Garmin Forerunner 165, Running Smartwatch, Colorful AMOLED Display, Training Metrics and Recovery Insights, Black

Frogs & FlowersUnited States

So far I'm very pleased!

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.

VíctorSpain

Garmin Forerunner 165: El reloj para correr sin enrollos

Primeras impresiones: Minimalismo en estado puro El Garmin Forerunner 165 entra por los ojos si eres fan de lo simple y funcional. No es el típico reloj con acabados premium, pero sí transmite ligereza y un diseño sin cosas de más. Si buscas algo minimalista que acompañe tu día, da el pego tanto para salir a correr como para ponértelo todo el día sin que moleste o cante. ¡Corre sin distracciones! Este reloj es la definición de “ponértelo y listo”. Si lo tuyo es correr (ya sea por hobby, para entrenar en serio o simplemente porque te ayuda a respirar mejor), el Forerunner 165 deja de lado los extras sobrantes y se concentra en lo más importante: medir bien tu distancia, ritmo, frecuencia cardíaca y darte datos útiles mientras corres o andas. El GPS engancha rápido y el seguimiento es acertado, casi sin margen de error como cabría esperar de un Garmin. Salud y motivación al toque ¿No te importa contar pasos? No pasa nada, el reloj lo hace igual. ¿Te mola controlar tu sueño o tus niveles de estrés? También puedes hacerlo con este modelo, aunque no esperes mil funciones premium ni datos mega avanzados. Es perfecto para quien quiere lo básico, pero bien hecho y fácil de entender, sin mil menús ni complicaciones. Autonomía y extras La batería es otro puntazo: aguanta fácil una semana sin drama, incluso entrenando varios días. A diferencia de gamas más caras, aquí no tienes pago inalámbrico ni respuesta a mensajes, pero sí las notificaciones básicas para que no te pierdas nada importante mientras corres. ¿Para quién es? En resumen, el Forerunner 165 es ideal si buscas un reloj para iniciarte en el running o simplemente quieres uno sencillo y confiable, sin gastar un dineral ni pelearte con funciones que nunca usarás. Siempre va al grano, es cómodo y discreto, y cumple con lo esencial para motivarte cada día a salir a correr o moverte más, especialmente si eres de los que disfruta las cosas sin exceso de complicaciones.

BigRonUnited States

Great running watch

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.

Christopher HenryUnited States

13 days battery life

Ok so I purchased this Garmin 165 watch for just $200. So the price was excellent. It has a nice bright amoled screen and has a good build quality. However, I only use this watch as a fitness, wellness and running watch. That is, I turned off the notifications. I don't see the point of trying to read a notification or message on a watch face when my phone is right next to me. So with notifications turned off I got 13 days of battery life before the watch went down to 9%. I also do not have on the "always on display". With this set up you can get 13 days of regular (non smart watch) use. This is what I wanted the most, a descent battery. So having to just charge the watch every 2 weeks or twice a month is really great. I also wore the watch every day and did walking workouts. One thing to note : I DID NOT SLEEP WITH THE WAATCH ON... I do not know if that helped the battery life but I generally do not sleep with any watched or rings or anything restrictive when I sleep.. I need comfort... lol.. But I did sleep one night with it and it was comfortable.. just not my thing... but great watch, connected to GPS is seconds, gives good info in the app and is comfortable. Highly recommend for someone who is into fitness... it can track most activities like running, walking, swimming, hiking, trail run, in door run etc.. most general activities.... look... there is really no need to go out an buy a $500 or $900 watch.. this one does the job at $200.. no point getting a watch that gives you tons of stats that you will not use or understand... if you do triathlons or want those pretty maps on the watch then by all means get the more expensive watch but if you just want to keep healthy and run.. then this watch is prefect..