Both the Garmin Forerunner 165 and the Forerunner 55 are budget smartwatches designed for individuals who want basic health tracking at a budget price.
In this article, we’ll explore pricing, design, display, battery life, health and fitness features, and smartwatch features to help you make an informed decision.
Garmin Forerunner 165 vs Forerunner 55: Price
Both Garmin watches come in the budget category of the Forerunner series; the Forerunner 165 is more expensive than the Forerunner 55 at $249, while the Forerunner 55 saves you $50 and is priced at $199.
In terms of colours, the FR 55 comes in White, Black, and Aqua, while the FR 165 comes in Turquoise, Mist Gray, Berry, and Black.
Garmin Forerunner 165 vs Forerunner 55: Comparison
| Device name | Garmin Forerunner 165 | Garmin Forerunner 55 |
|---|---|---|
| Device type | Smartwatch | Smartwatch |
| Gender | Unisex | Unisex |
| Release date | February, 2024 | June, 2021 |
| Versions | Standard edition | Standard edition |
| Body | ||
| Dimension | 43 x 43 x 11.6 mm | 42 x 42 x 11.6 mm |
| Weight | 39 grams | 37 grams |
| Shape | Round | Round |
| Case material | Fiber-Reinforced Polymer | Fiber-Reinforced Polymer |
| Strap material | Silicone | Silicone |
| Bezel material | Fiber-Reinforced Polymer | Fiber-Reinforced Polymer |
| Strap size | 20 mm | 20 mm |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Water resistance | 5 ATM | 5 ATM |
| Swim-proof | Yes, recommended | Yes, recommended |
| Display | ||
| Display size | 1.2 inch | 1.04 inch |
| Display type | AMOLED | Transflective Memory-in-pixel |
| Display resolution | 390 x 390 pixels | 308 x 308 pixels |
| Pixel density | 317 PPI | 268 PPI |
| Always on | Yes | Yes |
| Custom watch face | Yes | Yes |
| Touchscreen | Yes | No |
| Connectivity | ||
| Bluetooth | Yes | Yes |
| Bluetooth calling | No | No |
| GPS | Yes | Yes |
| NFC | Garmin Pay | No |
| Wi-Fi | No | No |
| Memory | ||
| RAM | — | — |
| Internal Storage | 4 GB | 32 MB |
| Memory card slot | No | No |
| Cellular Connectivity | ||
| Technology | None | None |
| SIM type | None | None |
| Band | — | — |
| Sensors | ||
| Accelerometer | Yes | Yes |
| Altimeter | Yes | No |
| Ambient light | Yes | No |
| Barometer | Yes | No |
| Compass | Yes | No |
| ECG | No | No |
| Gyroscope | No | No |
| HRM | No | No |
| Pulse oximeter (SpO2) | Yes | No |
| Thermometer | Yes | No |
| Battery | ||
| Battery type | non-removable Lithium-polymer | non-removable Lithium-polymer |
| Battery capacity | — | — |
| Battery life | 11 days | 14 days |
| Charging type | Plug Charger | Plug Charger |
| Charging time | 1-2 hours | 1-2 hours |
| Solar charging | No | No |
Design and Display
Both devices come in a circular, sporty design with five buttons, with one notable difference: the FR 55 does not support touchscreen, while the FR 165 does, but Garmin automatically turns it off during sports mode, so it’s not a deal breaker.
Their straps are made of silicone and use lightweight fibre-reinforced polymer, making them comfortable to wear for an extended period of time. The lens is protected with chemically strengthened glass.
The FR 165 boasts a 1.2-inch, 460 PPI AMOLED display with a higher screen resolution of 390 x 390 pixels, while the FR 55 boasts a 1.04-inch, 283 PPI transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) display with 208 x 208 pixels of screen resolution. The FR 165 screen is more bright and clear, making it easier to view data when in direct sunlight.
Health and Fitness Tracking
Both smartwatches let you monitor basic health features such as heart rate, respiration rate (24×7), sleep, stress, hydration, and women’s health. But FR 165 added nap detection, so you get even more insights into your sleep. Plus, the health snapshot, which tracks vital metrics during a two-minute session, is only available in FR 165.
Both smartwatches let you perform basic tasks, which include steps counting, calories burned, and distance travelled. For athletes, both devices feature recovery time, VO2 max, interval training, HR zones, Garmin Coach, and more to help you achieve all your fitness goals with a wide array of fitness features. However, the Forerunner 165 offers additional features such as floor climbing, HRV status, breathwork for stress relief, and stress management.
In terms of sports profiles, both can track a wide range of sports activities, including cardio, HIIT, swimming, running, biking, and much more. However, FR 165 takes the lead with added sports modes, including open-water swimming, tennis, pickleball, padel, and more.
For runners, the Forerunner 165 offers running dynamics (shows average running cadence, vertical ratio, contact time, etc.), stride length, and running power. Neither of these features is available in the Forerunner 55, making it a less suitable choice for runners. They also offer safety features, which include incident detection and incident detection alerts.
Smartwatch Features
Although these devices are not designed for smartwatch features, both FR 165 and FR 55 offer texts, emails, and app notifications, calendars, weather forecasts, find my phone, find my watch, and smartphone music control. They also have the Connect IQ store, which lets you download watch faces, widgets, and apps. In the Forerunner 165, you can directly access the store on the watch, while in the Forerunner 55, you must be paired with your smartphone to access the store.
Some exclusive features that are only available in the Garmin Forerunner 165 include text response, rejecting phone calls with text, and viewing images from notifications, but both of these features require a connected Android device. Plus, a morning report shows various data like weather, date, step goal, calendar, etc. one hour before your actual wake-up time.
Neither of these smartwatches support music playback for that you can buy Garmin Forerunner 165 music which lets you download third-party apps like deezer and Spotify and lets you stream music directly into the watch without needing your smartphone. However, it costs an extra $50 for it. But if you want integrated music support, you can go for either the Garmin Forerunner 165 or the Garmin Forerunner 265.
Battery Life
When it comes to battery life, the Forerunner 165 offers excellent battery life, but the Forerunner 55 takes the lead with significantly longer battery life. The FR 165 lasts for around 11 days in smartwatch mode and up to 19 hours in GPS mode. The Forerunner 55, on the other hand, can last for about 2 weeks on a single charge and up to 20 hours in GPS mode.
However, battery life highly depends on individual usage, and features like GPS and an always-on display can consume more battery life than normal heart rate tracking.
Both come with a Garmin proprietary plug charger, which takes 1.5–2 hours to fully charge these devices.
Verdict
If you read through the last, you already know by now which devices to choose, but let’s take a look for a quick recap. If you want a fitness beast with excellent health tracking, a bright display, excellent battery life, and music support, the Garmin Forerunner 165 might be the way to go.
But if you want to save some bucks while getting excellent battery life, extensive health features, or a smaller wrist, the Garmin Forerunner 55 will be the way to go.
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