Live Science Verdict
The Garmin Forerunner 965 is a brilliant picket that merge the most mainstream and hardcore side of Garmin ’s wearables attractively .
break with characteristic
importantly cheaper than the Epix 2
in effect stat accuracy
5ATM water system resistance does n’t match Garmin ’s best
The pattern is friendlier than the damage
Still mostly a plastic rosin watch
Why you’re able to desire springy ScienceOur expert reviewers spend hours examination and comparing product and service so you’re able to opt the skillful ones for you . discover out more about how we test .
The Garmin Forerunner 965 is the born finish of what Garmin has been roleplay around with for the last duo of years . It takes the OLED screen tech of theVenuwatches , and combines it with the in high spirits - end features of theForerunner 955 .
1.4 in 454 x 454 OLED projection screen
47.1 x 47.1 x 13.2 mm
5ATM water underground
52 g
Up to 23 day assault and battery life
Titanium bezel
GPSOptical substance charge per unit proofreader
The estimable act of all : it ’s far less pricey than theGarmin Epix 2 , which is base on a alike idea , and gets close to making that look on supererogatory for enceinte swathes of the hearing . This earned it a place in our scout to thebest fitness trackers .
The Garmin Forerunner 965 commingle our favorite bits of traditionalbest Garmin vigil , with the gloss of more smartwatch - style tech . It ’s a sound jazz band .
Garmin Forerunner 965: Price and availability
TheGarmin Forerunner 965launched in March 2023 , alongside its cheaper sibling : theForerunner 265and 265S.
Garmin has kept thing simple here . There are no freestanding size , no solar - charging mannikin . Just three color — yellow , black or white — and they all be $ 599/£599 .
Garmin Forerunner 965: Design and Display
The Forerunner series has been an easy one to recommend over recent years , in which we ’ve see the prices of Garmin see rise and rise . Garmin scout offer high - end features , but assume more reasonable outer designs to keep the price more fairish .
We were fan of the Garmin Forerunner 955 , but had to admit it was dear for a lookout man with a plastic cuticle . The Forerunner 965 classes things up just a piffling bit . While the principal part of the shell is plastic “ resin ” , the bezel is atomic number 22 , a more expensive metallic element than steel .
It ’s also a lighter alloy , which helps keep this watch the very same 52 g weighting as its Forerunner 955 sibling . The screen covering is Gorilla Glass DX , which is used in a lot of higher - remainder vigil .
Our take on the design is that , despite the fault to a fancy bezel , this is fairly much classic Forerunner watch invention . It ’s less furrowed - feeling than either the Epix 2 or Fenix 7 , with less of a built - up screenland surround .
Water resistance is lower too , at 5ATM , liken to the 10ATM of the Fenix 7 . You want that higher rating if you design on swimming any length below the surface of the water .
However , sight of mass are going to directly - out opt the look of of the Forerunner 965 . While it ’s not a small watch , and measures 47 mm across , it ’s not an restrain - face one either . Do n’t want to add up across a try - hard ? Get one of these or , even better , a small Forerunner 255S , rather than a Fenix .
The Forerunner 965 screen is the big OLED Garmin has put into a lookout man to date , a 1.4 in panel of 454 x 454 pixels . It ’s just slightly large than the 1.3 in one you ’ll observe in the Epix and Venu 2 watches .
As this is an OLED screen , it does n’t display content 24/7 by its nature like the Forerunner 955 . you’re able to trade on its always - on mode , and we recommend doing so . It does n’t kill the battery life entirely ( more on that later ) and have in mind the presentation does n’t quell a ring of pure black until you interact with the watch or flick your articulatio radiocarpea around to your grimace .
It gets super - vivid when you need it to be , and the Forerunner 965 can well match six stats on each silver screen when cross practice session .
Garmin Forerunner 965: Features
The Garmin Forerunner 965 is a seriously feature - packed watch , just like the Forerunner 955 . Maps are the primary rationality to buy over the first-class , and cheaper , Forerunner 265 .
You have 32 GB on which to store single-valued function , and any music you might want to carry around with you . Our Forerunner 965 presently has the 8.8 GB Europe Topo mathematical function pack installed , but you’re able to freely install others if you wish .
Garmin ’s maps can be approached in a caboodle of ways . The classic would be to map out a hiking route using computer software on your laptop , and air it to your watch . you may do that , or you may do the lot on the scout itself . The Maps and Navigation modes both rent you get hold where you ’re going on the Forerunner 965 , either by pan off and zooming your way to the locating or looking it up in the Brobdingnagian library of “ points of interest ” .
What ’s the dispute between Maps and Navigation ? The latter will actually work out your route , based on the roads and paths between you and your destination . Smart .
Trawling through a dumbly packed map can seem a bit much on a wearable at times , but no other brand gets you this kind and timbre of offline map access as touchstone . And the touchscreen of the Garmin Forerunner 965 makes the process less awkward , and considerably looking , than on an MIP screen Garmin like the Fenix 7 or Forerunner 955 .
If you do n’t want any of these map put-on , you should strongly consider the cheesy Forerunner 265 . It ’s capital , but just lacks mapping and a couple of other extra fleck . These are real - time toughness , which tells you how much your watch reckon you have left in the tank when / after you work out . And climbpro , which shows the elevation graph of workouts .
mapping by , the differences are not striking . And the pile of features they do share are just too great to detail one - by - one .
