Garmin Forerunner 165: The Ultimate Running Watch for Budget-Conscious Athletes🏃‍♂️

The Garmin Forerunner 165 is the latest addition to Garmin’s renowned Forerunner lineup, offering a plethora of features typically found in higher-end models at a more affordable price point. This watch is designed to cater to both casual runners and serious athletes, providing a comprehensive suite of training, recovery, and health-tracking features. In this in-depth review, we’ll explore everything you need to know about the Forerunner 165, from its hardware and display to its performance metrics and battery life.

🎯 Key Features of the Garmin Forerunner 165

The Garmin Forerunner 165 is packed with features that make it a standout choice for runners and fitness enthusiasts. Here’s a quick overview of what this watch has to offer:

• AMOLED Touchscreen Display: A vibrant 1.2-inch AMOLED display with 390×390 pixels, offering excellent visibility both indoors and outdoors.
• Advanced Training Metrics: Includes running dynamics like ground contact time, vertical oscillation, and running power, all measured directly from the wrist.
• Health and Recovery Tracking: Tracks heart rate variability (HRV), sleep stages, stress levels, and provides a Body Battery score to monitor energy levels.
• GPS and Altimeter: Built-in GPS for accurate outdoor activity tracking and an altimeter for elevation gain.
• Smartwatch Features: Notifications, calendar events, weather updates, and Garmin Pay for contactless payments.
• Music Storage: The Music edition allows you to store up to 800 songs for offline listening.

🖥️ Display and Design

🌟 AMOLED Display: A Visual Treat

The Forerunner 165 features a 1.2-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 390×390 pixels. This display is a significant upgrade from the MIP (Memory-in-Pixel) or transflective displays found in older models like the Forerunner 55. The AMOLED screen offers vibrant colors, deep contrasts, and excellent readability in various lighting conditions, whether you’re indoors or under bright sunlight.

The flat lens design of the Forerunner 165 is another notable feature. Unlike the slightly domed lens on the Forerunner 265, the flat lens makes it easier to apply screen protectors and reduces the risk of scratches. The watch also uses chemically strengthened glass, which, while not as robust as Corning Gorilla Glass 3 found in the 265, still provides adequate protection for everyday use.

🎨 Design and Build Quality

The Forerunner 165 has a resin case, making it lightweight and durable. It measures 43mm in diameter and is 11.6mm thick without the heart rate sensor, and around 13mm thick with the sensor. Weighing just 39 grams with the band, the watch is comfortable to wear all day, whether you’re running, cycling, or just going about your daily activities.

The watch comes in a variety of colors and offers two-tone band options, allowing you to customize its look to suit your style. The 20mm watch bands are stretchy and comfortable, making them ideal for both sports and everyday wear.

🕹️ Navigation and Controls

The Forerunner 165 combines the convenience of a touchscreen with the reliability of physical buttons. The watch features five physical buttons, which are particularly useful during activities when your hands are sweaty or when you’re wearing gloves. The touchscreen can be enabled or disabled depending on your preference, and you can even set it to be active only during smartwatch mode.

This hybrid navigation system ensures that you can easily swipe through widgets and menus during the day, while still having the tactile feedback of physical buttons during workouts. The ability to toggle the touchscreen on a per-activity basis is a thoughtful addition, allowing you to customize the watch’s functionality based on your needs.

🔋 Battery Life: Long-Lasting Performance

One of the most critical aspects of any smartwatch is its battery life, and the Forerunner 165 doesn’t disappoint. The watch offers a battery life ranging from 4 to 11 days, depending on your usage. Here’s a breakdown of what affects the battery life:

• Always-On Display: If you enable the always-on display, you can expect around 4-5 days of battery life.
• Gesture Mode: If you disable the always-on display and rely on gesture mode to wake the screen, the battery life can extend up to 9-11 days.
• Outdoor Activities: Tracking outdoor activities like running or cycling will consume more battery. Garmin claims that the Forerunner 165 can last between 17 to 19 hours with a full charge during outdoor activities, which is more than enough for most long-distance runners or hikers.

In real-world testing, the Forerunner 165 often exceeds Garmin’s conservative battery life estimates, especially when using the highest accuracy GPS mode. This makes it a reliable companion for endurance athletes who need a watch that can keep up with their long training sessions.

📱 Smartwatch Features: More Than Just a Fitness Tracker

The Forerunner 165 is not just a fitness watch; it’s also a fully functional smartwatch. Here are some of the smart features it offers:

📲 Notifications and Alerts

The watch can receive notifications for texts, calls, and apps, and it also displays calendar events and weather updates synced from your smartphone. The experience varies slightly depending on whether you’re using an iPhone or an Android device:

• Android Users: You can view photos and images within texts, reply to messages with predefined responses, and even create custom responses in the Garmin Connect app.
• iPhone Users: Due to Apple’s restrictions, you can only receive notifications and cannot reply to texts directly from the watch.

