Thinking of moving to 935 from VA3 and some questions

I can't comment on all of your questions but, I returned my VA3 and purchased the FR935 because I wasn't willing to wait until firmware updates sorted out all of the VA3 issues (I believe the VA3 is a great device and will eventually get everything sorted out as the firmware matures). What I can tell you is:

1. The watch face is bigger but, doesn't look huge (this will be a personal preference for you)
2. The band is a bit wider
3. Without any activities, I expect to get 3 weeks on battery life (based on experience so far)
4. After a full charge with more than a week of regular activity and three cycling activities (8 hours plus with GPS running) I still had over 50% of battery life left
5. After I got used to the buttons, I actually prefer them over the touch screen (after the learning curve, the buttons are very intuitive)
6. The FR935 doesn't have Garmin Pay like the VA3 but, I always have my phone with me and I use Android Pay so while Garmin Pay would be nice, it's not a huge loss
7. The FR935 has WiFi and the VA3 does not
8. External sensors connect and stay connected

Like you, there are many features the FR935 has I may not use and the FR935 costs more. With that being said, I'm very pleased with the FR935 and haven't regretted my decision in the least.

YMMV

With regards to the rest of your questions, I'm not qualified to answer. Hopefully, some of the FR935 experts (very helpful bunch of people) will chime in soon.

I think the 935 is about the size of an Oreo cookie. I don't happen to have one handy, but if you do you can get a good feel for what it would be like on your wrist. It is very light and you'll easily forget it's there. I can confirm kstate1980's comment that without activities you should be able to get 2-3 weeks of battery life. With moderate activity you can probably get 10-14 days. Garmin advertises 24 hour GPS battery life, but i've never gone anywhere that long so I can't compare. The battery life is really good.

Steps can be tracked as a tile on Garmin Connect, yes. As you walk around with your watch on, it can adjust your daily step goal accordingly. So if you walk alot, it will gradually raise your goal to keep you moving. The watch buzzes and shows a little animation of fireworks when you hit your goal. in addition, you have goals for intensity minutes and floors by default. In addition to that, you can set the watch to buzz if you haven't walked around for a while (which I don't). There's a nice My Day widget that will keep track of all that on your watch.

There is no tile in Garmin Connect for total elevation during the day (elevation would be tracked during activities, of course)

The 935 will also track stress, which is kind of interesting.

I dont know how valuable the weight training tracking is, to be honest. The rep tracking is hit and miss. I guess mainly it's useful to categorize a period of elevated heart rate as "activity" and not just being stressed at work or in traffic or something. I turned it on the first couple times I was lifting weights at home, but now I usually don't bother.

As far as longevity goes, I don't see why the 935 wouldn't last a good number of years. Its plastic, so it's possible you could scratch it up if you go under in your kayak. But it doesn't seem particularly fragile to me. The bands are replaceable in case they should break. I don't see it just dying on it's own.

The Forerunner 935 is a great watch. You will definitely get what you pay for with this one. I have zero regrets buying mine even though, as you say, it's more watch than I need.

Thanks for the replies. I am going to look around to see if there are any in stores locally to see if the size is ok. A friend bought a Fenix 3 when I got the VA3 and that was definitely too big and heavy. He loves it but his wrist is twice the size of mine. The VA3 was so light and comfortable I was not aware of it. It was more comfortable than my small fitbit charge HR. Guess I may buy a pack of oreos if I can't find a local FR. I see the actual watch face is the same size as the one on the VA3 so the difference is with the control buttons. Is the strap material similar to the one on the VA3? Light and a bit stretchy? I know you can do other bands as well but the VA3 band was comfortable enough.

I might have waited out the VA3 had my issues been simply irritating, but the issues I had rendered it pretty much non functional.

I played a good bit with the stress measurement on the VA3 and heart rate variability is actually a valid measure for stress. One question I had with the smart monitoring and the lower frequency of sampling is how valid is it if you are not actually capturing every beat?

Sleep metrics could also be better in the Garmin devices and, there, I think Fitbit may be leading the pack as they use Heartrate and heart rate variability in addition to movement to measure sleep cycles....and their sensor array has all kinds of possibilities........but Fitbit is very sparse on fitness metrics, the Dashboard has not really improved in the 3 years I have had the device [though now it has ads. yay], and I know Garmin has made solid waterproof devices for at least the 2 decades I have been buying their products. With Garmin I can export my hikes to a gpx file and all the metrics, including heart rate, are there in the tracklog.

The Garmin measurement of floors and the altimeter in general seems not as good across the board but I have to wonder if that is related to the watches being sealed and waterproof as well as the placement of the altimeter port on the watch itself. Not sure how this compares with the VA3.

BUT....the Fitbit dashboard today gives less info than the original dashboard and Garmin Connect is great. I also just found out you cannot set zone alerts on the Fitbits which is extremely important to me. I have overdone it on mountain hikes where it took days for my RHR to drop back to normal so I want an alert when I go into zone 5 so I can adjust my pace accordingly. Also experimentally determining my max HR could be helpful, I can be in zone 5 and not really feel all that winded. RHR is around 60 so there is a decent reserve.

