It's two years since Garmin Forerunner 935 was released. I'm really considering buying a 935 and I'm wondering if it's a good buy even if it's two years old. Will be used for most sports. Previously I had Polar M400 but I think I want to go for Garmin this time. Fenix is a bit over my budget. Wait until a new 945 comes along, or is it a good idea to buy 935 now?
I am totally addicted to buying the latest gadgets.. but always wait for a price drop on new units before buying, or go for 'pre-owned' ones, so I'm usually a generation behind. Which is actually good because it avoids the inevitable teething problems of new firmwares.
But with the FR935 I was lucky to find a new unit just months after introduction for a really good price, so this time I bought it early. Otherwise right now would have been the right time for me to buy it. It is stable and reliable and does a great job.
Make sure there is proof of warranty on the unit you buy, there may still be early produced units around with hardware issues (for example USB port not working) and Garmin replaces them under warranty.
I am ABSOLUTELY glad it does not feature any of that music junk (which hopefully stays restricted to the vivoactive line) or NFC payment. All those functions only add up to complexity and potential for failures.
I would buy it if it had mobile payments. I am waiting for the successor with NFC, I'd use the watch for everyday use too. When I travel to races I'd not need to take the card with me. My country will be the first who will adopt 100% contactless POS devices. So NFC is a strong use case for me.
The best time to buy a 935 will be when its successor is released, as Garmin will drop the price of the 935. It will also have stable firmware at this point, unlike the new device (if Garmin's track record is anything to go by).
This is by far the biggest reason I won't be in a hurry to buy any newly released device going forwards. If my 935 died tomorrow, I'd get another one (well, I'd get a warranty replacement but you know what I mean ;)).
The best time to buy a new device is at least 6 months after it's out. It takes time to find out if it is as good as published regarding hardware and software and to have it tested in real life situations by multiple persons and multiple situations. There are so many examples of lemons or not up to par devices that were specked with so much and delivered so little or not as promised or believed. One great example is the 1030 which is a premium product but has been having too many issues causing so many to go the Wahoo way. Another is the Fenix 5 whic has issues with connectivity and GPS accuracy. As it is the 935 IS the best multi sport watch out there and while it's not perfect it is by far above all else. Even if it's in its last days (which I think not but don't know) purchasing it means you have the best watch now...or the next to best in a year...which isn't bad at all ;)
I just moved up from a Fenix 3 to the 935 Tri bundle. I've been using it a week and I love it.
It's lighter, faster software, provides more data (didn't have oHR on my Fenix 3) and my thought process was buy what I can use today instead of wishing for what I want tomorrow.
I wouldn't buy the newest watch for at least 6 months, as others have said due to the time it usually takes for the devices to become more stable.
I'm kicking myself for waiting so long, but cost was a factor there as well.
I bought a 935 almost as soon as it was released. I came from a Fenix 3, and was sick of it bouncing on my wrist when I ran. Even with decent sized wrists (i'm 185cm, 84kg), I needed the wide velcro strap to hold it in place. The 935 has been excellent - reliable, light weight, great battery, responsive UI, great ANT+ and BTLE connectivity etc etc. I still recommend it to friends looking for a 'high end' Garmin. I would definitely buy again if I were in the market for a new watch now. My only desire on the 945 is NFC payments - simply for the convenience of not needing to remember to carry a bank card. I don't care about music (unless it can stream 4G google play music and still get 10+ hours battery - VERY unlikely!).
One additional aspect: the Garmin watches can be sold used for a good price, even when they are already old. So the delta in price to a new watch is not that big when you sell the 935 in maybe half a year.
I bought a 935 almost as soon as it was released. I came from a Fenix 3, and was sick of it bouncing on my wrist when I ran. Even with decent sized wrists (i'm 185cm, 84kg), I needed the wide velcro strap to hold it in place. The 935 has been excellent - reliable, light weight, great battery, responsive UI, great ANT+ and BTLE connectivity etc etc. I still recommend it to friends looking for a 'high end' Garmin. I would definitely buy again if I were in the market for a new watch now. My only desire on the 945 is NFC payments - simply for the convenience of not needing to remember to carry a bank card. I don't care about music (unless it can stream 4G google play music and still get 10+ hours battery - VERY unlikely!).
Quoting because I can't use the @ function (just says the post is borked). But I think we may be the same human? I generally have to have my phone with me 24/7 for professional reasons, but I use the phone out of a run/bike trip to stream from Google Play Music (or a podcast from music or Podbean), and I use Samsung Pay for payments (would use Garmin Pay in this case though). That's the only fancy-schmancy things I wouldn't mind in a 945. I do want better fitness/sport tracking metrics, that's without saying.
jstpassaro hehe! :) I sometimes carry my phone, but I am so used to having my ipod shuffle that I still just use that rather than working out new cable routes to my head, fiddling about to change track/podcast etc etc. I'm not sure what better fitness/sport tracking metrics I could ask for ... the load/VO2/recovery metrics are 'interesting', but they have flaws (load not 'ranking' very long runs in a way I would expect). fischest This is a big thing for me - I always sell to upgrade, and therefore move between watches for a very reasonable cost. I've come up through the ranks from a 205, 220, 610, fenix 3, 935 - trading up each time. I dont think you see the same for other brands. For example, the CORUS watches look interesting - but the resale value would be tiny as everyone buying second hand wants a garmin. I think even Polar and Suunto suffer with low resale values (but I havent really researched that). I still see Fenix 3s selling for very good prices! Jumping into a 935 now is therefore very low risk financially.
