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Go for 965 or for 955 solar

JPM
over 2 years ago

Hello all,

I oscillate between the 955 solar and the 965.

Now that the new update for the 955 solar with wrist based running dynamics has come out, are there any differences at all in the functions?

I think the battery life of the 955 is great.
But also find the display of the 965 really nice!

But have a bit of fear that what could burn in the 965 (amoled also as with oled?) and that in the sun perhaps the display is difficult to read (in videos it is said that this works well?!).

Would be happy about your experiences before I put 600 bills.

Kind regards
Pascal

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Coming from many Garmin and recently 630/745/ and  the  955 (non solar) .I did a test with the 265 and am currently testing the 965.

    Function wise the 955 and 965 are the same (after the fixes in the Beta 15.09) . Only differences are really the screen type and the dimensions. I notice quite a difference in the "feel" of the 965 vs the 955 because of the less depth of the unit. What is your use-case?

    As regards the AMOLED , you can see it in the sun , but you will see my comments re quick glances vs MIP. MIP is much clearer and "always" visible in the sun, As the AMOLED dims , you have to gesture or touch to see in sunlight,

    See these two posts

    https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/running-multisport/f/forerunner-965/329241/the-965-is-here-finally

    https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/running-multisport/f/forerunner-955-series/326176/955-vs-the-265---my-experience-as-a-955-user

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to S.M.R.

    That’s is inside  AOD and gesture and in the Sun AOD and gesture.

    With MIP you would easily see the display outside with no gesture 

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to S.M.R.

    Wow!

    Thanks for the great pictures!!!
    I have now also read your great report after I translated it into German.

    Is it possible to make the gestures for activities brighter than for the standart gestures?

    So in everyday life 1/3 and for activities 3/3 for example.

    I'm leaning heavily towards the 965, just hope it's not super difficult to read the display during activities.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to JPM

    Im on the edge still, I am not sure the display makes sense for me. Yesterday in the garden one could see nothing without gesture (as you see from the pics). With the MIP well you just see it.  as for the Apple Watch , well even with AOD in did you have more chance to see and the gesture is much more sensitive..well in my opinion.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to JPM

    You have different brightness and gesture settings for activities and general

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to S.M.R.

    thanks for being our faithful tester and real world tester. that garden picture is pretty convincing to me. i would not be used to having to gesture to just see the time when i'm outside or driving in the car. while i appreciate how stellar the AMOLED looks when it's active and at higher brightness, i think i would struggle, at least initially with having to gesture to light up the screen while running and outside.

    i'm sure it's something i could "get used to" but not sure i want to when i have an option that works for me. 

    as a contrast to your situation, while my MIPS 955  watch face is dim in my unlit office right now with some natural light filtering through the window, my watch face is still very readable.  i don't have to it to gesture backlight at all until evening hours (sunset) where i have the backlight come on for the purposes of when i'm driving and/or out walking the dog, etc.

    confession: i have been tempted to try it out just to see if it would fit my daily life because the photos of the AOD lit up are very compelling. yet, SMR, your photos and documentation will hopefully save REI/Fleet Feet me using their liberal return policy for a test drive and drive out my tendency to have FOMO with tech stuff. :p 

    finally, my hope is that ultimately, in a few years, tech will evolve to include an ambient light sensor that can auto adjust brightness depending on conditions and maybe provide some compromise, and/or a better gesture sensitivity than it currently has.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to derek87

    Yes , that is a very good way of putting it.

    I never realised how effective the MIP was in these situations until this , as one has become used to if over decades of FR models. It is very effective. 

    The other day it was early and cloudy when I ran and then the AMOLED works well. 

    As you say one can get used to things over time.

    I put my AW6 on yesterday outside to compare and when the AOD is in dim state , one can still manage to see it (ok barely but still) whereas the FR965 one was unreadable. The AW gesture is also smoother and more sensitive (in my opinion anyway) I never really noticed the time a gesture took when I used the AW all the time and FR (before 955) just for activities.

    As it was sunny outside now , I just took these for comparison - Gesture and base AOD. 

    See what I mean , you can see the dimmed AW in the sun , the FR965 not so much. After gesture both legible.

    if FR AOD base brightness could be adjustable and gesture sensitivity....

    Today I did a farlek session , was bright out. you need gesture when you are stopped to see , or have to gesture or touch the screen to see the display. During intervals when looking at rest period that can be annoying.

    I will say it's a very nice watch and scrolling through glances etc is great with this screen. The dimensions also feel better being thinner.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to S.M.R.

    as always, very helpful stuff. when you say the that the scrolling is great on the 965: better than the 955? i am guessing it should be with what is likely a higher refresh rate and maybe different touch screen hardware?

    having not used an apple watch, i have no basis for comparison, but the touch screen (except for a few early and  intermediate firmware releases) has been responsive enough for me. i, like you, have been a user of FR watches for 13 years, so I'm slowly coming around to seeing the benefits of the touch screen for normal watch use. but i'm so glad we still have the buttons for in activity use.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to derek87

    I had the 610 - 630 and those had touch and I really enjoyed them . Missed it on the 745 so glad it was back on the 955.  

    never liked the AW for activities is just not the same functionality as the Garmin. Too fiddle to use only touch to do things on AW during activities for me.

    On the 965 amoled inside the screen is very clean and clear especially looking at the glances .

    In reality one needs to look at those once maybe twice a day so what real difference does it make .. 

    we are all spoilt for choice these day .. not necessarily a good thing.