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Upgrade 935

7157910
over 3 years ago

My 935 has some issue. It is out of warranty so Garmin support gave me two choices: Exchange with refurbished 945 for $60 or with 745 for $30. 

Which option should I take or should I ask for another refurbished 935? 

I read some reviews that when 945 was release, there were some GPS accuracy issues. Are they fixed in latest firmware?

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    A 935, 745 and 945 are about the same. Some fanboys don’t agree with mee and point out that a 945 is different in every possible way but I don’t believe upgrading from a 935 to a 945 will change how you workout in any way.

    The gps of a 945 is good enough in most cases with some odd behaviour now and then. Just like a 935. Some people don’t accept good enough and want perfection. 

    Batterylife on a 745 could be an issue. The batterylife of my 4.5 year old 935 is reduced from 24 hours gps time to just over 10 hours. Glad I didn’t bought a watch that started with 16 hours gps time, like a 745. That would have ment 6 or 7 hours left after 4 years That means even a day hiking isn’t possible anymore.

    There is a size difference. A 74t is slightly smaller.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    Getting a 945 for just $60 is great value - its a significant upgrade from the 935 with much more memory, maps, improved HR tracking, etc, etc. I'd go for it. 

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    I went for the upgrade and received FR 945 yesterday. Today I took it for a 95 min run on my usual route. Here are my findings,

    1) The display is better than 935, good contrast and clear, maybe due to the new glass or display tech, though the resolution is the same as 935.

    2) The response is super fast compared to 935, thanks to new CPU and bigger memory.

    3) The new oHR v3 is more elevated and hence leaves a mark on my skin after running. Overall HR reading is similar to 935.

    4) By spec, it is 1g heavier than 935 but somehow I feel lighter, maybe due to the band?

    5) GPS lock is noticeably slower than 935 but better than my old vivosport (I still use it as activity tracker). By default 945 has GPS+GLONASS enabled while 935 GPS only. In their default settings, the distance seems no major difference (0.02 mile off for 10 miles).

    6) Elevation is the same as 935, with 2 feet off for 1280 feet

    7) In idle state, it uses 1% (83% to 82%) battery in about 10 hr (I turn off activity tracking as I use 935/945 for running only. However, I do not shut them off everyday as devices last longer without constant on/off). For the 95 min run, it uses 11% (82% to 71%) battery. I feel I used more battery than usual as I constantly switch between heart rate and map pages hence turning on backlight often (I changed backlight timeout from default 8 to 15 sec). I think 945 should be able to last 16 hours for running in GPS+GLONASS mode.

    8) The map is great. I got lost twice by using 935 breadcrumb navigation, which could be avoided if I had 945 map.

    9) I do not listen music during run for safety reason so cannot take advantage 945's music feature.

    10) Overall, it is a worthwhile upgrade for $60. My only complain is GPS locking.