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Garmin unveils the Forerunner 965 and Forerunner 265 smartwatches with flashy new AMOLED displays
The high-performance wearables provide stats on load ratio, stamina levels and more
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Your support makes all the difference.Garmin is one of the biggest brands in the realm of smartwatches, and the company has just unveiled two new wearables that will elevate your running performance to new heights.
The company has announced the Forerunner 965 – the follow-up to last year’s Garmin Forerunner 955, which was included in our round-up of the best running watches – as well as an all-new mid-range Forerunner 265.
Both Garmin running-focused watches feature new vibrant AMOLED displays, with the more premium Forerunner 965 being able to log performance metrics such as real-time stamina information, load ratio (the impact of a workout on your body), as well as climbing metrics.
The Forerunner 265 is slightly cheaper than the Forerunner 965, but still features some advanced health monitoring features that rival the Apple Watch series 8, as well as a lengthy battery life.
While the Forerunner 265 is available to buy now, you’ll have to wait a little bit longer to get your hands on the more premium Forerunner 965. Here’s everything you need to know about the new Garmin watches.
Garmin Forerunner 965: £599.99, Garmin.com – available later this March
The Garmin Forerunner 965 looks fairly similar to the previous Garmin 955, though has a slightly larger, AMOLED display (said to be more vivid) with a titanium bezel.
It’s packed with advanced features, too. The Forerunner 965 can track your real-time stamina levels so you don’t burn out, for instance, while the tracking of your short-term to long-term training load ratio ensures you maintain an optimal training growth without facing setbacks. It can also track your sleep and stress levels, your level of fitness, the level of power you’re applying on your runs, pace guidance and climbs, plus it has built-in maps and multi-band GPS, so you can easily plot your routes.
Like the Forerunner 955, the battery life on the fitness tracker is set to be market-leading. The watch is said to last up to 23 days when in smartwatch mode and up to 31 hours in GPS mode. Although the previous generation Forerunner came in a solar-powered and a non-solar-powered version, there only appears to be one premium Forerunner this time around.
There are three case and silicone bands to choose from – whitestone/powder grey, black/powder grey and amp yellow/powder grey. The smartwatch costs £599.99 – more than £100 dearer than the Forerunner 955 (£479.99, Garmin.com).
Garmin Forerunner 265: £429.99, Garmin.com
If the Garmin Forerunner 965 is for pro-level runners, the Forerunner 265 is for the everyday runner who might not need all that extensive, detailed running data. It comes in two different sizes, though they both cost the same. There’s the 46mm Forerunner 265 and the 42mm Forerunner 265S, and they both have bright AMOLED displays.
As with the Forerunner 965, it’s packed with features. Both 265 models can track your pulse oxygen, your sleep and stress levels, daily readiness body energy scores, pregnancy monitoring and menstrual-cycle tracking, V02 max, as well as real-time analysis of your pace and heart rate, to track performance.
There are also free training plans for 5K, 10K and half marathons from Garmin’s coaches, but you can always find more courses in the Garmin Connect app. The Forerunner 265S is said to last for up to 15 days in smartwatch mode and 24 hours in GPS mode, while the 265 is said to last up to 13 days in smartwatch mode and up to 20 hours in GPS mode.
It’s also a lot cheaper than the Forerunner 965, costing £429.99. That’s still more expensive than last year’s Forerunner 255 (£299.99, Garmin.com), but you don’t have to pay extra for music support anymore.
The Forerunner 265 comes in either a whitestone case with a whitestone/tidal blue silincone band; a black/powder grey silicone band and an aqua case and aqua silicone band. The smaller 265S comes in either a whitestone case with a whitestone/neo tropic silicone band; a black/amp yellow silicone band and a light pink case with a light pink/powder grey silicone band.
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