The Forerunner 165 series is the budget training watch Garmin needed
If you’re training for a race, few multisport watch brands do it like Garmin. But there are two things I don’t like about ‘em. They’re pricey, and the platform can be intimidating to newcomers. Have you seen its online store? For newbies, it’s tough to parse which of Garmin’s dozens of watches gets you the basics without destroying your wallet. Not anymore. After spending the last few weeks with the $299.99 Forerunner 165 Music, I’m convinced this — or the $249.99 standard version — is the Garmin watch that hits the sweet spot.
Three hundred smackeroos may not seem budget-friendly until you look at Garmin’s flagship watches. Those can go for a whopping $700 to well over $1,000. Even midrange watches, like the excellent Forerunner 265 series, retail for $450. I loved the Forerunner 265 series. The only thing I didn’t like was the price. And that’s what makes this particular watch so appealing. It’s a near clone of the smaller 265S but for $150 to $200 less. The only things you’re really missing are dual-frequency GPS and some sports profiles. (And like the Forerunner 265 series it’s also missing EKGs for atrial fibrillation.)
As for performance, in 95 percent of my daily use, I didn’t notice a difference. Even without dual-frequency GPS, you still get accurate outdoor activity tracking. I tested the 165 Music simultaneously with my phone and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 — both of which have dual-frequency GPS. The maps and distance reported all corresponded within a 10th of a mile. I might’ve seen more of a difference if I ran in a challenging environment, like Manhattan’s financial district. That said, I’ve done a lot of running with multisport watches with and without dual-frequency GPS. While dual-frequency GPS is more accurate, it mostly benefits folks who train in GPS dead zones. If that’s not you, you won’t likely notice.