Forerunner 265 Running Smartwatch, Colorful AMOLED Display, Training Metrics and Recovery Insights, Black and Powder Gray

What you have on your wrist is a phenomenal computer with 100's of thousands of man hours in the writing of code and algorithms to take all the data from the sensors and turn it into a comprehensive health guide for physical fitness. And Garmin, along wth Polar and Apple and Suunto and all the other lesser known brands, have barely scratched the surface of the possibilities to harness computing power on your wrist. They haven't even begun to tie in AI to take the data and give you your own personal narrative for how to optimize your health and fitness. One could write a book on all the potential for this technology in this field. But as to the implementation...The menus need some work...Garmin Connect, where one can build an app and upload it to the watch to run weight lifting routines or HIIT exercises needs a very lot of work. It works but it's crude and basic. For instance, if you want to track HRR [Heart Rate Recovery] after an excercise you have to remember to hit stop immediately, hit the lower right button to gain access to a set of options and then scroll to track HRR over the next two minutes. All the while you are losing heart beats to count. Really? Why isn't that option in the GC app maker so you can add it to the app you are building? And why, when you do a repetitive set that has work-rest and you repeat that x number of times do they insist on ending with a rest period. The last period should be a work period. And why can't the tie their lame audio beeps to your phone where you can customize the sounds you want to hear when doing a HIIT routine, eg? But, for all my grousing, I love being able to track my sleep and quality of sleep, my HR, HRV, time to recover, quality of the workout, time in HR Zones, Anaerobic and Aerobic quality, Body Battery, Stress, Intensity minutes, Training Status, Training Readiness, etc. Too many things to mention. And I've just scratched the surface in learning how to use it over these last 5 months. I'm really excited about how they will integrate AI into this journey. I would love to have an AI bundled with the watch that I could talk to through my phone. Or have the Garmin Forerunner 256 be able to talk to me through Bluetooth to ear buds.

I absolutely love my Garmin watch! I play pickleball, do Pilates, and travel frequently, so I needed something reliable that could keep up with my active (and sometimes unpredictable) lifestyle. One of my favorite features is the Body Battery and recovery tracking. I have lupus and chronic fatigue, and this watch has truly helped me learn when to rest and when to push a little more. It’s not a medical device, but it gives you a great picture of your energy levels and recovery time, which makes a huge difference for people managing autoimmune conditions or simply trying to train smarter. It also tracks heart rate, stress, sleep, and workouts with impressive accuracy. The GPS is spot-on, and the interface is super easy to read, even in sunlight. Plus, it syncs quickly with the app and lasts several days on a single charge. Whether you’re an athlete, traveler, or just trying to balance health and recovery, this Garmin is absolutely worth it. 💪⌚

I’ve had the Garmin Forerunner 265 for about a week now, and I’m honestly blown away by how good it is. This watch is on another level. The amoled display is insanely sharp and bright, making it super easy to read during runs, even under direct sunlight. The build feels premium yet lightweight, which makes a huge difference for long training sessions. Setting it up was quick, and everything synced smoothly with the app. The GPS accuracy is excellent my routes are tracked perfectly without any weird glitches or jumps. I’ve already taken it on several runs, including a 15 km session, and the performance has been flawless. Heart rate, pace, VO₂ max estimates, and all the training metrics feel incredibly precise. Battery life is another big win. Even with daily workouts, notifications, and the bright screen, it still lasts impressively long. The watch also gives great insights into recovery, sleep, and overall readiness, which has helped me train smarter, not just harder. Overall, this is an exceptional watch for runners. It’s comfortable, accurate, feature packed, and genuinely motivating to use. Easily one of the best upgrades I’ve made for my training. Highly recommended.

I bought thus for my husband since he loves to run and is constantly walking at work. I have one as well but teal colored. I always get compliments on it. It's light and easy to control and syncs to my phone easily. Keeps track of steps and all exercises that I access on it.

