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Should I move from F5 to 935?

chatlow
over 7 years ago
Had my F5 for about two months and initially fell in love with it. However, I am facing the below issues which are making me consider returning it for the 935 and just wanted people here to confirm the 935 doesn't also fail in these areas..

Current pace is off a lot during runs (especially near trees)
GPS falls short during most runs (eg today ran 3.4 mile as seen by Strava app on my mobile but F5 recorded 3.2 mile)
Watch strap - buckle digs in quite a bit especially when done up tight during an activity.
OHR - resting seems okay but will occasionally check the widget and it skyrockets for no reason before coming back down again. And activities generally get a lower recorded HR.
Altimeter - keep having to set this either manually or using GPS and keep the setting as automatic but it goes way off after a few hours from my usual 20ft to -+300ft

Would be interesting to see if the non GPS related issues also occur in the 935 seeing as it's running the same software.


Thanks,
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    A lot of the issues you're getting with the F5 are those that are shared across watches in general here. Just going to copy and paste your issues to response.

    Current pace is off a lot during runs (especially near trees)-This is the same case of the 935. Pace is based on GPS. Using a footpod (see stryd) will give a much better reading.
    GPS falls short during most runs (eg today ran 3.4 mile as seen by Strava app on my mobile but F5 recorded 3.2 mile)-From my time with the 5 (and 5X) the body of the fenix might have interfered with GPS. That was early on for the me during the watches released. The 935 is good near me but still goes a bit wonky. I think GPS on Garmin Watches have usually been considered subpar.
    Watch strap - buckle digs in quite a bit especially when done up tight during an activity. The 935's strap is a tad bit less wide and maybe a bit softer material than the F5. I get indentions in my wrists from the buckle but doesn't really bother me.
    OHR - resting seems okay but will occasionally check the widget and it skyrockets for no reason before coming back down again. And activities generally get a lower recorded HR.-Due to the added weight of the Fenix watches the OHR suffers. The watch just moves around more due to the weight letting light in that messes with the OHRM. It was really bad for me on the 5x. The 935 is light and doesn't move much for me on my wrist. Is it perfect? No, but it does seem to be more accurate on the 935 because of the physical reasons. It's the exact same OHRM as the one found on the fenix line though.
    Altimeter - keep having to set this either manually or using GPS and keep the setting as automatic but it goes way off after a few hours from my usual 20ft to -+300ft.- Similar issues are here on the 935. I get swings but I don't know much more about it to be a better answer.
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    thank you for that feedback. I've read a lot of posts from 935 users saying the GPS is a lot better (they believe due to the plastic casing) so therefore pace is on par too. Really hoped this would be correct. The rest of it makes sense being a heavier watch.

    Might be a good idea to buy the 935 and compare them both before returning one.


    Cheers,
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    Here you go, 23 pages of it:

    https://forums.garmin.com/forum/into-sports/running/forerunner-935-aa/155134-

    The fact there is not a similar '935 conversion club' topic in the F5 forum probably says all you need to know
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    OHR seems to be an individual issue. I have never been able to get it to work reliably on the wrist. I've had pretty good success with the Scoshche Rhythm further up my forearm. But the Fenix does seem to have had more issues than the 935, likely due to the extra weight.

    GPS also seems to be a hit or miss thing for people. I've never had issues there even though most of my runs/rides are on trails in the trees.

    Unless you really like the looks of the Fenix, there seems to be no advantage of the Fenix over the 935. I have yet to see any evidence that it is more durable. And there are clear advantages of the 935 over the Fenix like weight and Ant+ reception. Not to mention price (recent discounts on the Fenix aside).
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    I've not experienced any problems with FR935.

    I've been using the FR935 and my Garmin Edge 1000 over some very long rides. The distance between the two devices is with 1/100 of a mile and the pace between the two is spot on.


    FWIW - I believe that DC Rainmakers review of both the FR935 and F5 is spot on. Do yourself a favor and read both of those reviews.

    FYI - the FR935 is identical to the F5 (according Rainmaker) with the exception of the plastic body on the FR935 which may help with some of the shortcomings of F5.
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    Thanks all. I have read an watched almost every review i can find, including the comparisons by dcrainmaker.. I just wanted some real like feedback from users so this is great.

    OHR I can live with - I use a tri HRM for activities, but nice to get mostly accurate data on resting rates.

    GPS is the big deal. Once I receive the 935, I will do a few comparisons against both the F5 and my phone to see how it is, but it sounds like it's a stronger candidate, possibly because of the plastic body. I've not had any of the ant+ or bluetooth issues people have complained about but I don't tend to walk much further than 10m from my phone or bike.

    As for ruggedness and looks. I do prefer the F5 and the weight of it makes it feel worth the money - that said, it's a bit too heavy which is a shame. I will be buying a decent screen protector, I am just worried the bezel and/or casing may scratch easily as this happened to my vivoactive HR soon after buying it. Will see.
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    I moved to 935 from F5s and don't regret it a bit.

    GPS is couple of % better (and that means a lot to me) and OHR performance for steady paced runs is significantly better. OK that is very individual and improved OHR performance is most likely related to 935 being lighter and 935 starp fitting my hand better.

    Thus 935 is highly recommended over F5 of any kind :)
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    Hmm really hoped there would be a noticeable improvement with the GPS. Again, I will test this when wiggle have them back in stock.

    Question: If you want to replace the standard black strap with any quick fit type band, then can you just use the pins the watch came with or are there specific pins to buy?


    Thanks,
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 7 years ago
    GPS is the big deal. Once I receive the 935, I will do a few comparisons against both the F5 and my phone to see how it is, but it sounds like it's a stronger candidate, possibly because of the plastic body. I've not had any of the ant+ or bluetooth issues people have complained about but I don't tend to walk much further than 10m from my phone or bike.


    I had the F5 (in fact several of them) and also the 935 and questioned myself, what is the purpose of the watch for me. I answered myself that I want to use it as a sport watch for running. That's why the decision was very clear for me to switch to the 935. With other priorities I may have stayed with the F5.
    I liked the looks of the F5 but was not satisfied with the tracking. Now I logged more than 1000km with my 935 and regretted the switch not a single day. It's really a nice device for my purpose: running...

    As alway, it's a question of priorities. My priority was clear and the 935 beats the F5 in this case. Maybe the OHR and the pace is not perfect but it is "better" in comparision and this is all what counts. I want to stay in the garmin environment and I think the 935 is the best garmin running watch available at the moment.

    Ask yourself, are you a runner or a poser... ;)