Forerunner® 265, Running Smartwatch, 46mm, Black/Powder Gray

I have been using the Garmin Forerunner 265 for about six months before writing this review, and I couldn’t be happier with it. It has performed flawlessly from day one, and I honestly have nothing to complain about. The GPS is accurate, the battery life is excellent, and all the training and health tracking features work exactly as expected. The display is bright and easy to read, and the watch is comfortable enough to wear all day. Overall, it has exceeded my expectations, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a reliable running watch.

This has been a game changer for my running and sleep tracking. I find this to be an excellent entry level watch for us beginner runners trying to pick up our game. I find the metrics helpful and motivating. I am currently trying the training out to see if it can help get me ready for a half marathon. 🤞🏻🤞🏻 The battery life is excellent, and it fits very well. The band is easily changeable, and there are a lot of options for watch face personalization. Overall, I am very satisfied with this watch.

What you have on your wrist is a phenomenal computer with 100's of thousands of man hours in the writing of code and algorithms to take all the data from the sensors and turn it into a comprehensive health guide for physical fitness. And Garmin, along wth Polar and Apple and Suunto and all the other lesser known brands, have barely scratched the surface of the possibilities to harness computing power on your wrist. They haven't even begun to tie in AI to take the data and give you your own personal narrative for how to optimize your health and fitness. One could write a book on all the potential for this technology in this field. But as to the implementation...The menus need some work...Garmin Connect, where one can build an app and upload it to the watch to run weight lifting routines or HIIT exercises needs a very lot of work. It works but it's crude and basic. For instance, if you want to track HRR [Heart Rate Recovery] after an excercise you have to remember to hit stop immediately, hit the lower right button to gain access to a set of options and then scroll to track HRR over the next two minutes. All the while you are losing heart beats to count. Really? Why isn't that option in the GC app maker so you can add it to the app you are building? And why, when you do a repetitive set that has work-rest and you repeat that x number of times do they insist on ending with a rest period. The last period should be a work period. And why can't the tie their lame audio beeps to your phone where you can customize the sounds you want to hear when doing a HIIT routine, eg? But, for all my grousing, I love being able to track my sleep and quality of sleep, my HR, HRV, time to recover, quality of the workout, time in HR Zones, Anaerobic and Aerobic quality, Body Battery, Stress, Intensity minutes, Training Status, Training Readiness, etc. Too many things to mention. And I've just scratched the surface in learning how to use it over these last 5 months. I'm really excited about how they will integrate AI into this journey. I would love to have an AI bundled with the watch that I could talk to through my phone. Or have the Garmin Forerunner 256 be able to talk to me through Bluetooth to ear buds.

The Garmin Forerunner 265s has exceeded my expectations. The features are outstanding, giving me tons of useful data about my condition. Battery life is impressive, easily lasting several days on a single charge. What really sold me is the size: as someone with a thin wrist, most sports watches feel bulky, but this one fits comfortably and looks great too.

I don’t usually bother writing reviews, but this watch made such a difference in my daily running that I figured it deserved one. The best feature by far: the training plans. You pick an actual local race, set your pace goal, and the watch builds a flexible plan that adjusts if you miss a day. No guilt and no stress. Rest days count as part of training, which is honestly huge. Most apps push you to do more even when you shouldn’t. This one treats resting like a workout. It kept me consistent without burning me out. It also surprised me with how good the strength training is. The watch gives you bodyweight-only routines with little animations that show you how to do each move. No guessing and no digging around the internet for videos. As someone who normally skips strength work, this was actually useful. Music is another win. I love being able to run with Spotify offline and leave my heavy iPhone 16 Pro at home. No calls or texts bugging me. Just my watch and my headphones. The only downside is that checking pace is slightly more awkward on the watch than when I used to run with my phone strapped to my hand. Tilting the phone up was more natural than twisting my wrist. Small thing but worth mentioning. The overall vibe of the watch: it feels like it was built by people who actually run. The pace targets make sense, the GPS is accurate, and the whole setup removes the mental load of planning and tracking. You don’t have to read a bunch of articles or piece together your own plan. You just follow what it gives you and go run. A couple small annoyances: 1. When you finish a workout, there’s a weird delay before the save menu shows up. It makes you hesitate for a second. 2. During time-based workouts, it isn’t super obvious that you actually started the prescribed workout. The second time I did it, I messed up and started a generic run instead. The only clue was that the pace gauge was missing. None of these issues are deal breakers. Just things I hope Garmin improves. Bottom line: This thing took away the mental clutter of training and helped me stay consistent. If you want a watch that supports real running without trying to be a mini phone on your wrist, the 265S is awesome.

I’ve had the Garmin Forerunner 265 for about a week now, and I’m honestly blown away by how good it is. This watch is on another level. The amoled display is insanely sharp and bright, making it super easy to read during runs, even under direct sunlight. The build feels premium yet lightweight, which makes a huge difference for long training sessions. Setting it up was quick, and everything synced smoothly with the app. The GPS accuracy is excellent my routes are tracked perfectly without any weird glitches or jumps. I’ve already taken it on several runs, including a 15 km session, and the performance has been flawless. Heart rate, pace, VO₂ max estimates, and all the training metrics feel incredibly precise. Battery life is another big win. Even with daily workouts, notifications, and the bright screen, it still lasts impressively long. The watch also gives great insights into recovery, sleep, and overall readiness, which has helped me train smarter, not just harder. Overall, this is an exceptional watch for runners. It’s comfortable, accurate, feature packed, and genuinely motivating to use. Easily one of the best upgrades I’ve made for my training. Highly recommended.

