Hey people welcome to The Run Testers. In this video we’re taking a first look at a brand new addition to the Garmin Forerunner line-up, the Garmin Forerunner 165. It’s a new GPS running watch that slots in between the Forerunner 55 and the Forerunner 265. It’s the cheapest watch in Garmin’s line-up to pack a sharp, bright AMOLED touchscreen. We’ve been testing it ahead of the launch and we’re here to give you our initial impressions. There will be a full review up on the channel later so don’t forget to subscribe and ring the bell to hear when that lands. But for now here’s our first look at the new Garmin Forerunner 165 and Forerunner 165 Music.
JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
0:00 – Intro
0:41 – Details: Price, specs & design
3:22 – The Run Test: Design
5:18 – The Run Test: Battery life
7:31 – The Run Test: GPS accuracy
9:15 – The Run Test: Heart rate accuracy
11:16 – Early Verdict
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Hey people welcome to the Run testers And in this video we're taking a first Look at brand new addition to the Garmin 4Runner lineup we have got the 4Runner 165 it's a new GPS running watch that Slots in between the 4un 55 and the 4Runner 265 it's the cheapest watch in Garmin's lineup to now pack a sharp Bright AMOLED touchscreen now we've been Testing it ahead of the launch and we're Here to give you our initial Impressions There will be a full review up on the Channel later so don't forget to Subscribe and ring the bell to hear when That lands but for now here's our first Look first run impressions of the new Garmin 4Runner 165 and the 4Runner 165 Music so first up some quick specs and Some key details then well we asked for It but Garmin hadn't revealed the full Spec sheet at the time of recording but Here is what we know ahead of launch About the Gman 4 and a 165 and 165 music So let's start with the price well there Are two models of the 4 and a 165 there The 165 regular which is priced at $249.99 in the UK $299.99 in the US the 4 and 165 music is $289.99 in the UK 349.99 in the US for context the 4455 is £180 the 265 is £430 the 4 and a255 is £300 and the chus pace 3 is £219 on design you've got a pretty Standard Garmin with a 44 mil case it's Slightly bigger than the 455 got the
Familiar five button setup and quick Release Swap all silicone straps it Weighs in at a lightweight 40 G but the Headline really is This 1.2 in color Touchscreen AMOLED display that brings That smart watch style bright crisp Lively display to the lower end of Watches for the first time if you can Call 250 lower end battery life is Shorter than you'll find on a 4run 55 or A 265 or a 255 or the pace 3 on paper You get 19 hours of GPS runtime Smartwatch battery life is listed as 11 Days that's also shorter than all those Other options I've just mentioned and That will drop once you start start Using the music on the music version as Well when it comes to GPS there's no Multiband here just regular all systems GPS if you want dual frequency you'll Have to upgrade to a 4 on a 265 or Consider the pace 3 as a rival option The music Edition offers offline storage And Playback for apps like Spotify diesa Amazon music those kind of things those Third party Services there's also smarts Like Garmin pay contacts payments on Both watches and the usual smartphone Notifications those General things that You'll find on a garment on features as Well you're going to get pretty much That comprehensive lineup of garment's Health Fitness and connected features That includes everything from like 25
Sport profiles to running power running Form metrics on the wrist there's Adaptive training plans Pace Pro which Provides Runners with great adjusted Pace guidance based on the course Elevation that you're racing or your Route you're running you can also create And send routes to follow in your watch But we're assuming there's no offline Mapping here though we weren't had those Details confirmed you'll also have Access to things like garmin's Morning Report tells you how you're feeling in The morning body battery blood oxygen Monitoring sleep tracking and nap Detection now there are some important Emissions though training readiness and Training status are not here there's no Triathlon mode either it's also worth Noting that everything is identical Between the 165 and the music aside from That additional music there's also Wi-Fi Connectivity on the music models but not On the regular 165 onto the run test then and let's Start with the design I tested the 4Runner 165 music and this is pretty Much Garmin standard fair in terms of The build you've got kind of Cheaper Materials here overall but that keeps Things nice and light and it's an okay Looking watch overall the AMOLED screen Really though is the hero no doubt about That and it's a clear step up from your
