Garmin Forerunner 265 Health Watch Review
Garmin is simply one among the most expert producers making top-tier fitness watches. Its on-wrist heart rate sensor and GPS are arguably the most correct on the market — two issues valuable to correct process monitoring.
As a longtime smartly being and fitness editor, I’ve examined a host of fitness wearables across many producers. I’ve been testing the Garmin Forerunner 265 virtually each and on on day by day basis basis — on excessive-altitude hikes, lengthy ski days, energy workout routines at the gym, and day to day neighborhood walks. This mannequin is billed as Garmin’s mid-fluctuate running glance, excellent for of us whose main process is running and racing but who don’t need elephantine triathlon capabilities.
Nonetheless after two months of testing this glance, I’ve come to a conclusion: The Forerunner 265 can be the finest Garmin glance for filled with life of us that disclose on a typical basis across virtually any sport, no longer staunch runners.
The Forerunner 265 hits the sweet assign between efficiency and comfort with out being fleshy or overly techy. In my ride, it’s the next possibility than the Vivioactive 3 for most (with just a few caveats).
So, whenever you happen to’re somebody who staunch desires a running glance that nails the basics (and then some), is mountainous easy to make utilize of, and has some smartwatch capabilities, the Forerunner 265 deserves a nearer eye.
Staunch a note: the Forerunner 265 (46mm) is accessible in a smaller size (42mm), which has a irregular mannequin number (Forerunner 265S). Different than size, they’re functionally identical. I examined the 265S, as it changed into the finest size for my wrist.
Garmin Forerunner 265
The Garmin Forerunner 265 is the finest center-of-the-line glance for most runners coaching for a lumber or looking out for to dive deep into their running files.
What I indulge in most
You don’t deserve to customize worthy — but you may additionally
The Forerunner 265 changed into ready to exit of the sphere; the right customization I made changed into adding a moon phase tracker. Rachael Schultz/Industry Insider
Plenty of Garmin watches come filled with files and widgets, which is mountainous for the tech-heads. Nonetheless most average of us staunch deserve to learn their traditional fitness files for the day — sleep fetch, step count, and restoration index.
The Forerunner 265 nails the default setup. Out of the sphere, the pre-loaded stats, which you fetch entry to with a uncomplicated swipe up, had virtually the entire lot I cared about on the important cowl cowl — steps, sleep, restoration, body battery, heart rate, and filled with life minutes, alongside with just a few nice to haves indulge in climate, crack of break of day/sundown time, and altimeter (a must within the Colorado mountains where I stay). I finest tweaked just a few issues — indulge in adding a moon phase tracker — but there’s a lengthy listing of at-a-look stats you may additionally add, indulge in textual hiss material notifications, calendar info, sleep coach, stress ranges, ladies’s smartly being info, and alternate time zones.
I furthermore discovered the interface intuitive to make utilize of; any traditional info it shows, you just tap to learn extra, indulge in coaching historical past details or how many miles your step count equates to.
The teach cowl cowl is completely informative
The Forerunner 265 did a mountainous job of exhibiting the right stats I wished to eye for any given teach. Rachael Schultz/Industry Insider
Whether or no longer I changed into doing a energy teach, going for a hike, or even staunch walking the dogs, the Forerunner 265’s default demonstrate changed into exactly the data I wished to eye in true time. On the Vivioactive 3, the glance Garmin customarily plugs for filled with life generalists (e.g., of us that aren’t dominantly runners or swimmers, etc.), I discovered the mid-teach cowl cowl a runt bit unhelpfully simplistic — you may additionally watch which residing you’re on, your silent heart rate, or the timer and total calories, but no longer all straight away.
On the Forerunner 265, true thru a teach, the cowl cowl reveals your heart rate (with coloration-coded zones), total teach time, gather count, filled with life calories, and the silent time. On runs, it reveals total time, trek, and distance. It’s your entire info you prefer to secure at a look mid-teach, but never feels indulge in files overload.
The Forerunner 265 has over 30 process profiles to make a choice out from (despite the indisputable truth that they aren’t robotically detected on this mannequin — you’ll deserve to manually pick out the teach form), including triathlons, snowboarding, and Pilates. It furthermore has constructed-in tune storage and GPS, so that you just may additionally coast away your cell phone at residence.
It if truth be told is mountainous for runners
Whereas right here’s a mountainous glance for any filled with life daily life, it’s barely tricked out for runners. It has:
- A lumber widget that helps plan your coaching strategy and offers you an on-glance countdown each and on on day by day basis basis till lumber day.
- A counseled day to day teach each and each morning (e.g., tempo lumber 3×8:00 @ 7:55/mi) in step with this week’s earlier process, your past running trek, and your silent restoration.
