Garmin Forerunner 965: Everything you need to know about Garmin’s latest watch
In a break from tradition, Garmin has released a new set of Forerunner watches two years in a row. The Garmin Forerunner 965, Garmin Forerunner 265 and the smaller 265S have arrived to shake up our list of the best Garmin watches, complete with their new AMOLED screens – a huge improvement in looks and clarity over the boring memory-in pixel displays of their predecessor.
The Garmin Forerunner 965 is the biggest and best of the range, and it’s this one we’re diving into to help you decide if it’s really worth your money. Stay tuned for our full review soon, but in the meantime we’ve broken down all the info you need to help you decide if you want the watch before it hits the shelves.
Garmin Forerunner 965: straight to the point
- What is it? The next premium running watch from Garmin and the sequel to the acclaimed Forerunner 955
- When is it out? 27 March
- How many? $599.99 / £599.99 / AU$999
Garmin Forerunner 965: Specifications
Below we’ve made a table of the main specs of the Garmin Forerunner 965 and how it compares to its predecessor, the Garmin Forerunner 955.
| Element | Garmin Forerunner 965 | Garmin Forerunner 965 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $599.99 / £599.99 / AU$999 | Solar: $599.99 / £549.99 / AU$899.99. No Solar: $499.99 £479.99 / AU$799 |
| Dimensions | 47.2 x 47.2 x 13.2 (mm) | 46.5 x 46.5 x 14.4 (mm) |
| Weight | 53 gr | 52g |
| Case/ring | Titanium | Fiber-reinforced polymer |
| Display | 454x454px AMOLED, Corning Gorilla Glass | 260 x 260 px MIP, Corning Gorilla Glass |
| GPS? | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, SATIQ | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, SATIQ |
| Battery life | 23 days (31 hours GPS) | Solar: 20 days (49 hours GPS), Non-solar: 15 days (41 hours GPS) |
| Link | Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi | Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi |
| Water repellent? | Yes, 5ATM | Yes, 5ATM |
Garmin Forerunner 965: Design
The Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar was crowned our favorite running watch last year and internally not much has changed: at heart it’s still the same excellent watch. In fact, the guts are a little too similar; it will work almost like the 955, which makes us think this updated version might be a little premature.
However, the exterior has in any case been redesigned, with the clear AMOLED screen most striking. The Garmin Forerunner 965’s 1.4-inch, 454 x 454 px touchscreen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, making it just as durable as the old version. The 955 was also a touchscreen, but had the old memory-in-pixel format and was only 1.3 inches in size. You can see the AMOLED touchscreen in more detail in our first hands-on look at the Garmin Forerunner 265S.
The case has also been redesigned to accommodate the larger screen, but that’s not the only change. The up and down buttons have been replaced with ‘music’ and ‘list’ icons (although they are still functionally the same), and the ‘play’ icon is now the center of the larger button in the top right, which is usually used to record workouts. to stop and start. The larger button is more glove-friendly than the previous iteration, although the 265 and 265S have replaced the ‘play’ icon with the ‘run’ legend.
The watch comes in three colors: matte black, whitestone and an attractive AMP yellow, which you can see below:
Garmin Forerunner 965: features
The Forerunner 965 comes with all the things that made the 955 great, with one exception: no solar power option. The 955 took advantage of Garmin’s battery-extending Power Glass to extend the watch’s life with solar energy when you spend a few hours outside. That’s gone, presumably because Garmin couldn’t yet deliver both the AMOLED screen and Power Glass functionality.
Garmin claims the battery still lasts longer than the 955 Solar in smartwatch mode, though, at up to 23 days instead of the Solar’s 20, but that power-hungry AMOLED screen cuts GPS mode life to 31 hours. While it’s still impressive, it’s not quite as good, so those doing full-trail weekends should keep this in mind.
Otherwise, the watch functions almost the same way, with very little internal change: both can play music with 32GB of storage, both include Garmin’s multi-band GPS with GNSS and GLONASS coverage, and both can take advantage of newer features such as Garmin’s Workout Readiness Score, an updated version of the Body Battery widget that gives you a morning report with key recovery stats.
Pulse oxygen saturation, fitness age, abnormal heart rate alerts after a workout, women’s health and more health stats have also been carried over. It also has the same advanced running stats, including pace, distance, time, heart rate, and effort. Full-color maps and TracBack let you navigate while on running trails or in the wilderness, though we would have liked to see more audio navigation.
Other than the cosmetic changes, it’s more or less the same watch in every way, so while it’s a gorgeous fitness watch in its own right, there’s little point in upgrading if you already own a 955.
Garmin Forerunner 965: The leaks leading up to the watch’s release
Before the launch of both watches, we knew they were coming because of the following leaks surrounding the smaller 265.
As reported by The5KRunner (opens in new tab), a reliable leak site, images of the Garmin Forerunner 265 surfaced online last year. The images are said to show a new AMOLED display that replaces the 255’s battery-saving MIP offering, suggesting that Garmin has evolved its energy-efficiency technology to allow it to offer the AMOLED display of a ‘proper’ modern smartwatch without compromising do to the Forerunner’s impressive battery life.
An early listing that was published on a golf website and then quickly removed according to our sibling Adventure (opens in new tab) and Flo from Fitness Tracker Test, included more reported details about the 965 and 265. The 5 Under Golf store listing confirmed the rumor of improved AMOLED screens for both models, as well as the fact that the 955’s Training Readiness scoring feature would be available on both the 265 as well as the 965. The listing also suggested there will be a brighter yellow and black color option for busy bees tired of matte black watch cases and looking for something brighter.
Another seemingly premature offer that was quickly removed was from retailer Running Direct, which included pricing information: The Forerunner 965 is reportedly €649.99, while the 265 is said to cost €499.99 (opens in new tab); if correct those prices would work out to around $700 / £570 / AU$1000 and $530 / £440 / AU$770, although the actual price will likely be different.
RunningDirect is the third online retailer to list the incoming Forerunner 265 and Forerunner 965, and the first to confirm expected prices of €499.99 and €649.99. #garmin #forerunner #running #sports #wearables pic.twitter.com/kDvGbhEOqVJanuary 26, 2023
Another tweet from FTTest (opens in new tab) reported on a leak from Garmin’s own website, which accidentally showed photos of the watches.
A render below shows the screen size of the Forerunner 965 based on all the rumors above, which is 0.1in larger than the 955’s screen, with a larger version of Garmin’s home button on the top right. It wasn’t far off!
Because Garmin accidentally leaked photos of the Forerunner 965 on its own website, I was able to better visualize the relationship between the FR965 and FR955. Thanks to @the5krunner for pointing it out. Still no CAD-precise drawing. #garmin #forerunner #leak pic.twitter.com/1PDKHqZdghFebruary 9, 2023