Garmin Forerunner 245 Music vs Garmin Forerunner 265
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| GarminForerunner 245 Music | GarminForerunner 265 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | April 2019 | March 2023 |
| Display | ||
| Case sizes | 42 mm | 42 mm or 46 mm |
| Panel | Memory-in-pixel | OLED |
| Always-on display | Yes | Yes |
| Display detail | 1.2-inch (30.4 mm) sunlight-readable transflective colour MIP display, 240 x 240 pixels, with button controls. | 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. | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Health and fitness | ||
| ECG | No | No |
| Blood oxygen | Yes | 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 | 50 m |
| Sensors | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate, Pulse Ox, compass and accelerometer. | Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate monitor; Pulse Ox blood oxygen monitor; barometric altimeter; compass; gyroscope; accelerometer; thermometer; ambient light sensor |
| Health features | Pulse Ox, sleep, stress and Body Battery energy monitoring; Pulse Ox availability varies by region. | 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 | Garmin Coach, VO2 max, training status and load, aerobic and anaerobic training effect, and recovery time. Detailed running dynamics require a compatible pod or heart-rate strap. | 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 | Incident detection, assistance and LiveTrack require a paired smartphone. | 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 7 days | Up to 15 days |
| Mobile data option | No | No |
| Works with | iPhone and Android | iPhone and Android |
| Storage | – | 8 GB |
| Battery life detail | Up to seven days in smartwatch mode, 24 hours in GPS mode without music, or six hours with GPS and music. | 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 | Rechargeable lithium-ion battery with Garmin charging cable. | Garmin proprietary plug charger; USB-C charging/data cable included |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth, ANT+ and Wi-Fi; smart notifications, Connect IQ, phone music controls and on-watch playback to Bluetooth headphones. Up to 500 songs, including supported streaming-service playlists. | 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 500 songs and 200 hours of activity history. | – |
| Design | ||
| Weight (lightest version) | 38.5 g (better) | 39 g |
| Software | Garmin | Garmin |
| Case materials | Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel and silicone band; 5 ATM water rating. | Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; silicone band; 5 ATM water rating |
| Size | 42.3 x 42.3 x 12.2 mm; 38.5 g. | 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 | Quick-release 20 mm band; fits wrists 127–204 mm. | 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 |
| Colours | Black case and band with red accents. | – |
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