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Garmin
Forerunner 265S Watch

4.664921465968586 out of 5 stars
191 Reviews
$449.99
Color:Black

Size:

Size Chart

Quantity

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Why We Like The Garmin Forerunner 265S Watch

The Garmin Forerunner 265S Watch is like our own personal coach guiding us to a new personal best. In addition to GPS, weather, and music, this sport watch gives us complete health snapshots, training analyses, and personalized plans to make sure we keep progressing toward our goal. Plus, everything is easy to read and scroll through on the AMOLED touchscreen face that uses less battery power to deliver a more colorful and crisp display.


Details

  • Versatile, hardwearing sport watch for breaking through plateaus
  • Corning Gorilla Glass 3 is strong and scratch-resistant
  • AMOLED touchscreen display is vivid and clear
  • Syncs wirelessly to the Garmin Connect application
  • Battery lasts up to 24 hours in GPS-only GNSS mode
  • Able to withstand submersions up to 50 meters
  • Multi-activity tracking with reliable GNSS and Multi-Band systems
  • Small size fits wrists 4.5 - 7in in circumference
  • Item #GRMF068
Housing Material
fiber-reinforced polymer
Strap Material
silicone
Face Material
Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Movement
digital, AMOLED Optional Always-On Mode, 360 x 360 pixels
Pedometer
yes
Odometer
yes
Altimeter
yes
Barometer
yes
Heart Rate Monitor
yes, wrist-based
Technical Features
Please see size chart for complete list of technical features.
Wireless
Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi
Operating System
Connect IQ, Garmin Connect
Date Indicator
yes
Weekday Indicator
yes
Alarms
alarm clock, goal achieved alerts
Backlight
yes
Battery Type
rechargeable lithium-ion
Battery Life
[smartwatch mode] 15 days, [GPS-only GNSS] 24hr, [SatIQ AutoSelect GNSS] 18hr, [all-systems GNSS + Multi-Band] 15hr, [GPS-only GNSS + music] 7.5hr, [SatIQ AutoSelect GNSS + music] 7hr, [All-Systems GNSS + Multi-Band + music] 6hr
Low Battery Indicator
yes
Includes
Forerunner 265S GPS watch, USB-C charging/data cable, documentation
Claimed Weight
1.38oz
Submersible
5ATM (up to 50m)
Face Size
[diameter] 28.1mm (1.1in)
Manufacturer Warranty
1 year
Activity
running, cycling, swimming, skiing, snowboarding, nordic skiing, stand-up paddleboarding, rowing, training, yoga, ebiking, mountain biking, hiking, casual

What do you think about this product?

Overall Rating

4.5 based on 191 ratings

Review Summary

1 Stars - 3 reviews
2 Stars - 6 reviews
3 Stars - 9 reviews
4 Stars - 16 reviews
5 Stars - 157 reviews

Customer Images

Here's what customers have to say

The product offers great performance, accuracy, and long battery life. Customers find the user-friendly interface, customizable settings, and tracking capabilities for various activities to be particularly useful. The watch is praised for its sleek and lightweight design, providing comfort during long activities. While a few customers experienced minor issues, the overall sentiment is overwhelmingly positive.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews.

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5 out of 5 stars

October 26, 2025

love the watch

I updated my watch from the 245 to this and I love the new screen and extra features. Still love this watch works great and the battery lasts a while.

Janzen Q
ExpertVoice.com

Originally reviewed on ExpertVoice.com

5 out of 5 stars

October 20, 2025

Love it

My girlfriend bought it for me because she has the same one and I love it

Fonsi

Originally reviewed on Garmin

5 out of 5 stars

October 12, 2025

Solid 245 upgrade

Absolutely loving this watch! I bought it around a year ago as a replacement to my 245. While I primarily use it for hiking and cycling, it’s on my wrist pretty much 24/7. Love the smaller face compared to the standard size. I’d recommend to anyone from walkers to marathoners. Great beginner interface with tons of data on sleep, menstrual cycles, and overall health!

