Garmin Forerunner 255 vs Garmin Forerunner 265

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Forerunner 255 compared with Forerunner 265

	GarminForerunner 255	GarminForerunner 265
Overview
Released
Released	June 2022	March 2023
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	46 mm	42 mm or 46 mm
Panel
Panel	Memory-in-pixel	OLED
Always-on display
Always-on display	Yes	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	1.3-inch (33 mm) transflective colour memory-in-pixel display, 260 x 260 pixels; button-operated.	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.	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	Dual-band (L1 and L5)	Dual-band (L1 and L5)
Water resistance
Water resistance	50 m	50 m
Sensors
Sensors	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, multi-frequency GNSS, Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate, Pulse Ox, barometric altimeter, compass, gyroscope and accelerometer.	Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate monitor; Pulse Ox blood oxygen monitor; barometric altimeter; compass; gyroscope; accelerometer; thermometer; ambient light sensor
Health features
Health features	Pulse Ox, HRV status, sleep score, all-day stress and Body Battery energy monitoring.	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	Triathlon and open-water swimming profiles, morning report, race widget, daily suggested workouts, training status and load, recovery time and PacePro; breadcrumb course guidance.	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 and assistance require a paired smartphone; LiveTrack.	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 14 days	Up to 15 days
Mobile data option
Mobile data option	No	No
Works with
Works with	iPhone and Android	iPhone and Android
Storage
Storage	–	8 GB
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 14 days in smartwatch mode, 30 hours in GPS-only mode or 16 hours with all-systems multi-band GNSS.	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	Rechargeable battery with Garmin charging cable.	Garmin proprietary plug charger; USB-C charging/data cable included
Connectivity
Connectivity	Bluetooth and ANT+; Garmin Pay, Connect IQ, smart notifications and phone music controls. This standard model does not store music.	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
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	49 g	39 g (better)
Software
Software	Garmin	Garmin
Case materials
Case materials	Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel and silicone band; 5 ATM water rating.	Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; silicone band; 5 ATM water rating
Size
Size	45.6 x 45.6 x 12.9 mm; 49 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
Bands	Quick-release 22 mm band; fits wrists 130–205 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
In the box	–	Forerunner 265 or 265S, USB-C charging/data cable, documentation
Colours
Colours	Tidal blue with black bezel.	–