Sort of regular displays you're getting On older watches to the point where People who've noticed this watch on my Wrist comment on the screen it's bright It's Lively it's crisp it's very easy to Read in all conditions it's maybe not as Punchy and vibrant as the 965 and you Are sacrificing battery life here here For the pleasure of that bright screen But it's still a big tick in the box if That's something you've been looking for On your running watches for a while and Overall I found this A happy watch to Where it feels compact it's pretty Disappearing on the wrist the strap is Fuss free to get a good fit it feels Nice and strong and robust as well the Screen real estate is ample in terms of All your stats the touch screen and Buttons are nicely responsive the Software is Snappy and generally speedy And easy to navigate there's also a good Level of customization here on this Watch from your run data screens to your Glances and all those things you know Garmin has gotten really good at Offering customization overall so I like The design of the 4Runner 165 it's a Very familiar look and feel to anyone Who's used any of the Garmin 4 onun a Range really you've got the five buttons Which are very easy to use to navigate The menus and use on the run when you're Sweaty or it's rainy or something like
That and the AMOLED screen is really Nice it's comparable to the ones on the More expensive garments the touchcreen Is nice and responsive and yeah it's Just a nice little upgrade to the lower End of the four in a line to have that AMOLED screen on there obviously the Price hasn't really dropped to the entry Level price of the other Garmin 4Runners But it is the cheapest AMOLED 4Runner And it looks and feels the part as a Proper running watch with that AMOLED Screen at the lower price point than Things like the 4 a 265 it's also very Light and comfortable to wear 24/7 I've Had it on the whole time you know when Sleeping and stuff like that and yeah It's a really nice compfortable watch to Use all the Time when it comes to battery life in These initial test I got to put the 4Runner 165 music through a full battery Life cycle so I took it off charger 100% Used it till it died I got 8 Days usage With training that included 4 and 1/ Half hours of GPS run time I also ran The Barcelona half marathon with Brooks In 1 hour 25 and that burned 11% battery Life a 1 hour run burned 6% and the Average overnight burn on this watch was Around 3% which is pretty standard no Trouble there at all it's also worth Noting that during my tests I had the Screen brightness set to full the always
On display was off during General use But on during workouts and I had screen Time out set to 15 seconds we weren't Able to connect a Garmin Connect there's No notifications mashed up into that Battery life in there which can speed up The battery drain I also think for those Running or training half a dozen times a Week you're basically likely to be Charging this watch once a week overall Based on those settings which is it's Okay not great but okay and then battery Life it's been okay so we've not got This link to Garing connects yet ahead Of the Embargo so I haven't had Notifications coming in but on the run I've seen basically about a 5% drop per Hour with GPS battery life which is Equivalent obviously to 20 hours that's Pretty good that's across several runs Of different length incl one over two Hours pretty consistent uh rate of drop Off during runs and that's fine 20 hours Of GPS is okay for a watch this size you Know there are watches that will last a Lot longer these days if you're not Going to have that AMOLED screen even of This size so it's not going to be a Strong point for the watch but I don't Think it holds it back you know you've Got the Amal screen is a lightweight Small watch but you are still getting Decent battery life on the run and then Off outside the Run prob been charging
It twice so it's about every 5 days or So had to charge it I'd say we'll get a Bit more accurate data on that once We've got notifications coming in though Because those do sometimes reduce the Battery life a little bit but I would Say broadly speaking I think the battery Life is okay for the brightness and the Impressiveness of the screen you're Getting here I've had the screen always On by the way for as well so if you Don't have it always on you can extend That outside of training battery life a Fair bit but I like to have the screen Always on because that's one of the joys Of using this watch and it doesn't Really mean you're going to have to Charge it every two days like a Smartwatch or anything like that it Still lasts pretty well so I do think The battery is pretty good for a watch Of this size with a nice bright screen GPS I tested the GPS accuracy up against The Garmin injo 2's dual band mode at The Barcelona half marathon I have to Say that the 4 and a 165 without that Duel Band still did remarkably well Overall on distance the 165 hit up 13.29% 2 on my half a dozen other runs It's been a close match for the Enduro Do those overall distances as well and The maps so in those early tests I think There were some really positive signs For the GPS tracking accuracy on this
