itle: Did I make the right choice? Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar ($500) vs Instinct 3 AMOLED ($350) vs Tactical Solar ($450)

Looking for some opinions from Garmin users because I think I'm second-guessing myself.

I'm coming from an Apple Watch Ultra and recently decided to switch fully into the Garmin ecosystem.

My primary use cases are:

• General health and fitness tracking
• Road cycling
• Gravel cycling
• Everyday wear
• 24/7 wear (I only take my watch off to shower)

Here's what happened:

I originally bought an Instinct 3 AMOLED for $350 during a sale and wore it for about two weeks.

Then I started wondering if I'd prefer a MIP display and exchanged it for an Instinct 3 Tactical Solar for $450. I wore that for about a week.

For full transparency, I have absolutely no use for the tactical features. The only reason I considered the Tactical Solar is because I strongly prefer the all-black design. I'd honestly pay the extra $100 just to avoid the orange accent ring on the standard Instinct 3 Solar.

While I was in Scheels, I noticed they had a brand new Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar on sale for $500, and for only $50 more than the Tactical, I ended up switching again.

Now I'm sitting here wondering if I made the right choice or if I just kept creeping up in price because "for a little more" kept sounding reasonable.

My biggest concern is that the Fenix is an older watch. It's the standard Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar, not the newer 7X Pro, and the Instinct 3 lineup is obviously much newer.

My questions:

• Was the Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar worth the extra money over the Instinct 3 AMOLED?
• Does the age of the non-Pro Fenix 7X matter in 2026?
• For someone who mainly cycles, tracks health metrics, and wears the watch daily, is the Fenix platform noticeably better?
• If you had all three options at these sale prices, which would you have chosen?
• Am I overthinking this, or did I actually end up with the best overall watch of the three?

I know the Instinct AMOLED was probably the best value, but I'm trying to figure out if the Fenix was the better long-term choice.

Interested in hearing from people who have owned both the Instinct and Fenix lines.