Garmin Forerunner 165 vs Garmin Forerunner 265

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Forerunner 165 compared with Forerunner 265

	GarminForerunner 165	GarminForerunner 265
Overview
Released
Released	February 2024	March 2023
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	43 mm	42 mm or 46 mm
Panel
Panel	OLED	OLED
Always-on display
Always-on display	Yes	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	1.2-inch (30.4 mm diameter) colour AMOLED touchscreen, 390 x 390 pixels; optional always-on display; five physical buttons	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
Screen protection	Chemically strengthened glass	Corning Gorilla Glass 3
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	Dual-band (L1 and L5)
Water resistance
Water resistance	50 m	50 m
Sensors
Sensors	Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate; Pulse Ox; barometric altimeter; compass; accelerometer; thermometer; ambient light sensor; GPS, GLONASS and Galileo	Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate monitor; Pulse Ox blood oxygen monitor; barometric altimeter; compass; gyroscope; accelerometer; thermometer; ambient light sensor
Health features
Health features	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	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
Fitness features	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)	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
Safety features	Incident detection during selected activities, assistance and LiveTrack require a paired compatible smartphone and connectivity; live event sharing is Android-only	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)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 11 days	Up to 15 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	8 GB (better)
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	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	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
Charging	Garmin proprietary plug charging/data cable; rechargeable built-in battery	Garmin proprietary plug charger; USB-C charging/data cable included
Connectivity
Connectivity	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	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
Storage	4 GB memory/history ; standard model has no offline music player	–
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	39 g	39 g
Software
Software	Garmin	Garmin
Case materials
Case materials	Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; chemically strengthened glass; silicone band; 5 ATM water rating	Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; silicone band; 5 ATM water rating
Size
Size	43 x 43 x 11.6 mm; Garmin lists 39 g without a separate body-only weight	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
Bands	20 mm quick-release silicone bands; fits 126–203 mm wrists	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
Colours
Colours	Black/Slate Grey; Mist Grey/Whitestone	–
In the box
In the box	Forerunner 165; charging/data cable; documentation	Forerunner 265 or 265S, USB-C charging/data cable, documentation