Table of Contents
The 945 is not just an update. It is A revolution brought to the wrist. We compare the features that change the situation.
The music on the wrist: Freedom found
You can store up to 1000 songs on the 945. The 935 only controls music on the phone. With the 935, you control. With the 945, you embark the music. The phone remains at home. Need a Bluetooth helmet? Of course. But frankly, running without phone or headphones is a luxury. To load the playlists, keep the Down button, then up. Select Spotify in “Music Providers”. Please note: Download empties the battery. Connect if the autonomy is low. Basically: music is more a gadget. It is A real change of practice. Especially in trail or long distance bike.
Garmin Pay: After-couring coffee without wallet
The 945 allows you to pay directly with the watch. The 935? Nothing. Imagine: long outing without phone. A cravings? Coffee? You pay with the wrist. How to configure Garmin Pay? In the Garmin Connect app, add your bank cards. Check if your bank is a partner on Garmin.com/garminpay/banks. As a result, No need to take out your wallet. Nor risk damaging your smartphone in the rain. This is a detail that changes everything. Especially in winter, when the pockets are full of gels and keys.
Color cartography: the end of improvisation
The real break is not in the figures, but in the autonomy it offers: battery life, but above all autonomy compared to its smartphone. This is the real luxury of the 945.
The 945 displays color cards with roads, paths, points of interest. The 935 is content with a black trace on a gray background. With the 935, you follow. With the 945, you sail. You see turns, climbs, shortcuts. The ClimbPro function analyzes the altitude profiles. For traileurs, it is child’s play. You anticipate the elevations. For cyclists, the climbs appear in color depending on their difficulty. Cartography is no more an accessory. It’s a performance tool. Especially in unknown terrain.
Under the hood: the explosion of data for the expert athlete
Frankly, the Forerunner 945 forces respect. She digests new data two years ago. The 935? A classic, but its limits are obvious. If you want gross analysis, the one who tells you when you push too farthen the 945 deserves to be dissected.
New sensors for a finer analysis
The 945 Crame on 935 on the sensors. Point bar. His Elevate V3 stands up to the water. The 935 is drowned in swimming measurements. For triathletes, it is a game-chainger. No need for a belt to capture the pulse underwater. The sessions become as traceable as the trail outputs.
The Pulse Ox? Not a gadget. You climb to 3,000m, your saturation falls to 88% (normal). The watch notes it, stores it. For mountaineers, it is a witness to acclimatization. What about sleep? It detects the micro-aircraft related to apnea. The 935 remains deaf to these signals.
When the watch becomes a real physiological coach
Let’s go to the heart of the subject: the 945 interpreter. She Battle against your illusions. Here’s how.
- Body Battery ™: Energy in figures. 0-25 = rest imposed. 76-100 = it’s time to hit hard. The 935 is satisfied with the stress VFC. Battery also digests sleep and cardiac variability. A user saw it drop to 10 after a flu, against 74 stress On the 935. Clearly, the 945 is more explicit.
- Training load focus : The 935 balances a global figure. The 945 peeled in anaerobic, high aerobic, weak aerobic. A runner trail sees if he forces too much on the threshold. The 935 masks these imbalances. Without this division, risks overload.
- Training status : The 945 incorporates heat and altitude. At 22 ° C or 800m, it adjusts your VO2. At 1,500m, your VO2 falls, the watch knows it. The 935 remains frozen. Quirky recovery advice. Dangerous in competition.
- Respiratory monitoring : With an HRM-TRI belt, the 945 traces breathing. A Runner trail sees his heart/breathing ratio vary. The 935 ignores these metrics. Basically, the 945 tells you when to breathe to save energy.
Mountaineers, ultramarathonians, triathletes. For them, the 945 is essential. The 935 remains valid for background runners, but it lacks the signals in extreme environments. In summary: beyond 200m or 30 ° C, the 945 is the watch to be taken.
Verdict: which drilling for which wrist?
The Forerunner 935: the smart and effective choice
Measurement of the VO2 max at the top. Autonomy in GPS mode: 24 hours. Why pay more if you don’t use music or Garmin Pay?
The purist triathlete or the minimalist runner is his niche. No need for color cards to track down the 90% of essential metrics. Pragmatic and safe valueat 300-400 € difference. If you keep your smartphone in the pocket, the 935 remains a war machine. For example, in triathlon, it avoids superfluous parameters: no music for rapid transitions, no mapping for marked circuits.
Please note: Wi-Fi 5 Available, but autonomy below. The sensors are reliable, but no monitoring of blood oxygenation. Bulkthis is the model for those who want the essentials without frills. Operating temperature up to 60 ° C: an advantage under the sun’s sun. Perfect for short sessions where advanced data (such as predictive recovery) do not weigh on the decision.
The Forerunner 945: investment for the total athlete
“Basically, the choice is simple: the 935 is an exceptional training watch. The 945 is an exceptional training watch which is also an excellent smartwatch for the daily life of the athlete.”
GPS acquired faster. 12 hours of autonomy in addition. Music storage, Garmin Pay and color map: assets for trail or long outings without a phone. Fall detection reassures solos in the mountains. Safety and analysis as a bonus. Compatibility with Stryd to measure power on foot, it is a must for demanding trail-runners.
The data-geek or the adventurous traileur is his target. Need detailed mapping for your explorations? Recovery analysis and blood oxygenation optimize sessions. Franklythe difference of € 100-150 is justified for precise coaching. Concrete example: in ultra-trail, out-of-network mapping and 36 hours of autonomy in GPS mode change everything.
A defect? Some stability bugs on the application, but the 4 customer reviews (7.3/10) show progressive adoption. It depends your budget and use. After 3 weeks of adaptation, the FirstBeat metrics become essential. The Swiss knife which transforms experience. For hybrid athletes (pro in sport, connected in town), the 945 is essential.
And today? 935 and 945 in the face of the new generation
Let’s be clear. The 955 and 965 exist. But frankly, who has Need all that ?
Recent models have arguments. Sweet screens, more precise cardios calculations. But The details remain blurred. Basically, no one confirmed if these watches really have a touch screen or a solar battery. Where do the official data drag?
- Double frequency GPS : the thing not to get lost between buildings (that’s for sure)
- Hyper pushed recovery calculations : the kind of metric that we check under a microscope
- Extended musical compatibility : But the 945 already stored 1000 titles, right?
The 945 remains the Swiss knife. 15 hours of autonomy in GPS mode. Swimming, triathlon, mountain biking. Fluid touchscreen interface. Price dropped at € 400 (against € 600 for new 965). 50% difference. Does that refuse this?
This is the real deal: if you run, swim, pedal without wanting the last toy, the 945 do not scam. For what Pay more for features that we haven’t seen yet?
Basically, for whom? Pragmatics. Those who want reliable data, not gadgets. Those who run for the time, not for the meter. The 945 is there. She walks. It costs less. She is 90% of cases.
The choice: basic need or more desire ? The 935 is reliable, 945 release the smartphone with music, cartography and analyzes. Even with the 955/965 (touch screen, double GPS), the 945 remains A clever choice. 935 for the most part945 for autonomy.
