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

Coming from an Apple Watch, this has been a total game changer. Yes I miss having a multitude of cards for tap pay, texting and taking calls, and all the other super convenient benefits of the Apple Watch. And even the slim profile, being able to fit under sleeves etc quite easily. However, I've gained a fitness tracker that doesn't die after an 8-mile hike. I've gained a coach that suggests when I can push myself and when to take it easy--it even creates strength-training workouts for me! I can track a bevy of health trends at a glance. Even though I've just started this foray into running and fitness, I feel more confident and capable with a watch specifically designed for these areas. As for the hardware itself, it's just about as light as my Apple Watch was (Series 8, 41mm) and a similar, comfortable size on my small (14.5cm) wrist. I ordered a screen protector and case as I did with the AW, but surprisingly kept the stock band as it's actually comfortable in any training situation, unlike the AW sports band that slid around and irritated my skin. The battery lasts a full 10 days even with daily running/gym workouts and a one-a-week 4-mile hike. It also helps to change the settings like sleep-only SpO2, disabling always-on display, using basic GPS for most activities, using a stock watch face, but keeping it on full brightness since I like to see the crisp letters and numbers :) For full context, I first jumped from AW to the Epix Pro Gen 2 (42mm) but returned it after a week since the watch was so heavy and bulky. No matter what workout or how I adjusted the band, it was always uncomfortable. AND the battery only lasted 5 days! This Forerunner 265S was a much better option for my needs. All in all, a great investment and I'm really happy with it!

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. 💪⌚

This smartwatch has completely exceeded my expectations, especially after switching from an Apple Watch. The body battery feature is incredibly accurate and has been a total game changer for showing exactly when I am fully recovered versus when I need to take it easy. The bright display screen is incredibly vibrant and easy to read even in direct, bright sunlight while moving outdoors. The battery life is fantastic and easily lasts for days on a single charge, which is a massive upgrade over what I was used to before. The GPS and tracking metrics are fast and give really useful insights into daily activity and steps without feeling overwhelming to navigate. It is a comfortable, lightweight size that sits nicely on the wrist all day and night without feeling bulky.

This is my first Garmin watch, and I’m very, very happy with it. I had a first generation Apple Watch many years ago and didn’t love it enough to repair or upgrade it when the crown malfunctioned. When I got a fitness tracker last year, it was a Fitbit which I really loved initially but eventually outgrew recently when I decided to focus a little bit more on running. I wanted better functionality for running, but I couldn’t foresee being able to adjust to the battery life of Apple Watch. I read many online reviews for Garmin watches, Fitbits, Apple Watch and Apple Watch Ultra. For my needs, I settled on the Forerunner 265S and have loved it. Priorities for me: easy to use for running, reasonably accurate GPS and heart rate tracking, battery life adequate for sleep tracking, watch face size appropriate for smaller wrists Pros: - love the user interface. Makes starting a run so easy. Touch screen is easy to use and the buttons are really functional. The display during a run is easy to read and intuitive. It used to drive me bananas when I glanced down at my wrist during a run to check my pace on my Fitbit Charge 6 and it would give me meaningless arrows of some vague significance or a symbols for my heart rate category, and all I wanted to see was actual run data at a glance. - love being able to choose or build workouts and have the watch give cues during the workout - love the metrics and data it gives (VO2 max, body battery, etc). Although I take them with a grain or salt, it’s fun and motivating to see - so easy to send my heart rate to my Peloton bike so I can see it on the screen. I set up one of the buttons on the watch to broadcast my heart rate, and it such a breeze now. - Battery life is great for my lifestyle. I usually throw it on a charger while I shower, but I know it can last days. - High quality materials. The watch feels substantial, and the silicone watch band is somehow better than other silicone watch bands I’ve worn. Cons: - Garmin doesn’t integrate well with Peloton, other than being able to send the heart rate over via ANT+. I knew this ahead of time and was ok with the limitation before buying the watch. My Peloton workouts don’t import into the Garmin Connect app. It seems like the options would be to add it manually as an activity or to use a 3rd party app. It’s not important enough to me since I’m focusing a bit more on outdoor running right now, but if my primary exercise regimen relied on the Peloton ecosystem on their workout machines, it would be probably a clunkier experience with Garmin. - Limited aesthetic options. I chose the Forerunner 265S for the functionality it offered (GPS, heart rate tracking) and the smaller watch face size, although I initially wanted a metallic casing. It was hard to justify the super high end Garmin models that have stainless or titanium casings for my needs, and the Venu and Vivoactive lines skewed more smartwatch than I was looking for in functionality, so I settled on the 265S, knowing it will always look like a sporty watch rather than have the versatility of looking a little bit more dressed up. - Doesn’t seem to have an option for the alarm to adjust to your sleep stage. I used to set my Fitbit alarm to wake me up during non-deep sleep, and I liked the idea of it. I don’t miss this feature though. I’m not sure how effective it was before anyway. Etc: for my needs, it does notifications and smartwatch functions just fine. I don’t need/want the watch to be a substitute for my phone (e.g., texting/calling). I don’t use the music function (wasn’t planning to) but could foresee the limitations in usability if I did since I mostly use Apple Music

