Garmin Forerunner 165 hands-on review: the more affordable Forerunner hits its stride early

Garmin Forerunner 165: One minute review

The Garmin Forerunner 165 fills a necessary gap in its best running watches line. The very cheap Garmin Forerunner 45 and 55 watches are getting quite old, and the next stage up, the Garmin Forerunner 265 and Garmin Forerunner 965 watches, are much more expensive. So it’s nice to have an option in between those, even though we’d like to see a cheaper Forerunner 65 appear eventually. 

Starting at $299.99 / £249.99 (with Australia pricing TBC), the Forerunner 165 is a middle-ground option that retains a lot of what makes the premium Forerunners really good training companions. It’s got the AMOLED touchscreen, the ace Morning Report feature introduced in last year’s Garmin Forerunner 955, and Nap Detection as introduced in the Garmin Venu 3. 

You can also create Courses in the Garmin Connect app and sync them directly to the watch, and you get race-adaptive training plans, which suggest workouts based on historic exercise and recovery data. The design, meanwhile, is very reminiscent of the Forerunner 265, right down to the profile and the redesigned ‘run’ button. The whole thing is very appealing, especially at a reduced price point, offering genuine value in terms of features. 

In order to achieve this, Garmin has made a few small sacrifices, such as using chemically strengthened glass for the screen instead of the 265’s stronger Gorilla Glass. The battery is a bit smaller than the 265's, and the watch has 4GB of storage instead of 8GB. It’s also missing a few features, such as the very useful Training Readiness score evolution of Garmin’s Body Battery feature, multi-band GPS (a big loss for a running watch) and compatibility with cycling power meters. 

Garmin Forerunner 165: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future)

• $299.99 / £249.99 / AU$ TBC
• In comparison, the Forerunner 265 is $449 / £429 / AU$770
• Music version costs extra

The Garmin Forerunner 165 is available now, priced at $299.99 / £249.99 / AU TBC. It’s good value, considering the 265 is much more expensive at $449 / £429 / AU$770. The older 255 is available for considerably less than the 265 these days, but you don’t get the Training Readiness score, nicer AMOLED screen or redesigned chassis. 

The Garmin Forerunner 165 Music, which allows you to download and store songs and playlists from Spotify, Deezer, and Amazon Music, costs $349.99 / £289.99.

Garmin Forerunner 165: Design

(Image credit: Matt Evans)

• Similar chassis as the 265
• Light and attractive 
• Bright screen

As mentioned, the Garmin Forerunner 165 shares a lot of DNA with the other Forerunners in the range. The classic Garmin five-button configuration is here, with the three buttons on the right-hand side used to navigate up and down, or wake the watch’s screen when its motion detector isn’t active. On the left are two more buttons: a start/stop button (labelled ‘run’ on the Forerunner series) and a back button for cancelling options or manually marking laps during a workout. It’s a tried and tested formula at this point, and Garmin isn't reinventing the wheel here. 

The 1.2-inch AMOLED display is just as vibrant and bright as it is on the premium Epix Pro, which costs more than three times as much. However, Garmins are still training tools first and smartwatches second, and as such the 165 doesn’t have the smooth refresh rate that you might expect from, for example, the best Apple Watches. Nor does it have a more expensive-feeling metal backing: it’s all plastic and silicone, with the exception of the chemically-strengthened glass screen. There's no durable but pricey Gorilla Glass here, which is one of the sacrifices made to keep the Forerunner 165 at a cheaper price point. Still, it’s light and comfortable on my wrist, and it looks and feels good. 

The user experience is the same as with most modern Garmin watches, with their list of widgets which you can easily navigate using either the touchscreen or the five-button system. It’s easily customizable, allowing you to add or reorder widgets as you see fit from Garmin’s library to tailor the watch to your own training style. 

Garmin Connect is also one of the most comprehensive companion apps in the business, with a complex design that does require scratching the surface a little, revealing a wealth of depth and potential to elevate your training. I’ll go into this more in the Features section, but nothing’s changed here: if you liked the way previous Garmin watches operate, you’ll like this watch. 

Garmin Forerunner 165: Features

(Image credit: Future)

• Wrist-based running power
• Morning report and Garmin Coach are great additions
• No multi-band GPS or Training Readiness score

Garmin has added a lot of features here that I wasn’t necessarily expecting at this price point, such as wrist-based running power. ‘Power’ is an alternative method of calculating your effort that represents the total energy you’re able to put out, not just how fast your heart is beating or estimating how many calories you’ve burned. You used to need a specialist runner’s power meter measure this, as you can do for cycling, but Garmin has cracked the ability to show this number from your wrist. 

Other features include the very useful Morning Report, which tells you how well-recovered you are and recommends a workout based on this stat; Course creation; and Garmin Coach, which can generate basic training plans depending on your goals. However, there's no Training Readiness score, which more accurately tells you how well you've recovered from your last workout, and this omission casts initial doubts on the accuracy of the Morning Report. 

Another feature sorely missed here is multi-band GPS, which would have ensured greater accuracy when measuring speed and distance on runs. GPS is Garmin’s great selling point, so not providing the best is a missed opportunity, even at this price point. 

However, at this lower cost, those interested in buying the Forerunner 165 are probably enthusiast runners who don’t care about pinpoint accuracy, and just want a good estimation. If that’s you, the loss of multi-band shouldn’t worry you too much, and the 165 is still shaping up to be a great running watch.

You do have to pay a premium for the Music version, which allows you to listen to your playlists by connecting your headphones to the watch directly, without using your phone. The Music version also offers guided workouts and performance alerts right from your watch to your headphones, which is very useful for adjusting your pace en route. 

Garmin Forerunner 165: Early verdict

Garmin's latest running watch is shaping up to be a good buy. There's not much new here to critique in terms of the metrics Garmin is offering, and it is a little bit light and feels "toyish" thanks to the use of plastic instead of the tougher polymer used on more premium watches. However, it doesn't feel flimsy, and for under $300 / £250, it's a great way to grab a Forerunner at a reasonable price. 

At present, I can see it being outdone by rivals such as the Coros Pace 3, which is also a plastic watch that's full of advanced features at a similar price point, but I can’t wait to dive into testing the GPS, advanced running features and battery life to measure it against that standard.