Garmin Forerunner 965 Opinion

The Garmin Forerunner 965 Review is Now Live

Price: USA $599 (REI Pre-Order **OPEN**), UK £599, EU649

Today we see Garmin’s first-ever dedicated triathlon watch to have a high-resolution AMOLED touchscreen. What’s more, it’s Garmin’s largest 1.4″ display size but packed into the same medium case size (47.1mm) as its FR955 predecessor from 2022. To achieve that Garmin has shrunk the black ring of aesthetic doom (bezel) yet maintained the structural integrity of the watch with a titanium bezel that also protects the toughened display.

I like many of the trivial design tweaks like the enlarged start button. Still, the fact remains that this watch, in essence, has identical features in almost every respect to the Forerunner 955 apart, that is, from the screen and battery life. The latter comes at an unbelievably good 31 hours in GPS-only mode (22 hours with SatIQ, 10.5 hours with music).

If you have the 955, that’s pretty much all you need to know and that was enough information to get me to return my 955 and upgrade for my triathlon endeavours, which I would have done regardless of whether or not I was writing this blog. I’m a sucker for a pretty screen. But the $/£/Eu600ish price tag is disconcertingly high, especially when you consider that there is no sapphire screen option…even though the 955 was Gorilla DX glass I relatively easily scratched it and so I worry about also scratching the improved Gorilla Glass 3 on the 965(via @dcr but not as per garmin.com) – Wiggle was awesome at taking the 955 back despite the scratch #Kudos.

The main differentiator to the Fenix/Epix line of watches is that the 965 is only available in one size. At 53g and 13.2mm, it’s a lightweight, slim competition watch. You also do NOT get several of the headline Garmin features on the 965 that you would get on other Garmin watches namely QI charging, solar charging, mic/speaker audio, ECG and LTE.

More thoughts further below, here’s the summary

What Else Is New?

Garmin’s marketing material will emphasize the new ability to calculate wrist-based running dynamics solely from sensors within the watch, and it might also mention a new training Load Ratio. While these features have limited use and narrow appeal, they pale in comparison to the breadth and depth of true triathlon-related features on the watch that have been carried over from its predecessors. If you are new to Garmin’s triathlon watches, you just need to know that the Forerunner 965 has every software feature you need.

The newness extends to the menus and screens, which are now more colourful and of a higher resolution. Many aesthetic tweaks give the screens a superior look compared to their predecessors.

CIQ6 compatibility is another new feature that provides slightly better watch faces. With CIQ6, developers can show new data on complications that, when touched, can launch other functionality.

 

Take Out

Along with the Forerunner 265, this watch has been heavily leaked for many weeks so nothing today is a surprise. Nor is it a surprise that Garmin is doubling down on AMOLED. Garmin purists will love the awesome battery lives that accompanied the older MIP tech screens however they make up the minority and the future for Garmin sports watches lies with pretty AMOLED screens especially as Garmin now delivers a more than usable battery life.

This is an excellently featured triathlon watch and is the one for the competition to beat. The only angles that remain for a competitor to beat the 965 are aesthetics to your taste; a niche feature you need; and highly integrated smart features.

Apple Watch is shaping up to be a commercial competitor to Garmin sports watches but ‘only’ for occasional triathletes who mostly want a daily watch that works well with their iPhones.

 

Price, Availability & Returns

I expect availability on or around 14 March, despite what the various stores and Garmin sites say. This was a date I released some time ago that I was told was the announcement date but it was more likely the availability date.

Availability seems to be for mid-to-late March and there will be no discounting. It’s likely that not all Amazon stores will have stock in March, check carefully as Amazon often claim to have stock when they don’t. Buying from Garmin gives the best chance of stock and if you want to support this site then please use the following links which are all from reputable retailers who won’t lie about stock!

As of 13 March 2023, there are no stores with stock. If you pre-order, you risk your store getting late stock from Garmin. Although REI, listed below, should be good.

The listing for Wiggle, below, is live as of 5 March. HOWEVER there is no stock, you can’t pre-order and you can’t even set a notification for when it is in stock (doh!).

Price: USA $599, UK £599, EU649

Stores

• Amazon Garmin
• Wiggle
• REI USA Pre-Order is Open
• Competitive Cyclist (USA)
• Power Meter City (USA)

Garmin has started to add holographic seals to the cartons. Once broken, some retailers will not accept returns and you can’t re-seal them. Choose your retailer wisely.

 

Comparisons

Here is a detailed battery comparison between the AMOLED and non-AMOLED Garmin triathlon watches. If you are planning to do an Ironman you need to carefully choose your watch

detailed Garmin Triathlon Battery Life Comparisons 965 vs 745 vs 265 vs 265s

See more

Here are the hardware specs.