Garmin Forerunner 165 vs Garmin vívoactive 6

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Forerunner 165 compared with vívoactive 6

	GarminForerunner 165	Garminvívoactive 6
Overview
Released
Released	February 2024	April 2025
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	43 mm	42.2 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	1.2-inch (30.4 mm) colour AMOLED touchscreen, 390 x 390 pixels; two physical 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	Single-band
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; Pulse Ox; compass; gyroscope; accelerometer; ambient light sensor; temperature requires an external tempe sensor; no barometric altimeter
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	HRV status; Body Battery; sleep score and sleep coach; naps; smart wake alarm; stress, respiration and abnormal heart-rate alerts; Health Snapshot; 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)	Daily suggested walking workouts; Garmin Coach running, cycling and strength plans; animated workouts and muscle maps; PacePro; running dynamics; recovery time and training effect; wheelchair mode with push tracking, weight-shift alerts and handcycle workouts; back-to-start navigation
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 selected activities and assistance require a paired compatible phone
Battery and connections
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 11 days	Up to 11 days
In low-power mode
In low-power mode	Up to 20 days	Up to 21 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	Smartwatch up to 11 days, or 5 days always-on; battery saver smartwatch 21 days; GPS-only GNSS 21 hours; all-systems GNSS 17 hours; all-systems GNSS with music 8 hours
Charging
Charging	Garmin proprietary plug charging/data cable; rechargeable built-in battery	Garmin proprietary plug charging/data cable
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; GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou, without multi-band reception; Garmin Pay; offline music through supported services; Android text responses and images in notifications; no speaker or microphone
Storage
Storage	4 GB memory/history ; standard model has no offline music player	–
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	39 g	36 g (better)
Software
Software	Garmin	Garmin
Case materials
Case materials	Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; chemically strengthened glass; silicone band; 5 ATM water rating	Anodised aluminium bezel and fibre-reinforced polymer case; 5 ATM swim water rating
Size
Size	43 x 43 x 11.6 mm; Garmin lists 39 g without a separate body-only weight	42.2 x 42.2 x 10.9 mm; 23 g case only, 36 g with supplied silicone band
Bands
Bands	20 mm quick-release silicone bands; fits 126–203 mm wrists	Industry-standard 20 mm quick-release silicone band; fits 125–190 mm wrists
Colours
Colours	Black/Slate Grey; Mist Grey/Whitestone	Slate/Black; Lunar Gold/Bone; Metallic Jasper Green/Jasper Green; Metallic Pink Dawn/Pink Dawn
In the box
In the box	Forerunner 165; charging/data cable; documentation	vívoactive 6; charging/data cable; documentation