Sunday run
In this weekly column, Android Central fitness editor Michael Hicks talks about the world of wearables, apps, and fitness tech related to running and fitness in the pursuit of being faster and healthier.
The Garmin Forerunner 965 has been my go-to running watch for the past year; I’d wear a second watch for a review, but there’s no other option to replace it.This month, Forerunner 165 is here Very Even though the cost was reduced by $350, it closed.
Technically, I’m using a Forerunner 165 Music ($300 cheaper), but I’m not actually using the music storage. Importantly, this relatively inexpensive Garmin watch has the tools, user interface, and accuracy I’ve come to expect from more expensive models like the Forerunner 965.
While the Forerunner 165 makes a lot of obvious compromises to hit the lower price point, I can live with 90% of them – and I like how much lighter the 165 is than the 965.
But there is one The Forerunner 265 or 965 lacks the features of the Garmin Forerunner 165, making it hard to miss no matter what kind of runner you are.This is frustrating because this is Garmin stuff Can Easily delivered using 165’s current technology.
Why I like Forerunner165
The Forerunner 165 may not be as cheap as the original Forerunner 55 it replaces, but I think most runners won’t mind the price increase in exchange for all the new features it offers, such as an easier-to-read AMOLED touch display, improved Elevate v4 heart rate sensor and multi-GNSS tracking.
My recent Forerunner 165 fitness test proved that the watch can deliver accurate step count, heart rate, GPS, and elevation gain results compared to other budget trackers, something the Walker Forerunner 55 can’t do.
It gives me confidence that I don’t necessarily need More expensive Forerunners dual-frequency GPS, because the Forerunner 165’s full-system GNSS mode performs quite well.
In my tests, it beat out the COROS PACE 3 (another of my favorite budget running watches with dual-band tracking) and the Fitbit Charge 6 (our favorite fitness tracker). While COROS’ watch has a MIP display and twice the battery life, runners who need more than the Forerunner 165’s 11 days or 19 GPS hours probably won’t buy a $250 watch. Instead, they would rather read the notification without having to bother.
However, like the PACE 3, the Forerunner 165 is satisfyingly thin and light. It weighs 39 grams/1.38 ounces, making it noticeably more comfortable than the Forerunner 965, which weighs 53 grams/1.87 ounces. I’m used to the 965 when running, but I can’t ignore its presence on my wrist like I can with the Forerunner 165, especially when tracking while sleeping.
I can continue training with the Forerunner 965 as long as the Forerunner 165 provides me with post-run training performance data and recommended daily workouts.
I can accept the compromise of Forerunner 165
To make the $600 Forerunner 965 or the $450 Forerunner 265 more attractive, Garmin has limited the Forerunner 165’s massive data. Thankfully, I think most of Garmin’s metrics are desirable, but not “essential.”
I can’t deny that the Forerunner 965 helps me track my progress as a runner. I can see a graph of my VO2 max over the past four weeks and how my fitness has translated over time into endurance and mountain strength scores. But I also think these appealed to me out of data-driven vanity, a way to validate that my training was working.
If you really need confirmation, the Forerunner 165 will show you your current VO2 max along with a 4-week graph of your predicted race time; if the prediction drops, you know Garmin thinks you’re getting faster. Otherwise, as long as you keep up with Garmin Coach or your daily recommended workouts, you can generally count on making progress over time.
All the other useful Garmin metrics (training status, training readiness, real-time endurance or performance status) are most useful for beginners or intermediate runners who don’t know enough and trust their instincts. They quantify the pain in your body, the gasp in your lungs, or the spring in your step.
As long as I use Garmin’s daily suggested workouts as a baseline for whether to push hard or ease off that day, that’s usually all I need to reinforce whether I’m overtraining, peaking, or slacking off. Everything else comes from experience.
Of all the must-have features the Forerunner 965 offers, the pre-downloaded terrain maps are the hardest to lose and serve as a great backup if you’re hiking in unfamiliar territory. But if I’m honest with myself, I won’t be hiking as much and will be using Alltrails so I can cope with losses.
Garmin is blocking Forerunner 165 from offering its most useful metrics
In addition to all of Garmin’s optional features, the Forerunner 165 is missing one data tool that I can’t live without as a runner: training load.I’m very sure Can Provide this data…if Garmin allows it.
Without getting too technical, training load measures how hard your body is exercising on a given day, based on your heart rate and oxygen consumption. You want to hit a certain training load each week and then slowly increase the load each week, either by running more or faster.
Your load is divided into three heart rate zone categories: low aerobic, high aerobic, and anaerobic. A higher heart rate allows you to get more training load in shorter intervals, but high-load runs also take longer to recover from. Low-aerobic running is easier and puts less “load” on the body, but will slowly help improve your health over time.
This all sounds very data-driven, but it’s basically all about balance. Garmin helps me remember if I’ve done enough sprints, intervals, or jogs recently without having to research my past workouts. More generally, it tells me whether I’m keeping up with past versions of myself, or whether I’m over- or under-trained.
Unfortunately, there is no training load on the Forerunner 165…is there? Because hidden in the Garmin Connect app submenu, I found training load data as of the current date! I just used the Forerunner 165 last week.
However, according to a Garmin representative, this acute load data is only available because I already have a Forerunner 965 associated with my account. “If you only have 165 in your account, you won’t see the loading feature at all,” she explains. In other words, it’s an arbitrary paywall, not an actual 165 CPU limit.
I also doubt that the Forerunner 165 can display my training load focus Garmin can run aerobically or anaerobically if you wish. Why? According to my Garmin rep, because like the Forerunner 965, the Forerunner 165 takes “the user’s training history” and “intensity” into account when recommending daily workouts.
This includes “whether there is a shortage in a certain area (e.g., building a foundation for basic endurance, increasing the threshold for high aerobic training),” she continues.
So with the Forerunner 165, you can view daily workout recommendations and guess what Garmin thinks your current training load should focus on. You just can’t inspect the raw data yourself.
My full review of the Garmin Forerunner 165 will be posted soon, but I already think it’s one of the best Garmin watches. If I didn’t already own both this and the Forerunner 965, I think I would happily accept the compromise of the cheaper model to save more than half the price.
I just wish Garmin hadn’t decided to make Training Load a feature that costs an extra $200 to get, or $100 more with the Forerunner 255, because to me, it’s pretty important.
almost everything you want
The Garmin Forerunner 165 comes three years after the Forerunner 55 and features a new heart rate sensor with HRV status, more accurate GPS and altitude data, breadcrumb navigation, and an AMOLED touch display. It also has new software tricks – just not the training load feature we really want.