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Any comparison of screen glare between 955 Solar and non-Solar versions?

PatrickNSF
over 2 years ago

Has anyone seen any comparison of screen glare between the 955 Solar and the non-Solar versions? It seems like there were glare issues with screen in the Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar, but I'm curious to know if we'll see the same with the 955. Solar for me would be a "nice to have" provided there's not a great loss of screen clarity.

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Exactly my question as well. Thanks for asking!

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Blu70

    Hi, my direct experience comes from the Fenix 6, and it is limited to solar vs non solar versions (no sapphire owned)

    Solar versions visibility is worst, not for the glare but for the glass transparency. For the Fenix 6 the overlayed solar cell was specified to have 10% efficiency, roughly meaning it captures 10% of the passing light, or in other words... Making the lens 10% less transparent.

    For the forerunner 955 (and Fenix 7, for that matter) the efficiency of the solar overlay as I read around the internet is 7%, so... Solar glass would be 7% less transparent than non solar.

    On top of this, the digitizer layer for the touchscreen function will also dampen light a little bit. This also is visible on the Fenix 7 base model vs Fenix 6 base model.

    In the end, though not killing the screen visibility completely of course, the difference between solar and non solar will be visible on the 955 also, IMO

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Just look for a comparison normal F7 vs F7 Solar... 

    Any device before is no real comparison because the touchscreen layer makes the visbility much worse too on the normal touch devices without solar. I owned a non solar 7s and returned it. Glare and reflection were horrible imo compared to my Fenix 6s Pro (which is of course best in glass). I believe everything making the new touch garmins visbility better is worth it. So I would not buy a Solar version because it will for sure make visibility even worse then it already is with the non solar version. 

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to 9728506

    Fair comment, I had included my experience just to give some kind of idea of what the impact is from the solar panel, but of course comparison should be Apple to Green apple

    For my personal curiosity... Your returned 7s was a sapphire or regular gorilla glass one? This issue is actually what's holding me back from buying a Fenix 7... Worst thing of all, I love the X size, but that doesn't even come with no solar Cry

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Frankysour

    I think every comparison to F6 non solar non sapphire is unfair. I own the 6s Pro and it really is the best sports watch ever when it comes to visbility (glare and reflections). Garmin has done an incredible job back then. I think 945 should be similar to F6. But besides those all other watches had esp more reflections. 

    It was the normal 7s, couldn't even handle the 7sS or 7sSS . The normal 7s was worse enough for me. This was besides the massive look of the new F7 line the main reason to return it too. Outside it is ok but inside it is horrible to look at. Of course you can see time etc. but you always cannot unsee those reflections, esp when coming from F6 line. 

    I decided to keep the 6s Pro, because of maps mostly and looks, and buy the 255s. 955 is just to massive too, even though I love the touchscreen for all-day usage. And the glare was driving me nuts (touchscreen layer?). 

    Is it touchscreen or stamina you want to buy F7?

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to 9728506

    Well... As of now... For the functions of the 955 Smileythat will surely be ported to the F7 and surely NOT to the F6...

    Then stamina field, yes, also touchscreen for everyday usage tickles me, but... Honestly... Not at the cost of the beautiful visibility of a Fenix 6

    Actually... After my wonderful screen Fenix 6 base model, I am now a bit stuck with the 6x pro solar... Wanted the titanium build but did not think the impact of solar would be that high (there is no gray DLC titanium NON solar version, unfortunately...)

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Frankysour

    Thanks for the feedback. I could live without solar TBH, but given that the 955 bezel is so wide it seems like the solar feature at least puts it to some good use. Hopefully I’ll find a side-by-side comparison somewhere. 

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Frankysour

    If you don't mind paying $100 more, get the tactix® 7 – Standard Edition.

    It's the same size as the 7x (51mm), has a sapphire lens, without the solar.

    www.garmin.com/.../010-02704-00

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Chezet

    Yeah another surely nice one, but I fear it will get less sw support from Garmin than the Fenix 7... They are up to now treating it differently than the old Tactix delta, which actually had the same exact firmware as the Fenix 6...

    F7 and T7 as far as I know don't share same firmware, and this could be a issue for the updates

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Frankysour

    While not the same exact firmware, the firmware is 99% the same. They have to add some stuff to the F7 firmware to turn it into T7 firmware, which is why they don't bother with beta firmware for the T7, but so far every time there's a public release firmware for the F7, they port it to the T7 at the same time, and I don't think there's any reason to believe that'll change.