Up to 23 days

RW verdict: After wearing the Garmin Forerunner 965 for several months now, it’s proven to be a solid watch and running companion. A premium device, it was one of the first Forerunner watches with a bright, AMOLED display screen, well over 30 sports programmed into the device, and a lightweight, low-profile form factor that feels good on your wrist.

The watch also has an accurate multi-band GPS tracking system and is chock-a-block with fitness and health metrics, performance tracking, and lifestyle upgrades that turn this from ‘just’ a running watch into something truly special for serious runners.

It has its limitations, though. While we all like bright displays, you can’t keep it in the ‘always on’ mode for more than roughly 24 hours without killing the battery, which is highly problematic for ultramarathoners, at the very least. But if your preferred marathon is something short of ‘my brain is just wired differently’, this is one of the Course weather predictor Vertical Oscillation tracking.

What everyone's reading

Features at a glance

• Five-button configuration
• Turn-by-turn mapping and built-in routes
• The best head torches for runners
• ClimbPro
• Garmin proprietary charger
• The Garmin Forerunner 970 is a serious upgrade
• GarminPay
• Music storage
• Race route downloading
• Battery life multi-band
• Multi-sport functionality
• Triathlon mode
• Race predictor
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity
• The Garmin Forerunner 970 is a serious upgrade

Design

Straight out of the box, the Forerunner 965 is a thing to behold. It's more smartwatch than traditional Forerunner and you immediately notice its slimmer size compared to previous versions. Even the bright screen is undeniably different — and dare we say cool. Strapping it on, the watch is light and easy to wear, but the large screen may feel a bit too big for runners with small wrists or hands.

Performance and accuracy

The Garmin Forerunner 965 is one of the most-accurate GPS watches we've reviewed. To test the distance and pace, we ran pre-measured routes in a variety of areas with various levels of potential GPS disruption. The multi-channel GPS of the 965 outperformed other models handily, coming in nearly dead accurate on multiple trails and routes.

To measure heart rate and blood oxygen saturation (Sp02) tracking, Cat ran on the treadmill wearing both the 965 and a hospital-grade pulse oximeter with a built-in heart rate monitor. Her heart rate fell within three beats per minute and the pulse oximeter was within two percentage points. That's far more precise than the Suunto Race I tested it against, which was off by between two and six beats per minute.

Having a more accurate heart rate measurement has a cascading impact on all of your training data and Garmin's data analysis features, which help optimise your variability, recovery, and your performance on the whole. When this watch tells you to take it easy, you should listen.

The up-ahead turn-by-turn navigational system is also responsive and easy to follow. Haptic and audible notifications effectively alert you of upcoming turns, so you don't need to check your watch to follow its directions. That's especially helpful and comforting when you're running a new and/or unfamiliar route.

As with most smartwatches, there are still some quibbles with the accuracy of the sleep tracking features, though. When compared to an Oura ring with consistent sleep patterns, the 965 still felt off. This could be a size issue, movement on the wrist affecting the measurement, or some other factor, but the watch's results could differ quite a bit from other metrics, like a WHOOP score.

Getting technical with advanced metrics

Beyond the core running metrics, the Forerunner 965 tracks some very specific things that can be very useful for competitive runners in training looking to boost their performance. I was particularly interested in seeing the effects of measuring vertical oscillation and cadence tracking.

Vertical oscillation measures the bounce in your stride, helping you identify if you're wasting energy by moving excessively up and down. Once you have a baseline in hand, you can theoretically work to minimise your bounciness and improve running efficiency. In the past, a heart rate monitor worn on chest was the best way to monitor this metric and when compared to stats that the 965 recorded versus the HR monitor, the numbers were pretty much the same, which was reassuring.

Cadence tracking, which counts the number of steps you take per minute so you can calculate your stride rate. This can help prevent you overstriding, which can reduce impact and improve overall running form.

Though digging into the nitty gritty of your performance is pretty cool in a nerdy kind of way, the amateur runner might not find this level of scrutiny necessary or helpful.

Best wireless headphones Fenix 7, Cat took this watch to the Catskill mountains to try out the trail maps and used Garmin’s ClimbPro feature, which gives you info on upcoming hills so you can adjust your pace. Garmin's Forerunner 965's trail maps and ClimbPro feature proved useful, providing accurate course navigation. The detailed (and very nice looking) mapping and ClimbPro functionality make the trail running experience more predictable. These features make the watch a neat little tool for runners exploring new and challenging terrains.

A coach on your wrist

For those without a running coach, we used Garmin’s suggested workouts on the Garmin Forerunner 965 and they were surprisingly helpful.

The 965 also has a feature called PacePro. We used this feature to great effect during a few test races, trusting race-day strategy to the watch and it managed to guide Ben on both a trail race and a city race, where GPS interference from tall buildings can often scupper a PB attempt with inaccurate information. This wasn't the case in central London, so a big plus for the watch there.

Battery life

The battery life is sizeable in smartwatch mode, with Garmin claiming you can get up to 23 days of use under ideal conditions. With regular runs and workouts, we averaged about a week between charges. In smartwatch mode alone, it is able to keep tracking the background metrics like your heart rate, oxygen, and heart rate variability (HRV), all while providing the details on the screen and in the app.

Workouts do seem to drain the battery quite quickly, because of GPS, but especially if you have the always-on display (we switched it off pretty much right away). Taking the new screen into account and given that the battery life is still very strong, the display upgrade feels like a great addition: It’s easy to toggle between workouts, and the interface makes mid-run actions like pausing, setting intervals, and changing modes quick and easy.

Garmin Connect is still far from perfect

The watch aside, there are still some issue. On paper, the Garmin Connect app offers a lot of convenience in managing certain aspects of the Forerunner 965 from your phone. That said, the app's structure and layout is somewhat confused.

Fortunately, the 965's ability to download maps from secondary apps and store music on the device largely mitigates your need to interact with Garmin Connect. This independence is a major advantage: outside of actively testing it and using it sync some crucial data and courses, testers tended to bypass it and use third-party integrations or other apps.

Beyond that, Garmin also needs a more intuitive way to figure out how to silence certain notifications while allowing others to come through. Do not disturb mode is not useful for everything.

RW verdict

All in all, the Garmin Forerunner 965 was a bit of a leap for Garmin, but it's won us over. It’s a bright and smart running assistant that keeps you in check when you need and humble when perhaps you don't. If you're someone who geeks out over metrics, loves having a plethora of features at your fingertips and wants to dip a toe into ultrarunning but won't need mega battery life, then this watch is a fantastic choice. It’s not just a running watch; it's an all-in-one lifestyle powerhouse.

With Garmin Pay, the ability to take calls, store your favourite tunes, and even sneak a peek at your messages, it seamlessly integrates into your day-to-day. For those who need a continuous glucose monitor, it has the ability to show your sugar right on your watch as well, which is a feature few know about. This watch is ready to be your go-to companion for workouts and beyond. If you need something more rugged, or you want something that can last a little longer, you may want to consider a Why the Garmin Forerunner 965 has pretty much everything a road runner could want instead.

Shop the Garmin Forerunner 965

Editor's note: Garmin has recently released the Forerunner 970 which we are in the process of reviewing.

From: Runner's World US