The Amazfit GTR 4 and the Garmin Forerunner 265, both smartwatches, boast an AMOLED display. Their displays are bright and crisp, plus they have various advanced health features for all your fitness needs.
If you are wondering which one to choose, then read all the way through to find out which one fits your needs. We’ll compare the price, design, battery life, health, and fitness features. At the end, I’ll choose my top pick, so read till the end.
Quick Glance:
Before we dive into the main differences, let me give you a quick overview of these two smartwatches.
The Amazfit GTR 4 comes with a button and an apple-like crown on the right, along with a built-in speaker and a microphone for seamless Bluetooth calling. Whereas the Garmin Forerunner 265 has five buttons, with two on the right and three on the left. This Garmin device doesn’t have Bluetooth calling support like the Garmin Venu 2 Plus.
The GTR 4 offers a bigger display compared to the FR265. Both have circular designs and come with a silicone band as standard. They have a rating of 5 ATM for water resistance.
Amazfit GTR 4 vs Forerunner 265: Pricing
The Amazfit GTR 4 comes in Superspeed Black, Vintage Brown Leather, and Racetrack Grey, priced at $199. In contrast, the Forerunner 265 is available in 42mm (FR265s) and 46mm (FR265). Both FR265 and FR265s are priced at $449 and come in six colours: Black, Whitestone, and Light Pink for 42mm and Whitestone, Black, and Aqua for 46mm.
Amazfit GTR 4 vs Forerunner 265: Comparison
| Specifications | Garmin Forerunner 265 | Amazfit GTR 4 |
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Brand | Garmin | Amazfit |
| Model Name | Forerunner 265 | GTR 4 |
| Design and Body | ||
| Weight | 39 grams | 34 grams |
| Material | anodized aluminium | Fiber-reinforced Polymer |
| Lens Material | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Shape | Round | Round |
| Display | ||
| Type | AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Touch | Yes | Yes |
| Size | 1.1 inch and 1.3 inch | 1.43 inch |
| Resolution | 416 x 416 pixels | 466 x 466 pixels |
| Pixel Density | 453 PPI | 326 PPI |
| Always-on Display | Yes | Yes |
| Connectivity | ||
| Bluetooth | Yes | Yes |
| GPS | Yes | Yes |
| Extra | ||
| Sensors | Heart Rate Monitor, SpO2 (Blood Oxygen) Monitor, Calorie Count, Step Count, Sleep | Heart Rate Monitor, SpO2 (Blood Oxygen) Monitor, Calorie Count, Step Count, Sleep |
| NFC | Garmin Pay | Yes |
| Camera | ||
| Camera | No | No |
| Technical | ||
| Compatibility | Android, iOS | Android, iOS |
| Multimedia | ||
| Music | Yes | Yes |
| Battery | ||
| Backup | Up to 13 days | Up to 14 days |
| Fast Charging | No | No |
| Features | ||
| Water Resistant | Yes | Yes |
| Water Rating | 5 ATM | 5 ATM |
| Water Depth | 50m | 50m |
| Price | $449 | $199 |
Amazfit GTR 4 vs Forerunner 265: Design and Display
The Amazfit GTR 4 is slimmer compared to the FR265, housed in anodized aluminium and tempered glass with an anti-fingerprint coating on top and a high-gloss sprayed PC bottom shell. While the Garmin Forerunner 265 boasts a sporty look but is a bit bulkier on the wrist. The watch uses a fiber-reinforced polymer bezel and Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which is more durable and scratch-resistant than the tempered glass.
The GTR 4 measures 46 x 46 x 10.6 mm and weighs 34 grams, while the Forerunner 265 is slightly heavier at 39 grams and measures 46.1 x 46.1 x 12.9 mm.
The Forerunner 265 comes with five buttons, with two on the right and three on the left for start/stop, back, down, up, and light. Whereas, the Amazfit GTR 4 comes with a digital crown and a button to navigate around the watch.
Both have quick release, pin buckles, and silicone bands as standard. But you can swap the straps with your favourite pair if you are upgrading from an older version of these smartwatches. The straps are 22mm in length.
In terms of display, the Amazfit GTR 4 boasts a 1.43-inch, 326 PPI, 466 x 466 pixels, AMOLED display. Meanwhile, the Garmin Forerunner 265 sports a 1.1 or 1.3-inch, 453 PPI, 416 x 416 pixels AMOLED screen. Both have bright and crisp screens, but the FR265 has more pixel density, which means more quality and readability when in direct sunlight.
Amazfit GTR 4 vs Forerunner 265: Health and Fitness Tracking
When it comes to health and fitness, both smartwatches excel, but they lack an ECG capability, which can be crucial for detecting atrial fibrillation, or AFib.
The Garmin Forerunner 265 is equipped with Garmin’s Elevate V4 sensor, which uses green light to measure heart rate and red light for blood oxygen tracking. It can also track breathing rate, heart rate variability (HRV), and stress. Plus, it has abnormal heart rate alerts, 24×7 respiration rate, body battery, breathwork, hydration, women’s health, and a health snapshot (which tracks blood oxygen, stress, heart rate, and respiration in 2 minute sessions).
