From the 945 -> 965

As regards the display the main issue you will need to adapt to is using gesture to see during activities vs the 945 MIP. It was quite irritating to me at the outset especially for workouts when one wants to see the pace regularly , but I’ve adapted to it now.  FYI I had 630 745 945LTE now the 965.  

Thanks .. what is MIP? Gestures refers to the touchscreen? I think I would disable touch, at least during workouts.

I go waaaay back with Gramin, the FR 201 -- that was lovingly referred to as "the brick" .. took an eternity to lock into the GPS signal. 

Yes I had that as well, 201, 305, etc 

I have touch on always , I like that having had the 620/630 with touch.

MIP - memory in Pixel

Read my post here if you are interested.

forums.garmin.com/.../the-965-is-here-finally

Ah, super, thanks for the link.

I've never had a watch with touch, I worry about sweat etc interfering during runs etc, but perhaps that's unfounded. I've always found the buttons to be quite intuitive (but maybe that's because I've gotten used to the US over the years).

Looking forward to reading your posts about the 965 - thanks again for sharing.

I switched from a 935 to a 965. Had the 935 for over 6 years but the battery was a bit worn out.

I think a 965 is about as useful for traiining as a 935 and in some situations less usefull. I know, not the most popular opinion.

Gps is about the same. A bit less wobble near large buildings, but in most cases its about the same. I never had any issues with gps on my 935 and I don’t see multiband gps as a reason to buy a new watch. (But the 935 had a better gps chip than the 945. Garmin sacrificed accuracy for batterylife with the 945 chip)

I use navigation quite a lot. Have been using breadcrumb for over 10 years without a problem. Now I have maps. I find the maps hard to see on the tiny screen. I don’t see maps as a must have.

The screen of the 965 looks great, but comes with annoyances. The gesture (raise your arm) to wake up the screen or turn up the brightness doesn’t work very well and it takes to much time for the watch te respond. This is so annoying during fast intervals on a track.

Also in day to day life, the possibility to peak at your watch without moving (even during brightscreens in de cinema) isn’t possible (or you must use aod and sacrifice batterylife). Also, when you do move your arm, you could have this light emitting thing on your wrist. I think MIPS is a far better screen for a sportwatch.

Touchscreen is nice during none sportmode. 

The new user interface is more fancy, but the hardware is struggling with it. I notice quite some lag.

The 965 produces way more data. Most are completely useless for me. I know my body pretty well and know a thing or 2 about training and recovery. Really don’t need a watch that at best only confirms how I feel. But I know some people just crave for more data to collect.

Baterylife is good. But the watch is new. Batterylife on my 935 was also good when it was new.

I think the heartratesensor seems to be a bit better (tho, I still use acheststrap for high intensity intervals on a track)

My new watch has travkmode. I find it quite useless (and my watch crashes quite often) My watch doesn’t recognize the track I use (yes, a competition approved track) and even if it does, it only give you nicer lokimg trails on strava.

Thank you for taking time for this informative post.

Longtime 945 user (in fact I remember your username from the 945 forum) and I switched to 965 in April.

I regret nothing. 

Better screen, both in resolution and larger view.

More reliable UX/UI.

Battery life at LEAST a wash (and I have my 965 on "always on" display), with the 965 seemingly better (I was always always disappointed in my 945 battery life)

Wifi seems faster when syncing music

Quality seems better, haven't found an issue with my 965 like the "sticky buttons" problem with the 945 (which I experienced but just lived with)

And back to the display, it truly looks marvelous in some situations.  HOWEVER, I cycle with my 965 on the handlebars and when it times out on AOD I do have a little trouble viewing it in bright sunshine.  No fix for this except to brighten it and just burn more battery.  That's the one advantage the MIP display has in my opinion.

Great, thanks for sharing this badbri, much appreciated. I think for now I will stick with the 945, but if a need arises for an upgrade in the near future (ie. the watch dies or I misplace it) I will get a 965. I may end up with a 975 depending when it comes out :)   .. A higher pixel count than what the 945 has would definitely be nice, as would be narrower bezels. I also have heard good things about the GPS hardware in the 955/965 compared to the 945.

S.M.R. said:

GC Balance , which to me is an important metric

I just (re)discovered that omission, too bad, sort of strange that it's available on the 955 according to the specs on Garmin's site (without any extra device, like a HRM strap). It's the dynamics measurement I pay most attention to.

Since my HRM strap died again, I'm just thinking of upgrading to the 965 and doing w/o the strap. My measurements may not be exactly at the same level, but it'll be nice to get some dynamics w/o the strap. Just have to see the screen in person before I make the decision. I worry a bit it might be too bright/garish in low light conditions? Also, definitely will look for new watch faces :) .. not impressed by the stock ones I've seen.