Related

Bug fixes, new features, and what will the 955 bring?

derek87
over 2 years ago

like many of you, i took the plunge last June, hoping that the 945LTE wouldn't be the forgotten step child of a watch, especially given the assurances from Garmin to DCRainmaker that this wouldn't be the case. i share in the frustration of many of you that while the watch has been great in many respects, there are a long list of small, and some significant bugs that continue to plague our watch 11 months later.

i really find myself a bit at a loss of what Garmin is doing behind the scenes with your beloved watch.. while the news through DC Rainmaker that Stamina and onboard Connect IQ settings changes (the latter being challenging according to what DC says) being added features to the 945LTE in 2022 are nice, i'd rather have Garmin focus on delivering a watch that does the things promised in the user manual and specifications when it was released in June 2021.

with the recent "leak" of the 955 out on Reddit, it makes me wonder what the 955 will bring and i ask if any of you folks would upgrade to it? this is what i gather from the leaks:

- solar option (although a non-solar version will be available)

- touch screen ? (no mention of it in any leaked docs or discussion)

- updated GPS with multi-band

- stamina

- onboard Connect IQ settings changes

- larger screen? (1.3" back onto a 47mm watch?)

- any LTE? no mention of it recently and surprising it wasn't included in any of the Fenix7/Epix2 models

what would lead you guys to eat the investment of the 945LTE and go with the 955? i'd be torn with any of the items i listed above. my LTE has for the most part done everything i needed it to do, and i don't even use the LTE feature. i think the only lure might be the newer GPS with dual band capability and if they went back to the 47mm with the 1.3" screen and a better battery life. (i'd be more than content with my 945LTE if it really lived up to specs. as i've noted many times before, this watch has significantly less battery life than my 935 even though it was spec'd to be similar)

as as a side note: one thing that i continue to be impressed with after seeing a Fenix 7 briefly the other day is the quality of the screen visibility on the 945LTE. without the touchscreen layer (presumably) and/or solar and sapphire, i find my 945LTE has great visibility from all angles and with backlight, significantly more pleasing visibility at night than my 935 ever had. i'll be curious what the 955 screen ends up looking like.

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    forgot one more feature:

    - running power but requires accessory still

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Clearly my activity here voices my similar opinion on being ignored / abandoned and not quite meeting original commitments.

    I think my biggest issue is ultimately the battery being so short of stated expectations (smartwatch mode).  I just end up charging every few days vs once a week with my old 935.

    I do use the LTE and enjoy being able to have live track to my wife while running without a phone, so I think LTE is a must for me going forward.

    Other desires are driven by wanting to be more lazy with charging - solar + longer battery (meet 945LTE specs at a minimum).

    Stamina looks interesting but I can’t say I’d upgrade for it.

    I use a Stryd for running and am not sure Garmin adding support for their own pod would be a factor unless it offered some new clear advantage.

    A bigger screen without massively large watch body would also be welcomed.

    Still my experience with the 945LTE so far has me left with a little bit of a bad taste for Garmin given the missed specifications, slow (or lack of updates) and continued release of new and more expensive products.

    Years ago (perhaps around the 310xt) I wished Polar or Suunto had good enough competition to switch as I was similarly frustrated.  They didn’t (for me) and no one else still does yet… but I as frustration grows making a change gets more and more tempting (yet still no one is quite there as I’d want solid multisport with LTE and 4-7 days of battery)

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    I just bought the 945 LTE due to size. It is perfect for me.
    Touch screen will bring a good usability to the watch, specially on naviagation with maps.
    Regarding bugs,updates, it seems to me it is like that on every garmin device, just that being an lte device the updates take more to be "certified"...
    Honestly all "ok" for me.
    Like others said, unfortunately, if you go outside of Garmin, the products are not as "complete"/rich in features...
    Being a suunto fan, after having the suunto 9 peak ti, when I come to garmin watch, I feel it is much "up to date". 

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to 3799751
    3799751 said:
    Touch screen will bring a good usability to the watch, specially on naviagation with maps.

    It sounds great in theory, but in practice, maybe not so much. If you look at the Fenix 7 forums, multiple people are asking for the ability for the touch screen to be disabled for everything *except* maps, because of accidental touch during an activity triggering an unwanted save, for example.

    Personally, I had the 630 with touchscreen and I had problems with unwanted touches when it was raining. I saw similar complaints for the Vivoactive 3.

    I'm sure the tech and UX have improved somewhat, but there's still complaints on the latest products.

    To me this is the huge difference between Garmin and Apple: Apple cares more about usability than features (not that Apple doesn't have its own faults.)

