Garmin 010-01746-00 Forerunner 935 Running GPS Unit (Black)

I will not go into a technical review of the Garmin 935 GPS unit as there are already many available on internet and very detailed ones on YouTube. I will instead try to address some issues that I think are important to the average consumer. Mind that I gave 5-start rating and thus I like it, but still there are a few comments that I feel could be useful1) I have had a Garmin GPS unit at my wrist from 2004 and, in particular, I went through the series 910XT and 920XT. Hence I claim that I know a thing or two about using GPS devices for sports.2) I prefer the square format, but these days they seem to be all round and so no choice there. I just think that a square display provides, in general, a better organization of space. For instance when I cycle or skate I like to have the Distance, Time, Avg. Speed, Current Speed in one display and all the heart rate measurements on a second screen. As menus on this watch are organized by groups of 3, I find this less desirable.However, I found that the watch is easy to read and in that sense I would not complain. More recently, I found a third party software by Dozen Cycle and finally I was able to get more fields than just 3 on my display. Now I am satisfied. (See the second picture below). I just wish one could customize the display to have up to 8 fields on each individual display. Or 6, but 3 I find a little bit short of what I need.3) It is light, much lighter than my 910XT and 920XT. I just hope that this "lightness" does not translate into less durability. The strap I really do not like. It irritates me if I wear as a watch. I did not have this problem with the 910XT and 920XT. The strap on the 935 is much softer than on the 910XT or 920XT as far as I can tell.4) Sensors are fast to acquire signal. No problems with GPS signals so far and /or connecting to HRM and other devices.5) Precision is as good as on my previous devices or better. Only things that surprises me a little bit is the calories consumption that on this device seem to be overall lower than on my 910XT that I used as a comparison (4 or 5 years apart, I thought, should show some differences).6) I do not swim anymore so I have not tried it in water and I will not try it into water in the foreseeable future. So cannot comment on that. But, since the 910XT was already quite good in that sense, I am confident this is even better.7) I learned how to use the 910XT and 920XTin a matter of 1 hour. The 935 has many more functions and menus and it took me quite a bit longer to learn the tricks I need. I found the manual (downloaded from Garmin's website) not very useful or, better, full of information, but not always quickly applicable. I learned more just by researching the internet under specific keys.8) Connection with Garmin Express is fast and very reliable. So getting my workouts on Garmin Connect has been very easy9) Battery time... So far (it is new) it looks great.. As a watch it can go many days in between charges. When I work out, I seem to find that 1 hour = 10% of charge, roughly10) I connected to my Android, but I quickly disconnected it too. Why do I want the two to be connected? If I am going on a workout I tend to leave the phone in the car. I also use the watch for inline skating and falling on a bike or on skates is usually not good news for expensive smartphones.But I connected it to make sure that it works. Not difficult to do either after installing the proper application on my smartphone.11) as a watch it is not bad at all and can be customize a fair amount (see my watch face below)12) I was curious about the heart rate measurements without the strap and, overall, I found them very accurate. That is a pleasant plus even if I train with the HRM because I want to have more metrics to download and to study.OVERALL. I am happy. These devices seem to get more and more expensive every iteration, but they also contain more and more functionalities. I guess that is the trend. I resisted buying the Fenix 5X even if the Fenix 5X is better looking, there is no doubt about that, and has a stronger feel and touch. But, I really know that I would never ever use the maps and I already have a nice mechanical watch that is 10x spiffier than the Fenix 5X, so the 935 hit my sweet spot between what I want and what I need. I would have preferred a device a little bit sturdier, but even if it is thinner than my previous devices, it is quite usable and I have no issues finding the buttons even while exercising. As I took one small tumble on skates, perhaps, I noticed that being thin is not so bad as during the fall it did not get scratched, which is not always the case with bulkier devices.

I have the Garmin 235 watch and it has been a mainstay of mine for training for the last 5 or so years and in all honesty it's a good watch. So why did I get the 935. Realistically my training was getting longer and I needed a 'distance' watch where the battery life would last even if I was wearing chest HR monitor. I also wanted multi sports like swimming and mapping for trail running. This watch is by far the best in it's class and yes the newer 945 has a couple of nice features but for the cost difference ? No, not worth it. This watch is still the mainstay for a lot of ultra-runners and triathletes and theres a reason why. I just works. It has everything (and more) that you need and has all the bugs ironed out. It's also still getting updates from Garmin as it's a premium product. For $260, this is a bargain. You don't NEED the newest model, you NEED a product that is reliable and has no bugs. New features are just window dressing in lots of cases.As far as fit it's a little bulky for my 7" wrist but still comfortable. It lights automatically when you flick your wrist whilst running (which is great for those early/late runs when it's dark). It has alarms for just about everything, can pair with just about every bio measurement device, has a great battery life and has so many customisable functions. Another 'great' is that it has in built wi-fi so you don't end up messing with syncing through your phone (and this was a big sell for me). I don't believe there are many watches that have wi-fi. Again this thing is top spec on everything. You won't go wrong.[2 years later, how do I feel ?]To be honest this watch is still well worht it compared to the newer FR955. The only thing that would cause me to upgrade is the topo maps on the FR955 vs the breadcrumbs mapping on the FR935. However with that said I can’t justify the cost and this watch is still working flawlessly. The features on it are still beyond what most people need and then there’s the ability to add all the custom widgets if you don’t find what you want (and in all likeliness there’s a widget for the thing you can’t find natively!).The display is still very legible and the battery lasts a long time. I did have it once give me battery indication issues where it dropped from 99% to 80% in an hour. I let it discharge fully (as per suggestions) and then recharged it as this resets the battery monitoring circuits. Now it’s back to normal!Bottom line: I’m still very happy with it and love having my little navigation computer on my wrist when on my long runs!