Is Garmin’s latest Forerunner the new benchmark for budget running watches? Kieran Alger strapped one on for marathon training
Garmin has been busy bringing Apple-esque smartwatch screens to running watches. Now the Garmin Forerunner 165 Music is the cheapest dedicated running watch in Garmin’s Forerunner line-up to pack a sharp, bright AMOLED touchscreen. Behind that punchy display it features a wide range of run-tracking tools targeted at training and racing, along with offline music, contactless payments and 19-hours of GPS runtime. So is this bang-for-buck the best value running watch you can buy right now?
How it compares
I compared the Garmin Forerunner 165 with the Forerunner 965, Forerunner 265, COROS Pace 3 and Garmin’s premium watch, the Enduro 2; looking at battery life, GPS and heart rate accuracy, along with the design, features and training insights.
The only difference between the Forerunner 165 and the Forerunner 165 Music is the additional offline music storage, playback and support for streaming services like Spotify and Deezer on the Music edition. So you can link your running headphones to the watch for phone-free music. The Forerunner 165 Music is also more expensive at £289.99, compared with £249.99 for the non-music option.
Looks and feel
Design and build are pretty basic in terms of materials. It’s a lightweight, plastic-feeling watch. But it’s comfortable and compact, with a disappearing feeling, making it a good alternative to bulkier running watches. It's easy to wear 24-7, so you can unlock the wider sleep, activity and stress insights.
The AMOLED display is obviously the hero, and it’s great. It’s bold and bright, snappy and responsive, and brings the broad array of training stats and performance graphs to life.
At 1.2 inches, the screen is slightly smaller than the Forerunner 265 (1.3 inches in the 46mm) but there’s plenty of room for your essential mid-run stats. I love the level of customisation Garmin now offers in its running watches. From tweaking which data appears on your screen during workouts to editing your glances – quick links to insights and features – it’s easy to set the watch up to match your needs. Under the hood, there’s all-systems GPS and Garmin’s Elevate V4 optical heart rate sensor. The quick-release, swappable strap is also fuss-free and easy to get a good fit.
