Garmin Forerunner 101 vs Garmin Forerunner 265
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| GarminForerunner 101 | GarminForerunner 265 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | 2004 | March 2023 |
| Display | ||
| Case sizes | 83 mm | 42 mm or 46 mm |
| Panel | – | OLED |
| Always-on display | Yes | Yes |
| Display detail | Backlit 36.49 × 23.35 mm monochrome display, 100 × 64 pixels, operated with physical buttons. Garmin does not identify the panel technology. | Forerunner 265S has a 1.1″ (28.1 mm) AMOLED touchscreen, 360 x 360 pixels; Forerunner 265 has a 1.3″ (32.5 mm) AMOLED touchscreen, 416 x 416 pixels; five buttons; optional always-on mode |
| Screen protection | – | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| 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 | Dual-band (L1 and L5) |
| Water resistance | – | 50 m |
| Sensors | Twelve-channel GPS receiver with built-in patch antenna; no heart-rate or cadence sensor support. | Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate monitor; Pulse Ox blood oxygen monitor; barometric altimeter; compass; gyroscope; accelerometer; thermometer; ambient light sensor |
| Health features | – | High and low heart rate alerts; HRV status; Body Battery; all-day stress; sleep score, sleep coach and nap detection; breathing variations; respiration rate; Health Snapshot; menstrual cycle and pregnancy tracking; jet lag adviser |
| Fitness features | Time, distance, pace and calorie tracking; Virtual Partner, interval training, Auto Pause, Auto Lap and pace, time and distance alerts. | Training readiness and training status; training load, load ratio and load focus; training effect, VO2 max and recovery time; wrist-based running power and dynamics; PacePro; race predictor; Garmin Coach running, cycling and strength plans; daily suggested running and cycling workouts; triathlon and open-water swimming; course navigation with a breadcrumb trail, TracBack and Up Ahead |
| Safety features | Stores 100 locations and offers basic route display and navigation back to the start; no detailed base maps. | Incident detection during select activities; assistance; LiveTrack; spectator messaging; live event sharing (Android only); these features require a paired phone |
| Battery and connections | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 15 hours | Up to 15 days |
| Mobile data option | No | No |
| Works with | No phone pairing | iPhone and Android |
| Storage | – | 8 GB |
| Battery life detail | Two replaceable 1.5 V AAA batteries; fourteen to fifteen hours of typical use according to the owner's manual. | Forerunner 265S up to 15 days in smartwatch mode, 24 hours GPS only, 18 hours SatIQ (AutoSelect), 15 hours All-Systems + Multi-Band; with music up to 7.5, seven and six hours respectively. Forerunner 265 up to 13 days in smartwatch mode, 20 hours GPS only, 16 hours SatIQ, 14 hours All-Systems + Multi-Band; with music up to seven, 6.5 and six hours respectively |
| Charging | – | Garmin proprietary plug charger; USB-C charging/data cable included |
| Connectivity | No computer interface or direct phone pairing; history is viewed on the watch. | Bluetooth, ANT+ and Wi-Fi; multi-band GPS with GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou and SatIQ; Garmin Pay; offline music from Spotify, Deezer and Amazon Music (premium subscription required); Connect IQ; notifications and Android text responses; Garmin Share |
| Storage | Up to 5,000 laps and approximately two years of training history. | – |
| Design | ||
| Weight (lightest version) | 74 g | 39 g (better) |
| Software | Garmin | Garmin |
| Case materials | High-impact plastic alloy housing; IPX7 immersion protection, one metre for thirty minutes. This is not a swimming watch. | Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; silicone band; 5 ATM water rating |
| Size | 83 × 43.5 × 23 mm; 74 g including batteries, according to Garmin's series datasheet. Width is used as the case size. | Forerunner 265S is 41.7 x 41.7 x 12.9 mm and 39 g; Forerunner 265 is 46.1 x 46.1 x 12.9 mm and 47 g; Garmin does not publish case-only weights |
| Bands | Adjustable wrist strap. | Quick-release 18 mm bands for the 265S, fitting 115–178 mm wrists; quick-release 22 mm bands for the 265, fitting 135–205 mm wrists |
| In the box | – | Forerunner 265 or 265S, USB-C charging/data cable, documentation |
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