🎵 Music and Podcasts

The Forerunner 165 Music edition allows you to download music and podcasts from popular streaming services like Spotify and Amazon Music for offline listening. With 4GB of storage, you can store approximately 800 songs, making it a great option for those who want to leave their phone behind during workouts.

💳 Garmin Pay

All models of the Forerunner 165 come with Garmin Pay, allowing you to make contactless payments directly from your watch. This feature is particularly useful for runners who want to grab a quick drink or snack without carrying their wallet or phone.

🏋️‍♂️ Health and Fitness Tracking

❤️ Heart Rate Monitoring

The Forerunner 165 uses Garmin’s 4th-generation Elevate heart rate sensor, which is the same sensor found in the more expensive Forerunner 265 and 965. This sensor provides accurate heart rate tracking across a variety of activities, including running, cycling, and weight training.

In real-world testing, the heart rate sensor performs well, especially during steady-state activities like indoor cycling. However, like most wrist-based heart rate monitors, it can struggle with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or weightlifting, where rapid changes in heart rate and wrist movement can affect accuracy. For these activities, pairing the watch with an external heart rate monitor is recommended for more precise data.

🛌 Sleep Tracking and Recovery

The Forerunner 165 offers comprehensive sleep tracking, including monitoring of sleep stages (deep, light, and REM sleep) and providing a sleep score that reflects the quality of your rest. The watch also features automatic nap detection, allowing you to log short naps and set alarms to ensure you don’t oversleep.

The Body Battery feature is another highlight, providing a daily energy score based on your sleep, exercise, and restful periods. The enhanced version of Body Battery, introduced last year, breaks down specific factors that impact your energy levels, giving you a clearer picture of how different activities affect your body.

🏃‍♀️ Training and Performance Metrics

For runners, the Forerunner 165 offers a wealth of training metrics, including:

• Running Dynamics: Ground contact time, vertical oscillation, and running power are all measured directly from the wrist, eliminating the need for additional accessories.
• Training Effect: This metric shows how each workout impacts your aerobic and anaerobic capacity, helping you tailor your training for optimal results.
• VO2 Max and Race Predictor: The watch provides an estimate of your VO2 max and predicts your potential race times for common distances based on your training history.

The Pace Pro feature is particularly useful for runners who want to create a pacing strategy for their training runs or races. By setting a target pace, you can ensure that you’re running at the right intensity to achieve your goals.

🛠️ GPS and Activity Tracking

🛰️ Built-In GPS: Accurate and Reliable

The Forerunner 165 comes with built-in GPS, allowing you to track your runs, rides, and hikes without needing to carry your phone. The watch uses Garmin’s all-systems satellite chipset, which automatically selects the best available satellite signal (GPS, Galileo, Baidu, etc.) for optimal accuracy.

In testing, the Forerunner 165’s GPS performance is impressive, often matching or even outperforming watches with dual-frequency GPS. The watch accurately tracks distance, elevation gain, and even distinguishes between bike lanes and main roads, making it a reliable tool for outdoor enthusiasts.

🏞️ Open Water Swimming and Other Sports Profiles

One of the standout features of the Forerunner 165 is its inclusion of open water swimming, a sport profile typically reserved for higher-end Garmin models. This makes the watch a great option for triathletes or anyone who enjoys swimming in natural bodies of water.

The watch also includes over 25 sport profiles, covering everything from running and cycling to yoga and strength training. Whether you’re hitting the gym, going for a trail run, or practicing breathwork, the Forerunner 165 has you covered.

🔄 How Does It Compare to the Forerunner 265?

The Forerunner 165 is often compared to its more expensive sibling, the Forerunner 265. While both watches share many features, there are some key differences:

• Sport Profiles: The Forerunner 265 offers additional sport profiles like triathlon, skiing, and snowboarding, making it a better choice for multi-sport athletes.
• Training Readiness: The Forerunner 265 includes Garmin’s Training Readiness feature, which provides a daily score based on your recovery, sleep, and training load.
• Dual-Frequency GPS: The Forerunner 265 has a dual-frequency GPS chipset, which can provide slightly better accuracy in challenging environments like dense urban areas or deep canyons.

For most runners, however, the Forerunner 165 offers more than enough features at a significantly lower price point. Unless you’re a triathlete or need the additional training metrics, the Forerunner 165 is an excellent choice.

🏆 Final Verdict: Is the Garmin Forerunner 165 Worth It?

The Garmin Forerunner 165 is a fantastic option for runners and fitness enthusiasts who want a feature-packed watch without breaking the bank. With its vibrant AMOLED display, accurate GPS, and comprehensive health and training metrics, the Forerunner 165 offers incredible value for its price.

Whether you’re a beginner looking to track your first 5K or a seasoned runner training for a marathon, the Forerunner 165 has the tools you need to reach your goals. Its combination of smartwatch features, long battery life, and robust fitness tracking make it one of the best running watches in its price range.

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