 This Product Garmin Forerunner 965 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  Best Fitness Tracker for Athletes |  Best Overall Fitness Tracker |  Best Value for Athletes | Top Pick for Light and Simple | Best on a Tight Budget |
| Price | $600 List $589.99 at Amazon | $399 List $349.00 at Amazon | $300 List $199.99 at Amazon | $160 List $99.95 at Amazon | $50 List Check Price at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | This device answers the call for a richly-featured and highly accurate device for athletes. It also doesn't require a cell signal to track or show performance data. However, this functionality comes at a steep price | An excellent fitness tracker for multi-sport athletes and Apple aficionados, this device provides a ton of function beyond just recording biometrics and serving as a workout partner. The only drawback is a short battery life | An excellent fitness tracker for athletes at an affordable price | A great fitness tracker from a brand that is synonomous with fitness tracking, this device offers function at a good price | The device offers a lot of function and value, although it has some limitations related to heart rate monitoring and health tracking |
| Rating Categories | Garmin Forerunner 965 | Apple Watch 9 | Garmin Vivoactive 5 | Fitbit Charge 6 | Amazfit Band 7 |
| Fitness Impact (30%) | |||||
| Health Impact (30%) | |||||
| Ease of Use (20%) | |||||
| Battery (10%) | |||||
| Fit (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Garmin Forerunner 965 | Apple Watch 9 | Garmin Vivoactive 5 | Fitbit Charge 6 | Amazfit Band 7 |
| Measured Weight | 1.89 oz | 1.69 oz | 1.26 oz | 1 oz | 1 oz |
| Measured Display Diameter | 41.8 mm | 34.0 mm | 38.0 mm | 19.4 mm | 21.9 mm |
| Measured Charge Time | 1.70 Hours | 1.20 Hours | 1.70 Hours | 1.60 Hours | 1.75 Hours |
| Heart Rate Average Beats Per Second Off | 1 | 1.6 | 4.4 | 15.4 | 15.9 |
| Screen Type | AMOLED | OLED Up to 2000 nits |
AMOLED | AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Heart Rate Monitor | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sleep Tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Built-In GPS Tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Altimeter (Elevation Tracking) | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Did a single charge survive a 3 day weekend? | Yes | No | Yes | Yes - highly depends on usage | Yes |
| Manufacturer Stated Battery Life | up to 23 days in Smart Watch mode | Up to 18 hours Up to 36 hours in Low Power Mode |
Up to 11 days 5 days display always-on |
7 days | Heavy Usage: 12 Days Typical Usage: 18 Days Battery Saver Mode: 28 Days |
| Sensors | GPS, wrist heart rate monitor, Pulse OX blood oxygen saturation monitor, SatIQ, barometric altimeter, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer, thermometer, ambient light sensor | Electrical heart sensor and ECG app, Third-generation optical heart sensor, High and low heart rate notifications, Irregular rhythm notifications, Sleep stages, Temperature sensing, Compass with Waypoints and Backtrack, Always-on altimeter, High-g accelerometer, Ambient light sensor | GPS, Glonass, Garmin Elevate Wrist Heart Rate Monitor, Pulse Ox Blood Oxygen Saturation Monitor, Compass, Accelerometer, Thermometer, Ambient Light Sensor | Heart rate monitor and tracking, built-in GPS, SPO2 monitoring, 3-axis accelerometer, temperature skin, blood glucose tracking and NFC | BioTracker™ 3.0 PPG biometric sensor (supports blood-oxygen, 1PD + 2LED), 3-Axis acceleration sensor, geomagnetic sensor |
| Memory | 32 GB | 32 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB | Not mentioned |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth®, ANT+®, Wi-Fi® | Available cellular connectivity Works with Apple Watch For Your Kids (GPS + Cellular models) |
Bluetooth®, ANT+®, Wi-Fi® | Apple iOS 15 and higher Android 10 or higher |
Android 7.0 and above, iOS 12.0 and above |
| Water Resistance | 5 ATM (50m) | 5 ATM (50m) | 5 ATM (50m) | 5 ATM (50m) | 5 ATM (50m) |
| Notifications | Text, call, push notifications | Text, call, push notifications including ability to call/text from watch | Text, call, push notifications | Text, call, push notifications | Text, call, push notifications |
| Alarm Clock Function | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Music Control | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Color Options? | -3 colors | -Aluminum (5 colors) or Stainless Steel (3 colors) -an absolute plethora of bands available |
-4 colors | -3 colors | -5 colors |
The Garmin brand is highly respected in the running, cycling, aviation, marine, and automotive industries. The Forerunner 965 distinguishes itself from other trackers in our lineup with its GPS accuracy and robust data analysis. It may cast a shadow bigger than most people's wrists, but after we completed our testing for fitness trackers, it is the one device our lead tester continues to wear every day and use in her training.
