Garmin 955 Gets SatIQ
More: Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar Review
Edit: This beta set of features is now live.
Well, the title says it all.
The Garmin Forerunner 955 (Solar) gets SatIQ which is a seemingly great feature that automatically turns on higher levels of satellite accuracy when needed. It comes at a battery cost BUT you could turn the feature description around instead to say that it turns OFF the higher consuming accuracy levels when similar accuracy can be achieved by GPS-only.
Read More: What is SatIQ on Garmins?
Garmin SatIQ on Multiband GNSS – What is it? Is It Good and Do I need it?
Also added to the beta is the power guide which is a significant feature. Potentially more significant. Power Guide is like Best Bike Split’s service in that it models optimal TARGET power levels around a predetermined course (and only on a course). So it’s ideal for race day. Well, that’s the theory. I’ve used it a few times now and find it quite inaccurate also triathletes/duathletes might need to tone down the levels slightly to either compensate for accumulated fatigue or to allow for the discipline that follows. Power Guide DOES let you apply a percentage change to its recommendations but the correct level will only be arrived at by trial and error.
Read More: Power Guide – A bit more on why it didn’t work on the Edge 1040
Fun Fact: Forerunner 255 gets SatIQ as well (all the new watches & Edges will)
It seems that 12-speed Di2 support is added. I’m pretty sure I’ve been using it at least to some degree for a few months.
Similarly, I thought that elevation profiles were already on the 955 for courses. Maybe not. I guess I’ll never know as I’ve already upgraded to this beta.
Here are the changes in full and you can register for more new ones with the 955 beta program by following the instructions here.
• Added support for displaying a power guide for cycling courses.
• Added support for the Shimano Di2.
• Added support for SatIQ.
• Added support for selecting a PacePro plan for a race.
• Added support for showing an elevation graph for cycling events with a course file.
• Added support for setting sleep/wake times on the device.
• Added support for displaying step streaks on the weekly steps graph.
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Good news… but I wonder if I would ever use this if I was actually worried about battery. A recent 100k I attempted (DNF at 42 miles in 34C heat!!), I burned 40% battery on my 955 in 9hr30. I was using ‘ultra run’ mode with GPS only and following a course with lots of screen swapping. Not sure what I would have got if I had been using full GPS settings.. but I wouldn’t want to leave the decision to the Garmin and risk battery. I was following a course though – I wonder if SATIQ also uses this to determine expected activity time and inputs that into the algorithm to optimise battery for the whole event, and not just that moment in time? If the latter, I could see myself using it in every day training, but not for races. But again… in that case, why not just have full mode GPS on all the time?
if you were worried about the battery then you wouldn’t use it. i would guess that the extra accuracy gained would be irrelevant on most courses in any case.
satiq is basic and only looks at signal quality and adjusts the reception method accordingly. it wont take the course into account. that’s a good idea for a new feature tho
i think it’s the screen swapping that may have done in your battery life. perhaps also the level of map zoom….more detail seems to be displayed at some zoom levels rather than others
Dont get me wrong.. the 9hr30 for 40% was excellent. My point was that there are not many scenarios where I would be squeezing the last bit of juice out of the watch and at the same time be relying on something like SatIQ to do it for me. Its a good idea to have the watch flex the settings by itself – but I think its prob more a ‘nice to have’ than anything that could be relied on in the real world. If there was a real risk of running dry, you’d carry a charger (I’ve designed and built a little mini one that sits on the watch strap, but need a slight redesign for a bigger battery! 🙂 ).
Signed up for beta and activated SatIQ, wasn’t easy as I thought there was a system wide system, is that on the Fenix/Epix ?
What does the “Shimano Di2” support include ? Gears and page changes like on the Edge series ?
PowerGuide seems like a good idea in theory but in practice ? Will have to try to find videos about that.
power guide just didnt work for me as garmin got my FTP wrong
even when i adjusted it so it was correct the variation in effort required around a local course i know well was WAY from what i wold consider anywhere near optimal
I have a question:
What are the EXACT differences between the FR255 and the FR955 when it comes to software? What functions are missing in the FR255 excluding maps, touch, memory size??
Thanks in advance for any help or links. 🙂
this is the garmin comparison
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/catalog/product/compareResult.ep?&compareProduct=698632&compareProduct=780139
it’s not working for me today but it should be ok ‘at some point’ you ask a very hard question to answer in exact detail as even garmin’s comparison doesn’t compare all the detailed features elements and nuanced differences. even dcr’s comparison tool wont help you much