I was absolutely devastated when the body of my Forerunner 645 music broke... I loved the look, size and functionality and I was pretty attached to it after all the places it's been with me. Finally gave up trying to fix it and spend weeks agonizing over what to get.... I was mostly going to use it to track my hikes in NH, as well as my runs and other exercises. Music and altimeter/barometer were important to me. I was afraid to go with AMOLED after only having MIP bc of complaints about not being able to see it in sunlight (and I'm constantly outdoors). Size and weight were important bc I'm 5 ft tall and have really small wrists. The battery had to last bc I often camp and hike and recharging my watch would be annoying. Finally pulled the trigger on the 265S and I absolutely love it. I find that with all the extra data it tracks, I use it more and I'm more in sync with my body and my training. I love the morning report it gives me to tell me how I slept. The training readiness, body battery and stress ratings all give me a solid statistic to how I'm feeling. The size and weight is perfect for my wrist and I don't feel it when I'm wearing it (AKA all day every day except in the shower). The screen is super crisp and bright and I have had 0 issues with being able to see it in the sunlight and the touchscreen is honestly a game changer. I attached my card to it and now that's my favorite way to pay for coffee. I feel like the battery lasts as long, if not longer, than my old watch (on screen off mode). I wanted a solar Fenix for longer battery use, but the sheer weight put me off it for every day use, not to mention the price. Speaking of price and size, for me, the extras on the Forerunner 965 were not worth the price tag (I'm exercising to eat, not to compete) and it didn't come in a smaller size. My one and only complaint is that when the screen turns off (which you can put on screen always on mode but it'll drain the battery faster) and you have to twist your wrist to get the screen on, it's not particularly sensitive and I sometimes have to twist my wrist multiple times or just give up and tap it for it to come on. Definitely an annoyance, but the screen does stay on during exercise. I did get a different watch band, simply for aesthetics. All things being equal, the functionality of the watch, sheer amount of data, and user friendly interface far outweighs the annoyance of the screen wrist sensitivity issue. Highly recommend.

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.

My experience with this Forerunner has been mixed. Shortly after purchase it stopped syncing with Garmin Connect via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi stopped working. I removed it from my account during the troubleshooting process and had a very difficult time getting it set back up as my iPhone 16 Pro could no longer find it. Several hours of troubleshooting, including over an hour on the phone with tech support did not resolve the issue. Fortunately, tech support was very helpful and researched the problem (likely caused by a faulty firmware update). After several days of troubleshooting I was able to add the watch back to my account via Garmin Express, but it still wouldn't sync. It was only after I paired it to my M1 iPad Pro that sync began working again. It's been fine since. What I like about this watch. - Beautiful display that is easy to read even in bright light during a workout - Fully customizable data screens for most activities - Fairly reliable HRM (much better than on my older Forerunner, a little better than my Venu 2s) - Training Status, Training Readiness, Recovery, and other sports metrics (**when they work correctly**). - Nice library of activities for multi-sport athletes - Built-in running dynamics (no separate pod required) - Strength training and other workouts can be downloaded to the watch and used during training sessions - Fast syncing with Garmin Connect (when you don't run into a problem likely caused by a faulty firmware update) - Battery life. The FR265s offers 15 days of battery life in Smartwatch mode and 24 hours in activity mode with GPS Only mode and wrist-based heart rate. It's 18 hours with Auto Select GPS mode. I find myself recharging my watch about once per week, which is excellent. What I'm not crazy about... - Sleep detection. It's as inconsistent as on my last four Garmin watches that track sleep. The FR265s has completely failed to record my sleep three times and recorded one night as a nap, then sleep in the two months that I've owned it. It's reported that I was sleeping when I was awake and vice versa too often. Unfortunately, many of the other features rely on this data - such as HRV, Training Status, Training Readiness, Recovery, and Body Battery. For example, while my watch indicates that I am fully recovered and my Training Status is Maintaining (I need to workout today before it goes back up to productive), my Training Readiness says low and the watch suggested I take today as a rest day. Why? Because it thinks I had a poor night of sleep. I actually slept very well last night. - Sensor bezel design. This is my 6th Garmin watch in over a decade, the last four of which have had 24-hour tracking. It's the first one I've had that came with an elevated bezel around the sensor. This design occasionally causes the skin on my wrist to become irritated, even when worn looser than recommended. I have to swap the watch to my dominant arm during sleep to reduce how often this happens. - Firmware issues. As is common with Garmin devices, faulty firmware updates tend to cause unexpected problems that can take quite some time to resolve. With the rising prices of these devices, this is something Garmin absolutely needs to resolve. Losing the ability to use or sync a watch for a week here and there just isn't acceptable. - Garmin Connect and Connect+. Pushing a lame subscription is bad enough when you spend a lot of money on Garmin devices, but taking away free features like customizable dashboards to push them into the paid subscription is a disservice to your customers. I suspect many new features will be diverted into the premium subscription and kept from Garmin's customers without further payment. This is not a good way to treat long term customers or win new ones. -- Overall, I do like this watch but it does come with some downsides as mentioned above. I'm glad I purchased it when I did as its replacement (Forerunner 570) introduces battery-guzzling features that really don't belong on a running or triathlete focused watch, IMHO. Cutting 1/3 of the battery life for a built in microphone and flashlight? No thanks. I'll pass. The battery life is one of the things I like best about this watch. Perhaps Garmin should focus on improving the accuracy and reliability of existing features before pushing Gimmicky upgrades that significantly reduce battery life going forward. I'll be sticking with this watch until it eventually dies. If Garmin hasn't resolved the issues mentioned in this review above by then it may be time to say farewell and look at other options. I'm giving this watch 4 stars, but with clear caveats as outlined above. Your mileage may vary.

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.

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.