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to FlowState

    I can relate to you, I had the edge 530, bought the 830 thinking it would be much better in terms of usability, and honestly, with the ui of garmin, not that much.

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Yes, I will upgrade to the Forerunner 955, whether it's released this spring, as per the unconfirmed leak on Reddit, or Q3. My main reasons are software updates going forward and more accurate GNSS. That's not to say I think the 945 LTE has bad accuracy, but the move from a Sony to a MediaTek/Airoha chipset turned out more noticeable than I thought it would be. Even the non-multiband Fenix 7 is showing great improvements in dense areas (i.e. buildings and trees) compared to previous generations. I hope the 955 Solar has multi-band, but either way it should be a worthwhile upgrade.

    By the way, I know sapphire screens add glare compared to standard Gorilla Glass DX. Does anyone know if solar also makes the display less legible?

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    good thoughts and experiences everyone.

     i am totally with you. even though i am able to charge once a week with the 945LTE, i was able to go easily 10+ days with the 935 without thinking of charging. it's a first world problem, but irks me that this watch isn't close to spec even with me doing everything to extend the battery life. i would have thought they would have easily "fixed" the missing sleep time battery saver mode that's missing (and listed in the manual) which would buy some more life, but i'm losing hope that they will ever fix that issue.

    for me the touch screen would be a much appreciated feature for hiking/backpacking, but i would turn it off for running and cycling to avoid inadvertent taps.

    the bugs/slow fixes shouldn't have surprised me. our beloved 935 had a bunch of quirks early on (the biggest one was where alarms would disappear...other smaller ones i can't even recall). as for multi-band GNSS, i was really impressed by what DC Rainmaker saw in his tests. yet, i would have to admit it's a "nice to have" as opposed to a necessity. i only run for basic fitness  now that i'm in my 50s, but i would love to get an improvement on instantaneous pace displayed when i'm running through tree covered areas. distance measurements on my 935 and 945LTE have been more than sufficient, but i do know that there are many times during my run where the pace measurements are way off.

    from what i have read, the solar + touchscreen does degrade screen clarity/visibility (ie, the basic Fenix 7 model) compared to our Gorilla Glass. i haven't seen one live, but i do have to say i'm very satisfied with the readability of my 945LTE and would hate to take a step backward.

    i doubt i'd be an early adopter of the 955 (ie, buy release week) like i was for the 935 and 945LTE... but who knows. tech lust is real. :) 

    [edited as it seem to haver lost a bunch of sentences in my original post]

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to derek87

    I bought the 945 LTE as I was little bit sick of the poor GPS of the F6 pro in certain condition (urban canyon, under trees, etc. ...) and I wanted to give a try at my 1st forerunner since 910). I chose the LTE because it was newer than the non-LTE and that I'll probably sell it easily than the regular version. I also had a really nice discount for it.

    At first, I was surprise by the bezel as it is way smaller than the regular F6 but I was happy with a better GPS.

    At use, there are things that annoy me, like the average lap pace alert that doesnt not work as it does on the F6 (maybe it's a setting issue and the trouble is on me) ; I'm quite happy not to have plan any long distance trail because I'm pretty sure the watch would be trouble regarding the battery.

    Will I go for the 955? Probably.

    As always, i'll read DC Rainmaker review.

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    I value reliability and durability foremost. I would like to see longer lasting performance and upgrades to hardware. I like that my forerunner 945 isn’t a touch screen. I got it to be durable, functional, and adaptable. If I wanted a touchscreen variant, I would have gone with an urban design-focused watch. I like the idea of new features such as a solar face, but multiband would only lessen battery life and offer little advantage (especially in rural environments). I like the current size and reliability. I‘m in the Army and depend on my tools to function reliably. I have no issue with Garmin experimenting with new options, but I hope they recognize what distinguishes the Forerunner series from their other models.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to 7970981

    good points. my 935 lasted me over 4+ years and was still great the day i sold it. the battery life was better than my 945LTE which still has me frustrated since they were spec'd the same. i have no doubts that the 945LTE would last me 4-5 years as well if i don't have upgrade-tis. the touch screen isn't very important to me although i think it would help immensely with maps. multiband can help out a lot in urban environments with very tall buildings. check out DC Rainmaker's review and you will see the improved ability in an area where the 935 and 945 (and presumably the 945 LTE) do very poorly.

    i think what distinguishes the Forerunner line is its lightness. with my Nick Manley band, my 945LTE tips the scale at something like 40grams which is a lot lighter than even the titanium versions of the Epix2/Fenix7.