Couldn’t be happier with my instinct. At over a year old the battery life will last over a week( without using gps) with notifications enabled. The tracking features are also very simple to use.
I bought a Fenix 3hr about 5 years ago. I don't think I'll have any outdoor watch other than Garmin. It has been great. I know they cost a lot. but they are durable, user friendly, and great when I'm hunting in the back country. Everyone that I know in the market for this type of watch either has a Garmin Fenix and many switched to it from other brands
Garmin Instinct for the last year or so and have had no issues out of it, love the durability & performance. Pairs with my Inreach GPS messenger/beacon too. I have a whole pile of broken Suunto Cores and Ambits in a drawer somewhere. Bands were cheap and busted a lot, the compass bezels would wear loose & break/fall off, the o-ring on the battery compartment would go bad or tear, the screens scratched & gouged fairly easily, and the buttons (or the mechanism behind it) would wear out and become non-responsive or would stick in the 'on' position.
I had a Suunto core I believe before my Garmin instinct, that Suunto looked like crap and beat up after 3 months. My Garmin I’ve had since it was released and it still looks great, be 2 years this fall. Garmin battery life is still great and all functions are working great. I also like that I can connect to the Inreach mini and control it from my watch.
I have a Fenix 5 and one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is that it will pair with the Garmin in reach mini for texting notifications via bluetooth
beings that i have a garmin in reach mini, i went with a garmin fenix 2 in the beginning.
recently upgraded to a fenix 5x.. couldn't be happier with the performance of garmin products and i wear them every single day 24 hours.
I recently got a Fenix 6x sapphire and absolutely love it. It's my first smart watch, and I'm sure I'm under utilizing it. One of my favorite features is the battery life. Without using GPS (and probably some other functions), I'm getting over 2 weeks of use on a charge. Great watch thus far.
Fenix 6X with sapphire for me. If you hunt a lot, it provides good info. Weather, sunrise/set, baro, HR, altitude, has a map that could save you from getting lost. I really like mine.
I would definitely recommend the Garmin brand. For general fitness and outdoor use (tracking HR, steps, hiking, biking), the instinct or Fenix should cover everything you want. Instinct is entry level and Fenix is the premium line. The Forerunner models are good too but more focused on running, although they do support hiking and biking.