- Audio prompts that act as a true-time, in-ear coach, reporting your silent running trek, on every occasion you’ve performed a elephantine mile, and, on interval coaching, timing for your subsequent speed to birth.
- A mid-lumber interface showing heart rate with coloration-coded zones, cadence, and ground contact time (GCT).
- A publish-lumber file that covers time spent in varied lumber vitality zones (i.e., how laborious you’re pushing), coaching originate (how this lumber will purple meat up your anaerobic or cardio fitness), and efficiency analysis to purple meat up subsequent time.
- The flexibility to search out new running routes nearby on the Garmin Join app.
- PacePro feature to space lumber-day strategy utilizing trek steerage for a selected route or distance.
It has mountainous restoration insight
The Forerunner 265 offers you a worthy amount of details about your restoration, including how ready you are to circulation your body all all over again. Rachael Schultz/Industry Insider
One thing that’s if truth be told laborious about coaching or being filled with life is waking up feeling bleh and no longer luminous whenever you happen to should aloof push thru or give your body a relaxation. Whilst you build for your Garmin each and on on day by day basis basis, the glance does a if truth be told true job taking into myth your entire varied components influencing your restoration — this week’s stress ranges, final night’s sleep, the final few workout routines you did, how worthy restoration time you bought in between, early indicators of getting ill — and suggests whether your body can take care of hitting it laborious or whenever you happen to should aloof ease up for the next tomorrow.
Different restoration functions encompass:
- Coaching Readiness: A 1-5 coloration-coded scale that reflects how smartly-recovered you are and how ready your body is to be historical all all over again.
- Coaching Raise out: A measurement of the influence of your final teach for your cardio and anaerobic fitness.
- Physique Battery: A fetch of how ready your body is to put, basically based largely on sleep quality, earlier workout routines, and total stress.
- Sleep Ranking: Garmin’s developed sleep monitoring files whenever you happen to doze off and fetch up, how worthy time you utilize in each and each sleep stage, and your resting heart rate true thru the night. This culminates in a host fetch and a high quality meter.
It’s furthermore value noting that I’ve damaged-down the Forerunner 265 to sleep most nights alongside my Oura Ring, and the sleep fetch and Physique Battery are roughly continuously aligned with identical metrics reported by my Oura Ring. That’s all to order — Garmin’s sleep and heart rate trackers are very correct.
The luminous AMOLED demonstrate reads easy (with one caveat)
Whereas some Garmins utilize the older MIP shows, the Forerunner 265 has a intellectual AMOLED demonstrate that looks mountainous crisp and luminous (indulge in your cell phone). Some athletes desire the used MIP demonstrate to eye better in daylight hours, but I discovered this cowl cowl easy to read indoors and plenty of the day outing in elephantine solar, despite the indisputable truth that customarily I had to rob polarized shades off for better visibility.
The AMOLED demonstrate furthermore goes a ways in making the glance if truth be told feel extra trendy and seamless and no more indulge in a used running glance.
It’s at ease sufficient to sleep in
The Forerunner 265 has that Goldilocks fit: no longer too silent and fragile-feeling indulge in the Venu or Vivoactive, but no longer too fleshy and tactical indulge in the Fenix or Enduro. The glance is mountainous gentle-weight and doesn’t entice sweat or water below, which is a runt but indispensable detail. I never had to rob it off after a bathe, or even while drowsing.
The monitoring is if truth be told correct
I’ve examined sufficient smartwatches to perceive no longer to trust each and each heart rate reading or step count. Nonetheless this one’s been assign-on in each and each scenario — from excessive-altitude hikes to HIIT workout routines. The GPS locks in lickety-split, and monitoring is constant.
The battery existence is unprecedented
One in all Garmin’s excellent chokeholds on the fitness glance industry is its batteries final for apparently without a stop in sight. The Forerunner 265 has up to 13 days of battery existence in smartwatch mode and 20 hours of battery existence in straight GPS mode.
I discovered in utilizing my 265s glance on a typical basis across my existence, including running the GPS for approximately 1-2 hours, I essentially deserve to payment it each and each 12 days or so — so fundamentally, once each and each two weeks. Here is extremely convenient — or relatively, extremely no longer inconvenient indulge in having to payment your glance each and each three to four days is. It’s furthermore nice to secure a lengthy battery existence to leverage that sleep monitoring relatively than charging it at night.
Different perks I admire
- Extra than one size alternatives: The Forerunner 265 is accessible in two size alternatives, 42mm (identified because the 265S) and 46mm. I if truth be told secure the 42mm Forerunner 265S and it’s the ideal size for a runt, female wrist.
