Buy FR 945 now or wait??

Obv meant 945, not 975....

It’s the question many of us are asking. We all know it’s coming, just when. I can’t see Garmin releasing one before Xmas. Spring 2022?

Depends on three things:

• How long can you wait? It is very likely that we won't see a successor this year.
• Does price matter? The successor will be significantly more expensive than the 945.
• Are you ok with being an early adopter? The 945 is a mature product, and issues - if any - are well known, so you can judge by yourself if they bother you or not, whereas a new product is a big unknown.

More than an unknown factor it is a certainty that the new FR9xx will have bugs like all new products, see FR945 LTE, I bought 945 last year when it was solid and dropped in price, in a year it is only improved, after the bad experience with 645M never again a Garmin debut.

I recommend today to buy FR 945 LTE, there is a new processor, faster than the 945.

Is the LTE available (or more to the point, does it work) in the UK?

What is your definition for short term?

I would say that I expected 955, but we got 945 LTE. So I would say 955 is earliest next spring.

My 910 is about to give up. I could make do until the end of the year if I was fairly sure something was imminent but from what you guys are saying I’m looking at springtime at the earliest.

I’d discounted the LTE as understood this functionality didn’t work in the UK - is that still the case?

A quick peek at the Garmin UK website doesn't show the 945LTE but a similar search here in New Zealand does. Not sure if that says anything definitive. However, perhaps is does suggest not available in the UK. Perhaps contact Garmin UK directly and ask.

From dcrainmaker's comments about Garmin's recent developer conference earlier this month:

As with most years, Garmin did not announce any new consumer products this week. As noted, that rarely happens. And if/when it does, it’s more just a case of coincidental timing with other events occurring the week of the conference (such as the cycling-focused Sea Otter in the past). In terms of products remaining for 2021, looking at the history here, we’re likely past the chance of anything new occurring. Garmin has only once in the last 5 years released a watch after this point in the calendar (the Descent MK1 in 2017, to coincide with a scuba industry event). But at the same time, everyone is running behind this year, so…shrug.

CES in early January was often a release date in the past, but many larger companies are now preferring to release away from major events like this.

My guess is that having recently released the 945LTE, probably a Fenix 7 will be the next to be released multisport device, with the 955 following on behind that. But that's just extrapolation on my part - no inside knowledge.