Skip to main content TechRadar the technology experts Search TechRadar View Profile België (Nederlands) Deutschland North America US (English) Australasia New Zealand Tech Radar Pro Tech Radar Gaming Nintendo Switch 2 Best laptop NYT Wordle today Health & Fitness Garmin Instinct 3 Tactical Edition drops with Stealth Mode, Kill Switch, extra metal and ballistics info Matt Evans 24 April 2025 Garmin drops a surprise tacti-cool Garmin Instinct 3 variant When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Garmin) The Garmin Instinct 3 Tactical Edition has just landed It starts at $499.99 / £429.99 / around AU$895 It boasts a metal-reinforced bezel, ballistic solutions and the usual Tactical Edition features Whether you’re in the military, you lead tough wilderness expeditions, or you just love tacti-cool gear with features named things like ‘Stealth Mode’, you’re in luck: Garmin has unveiled the Garmin Instinct 3 Tactical Edition. Arriving in two sizes and two screen options, the 45mm solar charging model with a low-power MIP display starts at $499.99 / £429.99 / around AU$895 (Australian pricing TBC). The 50mm model with a brighter AMOLED display costs $599.99 / £499.99 / around AU$1,040. Design-wise, there's a metal-reinforced bezel to add additional durability compared with the slender metal accents of the baseline Garmin Instinct 3. The watches come in a cool black colorway without the neon options of the standard watch, and they get the new rucking activity, although this is being added to Garmin’s latest crop of watches anyway via a software update. You may like Garmin Tactix 8 just launched, and it might be the most formidable Garmin ever Whoops! Garmin Instinct 3 Tactical Edition leaked in full The other new features are very James Bond: Night Vision Goggle (NVG) mode dims the display to levels “functional to the primary user” but “nearly invisible” to others. For Yours Eyes Only, you might say. A Kill Switch allows the user to perform a factory reset on the watch quickly, wiping GPS and health data. An Applied Ballistics solver, which requires an additional fee to unlock, tells you elevation and wind information and how it might affect your gun and bullet profiles. A bit like one of the best golf watches, but for shooting instead of trying to chip your way out of a sandtrap. Otherwise, it’s got all the features of the original Garmin Instinct 3, such as heart rate monitoring, sophisticated GPS information, loads of unique workout profiles, an LED torch, basic directional software, TracBack to prevent users getting lost, and the Race Calendar feature to tailor training plans to your next endurance event. Should you get the Tactical Edition? The Garmin Instinct 3 Tactical Edition is, for the most part, aimed at people who can make use out of the extra features. Ballistics information might be useful for hunters, for example, while the Kill Switch is good for the very privacy-conscious or those in the military. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. However, the vast majority of people could save a little cash and get the standard Instinct 3 and get the same performance, especially now rucking has been added to more of the best Garmin watches. If you think you can get some use out of the Night Vision Goggle mode, terrific – but this is a specialty model for specialty users. You might also like... Garmin just accidentally leaked its next Forerunner, but it's not the one we were expecting I wish I was a better runner so I could use more of the features on my Garmin watch I've been an Apple Watch user for 10 years - here are 8 things Garmin still does better See more Health & Fitness News Social Links Navigation Senior Fitness & Wearables Editor Matt is TechRadar's expert on all things fitness, wellness and wearable tech. A former staffer at Men's Health, he holds a Master's Degree in journalism from Cardiff and has written for brands like Runner's World, Women's Health, Men's Fitness, LiveScience and Fit&Well on everything fitness tech, exercise, nutrition and mental wellbeing. Matt's a keen runner, ex-kickboxer, not averse to the odd yoga flow, and insists everyone should stretch every morning. When he’s not training or writing about health and fitness, he can be found reading doorstop-thick fantasy books with lots of fictional maps in them. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Garmin Tactix 8 just launched, and it might be the most formidable Garmin ever Whoops! Garmin Instinct 3 Tactical Edition leaked in full The Garmin Instinct 2X Solar can run indefinitely on a single charge, and it's never been cheaper Garmin just announced support for rucking on the new Tactix 8 – but will it come to any of its other smartwatches? 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