The Forerunner 965 is a super-charged training buddy that will track every mile and vertical foot gained (or lost) and record your heart rate with superb accuracy. Like a good buddy, it will also give you suggestions regarding pacing or effort during an activity. However, the auto-detection function doesn't work well for training or exercise, so you have to hit “start” to take advantage of the rich features.
The Forerunner 965 has a built-in antenna that works with satellite navigation systems in the U.S. (GPS), Europe (Galileo), and Russia (GLONASS). When you start an activity, like a run, the device takes a moment to find at least four global positioning satellites and establish location before notifying you that tracking is ready.
With an internal barometric altimeter, the Forerunner 965 determines elevation gain and loss from direct measurements (most other trackers determine elevation from a connected smartphone and calculate it from the digital map). Just like the GPS function, the altimeter is highly accurate.
Some of us on the test team have long wished for a way to automatically track laps on an indoor climbing wall. It suffices to say that with the Forerunner, we can focus on pulling down while the tracker does the work of logging our total ascent.
Note that when tracking elevation in the “indoor climbing” activity, the altimeter initiates tracking after it detects an elevation change, so there is a brief delay before it starts to track a separate route, or lap, on a wall. When we accounted for the vertical height required for tracking to start (about 5 ft), we confirmed that the Forerunner had indeed accurately recorded our vertical ascent. Thank you, Garmin!
The Garmin had an error rate of 0.33% in our distance tests. It was always spot on when cross-checked with known distances on hiking, running, and biking routes. This accuracy is beneficial when monitoring pace on runs, and it is highly responsive, so anytime we were trying to hit or maintain a specific pace in our training, it could tell us exactly how fast we were running at that moment.
The Forerunner measures step count throughout the day, like most fitness trackers. We revealed an error rate of 0.58% in our successive test trials.
During our rides with the Forerunner, we could see duration, distance, total ascent, elevation, heart rate, heart rate zone, and lap time. There is also a function for measuring power output (although you need a Garmin power meter). Afterward, we could view a map of our route, average and max speeds, average and max heart rate, elevation gain and loss, time spent in each heart rate zone, and the cumulative training effect.
The Forerunner is also superb at tracking a variety of workouts. We particularly like the fact that we can easily navigate through multiple screens during an activity and access all controls directly through the device. There are also many workouts available directly on the device, and it indicates when the running pace is above or below a specified range. It also differentiates between active and rest periods. In addition, our lead tester loved that the Forerunner includes visuals for some of the workouts, like yoga or pilates.
Most of the trackers we tested offer a variety of activities that can be measured, but the Forerunner distinguishes itself from othera because it tracks activities with more nuance. For example, in running workouts, you can get a score for Hills, Running Dynamics, Vertical Oscillation, Stride Length, Running Power, and Performance Condition. Also, for a swimming workout, you can set the pool size and stroke style to generate data on strokes, length, swim speed, and laps. Furthermore, after testing it on a treadmill, an option popped up to calibrate it, which further improved the accuracy.
There are extensive options for connecting with other athletes, friends, and family via the Connections tab in the app. The LiveTrack feature is something we like; you can automatically share activities with others and include a real-time map of your location (note that this feature requires that you carry a connected smartphone with you). We have experienced firsthand the benefits of setting goals and pursuing challenges, so we were delighted to see that Garmin includes these features in the app. Also featured are Expeditions that inspire you to accumulate the equivalent elevation of different peaks or treks via steps or mileage.
The Forerunner hits it way out of the park for fitness and health features, except diet tracking. If you need a tracker that can help you track calories and estimate caloric consumption, you'll want to look elsewhere.
Heart rate accuracy is excellent, although we did relearn the importance of software updates when we experienced wonky heart rate readings two weeks into our test period (suffice to say, the update resolved the issue). Our lead tester stressed the value of the color-coded heart rate zone ring on the Garmin: “It's huge, bright, and all you have to do is glance down at your tracker to check in with where you're at while in the middle of an activity.” The heart rate sensor is also highly responsive to spikes and dips during HIIT workouts. It didn't miss a beat!
Diet tracking is where we feel the Forerunner is lacking. We could record water intake, but otherwise the options are minimal. “It doesn't seem like diet tracking is meant to be part of the Garmin fitness system,” reported our lead tester.