Watch is a cheaper watch for it even Without that dual band The accuracy Front the GPS has been pretty good it's A shame you don't get the dual band mode On here like you you do on the 4255 Which is kind of an equivalent price but Doesn't have the AMOLED screen it's kind Of Garmin picking and choosing features To put on different watches but the Accuracy has been pretty good I've been Testing it against the Garmin epics Pro Uh throughout the time I've had with the 4 and 165 done a lot of running in that Time and overall I found that the 165 Has matched up pretty well to the Epic Pro even under tree cover or doing tight Little Loops it tends to be slightly Generous I find on pacing so it gives me A little bit more distance than the Epic Pro but over the course of this week Where I've done you know just about 125 Km it's added up to about a 700 meter Difference to the runs the Epic pro has Tracked compared to the runs tracked by The 4165 so it's not a big deal you look On the GPS traces from some runs you can See it maybe being a bit wider not Necessarily always getting you on the Right side of the road give you a little Bit of extra distance when you go around Corners that kind of thing but I think GPS is pretty accurate No jeel band mean The battery life is a bit better it's a Shame not to have that option that I
Think to use occasionally but yeah I Haven't had a problem with the GPS so Far it's been Fine now when it comes to heart rate Accuracy I put the 165 Optical heart Rate tracking up against the polar h10 Tether to my Enduro 2 and the accuracy Here was surprisingly good as well that During the half marathon it was great it Clocked my average at 158 BPM my Max at 175 the h10 did 158 for average and my Max was a couple beats higher at 177 There's no crazy spikes or crazy Anomalies in the data to for that half Marathon it was pretty consistent and While I won't say it matched the heart Rate strap beat for beat it wasn't too Far off really good performance on that One test I also did a session with six Times 3 minute at herty PACE again with The h10 and uro combo up against the 165 Optical and the optical did a pretty Solid job job here too it trct the Intervals and the intensity of those Intervals and the Rises really closely Compared to the h10 not too many signs Of lag and Lurch which you can sometimes Get did have a tendency to read three to Five beats higher for some small Sections once I was hitting the top Paces but on the whole wasn't Million Miles Away from the chest strap and I'd Say as with the GPS so far the optical Sensor here has performed really very
Well I'm quite impressed heart R Accuracy hasn't been great had a lot of Runs it's been really bad 12 12 Mile With the watch where it just read it had My Cadence the whole time so basically I Should have been dead by rights given my Heart rate that high the heart rate was Higher than my max heart rate for the Entirety of a 20 mile run so over 2 Hours and yeah that's not good a few Things like that obviously you've now Got the training stuff on the watch Things like training effect and although There's not a lot of training analysis On the watch if you want to use those Features which are one of the big things To add to this watch at the lower end You know you need accurate heart rate Data so do a few more bit more testing I'll probably link up the chest RP for a While try and get a bit more use out of The training effect ahead of our full Review but yeah heart rate has been hit And miss like some runs have been Completely wrong some have been okay Some have read up and down sometimes It's been cadenced like it's more or Less what you expect from the optical Heart rate sensor A lot of the time it Will be fine but especially in the Winter it won't necessarily be that Accurate and I would use a chest STP if You're going to use the any of the Training info on the watch or indeed do
