Garmin® International, Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), today announced the Instinct® Esports Edition, a rugged GPS smartwatch uniquely designed for esports athletes and enthusiasts to take their gaming performance to the next level. Using Garmin’s proven health and fitness tracking technologies, the Instinct Esports Edition uses a dedicated esports activity function to track and analyze heartrate and stress during play, as well as offer long-term trend analysis. Garmin’s new STR3AMUP!™ PC streaming tool also provides Instinct users the ability to livestream biometric data to audiences for a new streaming experience1. And with over three days of battery life in esports mode, users can make the most of their playing time.
“Elite athletes around the world depend on Garmin products to monitor and improve their performance. With the Instinct Esports Edition, esports athletes can tap into that same technology to track and examine how their body responds to intense competition,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of sales. “Players can also use Instinct’s data to make adjustments in their daily lives, whether it be altering sleep patterns or activity levels, which can result in increased cognitive and physical performance during play.”
The Instinct Esports Edition is purpose-built to military standards (MIL-STD 810), yet its exceedingly lightweight design provides a distraction-free gaming experience. It provides up to 80 hours of battery life in esports mode and up to 14 days in smartwatch mode for less time charging and more time gaming. Instinct’s bold black and red colors, high-contrast display and rugged design bring to life a non traditional smartwatch. When paired with a compatible smartphone, Instinct also provides smart notifications such as email, texts, and alerts to a user’s wrist so they can stay connected both during and outside of game play.
Dedicated Esports Activity Profile
Prior to a match, users simply select the esports activity on Instinct. Once activated, Garmin’s proven wrist-based heart rate technology2 analyzes and displays a user’s heartrate and stress level in addition to the time of day and a game timer. Similar to other athletic competitions, actively monitoring stress and heartrate in real time can provide the opportunity to manage physical and mental resources for more effective and focused competition. Once a gaming session has ended, users can sync their activity to the free Garmin Connect™ app3to view, store and analyze their data to see how their body reacts in different gaming situations.
STR3AMUP! Livestream Biometrics
When using the esports activity, players can utilize Garmin’s new STR3AMUP! PC streaming tool to broadcast heart rate, stress level and Body Battery™ live and embed this data into their video streams or recordings using customizable overlays. Displaying these metrics allows players to interface with their audience and showcase – in real time – the physical and mental demands of competitive play. STR3AMUP! allows audiences to be further engaged with their favorite player or team.
Body Metrics Tracking
Designed with an emphasis on elite-tier competition, the Instinct Esports Edition provides a variety of valuable body metric analytics features2, so users can analyze and fine-tune how their body reacts to competitive play3. These include:
- Wrist-Based Heart Rate – Get heart rate data along with alerts if a user’s heart rate stays too high or too low while at rest, and gauge how hard their heart is working during specific gaming moments.
- Advanced Sleep Monitoring – Users get a full picture of how they are sleeping with a breakdown of light, deep and REM sleep stages. This allow users to interpret and make lifestyle modifications for more focused play.
- Stress Tracking – Using Garmin’s heart rate variability, the Instinct Esports Edition can calculate an individual’s stress level score, giving them the opportunity to optimize stress management to conserve mental and physical resources.
- Body Battery Energy Monitor – Uses heart rate, stress and sleep data to determine how much energy a user has – letting them know when to play and when to rest.
- 30+ sports apps and robust activity tracking – Users can train with preloaded activity profiles outside the gaming world. For athletes who want to monitor performance even further, an optional Heart Rate Monitor chest strap is available for purchase separately.
The latest innovation from Garmin, the Instinct Esports Edition is available now for a suggested retail price of $299.99.