I don’t usually bother writing reviews, but this watch made such a difference in my daily running that I figured it deserved one. The best feature by far: the training plans. You pick an actual local race, set your pace goal, and the watch builds a flexible plan that adjusts if you miss a day. No guilt and no stress. Rest days count as part of training, which is honestly huge. Most apps push you to do more even when you shouldn’t. This one treats resting like a workout. It kept me consistent without burning me out. It also surprised me with how good the strength training is. The watch gives you bodyweight-only routines with little animations that show you how to do each move. No guessing and no digging around the internet for videos. As someone who normally skips strength work, this was actually useful. Music is another win. I love being able to run with Spotify offline and leave my heavy iPhone 16 Pro at home. No calls or texts bugging me. Just my watch and my headphones. The only downside is that checking pace is slightly more awkward on the watch than when I used to run with my phone strapped to my hand. Tilting the phone up was more natural than twisting my wrist. Small thing but worth mentioning. The overall vibe of the watch: it feels like it was built by people who actually run. The pace targets make sense, the GPS is accurate, and the whole setup removes the mental load of planning and tracking. You don’t have to read a bunch of articles or piece together your own plan. You just follow what it gives you and go run. A couple small annoyances: 1. When you finish a workout, there’s a weird delay before the save menu shows up. It makes you hesitate for a second. 2. During time-based workouts, it isn’t super obvious that you actually started the prescribed workout. The second time I did it, I messed up and started a generic run instead. The only clue was that the pace gauge was missing. None of these issues are deal breakers. Just things I hope Garmin improves. Bottom line: This thing took away the mental clutter of training and helped me stay consistent. If you want a watch that supports real running without trying to be a mini phone on your wrist, the 265S is awesome.

Bought the watch for my wife and she loves it. The battery lasts long (so far 2 weeks) with almost daily activities, the screen is bright and clear. The strap is strong but might be a bit small for thicker wrists.

Great, at the sale price of 350 it is a good value not sure at 450 there may be better options. Great watch for running, cycling, planning workouts and races. Garmin connect features are provided at no cost or annual fee (for now -- knock on wood) - compare to 80/yr for strava pro or similar services. Ok for trail running/hiking. If you are planning to use GPS to navigate a trail you need to set up a route ahead of time - but it works well, it will give you an arrow to find your way. Was able to navigate back to my car after getting off route due to a impassable stream crossing -- it's reliable. Garmin explore feature is not included - that is only for hiking specific models this is targeted specifically for runners. Need spotify premium for music/podcasts. Very comfortable, easy to use/read interface, ok size - fits fine on small wrist. Battery lasts a little less than a week for me. HR monitor is ok - I ended up buying the Garmin strap as it seems to be subjectively more accurate.

I use my 265 for running and swimming and it has been outstanding. Great battery life and so many stats for my activities, can highly recommend it. I especially like the daily suggested workouts and training status features. The watch also has a lot customization options which is great to see

Avant j’étais sur amazfit et on peut dire que la différence de prix est justifié. L’écosystème Garmin est vraiment top. On peut facilement importer sur la montre des programmes d’autres applications comme kiprun. Idem super intégration avec Spotify, plus besoin de prendre son tel.

Parfait

Reloj muy bonito y espectacular por dentro. Funciona correctamente en todos los sentidos y la pantalla se ve muy bien en cualquier situación.

