Garmin Forerunner 265 vs Garmin Forerunner 305

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Forerunner 265 compared with Forerunner 305

	GarminForerunner 265	GarminForerunner 305
Overview
Released
Released	March 2023	2006
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	42 mm or 46 mm	53.3 mm
Panel
Panel	OLED	–
Always-on display
Always-on display	Yes	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	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	Backlit 33 × 20.3 mm monochrome display, 160 × 100 pixels; configurable training screens and physical buttons. Panel technology is not specified by Garmin.
Screen protection
Screen protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 3	–
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	Dual-band (L1 and L5)	Single-band
Water resistance
Water resistance	50 m	–
Sensors
Sensors	Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate monitor; Pulse Ox blood oxygen monitor; barometric altimeter; compass; gyroscope; accelerometer; thermometer; ambient light sensor	High-sensitivity SiRFstarIII GPS receiver, included wireless heart-rate chest strap and optional GSC 10 cycling speed/cadence sensor; no optical wrist 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	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	Running, cycling and other-sport profiles; quick, interval and advanced workouts, course racing, Virtual Partner, Auto Pause, Auto Lap and heart-rate, pace, time and distance alerts.
Safety features
Safety features	Incident detection during select activities; assistance; LiveTrack; spectator messaging; live event sharing (Android only); these features require a paired phone	Stores 100 locations and 50 routes; basic route display, direction to a stored location and navigation back to the start. No base maps.
Battery and connections
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 15 days	Up to 10 hours
Mobile data option
Mobile data option	No	No
Works with
Works with	iPhone and Android	No phone pairing
Storage
Storage	8 GB	–
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	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	Internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery; ten hours of typical use.
Charging
Charging	Garmin proprietary plug charger; USB-C charging/data cable included	Docking cradle with AC charger and USB cable.
Connectivity
Connectivity	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	USB computer transfer through the cradle; Garmin Training Center software and MotionBased analysis were supplied at launch. Wireless heart-rate and cycling sensor connections; no direct phone pairing.
Storage
Storage	–	Up to 1,000 laps; smart recording or one-second recording.
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	39 g (better)	77 g
Software
Software	Garmin	Garmin
Case materials
Case materials	Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; silicone band; 5 ATM water rating	IPX7 immersion protection, one metre for thirty minutes; the owner's manual says it is not intended for swimming.
Size
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	53.3 × 68.6 × 17.8 mm and 77 g. Width is used as the case size.
Bands
Bands	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	Vinyl wrist strap with an expander strap; fabric strap available separately.
In the box
In the box	Forerunner 265 or 265S, USB-C charging/data cable, documentation	Watch, heart-rate chest strap, wrist and expander straps, docking cradle, AC charger, USB cable, Garmin Training Center software and documentation.