadcasting the metrics to receive the application.

Once connected to your computer it will transfer three core metrics to Bluetooth Smart:

1) Heart rate (bpm)
2) Stress level (1-100 scale)
3) Physical battery level (1-100 scale)

The heart rate is quite straight forward and by default it gives the benefit of the optical HR sensor in the watch. This is exactly what Garmin does for other virtual run activity profiles.

When stress and physical battery calculations are based on matrix, firstbit algorithms. Garmin has been using both of those metrics for years, and I think for the most part they do a good job of staying in the ballpark. The stress metric will change fairly quickly in response to situations. You can see my stress level for example on some different random days / points of the day.

Generally speaking, however, Garmin is unable to measure stress using high-intensity activities (such as running) using an intensetic HR sensor. So the fact that they’re doing it here is a testament to the fact that you’re going … nowhere. There are no low speed artifacts to deal with in terms of running or surfing with cycling.

Next, here is the body battery. To use the most appropriate comparison possible, this is basically your body’s street fighter style power level. It goes up when you sleep (or, get enough rest), and goes down when you do more activities. The more intense the activity, the faster it decreases. Here’s an example of some of the random days for me and the physical barrier:

I think after one or two weeks of most stabilization, the body battery works fairly well in terms of matching my alleged energy release state. Where I see it fall a little down from that boat, when I’m at the extreme lows and it’s basically like ‘Look, you needed to sleep two days ago, I’ll leave it to you now’. Still, it can be a really interesting metric to see how it compares skill / ag level by long flow (which will be 3-5 hours as starting point, but long trends are quite common).

In any case, you can see this metric lane down at the top of the game:

Of course this presentation sounds like a lot of hacks as it mostly uses the fundamentals from the abandoned Garmin VIRB Action Camera software software, VIRB editing. Over time, the app became the most powerful app out there for overlaying data from sensors on app files, including 360 videos after Garmin launched that camera as well.

New Straight 3 AMAP! The app itself also sees a lot of hacks like VIRB editing from a style standpoint. Once you’ve paired the clock on the app, you’ll see the ability to define available statistics and thresholds. You can customize some of its elements, including styling and color, and then save the overlay.

Straight from there 3 MAP! The software creates a window that will be pulled by OBS / Streamlabs / XSplit using the window capture option.

You will choose to select only the Chrome key of the background, and then overlay it to whatever you want, using the formatting you specify. Here is another screenshot:

At the moment everything is just standard streaming content. While there is no version at the moment, I doubt… well..but it won’t be a stopper for many people. Most streamers use a PC, so it makes sense to start from there. I believe that if there is interest in this product line, GminRamin can expand it (Straight 3 MAP!) But also to support me.

And of course, for all the usual clock functions you can use Garmin Express on Mac (and PC) or use Garmin Connect Mobile on iOS or Android.

Summarize:

In some ways, we should see this coming. Finally, it turns out that Garmin actually wrote a blog post about him this past summer – even referring to specific metrics that he found very useful in sports. Which, of course, is the only matrix you can stream now (except for sleep, because… well … it would be pretty boring).

Now, I don’t know if there is any optic in this. Maybe though.

If there is one thing I have learned about the Garmin Instinct watch it is that it is more popular than I ever expected. My original youtube video about it is shutting it down to a million views. Related: Shooting that video I freeze my ass. And a herd of elk walked down a nearby street.

Another thing I learned in the next two years? The main buyer for Instinct is not hardcore athletes. Or even software athletes. They’re something that demands a watch that looks like a casio but isn’t, and can do sporty things if it’s liked. And runs according to the battery for more than a day. Also, it is reasonably priced.

If Garmin has anything to master, he reuses the hardware in the product section. Part of the Garmin Phoenix watch can be the Delta series watch for aviation, the Tactics series watch for the military, and the Quatix series watch for boating, and so on. They do the same with pioneers for golf. And the forerunner 35 watch also becomes the Approach S10 watch… but then a new shell is found and the G10 becomes a handheld golfing unit. Garmin is the king of hardware reuse with cosmetic tweak, which is to appeal to different audiences, they have been doing it for over a decade now.

And so it is with software. The new Esports mode is a tweak to the virtual run mode. And Straight 3 MAP! At least visually (if not under cover), Garmin seems to be leaning on the work done in the past by VIRB acquisitions.

So the cost of the Instinct variant spinning Garmin with only a slight difference is very low, and suitable for the flyer. If it fails, the cost is negligible, but if it succeeds, people may be drawn to the Garmin brand that would not otherwise bother them.

Of course – some people don’t want instinct style watches. That’s why I prefer to see this profile available on other units. For example, why isn’t this profile available on Phoenix 6 or Mark series watches? Another game profile just like anyone else. Garmin says at this point Straight 3 AMP! Software does not work with versions of any non-sports game. But I look forward to seeing if that profile expands anywhere. I hope so, because that’s the area that disappoints Garmin customers, while the company features new features for watches that cost a fraction of the cost of high-end watches.

In any event, once I get together, I’ll play with it a little more from the streaming side, which is probably on YouTube from here on out. Will end. Or, my super secret twitch channel. So, if you haven’t subscribed to my youtube channel, move on.

Until then, thanks for reading!