What These Garmin Watches Have in Common …

Like always when Garmin drops the next generation of a new watch, the Forerunner 265 series keeps doing everything the Forerunner 255 series was doing well.

It continues to offer 2 sizes—a 47 mm case with a 1.3” display on your wrist for the standard size. And a 42 mm case with a 1.1” display for the smaller size. And both continue to be super light, 47 g and 39 g, respectively.

It still has a minimalistic clean design with several color schemes to choose from.

You still get all those feature and training tools that made the FR 255 a next-level running watch—made it into a multisport watch, really—like:

• Morning report
• Full triathlon support
• Race widget
• HRV status
• Garmin Pay™ contactless payments
• Multi-band GPS
• Wrist-based running power
• Updated Garmin Elevate 4.0 optical heart rate sensor
• Barometric Altimeter sensor for floors climbed and elevation profiles

And all the oldies but goodies:

• Solid Garmin training tools, including: Race Predictor, Recovery Advisor, Training Status, Training Load, Training Effect, Finish Time, Virtual Partner, PacePro, Race Predictor, and Running Dynamics with a compatible Garmin Running Pod or HRM strap.
• Garmin's sweet suite of health monitoring features, like wrist-based heart rate, Pulse Ox, advanced sleep, Fitness Age, Body Battery, Women's Health, and more!
• Smart notifications and safety tracking.

How These Running Watches Are Different …

The Garmin Forerunner 265 series adds several new features to this generation, most notably—a gorgeously vivid AMOLED display.

Additionally, this mid-level Forerunner is now a touchscreen like the higher-end Garmin Forerunner 965, fēnix 7 series, epix (Gen 2) and Enduro 2 GPS watches. Don’t worry, you still have the traditional 5-button operation as well. And you can disable the touchscreen if you’re running in the rain, swimming, or wearing gloves.

The FR 265 now adds Training Readiness to its rich mix of training tools. Originally offered only on Garmin’s more expensive multisport watches, the Training Readiness feature gives you a score and a short message that helps you determine how ready you are for training each day. The score is continuously calculated and updated throughout the day using these factors:

• Sleep score (last night)
• Recovery time
• HRV status
• Acute load
• Sleep history (last 3 nights)
• Stress history (last 3 days)

Due to the AMOLED screen, the Forerunner 265 series offers slightly less battery life than the previous FR 255. However, it still offers a lot more than an Apple watch and is highly competitive with other top brands like Polar and COROS. Plus, you can manage your settings to control and save battery life.

Unlike with the previous Forerunner 255, this series offers on-watch music storage in every watch—standard and smaller size. That means you can download up to 500 songs plus playlists from your Spotify, Deezer, or Amazon Music accounts (subscription required) and go phone free!

This Forerunner with the new AMOLED and touchscreen technology is going to cost you more. But the good news is … it’s only $50 more.

If It’s Between These Two …

In a nutshell, if you want any of these extras and don’t mind losing a tiny bit of battery life—you’ll likely drop the extra $50 for the new Forerunner 265 or 265S.

If none of these upgrades appeal to you personally and you like shaving cost where you can, the previous Garmin Forerunner 255/255S will be the obvious choice.

Features in Common …

Now, like the high-end Forerunner, the FR 265 series has a touchscreen—along with traditional 5-button operation. During those conditions when you need to navigate your watch with precision—like in rain or while wearing gloves—you can disable the touchscreen.

Both of these Garmin Forerunner GPS watches offer all of Garmin's health monitoring features, including, the latest wrist-based heart rate sensor, Pulse Ox, Body Battery™ energy monitor, Sleep Score and Insights, and Women’s Health tracking.

Both smartwatches for runners also provide Garmin’s best smart features, offering smart notifications, weather, on-watch music storage, Garmin Pay™, Stocks Tracker, and more.

Remarkably, the Forerunner 265 has about three quarters of the training tools that the FR 955 running watch does. Both put all these and more on your wrist:

• Training Readiness
• Customizable data pages and activity profiles
• Wrist-based running power
• Rest timer
• VO2 Max for run, trail run, and cycling
• Training Status, Load, and Effect
• Daily suggested workouts
• Finish Time
• Virtual Partner
• Race an activity
• Mulitsport activities
• Running dynamics with compatible device
• Cadence (provides real-time number of steps per minute)
• Grade-adjusted pace
• PacePro™
• Race Predictor

How These Forerunner Multisport GPS Watches Are Different …

The greatest difference between these two watches is that the Forerunner 965 is preloaded with topographical maps, road and trail maps, downloadable cartography support, and GPS coordinates.

Additionally, the higher-end FR 965 series supports Garmin Live Segments and Strava Live Segments. It also offers a round-trip course creator for running and cycling and Trendline™ Popularity Routing.

