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Is Garmin ever going to get the Forerunner buttons consistently tactile?

derek87

So: very subjective survey for those of you who are on the bleeding edge with me and have recently gotten a 955: how are your buttons?

mine are ok. i'll give them a "B." not mushy, but not a smooth simple click like i had on my 935. my first 945LTE was awful...one mushy button, another one that triple clicked (for lack of better description), another one that double clicked, 2 that felt great. my 2nd 945LTE was better...probably a B+/A- .... 3 out of 5 buttons excellent, 2 good.

my 955 Solar: an inconsistent mix of button feel. nothing awful but certainly my complaint lives on with all of the 900 watches i've used in the past 5+ years...not consistent and not what i would hope for in a $600 watch.

but i probably won't complain/exchange unless i hear regularly that people are getting excellent units. i'm just surprised after all these years, Garmin hasn't improved in this area.

i guess regardless of feel, they work so that's what they would say is important.

  • 0 in reply to Principino93

    I don't know the answer definitively but the US warranty is 1 year, and it's confirmed by Garmin that the watch is defective. So my assumption is that a return anytime within the warranty period is valid. It would be simple and reasonable I think if they had stock to ship out immediately. Bigger issue to me is lack of quality control - doesn't someone test device (ie push buttons) before product is QC approved?

  • 0 in reply to GS

    How did you prove that? Just by describing the issue? Yeah, but currently stock probably would be affected by the same problem. Maybe even worse - it is acceptable for them how do this button works... Which i find hard to belive in, because alot of cheaper watches got better buttons, even in garmin collection. Veery disapointing. 

  • 0 in reply to Principino93

    All 3 buttons on the left side had a double-click to them. The 2 buttons on the right were smooth until click. There was no way to prove that remotely and Garmin customer service acknowledged the watch was defective. I am taking a chance of course by replacing through mail order that the next watch won't have the same issue (or perhaps a different issue this time).

  • 0

    >>I’d give my buttons an A-/B+ <<

    I'm downgrading mine to B+. After several days I guess they all have the double-click/camera shutter feel, and a bit of travel to get the functioning click, but at least they all have the same feel. They don't have the premium feel that my old F6 titanium did, but that watch was a unicorn.

    The deal breaker for me is when the buttons have no travel and no click, so these are probably fine provided they don't worsen over time.

  • 0 in reply to PatrickNSF

    as much as i am frustrated by this over the years, i'll say that they probably won't worsen over time given my experiences with my 935 and 945LTE. i just think the tolerances/QC is pretty poor on these. yet, even friends how had mushy 935 buttons not much tactile feedback) never had a problem with their buttons not doing their job. 

    but it's crazy that buttons on my Timex Ironman watches from many years ago all had better/more consistent buttons that all of my Garmin watches. (i just tried one the other day that i had lying around -- battery dead)

  • 0

    Mushy 2 stage buttons (all of them) on my 955 Solar. Will wait until there is screen protectors available and also wait for comments if others have had button issue resolved before doing RMA. Also want to give some time to see if the button behavior changes after some use...

  • 0 in reply to GS

    What’s a double click button? I think I have that on my right 2 buttons and normal ones on the left side

  • 0 in reply to PatrickNSF
    PatrickNSF said:
    I'm downgrading mine to B+

    Two of my buttons (Down and Back) have gotten worse in the week I've had the watch. The Down button double-clicks and nearly sticks. The Back button stated making an audible noise that sounds like a spring (and not a click).

    I'm going to let it play out for another week before deciding how to handle it. Years ago my 935 developed button issues (and was swapped out by Garmin) which is what prompted me to move to the F5+ and F6. 

  • 0

    Buttons - I press them. They work. Off for my run...

  • 0

    I have access to a large number of Garmin models. On the subject of button performance, the worst is the Instinct, the best is the 55. 
    When Garmin produce a 42mm watch with enough beef in the solar cells to end charging forever, with some old-school G-shock last a lifetime ruggedness thrown in, that’s when I spend big. 

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