Garmin Forerunner 165 vs Garmin Forerunner 301

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Only show differences

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Share comparison

Forerunner 165 compared with Forerunner 301

	GarminForerunner 165	GarminForerunner 301
Overview
Released
Released	February 2024	2005
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	43 mm	82.8 mm
Panel
Panel	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	Backlit monochrome screen, 36.49 × 23.35 mm and 100 × 64 pixels; physical button controls. Panel technology is not specified in Garmin's manual.
Screen protection
Screen protection	Chemically strengthened glass	–
Health and fitness
ECG
ECG	No	No
Blood oxygen
Blood oxygen	Yes	No
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	–
Sensors
Sensors	Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate; Pulse Ox; barometric altimeter; compass; accelerometer; thermometer; ambient light sensor; GPS, GLONASS and Galileo	Twelve-channel GPS receiver and included digitally coded heart-rate chest strap; no optical wrist 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	–
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)	Running, biking and other-sport profiles; advanced and interval workouts, Virtual Partner, Auto Pause, Auto Lap, Auto Scroll and heart-rate, pace, time and distance alerts. AutoLearn adjusts heart-rate zones as fitness changes.
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	Basic map display, up to 100 stored locations and navigation back to the start or a saved location; no base maps.
Battery and connections
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 11 days	Up to 14 hours
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	No phone pairing
Storage
Storage	4 GB	–
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	Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery; fourteen hours of typical use.
Charging
Charging	Garmin proprietary plug charging/data cable; rechargeable built-in battery	AC charger and USB connection.
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	USB computer interface; supplied Garmin Training Center software for analysing activities and creating workouts. No direct phone pairing.
Storage
Storage	4 GB memory/history ; standard model has no offline music player	Up to 5,000 laps, with approximately two years of training history according to Garmin's series datasheet.
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	39 g (better)	78 g
Software
Software	Garmin	Garmin
Case materials
Case materials	Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; chemically strengthened glass; silicone band; 5 ATM water rating	Sealed high-impact plastic-alloy housing; IPX7 immersion protection, one metre for thirty minutes.
Size
Size	43 x 43 x 11.6 mm; Garmin lists 39 g without a separate body-only weight	82.8 × 43.4 × 17.5 mm; approximately 78 g. Width is used as the case size.
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	Watch, wrist strap, expander strap, AC charger, USB cable, digitally coded heart-rate monitor, Training Center software and documentation.