Not likely to roll the kayak...old farts doing flatwater...but I do plan on getting a screen protector. In the woods with a search dog, usually wearing long sleeves because briars can be nasty.

I don't have a 935, but do have an f5 (along with a va3). If you want to see the va3 and 935 at the same time and there's an REI close by, they'll probably have both on display (the one near me does). (the 935 is a bit larger than the va3).

You'll find a number of things on the 935 that aren't on the va3 (natively), like an ABC widget, baro and temp widgets, native hiking, better battery, as well as more metrics, and even things like a "boating" activity and dog tracking (I know they are on the f5, and I believe the 935 - disclaimer - I've never used either app!).

For me, I prefer the buttons over touch. I'm not a fan of the va3 only having one button and the side swipe on the case - the 5 buttons on the 935 are really easy to get used to

The va3 is the entry level "smart watch" from Garmin, while the 935/f5 is really the top end.

I wish I could be more specific, but I don't have a VA3 to compare. According to Garmin's website, the Forerunner 935 is just bigger and weighs just slightly more. But I don't feel it on my wrist at all. For the record, I'm a man, but I have medium sized wrists and it's in the range of watch sizes I feel comfortable with, but it's on the larger end of the range, mainly due to the lugs that stick out. But it's OK as it is. It's the same size as the Fenix 5, but not as heavy. The Fenix 3 and Fenix 5X are the same size. I couldn't find the Fenix 3 to compare with, but I think the Tactix Bravo is the same size (it's the same watch, I think)

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/catalog/product/compareResult.ep?compareProduct=571520&compareProduct=552982&compareProduct=564291&compareProduct=543589

As to the band, it is a silicone strap that is soft and stretchy. It's comfortable and doesn't collect lint which some cheaper silicone straps do. There are fairly side slots for the buckle and that adds to the stretchiness and also makes the band breathable. It seems durable. I've never had a garmin band break on me.

That was a great suggestion!

I just called REI. They have none in inventory but do have dummy models [she even checked for me]. Not the same weight but I think it is only a few grams heavier than the VA3. That way I can try it on for size . Between the REI rebate and the REI Mastercard rebate and extended warranty, I don't think I am going to be able to beat the price. I also have $29 of unused dividend.

The side swipe on the VA3 did not make a lot of sense to me and was irritating. Another issue I had was, even with gesture backlight off, the light would come on and wake me up at night if I bumped the glass.

I am not 100% sure if the Astro 320 is compatible with the dog tracking or not, but a very recent Astro firmware upgrade was for that feature, even though the text on the web page has not caught up. It is not a showstopper but it would be convenient not to have to pull my handheld out of my harness when my dog ranges out [which usually means he has hit odor, or LOL, found a creek to cool off in] and the icon even changes color when the dog is still. Normally I am not walking around with GPS in hand but use it for spot checks so it would be great in the field

I had turned off most of the smartwatch gizmos. Now to get out the door and brave the traffic. If it seems like it will work, I will order it and get a screen protector.

EDIT: Went to REI and figured the demo dummy fit but is on the outer limit of what I could wear. This is absolutely the biggest watch that would work on my wrist. Mainly it is as wide as my wrist but does not 'hang over" and it can be snugged up. Don't know how it would work if I got the quick release bands but for not not worrying about. This band is very comfortable.

Decided I would just order it at the store [the internet and the person I called said they had non in stock] and the cashier said they actually had the display unit (not the dummy unit) which was locked up in the cabinet so I got that instead. I figure any problems - it is a new unit [no discount] and REI has a 90 day return policy.

Actually, Garmin updated the 320 about a month ago/ I tried it and it worked with the data field but the compass was off.....returned unit for other reasons and thought, maybe I should calibrate the compass.........(it's good on the Astro) ........... Truth be known, since the handheld has to be in ANT+ range, if I had to navigate to my dog I would probably pull out the handheld anyway .............but it could be good for a quick check. ..... Will have to play with it.
[h=4]Changes made from version 4.40 to 4.50:[/h]

• Added broadcast of dog data (Setup > Dogs > Broadcast Dog Data > On) to support dog position tracking by DriveTrack 70, fenix 3, and fenix 5 series watches.
  
• Fixed issue with cut off map names.
  

Hmm last post was moderated? maybe due to hyperlinks in pasted text from Garmin page?

The 4.50 Astro 320 upgrade supports broadcast of dog data I think it was about a month ago.

I will just check out the widget vs the data field. I have only one dog to track at a time so the data filed would probably be fine.

I am getting used to this interface - yes - not that clunky when you get used to it. The user manuals though. Yikes.
[h=4][/h]

I would seriuosly consider the old 235. You won't get strength training in that (but 935 is not making magic for that type of training in my opinion), but for everything else - it is good/ reliable/ cheap device.

Aside from that - 935 is an excellent device.
You may probably want to wait for 645 to be announced.