Garmin Forerunner 205 vs Garmin Forerunner 265

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Forerunner 205 compared with Forerunner 265

	GarminForerunner 205	GarminForerunner 265
Overview
Released
Released	2006	March 2023
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	53.3 mm	42 mm or 46 mm
Panel
Panel	–	OLED
Always-on display
Always-on display	Yes	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	Backlit 33 × 20.3 mm monochrome display, 160 × 100 pixels; configurable training screens and physical buttons. Panel technology is not specified by Garmin.	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	–	Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Health and fitness
ECG
ECG	No	No
Blood oxygen
Blood oxygen	No	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
Sensors
Sensors	High-sensitivity SiRFstarIII GPS receiver with antenna wrapped towards the sky; the 205 does not support the heart-rate or speed/cadence accessories of the 305.	Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate monitor; Pulse Ox blood oxygen monitor; barometric altimeter; compass; gyroscope; accelerometer; thermometer; ambient light sensor
Health features
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
Fitness features	Running, cycling and other-sport profiles; quick, interval and advanced workouts, course racing, Virtual Partner, 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
Safety features	Stores 100 locations and 50 routes; basic route display, direction to a stored location and navigation back to the start. No 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)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 10 hours	Up to 15 days
Mobile data option
Mobile data option	No	No
Works with
Works with	No phone pairing	iPhone and Android
Storage
Storage	–	8 GB
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery; ten hours of typical 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	Docking cradle with AC charger and USB cable.	Garmin proprietary plug charger; USB-C charging/data cable included
Connectivity
Connectivity	USB computer transfer through the cradle; Garmin Training Center software and MotionBased analysis were supplied at launch. No direct phone pairing.	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	Up to 1,000 laps; smart recording or one-second recording.	–
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	77 g	39 g (better)
Software
Software	Garmin	Garmin
Case materials
Case materials	IPX7 immersion protection, one metre for thirty minutes; the owner's manual says it is not intended for swimming.	Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; silicone band; 5 ATM water rating
Size
Size	53.3 × 68.6 × 17.8 mm and 77 g. 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
Bands	Vinyl wrist strap with an expander strap; fabric strap available separately.	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
In the box	Watch, wrist and expander straps, docking cradle, AC charger, USB cable, Garmin Training Center software and documentation.	Forerunner 265 or 265S, USB-C charging/data cable, documentation