Ho iniziato da non molto ad avvicinarmi al mondo del running e da appassionato di orologi e tecnologia non potevo che non passare al Garmin,premetto che avevo già uno smartwatch,anzi più di uno e top di gamma,sono possessore di huawei Xiaomi e Amazfit Trex,non voglio assolutamente screditare gli altri marchi,perchè anche di questi ultimi ne sono un felice possessore e li reputo prodotti molto validi,ma qui parliamo di tutta un altra cosa,non lo definirei nemmeno smartwatch ma Sportwatch,nasce per questo e svolge il suo compito in maniera spaventosamente perfetta.Sarà inevitabile non prolungarmi nel descrivere le sue funzioni,che sono moltissime ma magari mi soffermerò su quelle che ritengo personalmente i punti di forza.Schermo AMOLED è il vero marchio di fabrica del 265,colori brillanti e leggibilità sotto la luce diretta del sole è sorprendente,rende l'interfaccia grafica e le mappe (anche se non cartografiche) molto moderne e visibili. Autonomia non ostante lo schermo AMOLED modalità GPS attiva copre tranquillamente i 7/10 giorni REALI.Funzioni cardio,spaventosamente precise,identiche a quelle riportate dalla fascia cardio o dalla stessa attrezzatura (Tapis nello specifico).Si aggancia al satellitare in un secondo e non perde un colpo nemmeno nei sentieri boschivi o palazzi.Questo modello introduce Training readiness,una funzione che si ritrova nei top di gamma garmin,incrocia i dati di sonno,stress,HRV e carico di lavoro per dirti se puoi spingere o se devi riposare.Dinamiche di corsa al polso, potenza oscillazione verticale e tempo di contatto con il suolo vengono calcolati direttamente senza bisogno di fasce o apparecchiature aggiuntive.Munito di metronomo e condivisione FC che permette di collegarsi direttamente al tapis e poter controllare la vostra FC senza dover guardare il polso ogni volta.Sono presenti piani di allenamento specifici di ogni tipo,Forza,brucia grassi, bicicletta ,flessibilità e chi piu ne ha più ne metta...un vero personal trainer a portata di mano adattabile in base ad esigenze e tempo a disposizione. Altra funzioni sorprendente e che troverete in questo modello o superiori, è la funzione pesi,che una volta avviata riconoscerà in automatico l'esercizio svolto e conterà con precisione estrema le ripetizioni svolte,salvando l'allenamento ed evidenziandovi muscoli primari e secondari sollecitati con gli esercizi,creando poi un conteggio in ore per recuperare dallo sforzo dell'allenamento. Potrei continuare veramente a lungo sulle caratteristiche ottime di questo orologio, ma non reputo necessario nemmeno rovinarvi la curiosità di scoprire le infinite funzioni che può svolgere.Concludo con dirvi,che se siete amatori questo orologio è il giusto compromesso qualità prezzo tra tutti i modelli attuali di Garmin, non è un top di gamma,ma nemmeno un entry level, ha le funzioni dei top ma ciò che lo rende più accessibile è il fatto che è totalmente in polimero,che per uno SPORTWATCH a mio avviso non lo reputo nemmeno un contro,con i suoi 47 gr non vi accorgerete nemmeno di averlo al polso,e in più CONSENTE di rispondere alle chiamate ma non di parlare direttamente dall' orologio perche non è munito nè di microfono e ne di altoparlante,quindi potrete sentire le indicazioni degli allenameni e le telefonate solo tramite cuffia o cellulare,se per voi queste ultime due cose sono fondamentali allora dovrete puntare a modelli superiori come 570 o 965 FENIX ma chiaramente con un incremento di prezzo.

As someone who used to wear an Apple Watch, switching to the Garmin Forerunner 265 has been a game-changer. I’m a passionate cyclist and train almost every day, and this watch gives me everything I was missing with Apple: accurate heart rate tracking (especially with a chest strap), better GPS battery life, and metrics that actually help you improve. The AMOLED screen is bright and beautiful, and the watch still lasts me 3–4 days with everything turned on — and 1–2 days even with long cycling sessions tracked. You can also optimize GPS settings to save battery when needed (which I do, since I record my rides on a Wahoo anyway). Health tracking is surprisingly solid. Sleep stages, recovery time, HRV — it all adds up and syncs well with Garmin Connect. I also use it day to day, and it’s comfortable enough to wear 24/7. Notifications, alarms, music — all there when I need them. If you’re into real training and want more than just “rings” and animations, this is for you. I highly recommend it to athletes or anyone who’s serious about fitness. One of the best decisions I’ve made.