Garmin Approach S44 vs Garmin Forerunner 165
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| GarminApproach S44 | GarminForerunner 165 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | January 2025 | February 2024 |
| Display | ||
| Case sizes | 43 mm | 43 mm |
| Panel | OLED | OLED |
| Always-on display | Yes | Yes |
| Display detail | 30.4 mm (1.2 inch) AMOLED touchscreen, 390 x 390 pixels; optional always-on display, ambient-light sensor and large-font option. Two physical buttons. | 1.2-inch (30.4 mm diameter) colour AMOLED touchscreen, 390 x 390 pixels; optional always-on display; five physical buttons |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 lens. | Chemically strengthened glass |
| Health and fitness | ||
| ECG | No | No |
| Blood oxygen | No | Yes |
| Skin temperature | No | No |
| Sleep apnoea alerts | No | No |
| High blood pressure alerts | No | No |
| Body composition | No | No |
| Fall detection | No | No |
| Crash detection | No | No |
| GPS | Single-band | Single-band |
| Water resistance | 50 m | 50 m |
| Sensors | GPS, GLONASS and Galileo; compass, gyroscope, accelerometer and ambient-light sensor. No multi-band positioning or wrist heart-rate sensor. Do not infer a heart-rate sensor from generic heart-rate alert wording in the cycling table. | Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate; Pulse Ox; barometric altimeter; compass; accelerometer; thermometer; ambient light sensor; GPS, GLONASS and Galileo |
| Health features | Step counting, move alerts, automatic daily step goal, calories, distance and intensity minutes. No wrist heart rate, Pulse Ox, sleep/stress monitoring or Body Battery; these belong to the S50. The current maker table and October 2025 guide document activity tracking beyond the step-only description in an April 2025 review. | Continuous heart rate with high/low alerts; HRV status; Body Battery; stress, respiration and blood oxygen; advanced sleep and sleep score; sleep coach and nap detection; Health Snapshot; hydration and women's health tracking; no ECG app |
| Fitness features | Over 43,000 preloaded golf courses; front/middle/back green distances, hazards, layups/doglegs, Green View with manual pin position, PinPointer, digital scorecard, handicap scoring, statistics, Swing Tempo and custom targets. AutoShot detects shots and measures distance without tags; it does not detect putts, and some chips may be missed. Club Prompt records the selected club. Optional CT1 tags require tapping the watch before each shot; CT10 sensors add automatic club tracking, and the Z30 laser range finder shares measured distances. Full vector CourseView maps, touch targeting, green contours and elevation-adjusted PlaysLike distances require Garmin Golf membership. Tournament mode disables non-permitted features. Current UK activity profiles include running, indoor track running, biking, indoor biking and golf. The exact owner guide additionally documents pool swimming; the current web profile list omits it. No open-water swimming claim. | Daily suggested running workouts and Garmin Coach plans; training effect and recovery time; wrist-based running dynamics and running power; PacePro; VO2 max and race predictions; pool and open-water swimming; running, cycling, strength, HIIT, yoga, Pilates, tennis, pickleball and padel profiles; point-to-point and breadcrumb course navigation, back-to-start and TracBack; no full offline maps or dedicated triathlon mode; no training readiness, load or status (Wareable and Tech Advisor) |
| Safety features | Incident detection in supported outdoor activities and assistance require Garmin Connect, a paired compatible phone with data service and network coverage. They message emergency contacts; they are not standalone emergency communication. | Incident detection during selected activities, assistance and LiveTrack require a paired compatible smartphone and connectivity; live event sharing is Android-only |
| Battery and connections | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 10 days | Up to 11 days |
| In low-power mode | – | Up to 20 days |
| Mobile data option | No | No |
| Works with | iPhone and Android | iPhone and Android |
| Storage | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| Battery life detail | Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Up to 10 days in smartwatch mode with gesture wake-up, or 15 hours in GPS mode with always-on display while golfing. October 2025 owner guide describes the 15-hour claim as all-satellite-systems typical use. Actual life varies with settings and notifications. | Smartwatch up to 11 days; battery saver smartwatch up to 20 days; GPS-only up to 19 hours; all-systems GNSS up to 17 hours; actual life depends on display settings, enabled features and use |
| Charging | Garmin proprietary four-contact plug to USB-C charging/data cable. Owner guide specifies operating/storage -20 to 60°C and charging 0 to 45°C. Battery capacity, fast-charge wattage and charge duration are not published. | Garmin proprietary plug charging/data cable; rechargeable built-in battery |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth LE with iPhone and Android; Garmin Golf and Garmin Connect. Phone notifications, calendar, weather, find-phone/find-watch and smartphone music controls. Text response, rejecting calls by text and notification images are Android-only. No standalone cellular connection, Wi-Fi, downloaded music or Garmin Pay. The manual’s 13.56 MHz radio entry and CT1 tap function do not establish payment support. | Bluetooth and ANT+ ; controls smartphone music without offline playback; no Wi-Fi; Garmin Pay; Connect IQ apps, watch faces and data fields; smart notifications; Android-only text responses and notification images; Garmin Share and Garmin Messenger; no cellular connection or multi-band GNSS |
| Storage | 4 GB for preloaded golf/course data and activity history; no offline music storage capability. | 4 GB memory/history ; standard model has no offline music player |
| Design | ||
| Weight (lightest version) | 42 g | 39 g (better) |
| Software | Garmin | Garmin |
| Case materials | Anodised aluminium bezel and fibre-reinforced polymer case; silicone band. Swiss exact-model datasheet labels the buttons as plastic. | Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; chemically strengthened glass; silicone band; 5 ATM water rating |
| Size | 43 x 43 x 11.4 mm; 42 g including the silicone band. Fits wrists 125–202 mm. | 43 x 43 x 11.6 mm; Garmin lists 39 g without a separate body-only weight |
| Water resistance detail | 5 ATM, pressure equivalent to 50 m; this is not a dive-depth rating. Do not press buttons under water. | – |
| Reference and release detail | Available now in Garmin’s US and German 21 January 2025 announcements; exact UK first shipping day was not specified. Current UK standalone and CT1-bundle SKUs are sellable. No explicit maker predecessor relationship found. | – |
| Bands | 20 mm industry-standard quick-release bands; not QuickFit. | 20 mm quick-release silicone bands; fits 126–203 mm wrists |
| Colours | Silver aluminium bezel with Black or Twilight silicone band; Black also sold with 16 CT1 club tags. | Black/Slate Grey; Mist Grey/Whitestone |
| In the box | Approach S44, USB-C charging/data cable and documentation. Black CT1 bundle additionally includes 16 club tags; the tags are not included with the standalone watches. | Forerunner 165; charging/data cable; documentation |
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