Chloe P
ExpertVoice.com

Originally reviewed on ExpertVoice.com

3 out of 5 stars

October 11, 2025

No accurate for sleep & poor connection to iPhone

The garmin looks better than my Apple Watch but it’s very glitchy with the connection to my phone and often doesn’t display weather and other metrics. Texts don’t come through reliably either

Katie a72

Originally reviewed on Garmin

4 out of 5 stars

October 10, 2025

Bought as a second one just to have for swimming use and replacement. Great for running!

Erin C
ExpertVoice.com

Originally reviewed on ExpertVoice.com

5 out of 5 stars

October 6, 2025

Great Feature

I bought this a month ago. Very nice watch qnd feature. The measurements are accurate. Also the garmin coach very nice.

user image
Alfiusnicol

Originally reviewed on Garmin

5 out of 5 stars

September 14, 2025

Love it

Great addition to my MTB kit. I have always shied away from wearing a watch, but the janky GPS signal from my phone when recording Strava made me consider a Garmin. Since I've gotten it, I've completely adopted it's functions into my life, and find great benefit from tracking my sleep quality, fitness metrics, HR, and more. It also serves as a great link to my phone, saving me the trouble of pulling out my phone every time I get a notification. Excellent product.

Jesse C
ExpertVoice.com

Originally reviewed on ExpertVoice.com

5 out of 5 stars

September 13, 2025

Great watch for running

The 265s has been extremely helpful and motivational in getting into a regular workout routine (from 0 to 3 workouts per week). The charts and metrics are helpful. Before I was always running race pace and not sticking with a set running plan. Now I use the running zones and try to stay in zone 2 or 1 for 80% of weekly workout plan so I get more running in and build up my endurance. Also, the watch allows you to setup interval runs and setup custom pace target ranges for your workout. For example on my easy run, I setup pace for 10 to 11 min per mile and it gives audible alerts in real time to you when going outside of target pace range while listening to offline music at same time. It also features a trainer program that builds a custom training plan for you based on an upcoming marathon, etc. The features I am using are barely breaking the surface of what is available on the watch. I rarely take time to write reviews but have been thoroughly impressed with this watch.

aaronrunner

Originally reviewed on Garmin

2 out of 5 stars

September 11, 2025

Unreliable heart rate readings

I bought this as an upgrade to my FR45 and was excited for the brilliant screen and advanced features. Unfortunately, that excitement has been replaced with disappointment and annoyance. Two of the key features are complete fails: The optical heart rate and the Bluetooth headphone connection. Allow me to elaborate. The OHR is completely unreliable. During activities, it often displays a heart rate I know is grossly incorrect just from feel. Sometimes I'll take the watch off and immediately put it back on and the HR will jump up 10-20 beats in a matter of seconds. If I want HR with any degree of accuracy, I have to wear a chest strap, which is unfortunate. If you read the Garmin forums, there are many other users plagued by the inaccuracy of the OHR on this watch, and everyone is frustrated by it. Second issue is the Bluetooth connection to headphones randomly and repeatedly dropping. The main reason I bought this watch was for the music functionality (so I could leave my phone behind during runs), but it's so bad, it's useless. I have to run with either my phone or a separate MP3 player if I want to listen to music. If I had to do it all over, I would not have bought this watch.

Casual Runner

Originally reviewed on Garmin

5 out of 5 stars

September 11, 2025

Wear it everyday

I have used this watch for triathalon, running, biking, paddling (the sup feature), pool and open water swimming and I love it! I think it’s a lot cuter/fits better as a “S” than the normal sized garmins. I like the white and teal too. Activity tracking seems accurate and it has way more metrics than I could ever want. I also like that it has tap to pay. I’ve never been able to set up the Spotify features, but I think that’s user error. The heart rate monitor is nice and it does a great job projecting heart rate to my bike computer (Garmin) and to my bike trainer (wahoo).

Geneva G
ExpertVoice.com

Originally reviewed on ExpertVoice.com

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