It can track steps, calories, distance, floor climbed, and intensity minutes as well. Plus, it also has True Up (which syncs all your data across multiple devices via the Garmin Connect app) and Move IQ (which automatically detects activity patterns).
The Amazfit GTR 4, on the other hand, is equipped with a BioTracker 4.0 PPG sensor that has 2 LEDs and 4 photodiodes to provide faster and more accurate readings. It tracks heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, and stress level all day, plus you can also track these activities with a single tap.
Additionally, it offers a PAI score, which is based on the past 7 days of activities and gives you a score from 0 to 100. A higher score means good cardiovascular health, and a lower score means you need to work on your fitness.
Apart from these, the GTR 4 has breathing exercises to relieve stress and menstrual cycle tracking. It also sends reminders if you are experiencing high and low heart rates, low blood oxygen, or high stress, and provides breathing exercises for relief.
When it comes to activity tracking, the Forerunner 265 can track over 50 sports modes, but the GTR 4 can track over 150 sports modes. Both devices can detect activity modes, including running, swimming, cycling, and more. They also provide VO2 max and training load.
Additionally, the Forerunner 265 features back-to-start, tracback, ultratrac mode, up ahead, elevation, point-to-point navigation, and so much more.
Amazfit GTR 4 vs Forerunner 265: Sleep Tracking
When it comes to sleep tracking, both can detect sleep in multiple stages (deep, light, and REM) and provide detailed insights into your sleep in their dedicated apps. They also track the disturbances and how many times you wake up from sleep and log everything into the app.
Both are accurate, but the FR265 has improved its sleep tracking capabilities exponentially. The readings are quite close to whoop and oura.
They also provide a sleep score, which assigns a score on a scale of 0–100, summarising the overall quality of your sleep. You must maintain these numbers in order to get the most out of your sleep (excellent: 90–100, good: 80–89, and fair: 60–79).
Additionally, they also detect your naps and log them into the app. Then it provides suggestions and insights to get the most out of your naps. They also automatically detect your breathing quality when you are wearing your watch during sleep to help you better understand your sleeping status.
Amazfit GTR 4 vs Forerunner 265: Battery Life
In terms of battery life, both devices have quite close to the same capacity. Both can survive 13–14 days under typical usage. It means you can use basic fitness tracking, a few notifications, and heart rate monitoring. But if you want to use battery-consuming features like an always-on display, GPS, and constant syncing with your smartphone, then the battery drops down to only 22–24 hours. See the chart below for a full breakdown.
| Battery Life | Garmin Forerunner 265 | Amazfit GTR 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Smartwatch Mode | 13 days | 14 days |
| Battery Saver Mode | Not available | 24 days |
| GPS Mode | 20 hours | 25 hours |
| Always-On Display | 5 days | 7 days |
| SatIQ GNSS Mode | 16 hours | Not available |
| All-Systems GNSS mode + Multi-Band | 14 hours | Not available |
Who should buy the Garmin Forerunner 265?
If you have used a Garmin watch before, you would know that when it comes to fitness tracking, the accuracy of their devices is excellent. It’s also the first watch to get an AMOLED display in the Forerunner series. However, it is not a good thing to have as it consumes more battery life and doesn’t provide the quality of a transflective memory-in-pixel display (it gets brighter in direct sunlight).
But the AMOLED display has its own advantages, like a clearer font, brighter and crisper colours, and an increased overall watch experience. It also has all the basic health and fitness features, like heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen monitoring, stress monitoring, and sleep tracking.
It also has decent battery life in smartwatch mode and up to 20 hours in GPS mode. Plus, they also added various features like training readiness, training load, offline music support (Spotify), Garmin Pay for contactless payments, and many more. It doesn’t have many features, but we don’t believe anybody is going for the Garmin Forerunner watches for smartwatch features.
The GPS accuracy of the Garmin Forerunner 265 is also impressive, as they moved to the multi-band/dual-frequency GPS system. It also prompts you to switch to Multi-Band and All Systems GPS when you are in congested areas, which weakens the signals. This provides relief that your watch is adapting to your surroundings, and you don’t get to see this feature on many watches.
So, if you are choosing the Garmin Forerunner 265 especially for your health and fitness needs, then this might be the right choice for you.
Who should choose the Amazfit GTR 4?
The Amazfit GTR 4 is stylish and looks classy on the wrist. It has a larger 1.43-inch AMOLED screen, which means more clear fonts and content at a glance. It is also lightweight, so you won’t feel it on your wrist during workouts or sleep.
Additionally, it provides excellent health and fitness tracking to stay at the top of your fitness goals. The sleep tracking, sleep score, and nap detection features make the watch worth considering. Plus, it can track over 150 sports modes and automatically detect up to 8 modes, including running, swimming, cycling, walking, and more.
In terms of battery life, you get a decent battery life of 14 days under typical usage and 24 hours in GPS mode. So you can go for a long run without worrying about the watch getting dead in the mid-run session.
So, if you are choosing the Amazfit GTR 4 for the above-mentioned features, then this might be the way to go. Plus, it’s also available at budget pricing, which might be more appealing to budget-conscious buyers.