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935 vs 235 screen brightness

Former Member over 7 years ago

I have a FR235. Apart from some quirks on the Garmin connect app, it suits me functionality wise.
But since day 1 I've been disappointed by the display. It's very dim and nowhere near the marketing images as used by Garmin. Looking at some videos/images I'm tempted to think the screen on the newer models like the 935 is brighter.
So my question is if anybody here has experience with both the 235 and the 935 allowing for a hands-on comparison with both types.

0 bfischer86 over 7 years ago

The backlight is the same brightness as far as I can tell, so a black-and-white watch face or widget will look about the same. however, the 935 has a better screen in general. It's a little bigger and has more colors and it has a little higher resolution. The screen on the 935 and 235 will both look poor compared to an Apple Watch or other smartwatch, but I think the 935 in general looks OK. The additional colors on the 935 are not a huge deal, but there is a noticeable improvement, in some cases if the watchface colors are chosen properly. The main improvement is the fully-round display and higher resolution. But it's not a huge difference. I'm not sure I could even take a picture to show the difference.

But the 935 is overall a much nicer watch. The battery life is much better (2-3 weeks) and the HR monitor is better (more accurate and it doesn't leave a dent in your wrist). It's a bit more comfortable too, I think. Some of the additional training merics (like training status and stress) are also nice.

0 chunkywizard over 7 years ago

The 935 has a variable backlight and so can go brighter than a 235. Also you can set the backlight to different percentages for during or not during activities.

But as as the other poster said, the 935 has way more advantages than just the back light.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

Thanks for your comments. Being able to adjust to brightness percentage sounds promising. I think I'll go look for a shop that has one available to try and compare.

0 GHG23 over 7 years ago

As an owner of both the FR630 (same screen as FR235) and the FR935 I must say that I cannot see a lot of difference between the two screens. I know that the specifications of the FR935 are better, but in real life the experience is the same. It is far from an Apple watch or an Android wear watch.