Runs based on heart Rate verdict then in my early test I've Been pretty impressed with the 165 music The heart rate and GPS accuracy looks Solid the AMOLED display aside that Design and build are basic but and Comfortable there's a nice compact Disappearing feel to it it's nice to Wear on the wrist I think some people Will enjoy the fact the screen is a bit Smaller the screen is also great and That's definitely going to appeal to a Lot of Runners I'm not so keen on Trading the battery life for that screen Quality I think I'd prefer to have Battery but that's all about priorities And for most people there's still enough Juice on the battery here to tackle most Things it'll easily cater for a marathon For example and it'll probably even take You up to 100K Ultra what I think is Interesting here though is that Garmin Pushed the 265 price way up not long ago And this watch now almost slots in at The price of the old 255 so if you're Not bothered by the screen and the music I think you might better off looking a Four and a 255 packs a better battery Life and you get dual band GPS you can Also find deals on that now as well if You're happy to look outside the Garmin Stable the corus pace 3 would be another Really good alternative here again There's no AMOLED display on that watch
But you do get jaw band GPS and a much Longer battery life so verdict is this Is another strong watch release from Garmin like they are very good at Basically picking price points and Features to put on watches to make sure That they are you know they're not cheap By any means but they're not so Expensive it's completely out the Realms Possibility so it does make it quite Taz Has popped up in the background there Here Comes c um it's yeah what was I Saying it's uh yeah it's a tricky one I Don't it's not as cheap as I hoped Basically that's nearly always the case With watches like this from Garmin you Know you think in entry level you might Be looking at more like the 455 pricing That's not the case basically it's just A fair bit cheaper than the 4 a 265 Losing a few features a couple of the Key ones being dualband GPS and um Training readiness and more insightful Training analysis all around and you Know those aren't absolutely necessary I Think the Dual Band GPS is a bit of a Shame because I do like dual GPS and you Do get it at watches around this price Things like the coros pace 3 or Gins 4 And a 255 obviously no triath mode here As well which will be a big loss to People who are triathletes but I'm not a Triathlete so that's not a big loss for Me but yeah it's in that awkward
Position of being it's not as cheap as I'd like but it's not wildly out of Whack for the market at large because You know for an AMOLED screen with this Quality of sports tracking you're really Seeing that elsewhere from other brands You Garmin have got some other kind of More on their spart watch table things Like the venue square but they are not As good a sports tracker as the 4 and A1 165 they haven't got all the buttons They haven't got even The Limited Training analysis on this and so yeah it Does stand out in its price record I Think as a really good option but you Certainly can get cheaper options if You're not too fast about the AMOLED you You can see things like the corus pace 3 Or the 4 255 from Garmin you're going to Get dualband GPS you're going to get Better battery life and you know you are Getting really fantastic run tracking Watches there that just don't have the Amed screen so it's yeah lot lot comes Down to as always whether you're going To pay for the AMOLED screen but I do Think it's a pretty brilliant little Watch and one that gin needed a cheaper AMOLED option because the 265 is so Expensive and so much more expensive Than the the 2×5 line used to be and now This kind of Replaces that 245 priced watch which Obviously was one of the most popular
Watches and still is and I think you're Now getting a watch at that price with Those features now with the AMOLED Screen and it's just a shame Garmin Shaved off a couple of features that I Like on their more expensive watches but That's always going to be the case with The way garmin's four on the lineup Works it's very much a tick box and Which feat you're going to get for which Price but all around I do think it it Merits its price tag but I do wish it' Come in a little bit cheaper to really Be a bit more of a slam dunk so there You have it that's been our first Impressions of the Garmin 4 and a 165 We'll have a full review up on the Channel in the coming weeks once we've Done more thorough testing so make sure To hit subscribe and ring the bell to Hear when that video lands otherwise It's been a pleasure to walk you through This brand new watch and give you our First thoughts on our early tests now if You're interested in the choros pce 3 Which we've mentioned here there's a Video that you should watch appearing on The channel just about now Otherwise it's been great to chat to you Thanks for watching as ever and we hope To see you again soon on the Run testers Happy running everyone
