Garmin Forerunner 165 – basic training

Exterior, handling, sensors

You can buy a GPS watch for between forty and four hundred thousand forints for tracking running, walking and cycling, and since exercise is more important than what we track, if an entry-level Redmi Watch or Amazfit motivates you to put on your sports shoes, buy it for reliable route recording, sufficient heart rate measurement and low-cost data collection. The next quality level starts at triple the price, but for HUF 120,000, a Galaxy Watch6 can immediately read the ECG and blood pressure measurement, has the open operating system and Google/Samsung integration, and the Apple Watch SE does the same without an ECG/blood pressure monitor, but with an even bigger ecosystem, more accurate it does so with sensors, a large application and 32 GB of storage.

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The smart functions, motion tracking, health monitoring its holy trinity has made modern watches a useful accessory for the whole day, so there are fewer and fewer advantages of a one-bit product specialized for sports, and Garmin does not even offer such a thing anymore. After all, we have the simple notification management, the efficient hourly payment, the stylish dial and color selection and, slowly, the AMOLED panel in all categories. The focus is simply on the accessory ecosystem rather than mobile harmony. The Forerunner would be the series specializing in running, but this distinction has lost its meaning with a watch as beautiful and knowledgeable as the 965 for 260,000, but the 265/265S also cleverly selects its skills for 200,000.

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Until the Forerunner 65 does not run below HUF 100,000, until a 165 represents the entry level for 110,000 without music functions, for 130,000 with 4 GB storage for copying MP3s and offline use of Spotify, Deezer and Amazon Music (YouTube Music is not supported). It has the tiny 1.2″ but sharp and responsive AMOLED panel with a diameter of 390 pixels, the 4th generation (i.e. not the latest) Elevate pulse oximeter, the alti-barometer, the compass, the accelerometer, the single-channel satellite receiver (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo), the thermometer, Garmin Pay, WiFi, ANT+ and Bluetooth connection, ergo the fat sensor set.

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The range of running functions is wide, including performance metrics, and the 11-day operating time is excellent with mixed use, although with three weekly GPS workouts and evening blood oxygen measurements, this was reduced to a full week for me, and to 4 days with an always-on display. I never had to check the watch’s battery percentage while on the phone, and it didn’t come off my wrist for too long with a quarter-hour charge every couple of days, so the sleep tracking was preserved. With 19 hours of GPS and 17 hours of GPS/GLONASS/Galileo satellite tracking, the 165 is guaranteed to accompany you through an ultramarathon or a long performance tour, but not the 24 hours of the Kinizsi Hundred. These data also underline it: it skillfully positions the accessory within the Garmin house, and it is understandable that the premium sapphire glass of the 965 is replaced by smooth tempered glass, and its titanium frame is replaced by a fiber-reinforced polymer casing, just as the offline map is also a privilege of the premium version.

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That’s where the sports community starts to feel that Garmin draws so much knowledge and functions on the same basis in all kinds of variations, that sometimes it’s hard to keep track of what’s there and what’s not in each piece. For example, just because our subject is a running watch, the winter sports and golf functions, as well as the wider cycling data recording, are omitted, but don’t expect Venuk’s call reception and voice assistant management or Epix/Fenix’s EKG either, and the available 2.6 GB storage space is very limited for the Music edition.

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You don’t want to pay so much to customize the five buttons that are the essence of Garmin watches, to start the dim screen flashlight, the favorite function or the watch payment with one movement, and pay double the price if you want to display six/eight data and more graphs at the same time while lounging. The segmentation concerning the material quality and the sensor set is understandable, but those who are used to Apple/Samsung watches do not understand what a lot of software limitations are (the running function is something that only the more expensive Forerunners can do). If I add the rivals’ greater emphasis on general health monitoring, it is certainly becoming increasingly difficult for Garmin to keep up with the competition, as more and more people are looking for watches with useful information at all times of the day.

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What is indisputable is the durable, perfectly fitted exterior designed for many years of use, with 5 ATM protection, which can also be used for swimming. I like the down-to-earth shape of the Forerunner 165 and its airy 39.8 grams including the strap: with a 43 mm watch part and 11.6 mm thickness, it can be worn comfortably on both men’s and women’s wrists, with a stably fixed and well-ventilated strap, which we can replace with a standard 20 mm . In addition to the solid black and elegant white, this time the turquoise blue and dark purple versions represent the special color variant, to which the strap and frame are also adjusted.

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There is still no Qi charging, so the usual connector snaps onto the back of the watch, while the Type-C end of the cable can be connected to a charger or PC, and we can already copy music to the Music version (Spotify lists go through WiFi). Garmin’s lag in the gadget industry is indicated by the fact that nothing happens when connected to a mobile phone, even though phones have been handling external storage for two decades. There is also no eSIM for stand-alone operation, EKG, blood pressure and BMI meter, speaker for voice exercise reading and microphone for answering mobile calls or chatting with the voice assistant. Just because it’s a sports watch, I think these common basic functions could be.

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It seems that the transflective panel is slowly wearing out of Garmin’s range, and I think the AMOLED, which is excellently visible outside and much more contrasty inside, is a better solution, the numbers, letters and graphs are also displayed more visually. In addition to the effective touch operation, the excellent five-button operation remains, and the strength of the vibration also goes away, supplemented by a beep. The Forerunner 165 therefore follows established logic, but the question is whether excellent sports knowledge is enough for salvation according to the needs of 2024.

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