In the dynamic world of smartwatches, Garmin has established itself as a frontrunner, offering a diverse range of high-quality wearables tailored to various lifestyles. In this comprehensive review, we’ll dissect two of Garmin’s flagship models—the Garmin Vivoactive 5 and the Garmin Forerunner 265.
While both devices boast impressive features, they cater to distinct user preferences and needs. Join us as we delve into their designs, displays, health-tracking capabilities, smartwatch functionalities, battery life, outdoor activity tracking, and overall performance and differences between them.
Note: You can also check out our full detailed reviews of each of them separately below this review.
Design and Display:
The Garmin Vivoactive 5 arrives in a single, well-balanced size, sporting a 42-millimeter case with an 11-millimeter thickness. This versatile sizing ensures comfortable wear for a wide range of wrist sizes, exemplified by its excellent fit on a 185-millimeter wrist. Positioned between the Venu SQ2 and Venu 3 in terms of size, the Vivoactive 5 is thoughtfully designed to cater to diverse user profiles.
A standout feature of the Vivoactive 5 is its 1.2-inch AMOLED display with a vibrant 390 x 390 pixel resolution, shielded by Gorilla Glass 3. This represents a shift from previous Vivoactive models, which utilized transflective displays. The AMOLED screen delivers vivid colors and exceptional contrast, all while maintaining a commendable battery life ranging from four days to over a week, contingent on usage.
The Garmin Forerunner 265, on the other hand, offers two variants: the standard 265 with a 46-millimeter case and the 265s with a slightly smaller 41.7-millimeter case. These dimensions closely resemble its predecessor, the Forerunner 255.
Both versions maintain a consistent thickness, ensuring a comfortable fit on a variety of wrist sizes. Noteworthy is Garmin’s meticulous attention to detail in the watch band design, which combines style and comfort seamlessly. Moreover, the bands are easily interchangeable, thanks to the industry-standard band design.
The Forerunner 265 introduces a groundbreaking feature—a captivating AMOLED display with an impressive resolution of 416 by 416 pixels, a significant leap from its predecessor’s 260 by 260 pixels. This high pixel density results in sharper, more detailed visuals, enhancing the overall user experience. Despite the transition to an AMOLED display, Garmin ensures that the Forerunner 265 maintains excellent readability even in direct sunlight, a testament to its engineering finesse.
Navigation:
Navigating through the Garmin Vivoactive 5 is a breeze, facilitated by its responsive touchscreen and a two-button layout. The upper right-hand button grants access to workout profiles, while the lower right-hand button functions as a back key across the interface. These buttons seamlessly control various aspects of your activity, providing convenient and intuitive navigation.
Similarly, the Garmin Forerunner 265 offers a flexible navigation experience with its touchscreen functionality. While physical buttons remain accessible, the touchscreen adds an extra layer of convenience, especially for menu navigation and interaction with the watch.
Health and Activity Tracking:
Both the Garmin Vivoactive 5 and the Garmin Forerunner 265 excel in health and activity tracking, offering a comprehensive array of metrics to monitor well-being. They track essential health data, including steps, calories burned, heart rate, respiration rate, and blood oxygen saturation levels. Notably, they both feature Garmin’s “Body Battery” for estimating energy levels throughout the day.
Additionally, the Vivoactive 5 offers in-depth sleep tracking capabilities, including sleep stage monitoring and the ability to track naps. It even serves as an alarm to prevent oversleeping. The Forerunner 265 complements this with advanced sleep tracking, providing insights into sleep stages and assigning a sleep score.
A unique feature introduced with the Vivoactive 5 and later incorporated into the Forerunner 265 is Heart Rate Variability (HRV) status and a recovery time advisor. These features empower users to assess their readiness for training and overall health, offering valuable insights.
Smartwatch Features:
The Garmin Vivoactive 5 shines as a full-fledged smartwatch compatible with both iPhones and Android phones. It seamlessly handles notifications for texts, calls, and app alerts. The Vivoactive 5 introduces an on-screen keyboard, expanding communication options. Android users receive an added benefit of viewing photos sent to the watch.
The Forerunner 265, too, boasts a comprehensive set of smartwatch features. When paired with a compatible smartphone, users can receive notifications for apps, texts, and calls directly on the watch. Android users can reply with predefined messages, enhancing convenience.
Music enthusiasts will appreciate the Vivoactive 5’s capability to store and stream music to Bluetooth headphones during workouts, supporting popular streaming services. The Forerunner 265 offers offline music storage and playback, catering to a wide range of music preferences.
Battery Life:
The Garmin Vivoactive 5 impresses with its commendable battery life. When used as a smartwatch, it can last up to 11 days on a single charge, provided the always-on display is disabled. Real-world usage patterns may influence battery performance. For outdoor activities, the watch offers up to 17 hours with the highest accuracy GPS mode.
The Forerunner 265 boasts an equally impressive battery life, lasting up to two weeks as a smartwatch on a single charge. Even with the always-on display enabled, it maintains around five days of battery life. It excels in outdoor activity tracking, managing to record six hours of outdoor activities on the highest accuracy setting while maintaining about four and a half days of battery life.
Outdoor Activity Tracking:
The Garmin Vivoactive 5 proves to be a versatile companion for outdoor enthusiasts, offering a wide array of sports profiles, including swimming, skiing, snowboarding, and more. It introduces Open Water swimming, expanding its capabilities for aquatic sports. The watch provides insightful metrics for various activities, allowing users to monitor their performance effectively.
The Forerunner 265 doesn’t lag behind in outdoor activity tracking. It inherits a broad spectrum of sports profiles from its predecessor, including running, cycling, swimming, and more. Noteworthy is the introduction of advanced running metrics like vertical oscillation and ground contact time, providing valuable insights into running form and efficiency.
Accuracy in Tracking:
Both the Garmin Vivoactive 5 and the Garmin Forerunner 265 excel in tracking outdoor activities, thanks to their onboard GPS capabilities. They consistently deliver precise speed, distance, and pace data across various outdoor activities. The Forerunner 265 maintains a strong GPS signal even in challenging conditions, showcasing its reliability.
In terms of heart rate accuracy, both devices rely on Garmin’s elevated heart rate sensors. They perform admirably in cardio-based activities like running and cycling. However, for high-intensity workouts and weight training, wrist-based sensors may benefit from the addition of an external heart rate monitor for enhanced accuracy.
Comparison: Vivoactive 5 vs. Forerunner 265
While both the Garmin Vivoactive 5 and the Garmin Forerunner 265 offer a plethora of features, they cater to distinct user preferences. The Vivoactive 5 excels as a versatile smartwatch with robust health and activity-tracking capabilities. It’s a suitable choice for those seeking a balanced blend of fitness and smartwatch functionalities.
On the other hand, the Forerunner 265 stands as a sports powerhouse, offering advanced running metrics, precise GPS tracking, and a remarkable AMOLED display. It’s the ideal choice for dedicated athletes seeking in-depth performance feedback and a focus on fitness-oriented features.
In conclusion, the Garmin Vivoactive 5 and Garmin Forerunner 265 both represent the pinnacle of smartwatch technology in their respective categories. Whether you prioritize versatility and smartwatch features or require advanced fitness tracking and performance metrics, Garmin has you covered. These devices are a testament to Garmin’s commitment to engineering excellence, catering to a diverse range of users with varying lifestyles and fitness goals. Check out the latest prices of both the Garmin Vivoactive 5 and Garmin Forerunner 265.
- Full detailed reviews:
- Garmin Vivoactive 5 Review
- Garmin Forerunner 265 Review
