Garmin - Forerunner 265S

Forerunner 55 for the absolute basics. Forerunner 165 is the cheapest with a AMOLED screen. Forerunner 255, 265, 955 and 965 are just discontinued. In my opinion 955 is the most value for money as it includes mapping. 965 is the same watch as the 955, but with an AMOLED screen. If you don’t need mapping, then go for the 265. It is the same as the 965, but without maps. So if you can find a 955 that would be your best bet in my opinion. Forerunner 570 and 970 introduce unnecessary features, such as microphone & speaker, sapphire glass, shiny metal bezels all of which add nothing to running but do increase the price.

the improved battery life is going to go a long way for casual usage, and sleep tracking is a huge benefit it's worth noting that the 265 is rather large. you may want to take a look at the 265s, especially if you dont mind not using it as a smartwatch

Most of these calorie counters are estimates and not even close to accurate for any sport with high amount of directional changes, they're more accurate for more straightforward sports like running cycling and swimming, but even then those are broad estimates. I use a relatively high end garmin, fenix 7 pro which I wouldn't recommend for badminton as it is heavy and sometimes will smack into your racket and your racket will lose the clash. If you want to try one I would recommend the Forerunner 265, or basically any sports watch thats not too big, garmin has significantly better optical sensors but aside from hr data don't trust the calorie estimates too much.

I wore both an Apple Watch Ultra and Whoop for 3 years. Just cut both for a Garmin Forerunner 265. Haven’t missed the other 2, and I’m fully in the Apple ecosystem.

I tried both 255 and 265, if you are okay not having the amoled screen, it is better to get a 255 and save around $180 (cad)

Since you’re a runner using Runna and want better battery life, the sweet spot is probably the Forerunner 265 if you want something light, run-focused and comes with AMOLED brightness which your Galaxy probably has. If you want more of a “smartwatch vibe” with a mic for calls then maybe the Venu 2 Plus is the only Garmin that adds voice assistant and call handling but its training metrics aren’t quite as deep as the Forerunner 955/965 series ones If I were you I’d also consider the Forerunner 955 or 965 for serious running and battery though, it’s pretty much the best watch you can get as a runner IMO or you could try [9 Best Smartwatches Worth Investing in 2025 for Running and Hiking](https://alaskanarrows.com/best-smartwatches-in-2025-for-hiking-and-running/) for others as well Cheers

It's a watch aimed at entry level runners but also allows to track other activities. so if someone doesnt care about all the fancy running stats and the more advanced life style tracking metrics then it probably is more than enough and way more than Gshocks offer from what I remember. I've not used it myself as i have a middle of the range FR265 but a friend of mine has FR55 and he seemed pretty happy with it, it is an older watch so there is also that. Gshocks definitely look amazing that's why I'd love a collab :D

Forerunner 965, can do it all at a better price and you still get the better display, over cheaper older models of other lines. If you don't need the maps function, then I would recommend the Forerunner 265.

No, the 165 Music versus not is just price point budget options thing. Forerunner 265 and 965 have the music functionality of downloading directly to the watch from YT Music. If you just want good basic run and training tracking I would do the 165 music, if you want more training support and data collection and management, I would go for the 264. Either way a focus on running I would only select between these 2 watches.

The 265 will probably be initially more noticeable, but I don’t think it will be a longterm weight issue. The Forerunner line a in my opinion then lightest most feature rich device from Garmin. I have a 965, and I don’t notice the weight at all.

Totally get that. I wouldn't recommend the 965 to anyone who isn't looking specifically for the features it offers. 265 is just as good for the average person.

I used to only weight train before I got my forerunner 265. Now I drink way less alcohol, am more focused on good sleep and started running at least 2 times per week to also improve my condition. So I don't use it that much for weight training (I still turn it on to have a good overview of my total activity) but it is significantly improving my health and taken away the focus from only superficial muscle gains. So really depends what your priority is