Plus, the Forerunner 955/955 Solar is also a golf GPS watch, offering most of Garmin’s golfing features and is compatible with the Garmin Golf app.

You will also get a substantial amount more of battery life out of the FR 955— especially if you go for the FR 955 Solar:

• Smartwatch Mode: Up to 15 days/20 days with solar
• GPS Mode: Up to 42 hours/49 hours with solar

Versus the Forerunner 265/265S:

Forerunner 265 Battery Life:

• Smartwatch Mode: Up to 13 days
• GPS Mode: Up to 20 hours

Forerunner 265S Battery Life:

• Smartwatch Mode: Up to 15 days
• GPS Mode: Up to 24 hours

Finally, price is a factor. The Forerunner 265 costs $449.99, while the Forerunner 955 is $499.99 and the FR 955 Solar will cost you $599.00. So, $50–$150 more, depending on the upgrade.

If It’s Between These Two ...

If you want to keep it under $500, don't need full mapping or a few extra training tools—but want a gorgeous AMOLED display on your wrist—The Garmin Forerunner 265 or 265S should be the Forerunner sweet spot for you.

If an AMOLED display doesn't do it for you, but you want the full mapping, solar-charging technology, and a few more training bells and whistles, you'll probably want to spend the extra dough on the Forerunner 955 Solar.

But wait! If you do want an AMOLED display on a FR 955 ... you should check out the 2023 Garmin Forerunner 965!

Features These New Garmin Watches Share …

For the first time, both the mid-range and high-end Forerunner options have an AMOLED display and a touchscreen—along with traditional 5-button operation, of course. You have the option to disable the touchscreen if you like for those conditions when making selections needs to be precise, like in rain or while wearing gloves.

Both of these Garmin Forerunner GPS watches have the full suite of Garmin health monitoring features, including, the latest wrist-based heart rate sensor, Pulse Ox, Body Battery™ energy monitor, Sleep Score and Insights, and Women’s Health tracking.

They also have all of Garmin’s smart features, including smart notifications, weather, on-watch music storage, Garmin Pay™, Stocks Tracker, and more.

Remarkably, the Forerunner 265 has about three quarters of the training tools that the FR 965 running watch does. Both offer:

• Training Readiness
• Customizable data pages and activity profiles
• Wrist-based running power
• Rest timer
• VO2 Max for run and trail run
• Training Status, Load, and Effect
• Daily suggested workouts
• Finish Time
• Virtual Partner
• Race an activity
• Mulitsport activities
• Running dynamics with compatible device
• Cadence (provides real-time number of steps per minute)
• Grade-adjusted pace
• PacePro™
• Race Predictor
• And more!

How These Multisport Watches are Different …

The greatest difference between these two watches is that the Forerunner 965 is preloaded with topographical maps, road and trail maps, downloadable cartography support, and GPS coordinates.

Additionally, the higher-end FR 965 supports Garmin Live Segments and Strava Live Segments. It also offers a round-trip course creator for running and cycling and Trendline™ Popularity Routing.

Plus, the Forerunner 965 is also a golf GPS watch, offering most of Garmin’s golfing features and is compatible with the Garmin Golf app.

You will also get a substantial amount more of battery life out of the FR 965:

• Smartwatch Mode: Up to 23 days
• GPS Mode: Up to 31 hours

Versus the Forerunner 265/265S:

Forerunner 265 Battery Life:

• Smartwatch Mode: Up to 13 days
• GPS Mode: Up to 20 hours

Forerunner 265S Battery Life:

• Smartwatch Mode: Up to 15 days
• GPS Mode: Up to 24 hours

There's a pretty significant price hop between these two Forerunners. The FR 265/265S will cost you $449.99 while the FR 965 triathlon watch jumps to $599.99.

If It’s Between These Two …

In both instances, you are getting two advanced running watches with multisport functionality, topped with vivid AMOLDED touchscreen displays.

If you have a smaller wrist and are content with simple breadcrumb mapping, the Forerunner 265 is probably more your style.

But if you want those maps and like a larger display to see more data fields, plus a bit more battery life and extra multisport functionality—$150 more gets you the top-shelf Forerunner 965!

Features in Common …

The Garmin Forerunner 55 is the most affordable running watch in this lineup. It's designed for beginning runners or for those who don't want the girth of Garmin's training tools, while still being able to access features necessary to chase down goals and elevate their health and wellbeing.

The FR 55 has most of the same health-monitoring features as the FR 265. You won't get Pulse Ox or the sleep score with insights. These are available on the Forerunner 265 to give you a picture of your training status and recovery history. You will however get wrist-based heart rate, respiration rate, Body Battery energy monitor, all-day stress, and Women's Health.

