Garmin Forerunner 265 vs Garmin Forerunner 405CX

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Forerunner 265 compared with Forerunner 405CX
GarminForerunner 265GarminForerunner 405CX
Overview
ReleasedMarch 20232009
Display
Case sizes42 mm or 46 mm47.75 mm
PanelOLED–
Always-on displayYesYes
Display detailForerunner 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 modeBacklit monochrome screen, 27 mm diagonal and 124 × 95 pixels; touch-sensitive bezel and two buttons. Panel technology is unpublished in the maker's specification.
Screen protectionCorning Gorilla Glass 3–
Health and fitness
ECGNoNo
Blood oxygenYesNo
Skin temperatureNoNo
Sleep apnoea alertsNoNo
High blood pressure alertsNoNo
Body compositionNoNo
Fall detectionNoNo
Crash detectionNoNo
GPSDual-band (L1 and L5)Single-band
Water resistance50 m–
SensorsGarmin Elevate wrist heart rate monitor; Pulse Ox blood oxygen monitor; barometric altimeter; compass; gyroscope; accelerometer; thermometer; ambient light sensorHigh-sensitivity GPS receiver with HotFix; ANT+ heart-rate chest strap, optional foot pod and cycling speed/cadence sensor. No optical wrist sensor.
Health featuresHigh 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 featuresTraining 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 AheadHeart-rate-based calorie calculation developed with Firstbeat; custom and interval workouts, courses, Virtual Partner, Auto Lap, Auto Pause, Auto Scroll and configurable training screens.
Safety featuresIncident detection during select activities; assistance; LiveTrack; spectator messaging; live event sharing (Android only); these features require a paired phoneUp to 100 stored locations and navigation to a saved location; no base maps.
Battery and connections
Battery life (maker's claim)Up to 15 daysUp to 8 hours
In low-power mode–Up to 14 days
Mobile data optionNoNo
Works withiPhone and AndroidNo phone pairing
Storage8 GB–
Battery life detailForerunner 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 respectivelyRechargeable 300 mAh lithium-ion battery; up to eight hours with GPS or two weeks in power-save mode, according to the English owner's manual. Garmin Slovakia instead quotes nine GPS hours.
ChargingGarmin proprietary plug charger; USB-C charging/data cable includedUSB contact charging clip and AC adapter.
ConnectivityBluetooth, 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 ShareANT+ computer transfers through a USB ANT stick; Garmin Connect and Garmin Training Center. No direct phone pairing.
Storage–Up to 1,000 laps, 100 locations and approximately twenty hours of track points at one point every four seconds.
Design
Weight (lightest version)39 g (better)60 g
SoftwareGarminGarmin
Case materialsFibre-reinforced polymer bezel; silicone band; 5 ATM water ratingIPX7 immersion protection, one metre for thirty minutes; the manual says the watch is not intended for swimming.
SizeForerunner 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 weights47.75 × 70.5 × 16.4 mm and 60 g, according to the English manual; Garmin Slovakia rounds this to 48 × 71 × 16 mm. Width is used as the case size.
BandsQuick-release 18 mm bands for the 265S, fitting 115–178 mm wrists; quick-release 22 mm bands for the 265, fitting 135–205 mm wristsStandard wrist strap and two additional form-fitting fabric straps for smaller or larger wrists.
Colours–Deep blue.
In the boxForerunner 265 or 265S, USB-C charging/data cable, documentationWatch, heart-rate chest strap, USB ANT stick, AC adapter, USB charging clip, additional wrist straps and documentation.

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