Garmin Forerunner 165 Review: What more could you want in wearable tech?

When I started running in 2006, I didn’t have anything near as fancy as a Garmin Forerunner 165. In fact, I didn’t have anything fancier than a printed-off beginners schedule and a stopwatch. I soon upgraded my running tech though and became the proud owner of a Garmin Forerunner 301.

And when I say “proud,” I mean I loved that thing. I didn’t care if it took up most of my arm because a) it gave me stats like distance, speed and the number of calories burnt; and b) there wasn’t anything better on the market anyway.

Garmin soon upped their game and brought out the slightly smaller and prettier Forerunner 305, upon which I looked on with jealousy at anyone who had one. However, I didn’t upgrade my 301 until a few years later when my then-boyfriend bought me a Garmin that actually looked like a watch and not something from a 1970s sci-fi movie.

Even though there was plenty of choice of wearable tech by this time, Garmins were so popular that, even if runners bought a smart watch by another brand, they still called it a Garmin, in the same way a lot of people call their vacuum cleaners a Hoover, even when it isn’t.

That time I deviated from a Garmin

Although I’ve just professed my love for Garmin, even I veered off the Garmin path about ten years ago and had a TomTom Runner for a while. In my defence, TomTom sent it to me to review and it was a lot easier to use than my then-Garmin with its multitude of menus, so I kept using it until TomTom no longer supported it and it became useless for anything other than telling the time.

In need of a new running watch, after doing some research, I bought the Garmin 55 and loved it. It was low-priced, easy to use and had mostly all the functions I wanted (I say “mostly,” because logging strength training as an activity would have been handy but it wasn’t listed).

I happily used it until recently when I was asked if I wanted to review the Garmin Forerunner 165.

As a Garmin fangirl, of course I did!

Setting up the Garmin Forerunner 165

Setting up the Garmin Forerunner 165 took just a few minutes. You turn it on, it gives you a QR code, you scan it with your phone and it walks you through everything, including connecting to the Garmin Connect app and inserting the details of your emergency contact.

As I am so unloved and have no one to call my emergency contact, I put the aforementioned then-boyfriend down as mine. However, because he is now my former boyfriend, he’ll probably leave me in a ditch should I end up in one. (If he reads this – I AM JOKING – please do not leave me in a ditch.)

Appearance

As watches go, it’s not the prettiest (the colour options for the strap are grey or white) but at least it doesn’t take up half your arm like its ancestor did. What it does have though is an incredibly bright and sharp, colour touchscreen that’s a joy to use.

There are also a myriad of options for changing the clock face’s appearance, or even uploading your own, like I did.

My favourite features

I’m not going to go through all the features of the Garmin Forerunner 165 here, but a couple of my favourite features I’ve found so far are the morning and evening reports. I especially like the morning one as it greets you with a cheery “Good Morning,” along with the weather forecast. You can then scroll through a few screens of stats about how you slept, etc., before finishing with a motivational message.

The evening report tells you how your day went and whether it was a relaxing or demanding day.

Music controls

Although I don’t have the ‘Music’ version of the Garmin Forerunner 165, you can see what you’re currently listening to, along with being able to control the playback via the touchscreen, which is a lot handier than getting your phone out while you’re running or walking.

Like most smartwatches (I imagine, I’ve only ever had Garmins), if you wear it 24 hours a day, it’ll monitor your heart rate, quality of sleep and body battery, amongst other things.

Although I love these stats, when it comes to the sleep and body battery data, I don’t know whether the Garmin Forerunner 165 is inaccurate or my previous Garmin Forerunner 55 was but one of them must be because the 165 says I’m sleeping deeply each night and always wake up with a high body battery, whereas the 55 barely ever said I slept deeply even for a minute and my body battery fluctuated quite a lot. But, as far as I know, stats like these aren’t particularly accurate anyway, so I don’t suppose it really matters.

Working out with the Garmin Forerunner 165

Running

I’ve just begun a C25K program for what must be the millionth time. This time around though, I’ve been using the Runna app, which pushes the workouts to your watch.

I tried this with the Garmin Forerunner 55 and, although the workout appeared on my watch, the audio prompts didn’t work and I couldn’t feel any vibration alerts, so I reverted to using my phone for it.

When it comes to the Garmin Forerunner 165 though, despite hating the word ‘gamechanger,’ I can’t think of a better word to describe using the Runna app with it. Not only do the audio prompts come through my earbuds (these ones, if you’re interested) but the vibration is hefty enough for me to actually feel it.

Cycling

I’ve also used it for walking and cycling, most recently on a 50 mile charity bike ride (taking some of my homemade vegan protein bars along with me). Here I am, with my well-earned medal.

After your workout, you get all your usual stats, plus a nice trophy if you were extra hardcore. A nice touch is being able to take a screenshot by pressing the ‘light’ button and the ‘back’ button simultaneously.

Garmin Forerunner 165 review summary

I love the Garmin Forerunner 165. It’s easy to use and has all the features I could possibly want. The only downside is the battery doesn’t last long although this might be because I keep playing with it and, anyway, it charges so quickly, it’s not really an issue.

If you’d like to buy your very own Garmin Forerunner 165, they’re available at Very who, although kindly sent me one to review, didn’t tell me to only write nice things about it.