You will get a good deal of the smart features like smart notifications, weather, and the ability to control music on you paired smartphone. But you won't have the on-watch music storage, Garmin Pay, or Stock Tracking that come on the FR 265.

Both watches offer VO2 Max for Run, all the basic running, cycling, and swimming apps.

How These Running Watches are Different …

The most obvious difference between these two watches is that the Garmin Forernner 265 series offers an AMOLED display and full touchscreen navigation. The Forerunner 55 comes in one size which is very similar to the FR 265S, while the FR 265 series offers two sizes.

When it comes to GPS and sensors, the Forerunner 265 is far superior. The FR 55 does access multiple satellites, but only the FR 265 has multi-frequency technology for the most accurate positioning.

Additionally, the Forerunner 55 does not have a compass, which means no navigation. Nor does it have a gyroscope, thermometer, or barometric altimeter for elevation metrics (no hill/floors climbed data).

As far as training tools, the mid-level Garmin is packing the most heat! The FR 265/265S adds VO2 Max for trail run, Training Readiness, Wrist-based running power, Training Status, Load, and Effect, mulitsport activities, PacePro and more.

If It’s Between These Two …

If you're into fine-tuning your training to get the most out of your workout sessions and recovery, with the best training tools and health-monitoring, the FR 265 series is a no-brainer for runners and triathletes who want to be ready for race day!

Looking for a basic yet reliable running watch that doesn't go to far down the technology and stat rabbit hole? Or maybe you just easing your way into running? Then the Garmin Forerunner 55 is likely the perfect running watch to start with!

Features These Running Watches Have in Common …

Both of these Garmin watches feature vibrant AMOLED touchscreen displays, offer the full helping of health-monitoring features, and have nearly all of Garmin's smart features in commen, such as smart notifications, Garmin Pay, weather, Wi-Fi® connectivity, music controls and on-watch storage for phone-free listening.

They both also have in common safety and tracking features, basic activity tracking, all the usual suspects in sport profiles—running, cycling, swimming (the Venu 2 Plus even doubles as a golf watch). Also, these watches come in at the same price point: $449.99. But beyond that, these two become different smartwatch experiences, which we go over in the next section.

How These Running Watches Differ …

If it's a true running watch you're looking for, the Forerunner wins hands down. It has nearly all the training tools that the higher-end Garmin watches have with the most accuract mulit-frequency GPS. And while it does not have full-blown topo maps, it does offer breadcrumb navigation, point-to-point, and TracBack.

The Venu 2 Plus does have very reliable GPS, but virtually no navigation. Because it has a compass, it can get you back to start. But this watch does something no other Garmin watch can: it let allows you to use the voice assistant on your phone through a built-in mic and speaker. So when paired with your smartphone, you can make and take calls or texts and even use smart home features.

The Venu 2 Plus is also the only Garmin watch currently with the ECG app, which uses the watch's sensors to record the electrical signals that control how your heart beats—to check for irregular heart rhythm.

If It’s Between These Two …

If you're an active, on-the-go type who wants a reliable GPS watch that is equal parts smart and fitness, then the eye-catching Venu 2 Plus is probably your choice here.

But if you need more in the way of training, recovery, and challenging yourself to beat personal bests, the new vibrant Forerunner 265 series is the obvious choice!

Case Size/Weight:

• FR 265: 46.1 x 46.1 x 12.9 mm / 47 g
• FR 265S: 41.7 x 41.7 x 12.9 mm / 39 g

Display Size/Type:

• FR 265: 1.3” AMOLED Touchscreen display
• FR 265S: 1.1” AMOLED Touchscreen display

Forerunner 265 Battery Life:

• FR 265 Smartwatch Mode: Up to 13 days; GPS Mode: Up to 20 hours
• FR 265S Smartwatch Mode: Up to 15 days; GPS Mode: Up to 24 hours

GPS: Built-in multi-frequency positioning (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS)

Maps & Navigation: Real-time bread crumb trail, point to point navigation, back to start, TracBack, up ahead; No maps

Safety features: Livetrack, Live Event Sharing, Incident Detection during select activities, Incident Detection alert on phone for wearables, Assistance

Water Resistant: Yes

Available Colors:

• FR 265:
• Black Bezel and Case with Black/Powder Gray Silicone Band
• Black Bezel with Whitestone Case and Whitestone/Tidal Blue Silicone Band
• Black Bezel with Aqua Case and Aqua/Black Silicone Band
• FR 265S:
• Black Bezel and Case with Black/Amp Yellow Silicone Band
• Black Bezel with Whitestone Case and Whitestone/Neo Tropic Silicone Band
• Black Bezel with Light Pink Case and Light Pink/Powder Gray Silicone Band

Garmin Forerunner 265/265S Price: $449.99