- Garmin’s app and coaching functions: I don’t in my thought utilize the Garmin Join app worthy — I if truth be told secure my coaching routine dialed — but whenever you happen to’re a new runner, coaching for your first lumber, or aren’t decided where to birth with wicked-coaching workout routines, the app’s nice functions customarily is a mountainous counseled diagram. Garmin offers constructed-in coaching plans with adaptive coaching, plus you may additionally join neighborhood challenges (indulge in “365 miles in a Twelve months”) which will be mountainous whenever you happen to’re motivated by targets or rivals.
- Song storage: Must you’re a Spotify or Amazon Song person, you may additionally discover playlists true now to the glance and coast away your cell phone within the aid of on runs. (Ticket: Garmin doesn’t purple meat up Apple tune.)
- Garmin Pay: That you may residing up Garmin Pay and utilize contactless payments true from your wrist.
- Tidy notifications: The Forerunner 265 has traditional dapper notifications when paired alongside with your cell phone — you may additionally receive emails, texts, and indicators for your wrist as you may for your cell phone. It doesn’t secure the developed constructed-in microphone to resolution calls or textual hiss material messages from the glance; you’d deserve to upgrade to the Forerunner 965 or Fenix 8 for that.
Where it falls short
It’s aloof a sports activities glance, aesthetically. Whereas the Forerunner 265 looks cleaner than many, it’s no longer one thing I’d build on to a wedding ceremony or out to a pleasing dinner. I stay in Colorado, so this vibe is okay many of the time, but I continuously rob it off for an night out. If aesthetics are a precedence, the Garmin Venu 3, Vivoactive 3, or even an Apple Watch can be better.
It doesn’t secure each and each bell and whistle for sizable athletic endeavors. The Forerunner 265 will elevate most of us thru most activities, and I admire that it has an internal altimeter and barometer for correct initiate air adventures. That said, whenever you happen to’re a sizable triathlete, you virtually completely need the Forerunner 965 with its longer battery existence; elephantine-coloration, constructed-in mapping for trails, boulevard, and topography; and greater internal storage for maps and tune. Must you discontinue a host of backpacking or adventure racing, the Fenix 8 is the next pick with its offline maps, flashlight, longer battery existence, and photo voltaic charging possibility.
Sleep monitoring and body battery are nice, but they’re no longer that counseled. Garmin pushes each and each these functions heavily as a reliable to the glance, but I’ve discovered they staunch file details to you relatively than providing steerage and insight on how to purple meat up your habits. I do know if I had a dreadful night’s sleep and I do know after I need a relaxation day on myth of my body doesn’t if truth be told feel recovered; I don’t need files to insist me this. That said, I no doubt know of us that discontinue two or three workout routines a day and never relaxation and then shock why they if truth be told feel so exhausted, so perchance there is a target market for these Garmin functions. Nonetheless in my thought, I ranking the promote of a Garmin to be in recording how laborious I’m pushing myself and how filled with life I’m over the route of a day. I order whenever you happen to’re most drawn to your biometrics, a dapper ring indulge in the Oura would be extra counseled to you than a fitness glance.
Garmin’s app ride is aloof… Garmin. It’s purposeful, but no longer continuously intuitive or trendy-feeling.
The diagram it compares to varied Garmin and running watches
Below are my experiences with varied Garmin and fitness watches. For added alternatives, strive our guides to the finest Garmin watches, simplest fitness trackers, and simplest running watches.
- Garmin Forerunner 255: The 265 is totally a quite upgraded version of the 255, namely with a elephantine-coloration AMOLED demonstrate and touchscreen. Must you’re fine with a less complicated demonstrate and wish to set $100, the 255 is aloof a mountainous pick.
- Garmin Venu 3: Extra daily life-forward than the 265 (assume: Apple Watch competitor), the Venu furthermore has functions indulge in a constructed-in mic and speaker for calls. Nonetheless it doesn’t if truth be told feel as optimized for running and coaching because the 265. Read our elephantine Garmin Venu 3 review.
- Garmin Fenix 8 or Epix: These watches are each and each for multi-day mountain missions or extremely coaching. They’re worthy pricier and bulkier. That said, some of us desire the rugged gorgeous of these watches.
- Apple Watch Assortment 10 or Ultra: Easiest for iPhone users who need smartwatch functions first and fitness second. Nonetheless they don’t match Garmin’s coaching instruments or battery existence.
The underside line
The Garmin Forerunner 265 isn’t the flashiest running glance accessible, on the opposite hand it’s simply one among the finest designed. It offers you your entire files you completely care about each and each true thru the day and true thru a teach — with out asking you to residing up 20 widgets or navigate five submenus to search out your resting heart rate.
Must you prefer to secure a glance that’s at ease, correct for fitness, and uncomplicated to make utilize of whether you’re coaching for a half-marathon or lifting within the gym, this one assessments each and each field. It’s the running glance I’d imply most for on a typical basis athletes and most runners who deserve to track their efficiency and restoration and don’t care about each and each smartwatch bell and whistle.
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