Forerunner® 965 Running Smartwatch, Colorful AMOLED Display, Training Metrics and Recovery Insights, Amp Yellow and Black

I love my Forerunner 965 because it fits into my life without trying to hype me up or guilt me. It’s just there, quietly tracking things and giving me information I actually use. I like waking up and checking how I slept, not because I expect perfection, but because it explains why some days feel harder than others. When my sleep or HRV is off, it usually lines up with how I feel. That makes the data feel real, not gimmicky. Running with it feels natural. The screen is easy to read without thinking, even when I’m tired or zoning out. I don’t have to fight the watch to get what I need. Pace, heart rate, distance — it’s all just there when I glance down. I like that it doesn’t force motivation. If I’m ready to train, it confirms it. If I’m not, it doesn’t shame me — it just says I might want to take it easy. Some days I listen, some days I don’t. Either way, it adapts. I also like the small things: the battery lasting long enough that charging isn’t part of my routine, the way trends build over time, and how progress shows up slowly instead of all at once. It makes improvement feel realistic.

The Garmin 965 is the standard by which every other running watch should be judged. Battery life is excellent, the build is tough, and the thing just works. I’ve banged it around on trail runs, soaked it with sweat and salt and pool water, and dragged it through travel without a second thought. It takes the abuse off a kettlebell being slammed against it on my wrist and doesn’t flinch. The AMOLED screen is bright enough to read in full sun and makes the older displays feel dated. It adds just the right amount of sharpness and color without feeling like a gimmick. The wrist-based HR is not perfect, but just as good as anything else out there. There’s not much to critique. It’s a very complete training tool, and the smart features work well, though I hardly use them.

Love, Love, LOVE my Garmin Forerunner 965!! I switched from an apple watch and the only thing I really miss at all was the ability to "Close my Rings" in Activity and Health. Garmin has much better training stats and I'm loving the gps/maps for my trail running. This baby lasted through a marathon and still had battery life to go! My apple watch could NEVER. The features are superior from any previous watch, and I very much think it was worth the hefty price! I'm still getting used to having to use the buttons on the side to clear notifications etc, but I'm slowly adapting to how this watch functions!! As for how comfortable, light, and nice it fits on me– I'm a pretty small gal! I'm 5'3" and 120lbs soaking wet haha, I was worried about this watch being too heavy and big on my wrist but it fits quite well! It doesn't bug me on my wrist while I'm active, or even while I'm sleeping! I do wish it came with instructions on how to change the band, but youtube and a quick google search will give me the information I need! I do really like that the watch had a black colored metal option for the bezel of the watch, as I only wear gold jewelry and would've been a bit bummed if my watch was silver. I know that's minor, but black looks so much sleeker with the clothes I wear and whatnot, and I feel that it doesn't look too distracting since it's darker.

first of all, I have loved Garmin for a very very long time. I even gifted my boyfriend the Solar Instinct last year because I didn’t want him to get an apple watch, but Garmin instead 😆. this was a step up from my Garmin Forerunner 35 and WOW have I waited so long for this. to be honest I waited and waited to buy a new Garmin watch because I knew that whenever I did I would be simultaneously retiring my previous watch, and i wasn’t emotionally ready for that. but BOY does this watch make it easy to fall in love with. I can’t love it more. I like gym workouts, running, hiking, yoga and other stuff here and there like golf or stairstepping. this watch can track it all, hold a battery life for 2 weeks, tell me all the stats I want to see, give live notifications of calls and texts, connect to my calorie counting app (myfitnesspal), even detect and track my naps which it does very accurately. i’m so impressed and so happy I finally pulled the trigger on it. 10/10 very happy with this purchase.

This GPS sports watch was not cheap, but compared to others in its class it is one of the best value for the money. After three years it is still working like new, I wear it every day and the health and fitness reports are indispensable. And of course it does a fine job of instrumenting my daily runs, which is why I bought it in the first place. Love this watch and would recommend it or any of the newer versions.

I’m a big runner, who previously had an Apple Watch. Gotta say, this watch is significantly better than the Apple Watch. It has a significantly better battery life (over 20 days), tracks your sleep, workouts, and heart rate better than competitors. Only downside is that it’s software is slightly less modern and intuitive than my Apple Watch, but all the benefits outweigh the drawbacks in my opinion. I’ve had this watch for about a year and don’t regret purchasing it at all. There’s been consistent updates which have only improved the overall experience. If you’re a runner or big into fitness, you’ll love this watch.

If you value fitness get the Garmin. If you want a phone on your wrist get the Apple Watch. I finally made the switch back to Garmin after a decade with Apple and I am loving it. The 965 is a fitness watch first and a smartwatch second. You can get notifications from your phone on it but the first thing I did was cut off the smartwatch features. I want this strictly for fitness. My phone works just fine for notifications. I’m tired of my wrist constantly vibrating. One thing I love is how everything is in one app. All your information is in Garmin Connect. Apple had the fitness app with information then the Health app with different information. It’s so cluttered and not user friendly. And Garmin provides tons of information for your workouts. I’m mainly a runner and it is excellent for that. Not having to charge every day!!! I charged it a week ago and I have 50% battery still. And I’m wearing it all day for workouts and sleep tracking. I love this watch. If you’re serious about fitness or getting back in shape this watch will help you reach your goals.

For context, I moved from using a Forerunner 735 for running and the Lily for daily activity tracking to just using the Forerunner 965 for both. My 735 was a few years old, and had some expected battery degradation, and no longer was sufficient as I got into ultra running. The battery life is fantastic. I run 10-14 hours per week, walk usually 3 or 4 hours, plus occasional bike rides, strength sessions, etc. and I only need to charge every 10-ish days or so. I haven't run an ultra in it yet, but have one coming up, so I'll update if anything noteworthy happens there. I don't have the overnight pulse-ox on, as that does use significant battery. The display is pretty intuitive, and with customizations on your glances, etc. it's easy to see the data you want to see. It is very large. Not an issue, but especially moving from my daily activity tracker being the much smaller Lily, and me having a fairly small wrist, it felt a little like I was wearing something out of Spy Kids at first. I've grown used to it now, and it's not an issue, but it was an adjustment. The two smallish issues that I have: 1. I have tattoos on my wrists just behind the bone, which apparently interfere with the heart rate tracker. I wasn't expecting this, b/c the tattoos aren't new, and I did not have this issue with the 735 or the Lily. That said, I just scoot it back like a quarter inch, and it's fine, but that does mean that I have to wear the watch tighter than I prefer. Not a huge problem, but kind of annoying especially since it wasn't an issue on previous models. 2. Despite the fact that I have to wear the watch tighter than I normally would, any time my skin gets wet...like when I sweat on a run or a walk, or use it to track a swim, it slides a little bit on my arm, and loses my heart rate again, so I have to remember to tighten it another notch before activities. This likely would not be a problem without the tattoo, so for most people it probably won't be an issue. I have also had an issue getting music onto the watch, but I imagine that's user error, not an issue with the watch itself.