Our day - to - day with the Forerunner 965 went like this : on first getting up we looked at the Morning Report , to see just how badly we had catch some Z’s the Nox before . This also tells you the weather , how quick to direct you are that day and so on .
We accost the Forerunner 965 up to receive WhatsApp notifications , to avoid feature to take out the phone so often . And on workout day we ’d do what the sentinel suggested around 80 % of the clock time . Garmin ’s suggested workouts are based around your current state of forwardness , and you ’ll see them as standard if you start a cross running ( this can be turned off ) . They also seem to take into report what your own wont are .
For instance , we ’ve taken to run for longer sessions at the weekend and , infer what , Garmin ’s Suggested Workouts seem to have noticed and started propose doing the same on Saturday / Sunday . It ’s not really a smartwatch , but it is a chic watch .
A bit of OLED color away , using a Forerunner 965 feels much like using an Epix 2 orFenix 7 . But there ’s nothing wrong with that , and the good sense of really have got an idea over how well your function is working is quite powerful . There ’s almost no head that a Forerunner 965 finger like overkill for someone who work out moderately nonchalantly , or is just getting into the idea of fitness , though .
It also lack a couple of the most shiny , smartwatch - like bits of theGarmin Venu 2Plus . There ’s no sustenance for Alexa here , or a build up - in speaker beyond a picayune pager . We do n’t miss either , although some might care the idea of a Garmin announce their carrying out at each kilometer of a run , through a build - in speaker , as someHuaweiand Amazfit watches do .
Garmin Forerunner 965: Performance
The Garmin Forerunner 965 has the best core technical school Garmin put up at the moment . Multi - Band GPS is probably the true star attractor here . It ’s ultra - immobile to get in touch , and the watch has an Auto mode that switches Multi - Band on and off based on whether it ’s required .
It increases signal reliableness in tough spots , but uses more shelling . We would not be surprised if it did not engross at all during our tracking sessions . you’re able to select GPS modes manually too , if you care — classic Garmin .
Distance and location trailing was just as whole and accurate as we ’ve come to have a bun in the oven from review other Garmin watches of the last 12 months . No drop - out or pip , and disparities between this watch and an iPhone are in part down to how these wearables approach routing . orchard apple tree smooths out and crack to paths more .
An hour of discharge tracking with the always - on display mode engaged engage 4 % off the battery story , suggestive of 25 hours total . Garmin propose the GPS digit is between 31 and 19 hours , based on the musical mode used . But it will also rest on how much you look at the screen , causing the display to max out its brightness to compete with the open ’ ambient twinkle ( if running during the 24-hour interval , anyway ) .
After a calendar week of cosmopolitan use and at least one software update , with the screen set to always - on , notice flowing , and about four hours ’ study of go after workouts , the Forerunner was depart with 7 % shelling . We accuse it at that point , because we were about to go on another run . However , you should be able to get eight 24-hour interval of use per charge with fairly wide economic consumption . This will increase a bit if you utilise GPS tracking less , and increasedramaticallyif you do not use the “ always on ” exhibit .
Garmin sound out the Forerunner is able to last up to 23 days as a smartwatch . While that may be possible , if you are going to get that kind of battery life sentence , you should n’t be buying a watch like this .
We test the Forerunner 965 over nine workouts , mostly running school term , to have a good look at how the heart rate sensor resolution recreate out . While we ’ve used a smokestack of spotter with the same mettle rate regalia as this one , the reliability does switch a bit by watch , and by software version .
The resultant were mostly very solid . Workouts did n’t begin with too in high spirits a gist rate , the algorithm assume you ’ve got a jog on even if you ’re walk , and the Forerunner 965 respond to changes in elbow grease floor pretty quickly .
There were two strange aberrations though , of totally unwarranted center pace spikes that in context seemed bizarre . A 20bpm center rate leap with no change of pace or terrain ? Unlikely . These only last a handful of instant to half a minute , and therefore did not noticeably bear on the ordinary termination for the seance .
We also ca n’t zoom back in time to see if there was something physical to cause these jumps , like moving the Forerunner 965 up the wrist . Still , two minor pip in perhaps 10 hours of tracking is a good consequence and this is otherwise mostly the solid , reliable accuracy we ’ve come in to expect from Garmin .
Should I buy the Forerunner 965?
The Forerunner 965 is the most accessible of all of Garmin ’s true high-pitched - remainder sentry . It has all the heart features of a Fenix 7 , but has a shining and colourful OLED cover rather than a practical - but - muted MIP one . Its design also does n’t drip in “ hardcore seaworthiness ” fashion , intend you do n’t immediately question whether you ’re enough of an athlete to habituate one .
It ’s the price that does so , and should make some of you regard the slenderly stripped back but still splendid Garmin Forerunner 265 .
If the Garmin Forerunner 965 isn’t for you
Like the Forerunner 965 concept but absolutely need 10ATM water resistance ? You ’ll have to go for the more expensiveEpix 2family .
Not persuaded by the whole OLED matter ? Get theForerunner 955instead . It costs less , even if you buy the solar - charge version .
out of doors of Garmin , you may be salutary off jumping to something like the Amazfit GTR 4 Limited Edition , as other top seaworthiness trade name have n’t explored OLED in the room Garmin has , yet . TheAmazfitisn’t quite as exact and does n’t have on - dining table topographic maps but does have a preference of that Garmin profundity and is a clump trashy .
