The single most important difference between the 935 and the 920XT

Main reason:

1. Wrist OHR. I don't miss running dynamics and have no intention of getting the running dynamics pod. Though I might put on a strap to do an occasional LT test.

Other reasons:

1. Less ugly than the 920XT, I can wear with business attire.
2. Nice clear display. I find it easier to read without glasses than the 920XT. Initially I missed the rectangular screen, but happy with the round face now.
3. Foot pod now supports instant pace and distance - that's better support than any of the previous Forerunners. I get some pretty wonky GPS tracks running around HK.
4. I like the training status information.

However, I wouldn't hesitate to use the 920XT again. It is a very stable and capable device.

Courses start fine for me away from the start (as that's how all of my courses are set up).

Very interested you hear you are able to join a course away from the beginning, the 910XT works fine. There is a similar post in the 5x forum of courses failing to join/restart. My courses are RWGPS tcx compiled with RTWtool to fit.

I couldn't decide last year between a Fenix, 735 or 920XT and the Spartan wasn't looking so good. Nearly decided on a 920XT for the barometric altimeter and navigation support, but it was looking end of line code wise. The 935 is a very nice watch, I like wearing it, but the course navigation has to work, an Edge 520 is doing a nice job of that for now.

As Tim says, OHR is not a big deal for me. I feel there is a long way to go OHR gets to the stage where it can supplement a chest strap for 'active' activities. My Apple watch does the job admirably during the day but I would not consider using it for activity. Have to say only purchased the Apple watch 'cos I like the technology...and it's got a square face LOL!

Anyway, it's the navigation of the 935 that's appealing at the moment. I use the course function on the 920 a lot at the moment but have not had any need to join a course in the middle. I have run/biked to the start of a course from some distance without issue, but I wonder if expecting the device to allow one to join a course part way in might be a stretch too far. After all, a course is a programmed route that goes from A to B. I can see there being some problems implementing a solution that would allow us to select a course, move to a point somewhere along the course, then 'tell' the device we want to start the course form there.

However, I too, set a course to go from somewhere to somewhere so not sure of the value of implementing (should it not already be possible, which it appears is not at the moment) such a process,

Another find (as I mentioned elsewhere just now) is that you can setup a course "on the fly" to follow from an activity currently on your watch history. So, in theory, you could repeat one from your current history, grab an old one from GC and put in back on the watch or even obtain somebody's else's and do that. Handy say if you wanted to try out a race course from somebody going similar pace to your target.

However, I too, set a course to go from somewhere to somewhere so not sure of the value of implementing (should it not already be possible, which it appears is not at the moment) such a process,

I haven't used it, but isn't that how Basecamp functions?

You can import courses to the 935, run prior courses (and one's you've run from import), you can also run courses from saved locations, set your own coordinates, and sight and go.

As for the import, couldn't you take courses from your 920xt that you already have and bring them over to the 935? At least then you can enjoy the added benefit of a supported watch that has more options for external sensor support (ant+ and bt, plus a bunch of bike sensor support and muscle oxidation support native)

Another find (as I mentioned elsewhere just now) is that you can setup a course "on the fly" to follow from an activity currently on your watch history. So, in theory, you could repeat one from your current history, grab an old one from GC and put in back on the watch or even obtain somebody's else's and do that. Handy say if you wanted to try out a race course from somebody going similar pace to your target.

But without turn-by-turn navigation, afaik. (I actually looked at a course created from an activity in GC, and it had no coursepoints. I assume the same would happen if you created a course from an activity directly on the watch).

I've definitely seen course points if send a course from GCM (so created in GC) to the watch. I thought it also worked if you sent a course from GC direct (so via GE or WiFi) but I don't usually do it that way. (Edit: or you talking about "Note that if you use Activity > "Send to Device" in GC, the activity actually gets saved as course on your watch, but without course points (i.e. there's no turn-by-turn navigation), and it doesn't appear in your history." that you just said elsewhere?)

Whatever, sounds like that the watch itself isn't doing this processing.

Course points are helpful but not essential for me as I generally "watch" the map page if following a course and even with a course point I sometimes gone wrong at a complicated junction.

(Edit: or you talking about "Note that if you use Activity > "Send to Device" in GC, the activity actually gets saved as course on your watch, but without course points (i.e. there's no turn-by-turn navigation), and it doesn't appear in your history." that you just said elsewhere?)

Whatever, sounds like that the watch itself isn't doing this processing.

Yes, that's what I meant. Just to highlight the fact that the watch can't give you turn-by-turn on "plain" activities (even if they show up under "Courses"!) and the only way (through garmin) to (automatically) add turn-by-turn info to an activity is to use Activity > Create Course in GC. (Since I didn't understand that when I moved from dwMap to "real" garmin navigation.)

I guess it's not possible for watch to do this processing since it doesn't have maps, so it doesn't know where the "real" turns are. (e.g. Are you following a winding trail with only one path, or turning on a city street? The former would have not have a turn-by-turn notification but the latter would) I also gather that the Fenix 5X and Edge can do turn-by-turn on plain activities since they have maps.

However, I'll point out that dwMap always has turn-by-turn directions no matter where your routes came from (e.g. GC activities, Strava). In that case, I assume it "guesses" where the turns are, in the absence of having real map info. I think if I followed a trail with a 90 degree bend, it would tell me to turn, even if the path didn't actually fork. On the flip side, if a trail forked very slightly, you might not get a turn notification.

If dwMap can do it....

Edit: Also, as a runner and a guy with zero sense of direction (which somehow gets worse when I run), the navigation feature is useless to me w/o turn-by-turn, because I'll be constantly eyeballing my watch and I don't want to do that. That may be why I keep mentioning TbT :P

I'm quite happy following the breadcrumb trail on the 920 as I get an good idea of the direction to go at decision points. The warnings appear early enough after a wrong turn to go back and rejoin the track if I want to. Often I'll keep heading on the wrong track as long as it is going in roughly the right direction as usually I can locate another track to cut back over and join the correct one. However, sometimes it's nice to be able to zoom out and see where the other track has gone and that, although possible with the 920 is a bit of a pain to have to do involving, unless I've missed an obvious short cut, a number of button presses. TBT although nice to have is not as high on my list of desirable features as the ability to quickly, and easily, zoom in an out on a map.

I do most of my running off road and am very fortunate to have a massive network of single track and 4-wheel drive tracks to run around. That does have it's complications as not all are visible in Garmin Connect when plotting a course. It can, and does get quite interesting sometimes at decision points, but usually I end up where I want to be. Even with the breadcrumb trail, I don't find myself staring at the track wondering where I am, even if I'm off course. I usually know where I am in relation to the course and can usually find another trail to take me to where I want to be as the actual plotted course is shown relative to where I am and where I'm going.

Better map and navigation functions are grabbing my attention at the moment with the 935. Anything else, thus far, isn't really lighting any fires for me.