Garmin FR265/265S and FR965. AMOLED becomes popular

Garmin announces today the new Garmin Forerunner 265/265S and Garmin Forerunner 965Its main novelty? The AMOLED screen comes to the "big series".

As I told you a few weeks agoAMOLED display is going to be the big trend for 2023 not only for Garmin, but also with all other manufacturers. So get ready for the coming invasion in the use of this technology.

Why AMOLED and why now? Because it is already a mature technology, so the price of the screen is not an extra cost to the manufacturer (even if it sells it more expensive). That is the main reason, but let's not forget also the autonomy. Processors and chipsets are now much more efficient so that with the same battery size you can get more hours of use. It is no longer a problem to demand the battery consumption of an AMOLED screen.

There are three models presented by Garmin. On the one hand, the Forerunner 265 familycomposed of Forerunner 265 and Forerunner 265S, as well as the model from which they start in two different sizes, 46mm and 42mm. That leads to different screen sizes and difference also in autonomy. Both have music playback, there is no version without this option.

The third model is the top of the range, the Garmin Forerunner 965. It also departs from the 955, adding a 1.4″ AMOLED display, which makes it grow slightly in size. In this case it adapts a titanium bezel, instead of the "all-plastic" design of the 955. This is to be welcomed, considering the price of the watch.

But apart from the display technology, there are few new features that were not already in the previous models. Let's take a look at the specifications.

Garmin Forerunner 265, this is how it works

What is a Garmin FR265? Basically an FR255 Music with the addition of the AMOLED display. There are two sizes available: the standard 46mm and the smaller, 42mm in diameter.

• 1.3″ (FR265) or 1.1″ (FR265S) AMOLED touch screen. Same as 255 and 255S
• Diameter of 46.1mm and 41.7mm respectively, slightly wider than the transflective display model
• 47 grams and 39 grams for the Forerunner 265 and Forerunner 265S, almost the same as the others.
• New design of the main button, which is no longer round but has grown in size
• Garmin Elevate V4 Optical Pulse Sensor
• Multi-band satellite reception with SatIQ option for smart selection (reached 255 after upgrade)
• Barometric altimeter
• Up to 20 hours of GPS-only use on the 265 (30 on the 255), or 24 hours of GPS-only use on the 265S (26 on the 255S).
• Same morning report functions, pulse variability tracking, training status, etc.
• Running power estimation, now directly from the wrist (reached 255 after upgrade)
• Advanced running dynamics directly from the wrist (vertical oscillation, ground contact time, etc). Previously required external sensor, now optional if you want more accurate data. Coming to 255 via update.
• Triathlon and open water swim profile
• Garmin Pay
• Available colors: 265 in black, white or turquoise. 265S in black, white or pink.
• The price goes up to 499€.

Garmin Forerunner 965, this is it

The same can be said of the Garmin Forerunner 965, which also does not receive too many changes with respect to the model from which it departs, beyond the new screen and yes, in this case a bezel of nobler material.

• 1.4″ AMOLED touch screen, larger than the 955's 1.3″ screen.
• 47.2mm diameter; 0.7mm larger than 955
• Titanium bezel
• Same weight of 52 grams despite the larger size and the titanium bezel
• No solar-charged version available
• Garmin Elevate V4 Optical Pulse Sensor
• Multi-band satellite reception with SatIQ option for smart selection (arrived on 955 after upgrade)
• TopoActive maps of Europe and possibility of downloading worldwide via WiFi
• 32GB memory capacity
• Up to 31 hours with GPS-only use (42 hours on the 955), and up to 23 days in smartwatch mode
• Same metrics and morning report, with pulse variability and training bias monitoring
• Training load ratio metric
• Running power estimation, now directly from the wrist (arrived on 955 after update)
• Advanced running dynamics directly from the wrist (vertical oscillation, ground contact time, etc). Previously required external sensor, now optional if you want more accurate data. Coming to 955 via update.
• Available colors: black, white or yellow
• The price goes up to 649€.

Few new developments

As you have podido check there are few "real" novelties beyond the use of the AMOLED display. At the software level Garmin "officializes" the new features that have come to models with transflective display: power estimation directly from the wrist, SatIQ for satellites.

Obviously the user interface suffers a slight update to take advantage of the features of the new screen, but the tone is very similar to what we had before.

In terms of design, the main button changes slightly, which is now no longer round and becomes somewhat more elongated with an inscription inside. But the essence of the design is exactly the same in both models.

The only thing left to talk about is the battery, but it is quite complicated to establish comparisons. Because it all depends on whether we enable the always on mode or if the screen remains off until we turn the wrist.

The official Garmin data is not helpful either, because it is quite chaotic and in theory there will be a more complete table, but for the moment this is what I can offer you:

Autonomy Garmin Forerunner 265

 

Garmin Forerunner 265S Autonomy

 

And now you may ask... Why does the smaller model have more autonomy? Well, because the screen is much smaller (1.1″ vs. 1.3″) and therefore has lower power consumption. That is, it no longer depends on the size of the battery but on the consumption of the screen.

Now let's go to the data of the Forerunner 965.

Autonomy Garmin Forerunner 965

I recall that, in any case, all these figures are with the screen on mode with the turn of the wrist. If we use the always on screen mode the autonomy will be drastically reduced (especially in terms of use as a smartwatch).

Charge ratio (Forerunner 965 only)

There is a new metric, Training Load Ratio. It compares two other metrics that are present on the clock, Acute Training Load (ATL for those of you who are used to Training Peaks) along with Chronic Training Load (CTL for those same PT users).

What is each one? Well, I'll explain it to you by copying from the guide on how to use Training Peaks.

• ATL (Fatigue)Acute Training Load: Acute Training Load (short-term). It is the average TSS of the last 7 days. An ATL of 100 assumes that the average daily TSS of the last days has been 100TSS in each training (which can be varied, but in total it would add up to 700 divided by 7).
• CTL (Fitness)Chronic Training Load: Chronic Training Load (long-term). It is the average TSS of the last 6 weeks of training. Same as ATL, but takes into account the TSS of the last 6 weeks and divides by 42.

Garmin does it a little differently, but basically compares the short term load (7 days) to the medium to long term load (28 days) to give a ratio and tell us if we are ramping up the load reasonably without big jumps in our training. Those that lead to overtraining or injury.

Opinion

These two new models are simply an update to the 21st century of the two flagship models of the Forerunner range. A higher quality display, which is what the market demands. Or at least part of it.

Obviously the Apple Watch is doing damage, not only because of its screen technology but also because they are turning more and more towards endurance sports (running, cycling, swimming, triathlon...). Until now Garmin felt somewhat protected because it saw no threat from "a simple smart watch".

Clearly the numbers have squared after the launch of the Epix 2 and Garmin has podido determine that the public wants AMOLED display.

In a way it is an easy move for Garmin. They start from a base that is already developed with the 255 and 955 on the market from a few months ago, where they have already been polishing the sofware. Add an AMOLED display and they already have new models on the market.

In terms of software there is hardly anything remarkable. Running dynamics directly through the wrist (which is ultimately part of power estimation) is coming soon to the 955 (in fact it's already in beta on the Fenix 7. And the new training load metrics are coming too.

So in a few months the 955 and the 965 will be identical in terms of software, with the only difference being the screen and what it entails in terms of autonomy.

And until I post the full analysis after the watch test... Thanks for reading!