I’ve been really happy with my Garmin Forerunner 165. The battery life is good overall, though I do wish it didn’t drain as quickly during heavy use. Luckily, it charges back up very fast, so it never feels like a hassle. The design is one of my favorite parts, it’s lightweight, not bulky, and very comfortable to wear. When I’m running, I barely notice it on my wrist. The screen is bright and easy to read both indoors and outside, which makes checking stats mid-run super convenient. it’s loaded with helpful tools. I like that I can track my sleep, which gives me more insight into recovery. The built in apps make it easy to keep up with my workouts, and the connections to Strava and MyFitnessPal are a huge plus for tracking calories and training time all in one place. Overall, this watch strikes a great balance between comfort, smart features, and quick charging. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants an easy to use fitness watch that integrates well with other fitness apps. Read more
I bought this watch because I wanted to start actively getting fit and losing weight for a job. It's best for tracking your runs and walks but it can also do weight lifting. I don't regret my choice at all; I love this thing. It's very simple and easy to use. The Garmin app helps me keep track of my calories and activity as well as my weight goal. It has menstrual tracking for women. It even has a find my phone feature which I'm not ashamed to admit has come in handy many times. The battery life lasts for days and when it's time to charge, I plug it in to my computer and it's done within the hour. I would highly recommend this watch if you just need something simple to time yourself and track your regular activity. Read more
I've had my Forerunner 165 for a little over a month and I love it. I'm not a runner, I purchased this watch to help me improve my health by keeping track of it. I do hike/ walk, and workout. Had a Garmin vivo years ago which was excellent (2015-). Have had several lower priced smart watches recently but they just weren't accurate. So, I decided to go back to Garmin, and they still had my info from my Vivo days. Pros- Extremely clear (AMOLED) screen, even in full sun. Large array of watch faces (many paid) in connect IQ. The watch face in my first photo is a paid face (BLACK GRID). Swipe face- you do not have to press buttons. Just too much work if I had to press buttons continually for changes and settings. Speaking of- SO many cool settings! Lock device - took me a few weeks to realize I had this option. Locks your watch face screen so your movements don't change your watch settings. Weather, GPS, maps, TONS of stats (some of these need paid faces to show). You can join Garmin Connect + for a ton of additional stats and info and health tracking. Too many positives to list here. For the price this is an excellent smart watch. It fits my 7.5" wrist well. No irritation from the silicone band. Durability- GET a screen protector. There's no guarantees you won't accidently hit the face on a hard surface. I've learned from cheaper smart watches the faces can crack. The outter shell is very durable on this watch. Overall this watch is comfortable, you can change bands if you wish. It's mostly extremely accurate (few glitches and inaccuracies as I'll mention in cons). Very clear, bright, easy to read face even with my 66 year old eyes. Cons- These cons are not negatives just issues to deal with. Most people dont have "perfect health" so Garmin is going by your stats it picks up-yes, but doesn't know pain, fatigue, overall doesn't know your daily health conditions. No way to input your health conditions If you're sick, can't input this info either, so you'll be getting move, water, etc. reminders. Kind of silly in my opinion. Why not have an option in the Connect app to add these daily stats? Recovery times can be extreme- I try to follow the suggested recovery times but Garmin sometimes makes them extreme. Example - walking slowly around my small yard, dead heading flowers with clippers during recovery time (this moving around felt good) the Garmin felt I was exerting myself too much and added 7 hours to my recovery time. So it's not guaging my movements and stats correctly all of the time. Take it with a grain, its a "machine". Any activity drains battery. I've scaled way back on watch activities like messages, GPS maps, etc because they REALLY drain your battery. I'd have to charge it daily (or more) which I don't want to do. These are all fun activities to use on your watch, but they are very draining. My watch has days where it disconnects and connects to Bluetooth constantly. Don't know if its a watch issue or an issue on my end but it drives me crazy some days. I've restarted my phone and watch and sometimes this resolves the issue, sometimes not. It does NOT affect the watch performance though. It is still adding steps, etc. EXCELLENT smart watch. Read more
I’ve been running for over 20 years and have only ever used by Apple Watch and before that my timex iron man running watch. Getting a dedicated running watch like this is a game changer. So many more metrics and options to use while running and to review after running has really made me a better runner. I’ve had this watch about 8 months now and have had no issues at all. Heart rate functions great for all day monitoring. I have used a chest strap for a long time for activity monitoring. Even w this watch chest strap heart rate monitoring is the only way to go for accuracy. Wrist based monitors are ok, but if your training and trying to hit certain heart rate zones I would to recommend a chest strap. W that said. Compared to my Apple Watch this wrist based monitor is better. It locks on faster and seems to be pretty accurate. Screen is easy to see in bright sunlight and inside as well. U get access to free training plans within the Garmin app which is easy to use but looks a bit outdated. W this watch you don’t get training load or training status or readiness like the more expensive Garmin watches but u do get training effect for each workout for aerobic and anaerobic metrics. I use iPhone and have the watch set to notify for calls and text only and the rest of my phone notifications are send silently to my notification widget on the watch which I love. Helps minimize distractions. The watch stays connected very good to my iPhone 14 and always syncs w the Garmin app. The strap the comes w it is comfortable but I did switch it out for a nylon strap which I feel is better and lighter. I would highly recommend this watch for its functionality, metrics and price when u can find it on sale. Overall Garmin products are over priced. But having a worry free experience when paired w an iPhone and accurate training metrics is worth it for this particular device. Read more
It's a great cheaper Garmin that includes the "Strength" setting that I particularly bought it for my girlfriend for her workouts. The battery life is solid and looks good and petite. It's certainly not as good as my Fenix but it doesn't everything she needs it to do. Read more
