Garmin 935, Fenix 5, Forerunner 920XT Comparison

For those of you looking to upgrade here is a Garmin 935, Fenix 5, Forerunner 920XT Comparison.

So tri-fans. It’s here.

You probably have either a Fenix 3, a 735XT or a 920XT and you want to know if it’s worth the upgrade to a shiny new Forerunner 935 or Fenix 5

Really you’re going to buy one anyway, you’re just trying to justify it 😉

Actually, maybe not. It’s a bit more complex as you might be thinking of a Fenix 5 rather than a Forerunner 935 (aka Fenix 5tri). That confuses the picture somewhat as they are essentially VERY, VERY similar.

Really I can see very little from a tri-perspective that warrants a minor upgrade from the 735XT, F3, 920XT. Those 3 are all competent devices

If you currently own a Fenix 2 or Forerunner 910XT then YES there is a lot to upgrade for.

For a new tri-watch purchase go for the 935 over the 920XT and over the 735XT; UNLESS you are concerned about the price, plastic shell or screen shape in which case you get the 920XT

FULL, DETAILED FENIX/935 REVIEW: HERE (link to: the5krunner.com) WARNING there are some issues with the 5X that you need to be aware of before buying. These seem to be glossed over elsewhere in other Garmin-biased reviews.

Also be wary that there are ANT+ sensor issues with the 5X and GPS accuracy issues with the 935 eg (here)

Feature Comparison Table – below…keep going!

If you are going to upgrade anyway then maybe the 935 represents a nice little saving over the Fenix 5? but if you could afford the 935 then what’s another £100, or so, more?

You might ask, “What might tempt the5krunner to move from a 920XT to the 935??”

A: VERY LITTLE.

If I didn’t do this the5krunner-thing then I would not upgrade. As it happens I’m probably going to end up with a 935 and a Fenix 5x but only because of this blog (Edit: I did!). Although I’m really not sure if I will use anything other than my 920XT for racing in all its rectangular greatness. Edit: I used a 935 for my Ironman purely because of battery considerations.

Training is a different matter entirely, I use loads of watches for that (discussed here) …just some more than others; I still like the Spartan Sport FWIW 😉 now with oHR but called ‘wHR’…nicey nice. Another reason that I would upgrade to the F5/935 is for the “techiness value” of the newer CIQ 2 apps as our 920XTs only support the older CIQ version (CIQ 1.X). But that still has ALL the apps working fine right now.

DIFFERENCES OF NEW MODELS

Here are my pro’s and cons.

• Better cost & Quick Release kit of 935 vs Fenix 5.
• Better battery & Prettier 935/F5 vs 920XT.

That’s it.

I appreciate there are many more subtle differences but, to me and my training, they are trivial eg weight of watch. You’re different of course – for example, I don’t use STRAVA that much and you could be segment-mad and want those segments on a fancy higher-res screen (Buy a Wahoo, Lezyne or Garmin Edge!). Go for it. You know what to do.

To me what is missing is something like WHOOP functionality. ie really integrated and actionable stuff that tells you to train less or sleep more. Stuff that makes you behave differently, behave better. A game-changer. Having ‘HotKey’ functionality, on the other hand, I can live without. But, to be fair, Firstbeat and Garmin are moving towards the type of actionable feedback provided by WHOOP.

Similarly we STILL have all these running cycling/dynamics but “so what?”. Other than “run faster” how exactly would you lower your ground contact time? So we still need integration with technique coaching (eg like SHFT). That will come. Or we need a better metric ie instead go and buy STRYD for it’s running power and super accurate running pace sensor. WAY more useful for training more accurately and maybe even getting faster.

I was hoping the Fenix 5/935 might have had something more revolutionary, hardware-wise. Like XPLOVA’s X5 built-in SIM card. Maybe that will come soon with the Garmin Edge 1030/1010?

What might make a more personal difference in a few months’ time is newer CIQ v2.2 ‘apps’. I was sceptical at first. But now there are some quite interesting and useful apps emerging. I always mention XERT at this point but there are many more now. Indeed the inbuilt Training Peaks” workout downloading app” could be useful too if your coach uses TP, for example. I don’t use TP.

The integration with turbo trainers is great but integration to some other peripherals is of ‘peripheral use’ at best (pun intended, as always) but some people love that sort of thing. Then again WIFI could be considered peripheral too but, for some people, it might save 5 minutes a day of manually syncing data and that adds up to a lot of quality time over the year.

So what does NOT add up for me; may well add up for you and your needs.

Go forth and spend!

The fenix5/935 is prettier than earlier watches 😉 Maybe the colour will be a clincher 🙂 But, the Suunto is prettier still. Just saying…if colour is your thing.

Recommendation: Don’t upgrade! Instead, for your 920XT/F3 buy a new front wheel or STRYD or a power meter for your bike. You’ll get faster with those! Maybe 😉 Although admittedly you might look slightly less cool.

Here’s a table showing very similar products for our Garmin 935, Fenix 5, Forerunner 920XT Comparison. Enjoy a very hard game of ‘Spot The Difference‘ 😉

There is 10% off most stuff at Power Meter City with the coupon / discount / promo code: the5krunner10. HOWEVER there is a 10% store credit for many Garmin items. Sorry. Garmin sternly frown upon discounting in any case while products are under MAP.