Garmin Approach S50 vs Garmin Forerunner 165

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Approach S50 compared with Forerunner 165

	GarminApproach S50	GarminForerunner 165
Overview
Released
Released	January 2025	February 2024
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	43 mm	43 mm
Panel
Panel	OLED	OLED
Always-on display
Always-on display	Yes	Yes
Display detail
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
Screen protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 3 lens.	Chemically strengthened glass
Health and fitness
ECG
ECG	No	No
Blood oxygen
Blood oxygen	Yes	Yes
Skin temperature
Skin temperature	No	No
Sleep apnoea alerts
Sleep apnoea alerts	No	No
High blood pressure alerts
High blood pressure alerts	No	No
Body composition
Body composition	No	No
Fall detection
Fall detection	No	No
Crash detection
Crash detection	No	No
GPS
GPS	Single-band	Single-band
Water resistance
Water resistance	50 m	50 m
Sensors
Sensors	GPS, GLONASS and Galileo; Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate, Pulse Ox, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer and ambient-light sensor. No multi-band positioning is listed; maker does not number the heart-rate sensor generation. External tempe accessory supplies ambient temperature.	Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate; Pulse Ox; barometric altimeter; compass; accelerometer; thermometer; ambient light sensor; GPS, GLONASS and Galileo
Health features
Health features	Continuous heart rate, high/low alerts, respiration, Body Battery, stress, advanced sleep score/coach, nap detection, HRV status, Health Snapshot and fitness age. Pulse Ox spot checks and optional sleep monitoring. Hydration and menstrual-cycle/pregnancy features use Garmin Connect and an optional Connect IQ widget; these are wellness features, not medical diagnosis.	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
Fitness features	Over 43,000 preloaded golf courses; front/middle/back green distances, hazards and layups, green view with manual pin position, PinPointer and elevation-adjusted PlaysLike distances. Digital scorecard, handicap/Stableford scoring, statistics and custom targets. AutoShot detects fairway shots automatically without club sensors; putts are not detected. Optional CT1 tags require tapping the watch; CT10 sensors add automatic club tracking. Compatible Z30 laser range finder shares measured distances. Enhanced CourseView vector maps, touch targeting and green contours need paid Garmin Golf membership; base yardages and PlaysLike do not. Tournament mode disables non-permitted features. Running, cycling, pool swimming, strength, HIIT, yoga, Pilates and other sport profiles; workouts, animated exercises, VO2 max and recovery time. Current web table lists open-water metrics, but the exact activity list and owner guide document pool swimming only; do not treat that generic row as an established open-water profile.	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
Safety features	Incident detection during supported activities, assistance and LiveTrack require a paired compatible phone and available network; 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)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 10 days	Up to 11 days
In low-power mode
In low-power mode	–	Up to 20 days
Mobile data option
Mobile data option	No	No
Works with
Works with	iPhone and Android	iPhone and Android
Storage
Storage	4 GB	4 GB
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 10 days in smartwatch mode and 15 hours in GPS mode. Maker web conditions use gesture wake in smartwatch mode and always-on while golfing; October 2025 owner guide labels the 15-hour figure all-satellite mode. Actual life depends on sensors, notifications and other features. Battery saver is available but no separate duration is published.	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
Charging	Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery; Garmin proprietary charging/data connector and supplied cable connected to a USB charging port.	Garmin proprietary plug charging/data cable; rechargeable built-in battery
Connectivity
Connectivity	Bluetooth, ANT+ and Wi-Fi; Garmin Golf, Garmin Connect, Garmin Express and Connect IQ. Garmin Pay with supported banks; downloaded personal music and supported Spotify/Amazon Music/Deezer services may need subscriptions and Bluetooth headphones. Phone notifications; Android-only text replies and notification images. No cellular configuration.	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
Storage	–	4 GB memory/history ; standard model has no offline music player
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	29 g (better)	39 g
Software
Software	Garmin	Garmin
Case materials
Case materials	Anodised aluminium bezel, Gorilla Glass 3 lens and ComfortFit nylon band with hook-and-loop fastening; Black/Slate and Ivory/Cream Gold finishes.	Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; chemically strengthened glass; silicone band; 5 ATM water rating
Size
Size	Current UK table: 43 x 43 x 11.4 mm, 29 g. Ivory S/M nylon band fits 127–190 mm wrists; Black M/L fits 145–217 mm. 20 mm quick-release attachment. UK web table calls it industry standard, while October 2025 owner guide says not compatible with third-party bands; retain that compatibility conflict. Japanese launch table gives 12.5 mm thickness, so UK dimensions are used here without treating the regional discrepancy as another model.	43 x 43 x 11.6 mm; Garmin lists 39 g without a separate body-only weight
Bands
Bands	–	20 mm quick-release silicone bands; fits 126–203 mm wrists
Colours
Colours	–	Black/Slate Grey; Mist Grey/Whitestone
In the box
In the box	–	Forerunner 165; charging/data cable; documentation
Reference and release detail
Reference and release detail	Garmin US announcement on 21 January 2025 states available now; this establishes earliest documented on-sale date. Japanese release was 30 January 2025. UK first shipping day is not independently established. S44 is a co-launched lower-feature model, not an evidenced predecessor.	–