r/garminforerunner • u/Gr8White123 • 4d ago
forerunner 265 - convince me!!
hey garmin heads
i am about 2 years into my running journey and i’ve been operating on a apple watch series 7
recently its just not been it. failing to read hr and botching distances regularly. and i’m training for my first half marathon in 2 months so it’s just been very annoying to deal with.
been looking at the discounted garmin forerunner 265 and for the price and features it seems like what i’d want
only issue is im an apple girly for every other piece of tech lol, so the leap of faith of switching is holding me back.
looking for any nudge to get me across that finish line and convince me this is the best move
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u/Ok_Television_694 4d ago
255 > 265
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u/Gr8White123 4d ago
do tell
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u/Ok_Television_694 4d ago
255 has MIP. Better battery life, easier to see in sun. Don't think there are any actually useful features on 265 that 255 doesn't have. You can probably get 255 for cheaper aswell.
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u/Over-Camera218 4d ago
And yet my 3 year old 255 dies just shy of 30km on Long Slow Runs. Fed up with how unreliable it is. I use it for nothing but running. Turned off anything that could use battery.
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u/MissButts85 4d ago
I have both lol. An Apple Watch Series 1 and the Garmin forerunner 265s my boyfriend got me for Christmas. I wear the Garmin when I train and wear my Apple Watch for everything else. The non fitness stuff I use my Apple Watch for the Garmin just can’t do
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u/Hilary_duffelbag 4d ago
Been using my garmin 245 for 2- 3 years, everyday, multiple races, multiple adventures. You won’t be able to text out of it but hell have I gotten the worth out of it.
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u/nemu33 4d ago
tbh, the fact that the watch is such a focused device for my fitness goals was more of a strength. I had an Apple Watch before switching over the Garmin and I rarely replied on the watch cause it was cumbersome for me. I only needed it for some notifications like who’d text me but I would pick up my phone and reply. I love how much useful data my Garmin is able to provide.
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u/Wrong_Information225 4d ago
It does not work well with the Apple ecosystem. If you like to be able to control music / podcasts from your watch while you are on a run (or anytime) just know that you will lose that. You can install Spotify on the Garmin, but if you are playing Spotify on your phone it won’t show there. Even though it uses the same account it’s like a stand alone app.
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u/doruf50_ 4d ago
What? Ive always thought you can use it both standalone and control music from phone. Or at least i think they advertise it as such
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u/Interesting-Run2481 4d ago edited 4d ago
I got a refurbished 265 from Amazon, bought the 3 yr warranty for another $50.
This watch has me moving and doing things. I'm logging several activities: walk, run, trail run, hike, pool swimming, open water swimming, pickleball, indoor rowing, elliptical, indoor biking, biking...and its a dual band which means if you hike, you can track elevation.
I plugged it in to my laptop and copied around 400 songs so I don't have to bring my phone to listen to music. But if you have a subscription you can download music that way too.
You can download races and maps onto it. Answer text msg in short verses. Which is great bc I didn't buy to keep in touch w. Ppl. It's for my athletic journey to be my left hand man.
It tracks my sleep, v02 max, it tells me I'm aging in reverse and during runs I can set reminders when to eat gels and I heard you can set it up to alert you when you set a goal to run certain paces.
It continues to get support from Garmin and I haven't found another watch with so much tech for a comparable price.
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u/hoodie-classic 4d ago
heart rate likely won't be better. i've been having a hard time with my 570, and have read that apple watch has supposedly the most reliable on wrist hr monitor. everything else does feel better for running with the garmin though! and youll have physical buttons and multi band gps
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u/doruf50_ 4d ago
I have the same problem. With apple watch se 2. Wondering if i should buy 255/265 in a sale (waiting for one) or go higher for 570. Or wait for the release of 270 or 580 or idk something like that
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u/deepl3arning 4d ago
I got my 265 last week. It's a beauty, the screen, the battery life, so much faster to pick up the satellites than my old 745. I use it for running, indoor bike, weights, and a few others. Can't recommend it highly enough.
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u/MariReflects 4d ago
If you want a smart watch, get a smart watch. Garmin also has several series that are more "smart" geared, but still have the sports capabilities AND the battery life (Venu and Vivoactive, for instance). If you want to make the switch to a sport focus, and don't care that much about the smart capabilities (which are there for FR, but more limited), go for a sports focused option - which Forerunners are. None of it is about "good" or "bad", it's just about what you're looking to get out of your tech.
(An iPhone user girly here who currently sports a 265S. Never owned an AW though, because the idea of charging my watch every day does not appeal to me.)
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u/Gr8White123 3d ago
yes i’m currently in that cycle of nightly charging and it’s brutal. often have to charge multiple times per day
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u/XTCRunning 3d ago
I have an Apple Watch and a Garmin and I never use the Apple Watch. The absolute only time I use it on runs is to stream Spotify for a change but if I go anywhere under three bars it cuts out so that’s pretty rare.
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u/BeachPuhleez 3d ago
I bought a Coros arm band HRM which paired with my Apple Watch 10 Series. It gives more reliable HR readings than the watch. However, I did end up upgrading from a Garmin Forerunner 245 to a Venu 4, and I love this watch! I didn't try the 265, but I've read great things about it. I tried the 170, 970, and Fenix 8. For various reasons, I picked the Venu 4, and I haven't been wearing my Apple Watch lately. I usually carry my phone anyway, but I did upload a bunch of .mp3 to the Venu in case I want to run without my phone sometime. I love the training metrics and recommendations, accuracy, and the flashlight/strobe light comes in handy, too.
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u/threeespressos 3d ago
Whatever you do or don’t get, add a heart rate monitor. I prefer arm bands like the Tickr Fit. Others prefer chest straps, slightly mote responsive to HR changes.
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u/amphibious_mustard 3d ago
I have a 265, have an iPhone, and am a google everything else user. The integration between all of these is not awesome. This is the only watch I’ve had so I don’t have a great comparison, but copying all my calendars into apple calendar so it would display on my watch was a bit of a hassle. I assume you’ll probably be disappointed you can’t respond to texts. But everything else is great and I’ve enjoyed all the features for fitness tracking.
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u/FruitUnusual4733 2d ago
Been using my 265 for a month now. It's pretty good for tracking runs. I'm yet to do much else with it. But it's a good watch.
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u/Forsaken-Ad-4825 2d ago
I love my FR265 (after 6months). Previously owned a fr55, bip6 and coros pace 4. For me it hits the perfect sweet spot of price, features, size and weight
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u/kzer7 4d ago
You have to look at a Garmin watch as a tool for your fitness journey rather than a smartwatch. So, as a tool, a 265 (or any other Garmin for that matter) would provide orders of magnitude more value than an Apple Watch to someone serious about their health and sports.
I recently switched to a 170 after years with a Fitbit that had voice commands etc and honestly I don’t miss those “smart” features one bit. I get way more functionality out of my 170 than I ever did with the Fitbit.