Garmin’s newest good sports activities watch condenses all the good options from its higher-end Forerunner fashions into a less expensive, less complicated working tracker with a vivid OLED display and lengthy battery life.

The Forerunner 165 is the brand new base mannequin in Garmin’s new lineup, priced from £250 (€280/$250/A$429) in contrast with the £430 Forerunner 265.

The watch is available in a selection of colors however just one measurement, with a 1.2in display and 43mm case – bang in the midst of the small and enormous sizes of the dearer 265.

It’s a good measurement, with a crisp OLED show that’s massive sufficient to make it simply readable at a look, whereas feeling slim, gentle and compact on the wrist.

It has the identical nice mixture of touchscreen and 5 buttons as latest Garmin watches. It syncs information to an Android or iPhone via the Join app, through USB cable to your pc or direct to the web via wifi for those who purchase the dearer model with offline music playback.

The battery lasts about 5 days between costs with the display on on a regular basis, monitoring sleep in a single day and a single 40-minute run. That’s shorter than the 265 by a number of days however greater than double mainstream smartwatch rivals. Setting the display to activate solely while you rotate your wrist extends the battery life to greater than 11 days. Runs devour about 6% battery for every hour or 14% with offline music from Spotify, which makes it final greater than lengthy sufficient for most individuals. A full cost through the USB-C cable takes about an hour.

Specs

• Display: 1.2in AMOLED

• Case measurement: 43mm

• Case thickness: 11.6mm

• Band measurement: normal 20mm

• Weight: 39g

• Storage: 4GB

• Water resistance: 50 metres (5ATM)

• Sensors: GNSS (GPS, Glonass, Galileo), compass, thermometer, coronary heart fee, pulse Ox

• Connectivity: Bluetooth, ANT+ (wifi with music)

Sport monitoring prowess

The massive distinction between the 165 and higher-end Garmin fashions is the dearth of multisport monitoring, reminiscent of automated transitions between runs, cycles and swimming for a triathlon. In any other case it tracks a complete of 24 particular person sports activities together with varied types of biking, working and swimming, strolling and mountain climbing, fitness center actions and racket sports activities. The notable absences are snowboarding and snowboarding.

For working it tracks all the same old metrics reminiscent of time, distance, tempo, cadence, laps, but in addition working dynamics and energy, that are each rarer however welcome options for extra enthusiastic runner. Throughout a exercise you’ll be able to have as much as 4 metrics on display at anyone, with a transparent and simple to learn at a look show. For many makes use of on a run the 165 behaves virtually precisely the identical as a 265 or the top-of-the-line Forerunner 965, which is great.

It lacks dual-band or “multiband” GPS, which implies on paper its location monitoring just isn’t as correct as higher-end Garmin fashions when working in trickier environments reminiscent of cities with a number of tall buildings or dense forests. However in a take a look at side-by-side with a 965 with the characteristic, the 2 watches received a GPS lock in a short time and barely deviated from the proper observe and tempo, which was very spectacular.

The watch can let you know while you veer off a deliberate route however lacks full offline maps to see the place you might be, which is a characteristic nonetheless reserved for Garmin’s high watches.

The ultimate factor lacking from Garmin’s best-in-class sport monitoring on the 165 is coaching readiness, standing and cargo, that are three measures on the agency’s high-end watches helpful for measuring the effectiveness of coaching for objectives, reminiscent of elevated health or marathon prep.

Garmin’s full suite of common well being monitoring measures are on the 165, together with sleep and nap detection, day by day energy, steps, stress and all the opposite issues you must count on from a smartwatch, together with notifications out of your cellphone and contactless funds. The one factor lacking is the flexibility to take an ECG of your coronary heart, which in all probability doesn’t matter for a sports activities watch.

Sustainability

The Forerunner 165 is usually repairable, and out-of-warranty alternate and refurbishment can be found. The battery is rated to final no less than a number of years of frequent cost cycles whereas sustaining no less than 80% capability. The watch doesn’t include any recycled supplies. Garmin ensures no less than two years of safety updates from launch however usually helps its units far longer. It affords trade-in schemes for some strains and complies with WEEE and different native electronics recycling legal guidelines.

Worth

The Garmin Forerunner 165 is priced at £249.99 (€279.99/$249.99/A$429) or £289.99 (€329.99/$299.99/A$499) with offline music help.

For comparability, the Forerunner 265 is £429.99, the Apple Watch Collection 9 is £399, the Google Pixel Watch 2 is £349, the Coros Tempo 3 is £219 and the Polar Pacer Professional is £289.

Verdict

The Forerunner 165 is a wonderful working watch that condenses the most effective bits from its top-class siblings into an easier, cheaper mannequin.

It has a fantastic, clear and vivid OLED display that’s simple to learn mid-run. It has all of the metrics to maintain observe of your tempo and efficiency and has an extended sufficient battery to go the gap for many customers. Its compact and lightweight physique retains it comfy even for lengthy coaching classes and the combo of contact and buttons is greatest at school.

The one issues actually lacking are offline maps and extra superior coaching metrics. The shortage of the extra superior, multiband GPS monitoring doesn’t seem to considerably affect monitoring accuracy, for which Garmin continues to be the chief.

The largest drawback is the value. At £250 or £290 with offline music, it’s dearer than most newcomers’ working watches, although in keeping with OLED-equipped smartwatches from tech rivals and a £180 saving over the Forerunner 265. Except you wish to observe triathlons or want offline maps, the Forerunner 165 is the brand new Garmin working watch to go for.

Execs: slim, gentle, actual buttons, and crisp OLED touchscreen, correct GPS and coronary heart fee, in depth stats, good well being monitoring, five-day battery life, offline music possibility, fundamental smartwatch options.

Cons: a bit costly, no offline maps, no voice assistant, no multiband GPS, no multisport transitions, restricted Garmin Pay compatibility with UK banks.