I absolutely love my Garmin Forerunner 265s, especially because of its compact size, making it perfect for my petite wrist. After switching from an Apple Watch, I can confidently say this is a huge upgrade for my fitness tracking needs. What I Love: ✔ Perfect Fit for Smaller Wrists – Unlike bulkier fitness watches, the 265s has a sleek, lightweight design that feels comfortable all day long. It doesn’t look oversized or awkward on a smaller wrist, which is a big win! ✔ Amazing Battery Life – One of the biggest perks! I only need to charge it once every 10 days, even with daily workouts. That’s a major improvement over my previous smartwatch. ✔ Superior Fitness Tracking – The Garmin Coach programs, advanced running metrics, and heart rate tracking make this a fantastic tool for serious training. ✔ Bright AMOLED Display – The screen is crisp, colorful, and easy to read, even in bright sunlight. What Could Be Better: ➖ Limited Garmin Watch Band Options – I wish Garmin had more official band choices. While third-party options exist, it would be great to have more variety directly from Garmin. ➖ Pace Alarm in Garmin Coach – I really wish there was a way to turn off the pace alarm when using Garmin Coach programs. Sometimes I just want to run without constant alerts! Final Thoughts: The Garmin Forerunner 265s is an outstanding fitness watch, especially for those with smaller wrists who still want powerful tracking features. The battery life is incredible, and it’s a huge improvement over my previous Apple Watch. If Garmin could offer more watch band choices and customizable training alerts, it would be absolutely perfect. Highly recommend for runners, athletes, and anyone looking for a reliable fitness watch!

I absolutely love my Garmin watch! I play pickleball, do Pilates, and travel frequently, so I needed something reliable that could keep up with my active (and sometimes unpredictable) lifestyle. One of my favorite features is the Body Battery and recovery tracking. I have lupus and chronic fatigue, and this watch has truly helped me learn when to rest and when to push a little more. It’s not a medical device, but it gives you a great picture of your energy levels and recovery time, which makes a huge difference for people managing autoimmune conditions or simply trying to train smarter. It also tracks heart rate, stress, sleep, and workouts with impressive accuracy. The GPS is spot-on, and the interface is super easy to read, even in sunlight. Plus, it syncs quickly with the app and lasts several days on a single charge. Whether you’re an athlete, traveler, or just trying to balance health and recovery, this Garmin is absolutely worth it. 💪⌚

Excelente reloj deportivo su batería dura hasta una semana o mas

Compré este Garmin Forerunner 265 después de probar un modelo más básico de la marca y la diferencia es considerable. En este caso sí encuentro un reloj muy completo y con prestaciones acordes con lo que esperaba. Funciona perfectamente y está especialmente enfocado al running. La cantidad de métricas y datos que ofrece durante y después de las carreras es muy amplia, por lo que resulta especialmente interesante para quien quiera analizar sus entrenamientos y no limitarse simplemente a registrar distancia, tiempo y ritmo. La pantalla AMOLED es otro de sus puntos fuertes. Tiene muy buena calidad, se ve perfectamente y la pantalla táctil hace que navegar por los diferentes menús y funciones resulte mucho más cómodo. Aunque está claramente orientado a la carrera, también ofrece un seguimiento bastante completo de otros deportes. No lo veo como un reloj exclusivamente para runners, sino como un dispositivo deportivo bastante versátil. Los materiales y la construcción transmiten buena calidad y, en general, la sensación del conjunto es la de un reloj bien acabado y pensado para un uso intensivo. Conclusión final Un reloj deportivo muy completo, especialmente recomendable para running y para quienes quieran disponer de muchos datos sobre sus entrenamientos y recuperación. La pantalla AMOLED, la construcción y la cantidad de funciones hacen que sea un salto importante respecto a modelos más básicos. En mi caso, cumple perfectamente con lo que buscaba.

Parfait

J’utilise la Garmin Forerunner 265 depuis plusieurs semaines maintenant et je suis absolument ravi. Le boîtier est léger, discret (environ 39 g ou 47 g selon la taille), mais robuste, et l’écran AMOLED est splendide : vif, contrasté, parfaitement lisible même en plein soleil . L’interface tactile + boutons est intuitive, ce qui facilite grandement la prise en main, même pour un débutant. La qualité de suivi est remarquable : fréquence cardiaque précise, GPS multibande performant, suivi du sommeil, du stress, et fonctionnalités comme Body Battery ou Training Readiness pour optimiser tes entraînements. Le tout est très simple à exploiter via l’appli Garmin Connect. Côté autonomie, la montre tient jusqu’à 15 jours en mode montre connectée, et plusieurs jours en mode GPS actif sans recharger. Pratique pour courir plusieurs fois sans se soucier de la batterie. En résumé, c’est un modèle fiable, confortable, bien conçu, qui offre des données d’entraînement très poussées tout en restant facile à utiliser au quotidien. Je recommande très vivement à tous les coureurs, débutants ou confirmés.

Perfetto, quello che cercavo! Tutti i parametri fondamentali sullo stato di salute e attività fisica / sport sono presenti, oltre a pagamento, notifiche, musica, ecc. Consiglio vivamente questo dispositivo. Forse, solo per sportivi professionisti (lo sono stato in passato, l'età avanza😜!) consiglio modelli superiori per metriche più avanzate, ovviamente con costi nettamente superiori.