The affordable Garmin Forerunner 55 smartwatch that launched in 2019 has finally been updated, with the launch of the Garmin Forerunner 165 and the Forerunner 165 Music wearables as the latest mid-range models in the Garmin catalogue.
It’s the relatively low prices of these watches that really make them stand out in the Garmin range: you can buy the Forerunner 165 for $249.99 / £249.99, and the Forerunner 165 Music (with the added ability to download music to play offline) is coming soon. for $299.99 / £289.99. We’re still waiting for pricing details for Australia.
As you’ll see in our early Garmin Forerunner 165 hands-on review, the wearables both feature a 1.2-inch AMOLED display, which is one of the biggest upgrades over the Forerunner 55. There are six different strap designs available for the two models.
Another notable upgrade is battery life: Garmin says you’ll get a whopping 11 days between charges with these smartwatches, or 19 hours in GPS mode if you get constant location lock.
Tons of features
These are smartwatches aimed primarily at runners, so you’ll find familiar Garmin features here, such as support for adaptive training plans and running-related metrics including cadence, stride length and ground contact time.
Plus, you’ll have all the standard health and fitness tracking features, including sleep, heart rate, steps, blood oxygen, stress, and more. There are also dozens of activity profiles to choose from, such as swimming, yoga, and tennis.
When it comes to the music model, the apps supported by the track download feature are Spotify, Deezer, and Amazon Music. It means you can leave your phone at home and still enjoy your music, although you will need to have signed up for a premium account with the streaming service of your choice.
We’ll put together a full review of the Garmin Forerunner 165 as soon as possible, but in the meantime, our first impressions are good. At this lower price, it could be enough to attract a new group of users to the Garmin club.