Sleep tracking performance with the Forerunner is excellent. “I've been blown away by the consistency of this tracker,” reported our lead tester. It did not fail to track every night of sleep and seamlessly uploaded the data to the app. After each night, we could access a report that included restless moments, resting heart rate, body battery charge (a unique Garmin score), average respiration, average heart rate, sleep stages, and more. The only downsides in sleep tracking are a slight inconsistency with autodetecting naps and the fact that sleeping with the Forerunner is a bit like spooning a small sundial.
Thanks to a suite of sensors for monitoring biometrics such as heart rate, blood oxygen, skin temperature, and ambient light, the Forerunner provides a wealth of health data and health impact scores such as training readiness, heart rate variability, stress, sleep quality, and others. According to our lead tester, the tracking on the Forerunner and the app “are very data-driven. No frills. No fluff articles or clickbait. Just full data with clean graphs and convenient color coding. It is easy to understand and gets straight to the point.”
By the end of our testing period, the Forerunner had more mileage on it than most trackers see in a year. It still performed beautifully, but just as importantly, we still found it frictionless to navigate the menus or to finger-dance through the app. We mean it when we say that this tracker became like a trusted companion. The only time we had conflict was when we needed to put on a jacket or shirt with tight sleeves.
Getting the watch and app set up is straightforward, and Garmin walks you through the process with clear information. You get data on steps, heart rate, and sleep after one day. However, it takes one week to three weeks to collect enough data to generate various scores related to training load, status, and heart rate variability.
We read some reviews that users feel the Garmin Connect app is outdated; however, we liked the accessibility of our data on the app. It might be a little simplistic in the formatting, but we never had an issue with auto-uploads, and our lead tester shared that “customizing it didn't require any extra time spent reading the instructions or trying to figure out what the terminology meant.” There are additional Garmin apps, such as Garmin IQ, for downloading different watch faces or other features.
Not for the faint of wrist, the Forerunner has a commanding presence. We are willing, however, to put up with the inconvenience for the device's capability. Some may feel differently!
We've mentioned that the Forerunner is a bit like a tank, but “it makes up for its clunkiness by having such a crisp, gorgeous display,” reflected our lead tester after logging another marathon day of traversing peaks in the local mountains. The five tactile buttons for accessing functions are complimented by the touch screen for selecting items. There are a ton of ways to customize the tracker and to set it up just the way you want it. We did scratch the display during our testing, and although that didn't affect the function at all, we wondered what the display would look like after a year of training and adventuring!
The Forerunner paired quickly with our iPhone and Android test phones. It is more functional with Android phones (you can respond to texts with a tiny keyboard and view text photos), but otherwise, it seamlessly connects with Strava and auto-uploads activities. You can also control music and access a mobile wallet.
We LOVE that the Forerunner offers so much overall function and doesn't require a subscription. However, some third-party apps or watch faces that can be installed via the Garmin IQ app have a paywall.
The Forerunner is rated to five atmospheres and is made for swimmers, surfers, and the like. Water exposure didn't toggle any features by accident or stop tracking (something that happened with some of the trackers in our lineup).
“The battery life on this tracker is so impressive,” reported our lead tester. “Despite constant usage, it tends to outlast all of the trackers in the lineup.” Honestly, how does the Forerunner do it? It stays alive for days on end while recording a wealth of data, all while rocking industry-leading GPS accuracy. The Forerunner may be expensive, but it has staying power.
It can be a bit annoying at charging time, however, due to the delicate connection between the cord and the four-pin port. It isn't a dealbreaker, but the cord can easily be knocked loose. In terms of the time needed to get back to 100%, the Garmin is near the middle of the pack. However, for the battery life it offers, a sub-two-hour charging time seems pretty good to us.
The Forerunner 965 is available in three colors but only one size. Our lead tester has small wrists, but the Forerunner doesn't play favorites–it makes a statement no matter who is wearing it.
That being said, the band was like a good workout partner and didn't get cranky in the heat or give up when things got sweaty. Our lead tester was used to the weight of the tracker after three consecutive days, and after nearly three weeks, she reported that “it feels natural and comfortable.”
We acknowledge that you have to train yourself to get used to the Forerunner for sleep tracking. The bulk became worth it when we realized we were walking around with as much sleep data as a university research department.
If you are serious about training and have witnessed how transformative fitness data can be for races or athletic events, you'll want to consider what the Forerunner can do for you. For those more interested in just sleep data and monitoring general activity, the Forerunner is probably more device than you need, and it won't be worth the weight or the expense.
