Garmin Forerunner 165 Review: A Previous Model Priced Level With the Forerunner 70, Keeping the Altimeter the 70 Drops

Black Garmin Forerunner 165 GPS running watch with a slate grey silicone band, shown at an angle on a white background with its round AMOLED screen displaying 10:10

Product image supplied by the brand

In this guide

THE SHORT VERSION

Prices here are in Canadian dollars. Garmin Canada still sells the Forerunner 165 at $349.99 in Black/Slate Gray and Mist Gray/Whitestone, shipping in one to three business days, but the watch's own page now runs Sports & Fitness > Running > Previous Models. The replacement in that slot, the Forerunner 70, is also $349.99, so the older watch is not the cheaper one here: the choice between them is purely about what each sheet carries.

The 165 answers the phone-free part of the question directly. It has satellites of its own, a 43 mm case at 39 g, and a spec sheet that keeps the barometric altimeter, compass, thermometer and Garmin Pay that the Forerunner 70 does not list. The manual then draws a second line: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth sensors belong to the music model only, so everything that moves between this watch and the internet moves through a phone.

Our verdict

Buy it at Garmin's $349.99 only if you want the altimeter, wrist payments and 4 GB, because the Forerunner 70 costs the same. Skip it if Training Readiness and the 70's longer battery matter more.

A good fit for: Runners and cyclists who leave the phone at home and want pace, distance, elevation and floors from the watch itself, plus wrist payments on the way back.
We would skip it if: You want Training Readiness, Sleep Coach and the 23-hour GPS-only figure the equally priced Forerunner 70 lists, or you only need notifications and sleep.

Reasons to consider it

GPS, GLONASS and Galileo sit on the sensor list, and Garmin rates the watch at up to 19 hours in GPS-only mode and up to 17 hours with all systems on
The 165 sheet carries a barometric altimeter, compass, thermometer and Garmin Pay, none of which appear on the equally priced Forerunner 70, and 4 GB of storage against the 70's 512 MB
20 mm industry-standard quick-release bands, a 5 ATM rating and pool swim metrics, so a worn strap is an off-the-shelf 20 mm part

The compromises

The manual restricts Wi-Fi and Bluetooth sensors to the music model, so this watch uploads and updates through a paired phone or a USB cable into Garmin Express, and external sensors must speak ANT+
Garmin Canada files it under Running > Previous Models yet charges $349.99 for both colours, the same as the Forerunner 70; Best Buy Canada asks $369.99
Charging runs on a Garmin proprietary plug, the one-year warranty excludes damage from cables Garmin did not supply, and you pay transportation to the service facility

What we have not verified: The 11-day smartwatch figure assumes activity tracking, phone notifications and wrist heart rate all running, with no published figure for what an always-on AMOLED takes off that. Garmin publishes no support horizon for a watch it has moved into Previous Models, which is the main thing a buyer cannot check. Amazon.ca's Black listing was a third-party seller's offer on the checked day, so it does not set a reference price. Best Buy Canada titles its listing 45 mm where Garmin's sheet gives 43 mm; the sheet's size is the one used here. Garmin Canada has listed the watch under Previous Models, so stock, colours and the $349.99 price may change as remaining units clear.

The things in this guide

A closer look at the products, who they may suit, and what to check before buying.

The phone-free GPS watch that keeps what the same-priced Forerunner 70 drops

Forerunner 165, Black/Slate Gray

$349.99 at Garmin buys GPS, GLONASS and Galileo with up to 19 hours in GPS-only mode, a barometric altimeter for elevation and floors, Garmin Pay and 4 GB of storage in a 43 mm, 39 g case, on standard 20 mm quick-release bands.

Before you buy: No Wi-Fi and no Bluetooth sensor support on this model, a proprietary charging plug, 11 days in smartwatch mode against the Forerunner 70's 13, and no Training Readiness, Training Status or Sleep Coach rows on its sheet.

$349.99 at Garmin $369.99 at Best Buy Canada

Price checked October 16, 2026. Retailer prices can change.

What the watch records with the phone at home

The sensor list on the 165's page names GPS, GLONASS and Galileo alongside the Elevate wrist heart rate monitor, Pulse Ox, barometric altimeter, compass, accelerometer, thermometer and ambient light sensor. Pace, distance and elevation therefore come from the watch itself. Garmin rates battery at up to 19 hours in GPS-only mode, up to 17 hours with all satellite systems on, and up to 25 hours in UltraTrac, which records track points less often. Smartwatch mode is up to 11 days, or up to 20 with the battery saver.

The running side is on the sheet rather than in an app subscription: GPS-based distance, time and pace, VO2 max for running and trail running, training effect including the anaerobic side, recovery time, HRV status, race predictor, PacePro pacing strategies, wrist-based running power and cadence, stride length and ground contact time. Two gaps: the sheet lists ground contact time but not ground contact balance, and respiration rate during exercise is limited to yoga and breathwork. A 400 m track run and a treadmill session have their own profiles, so the phone-free case covers indoor work as well.

A previous model, priced level with its replacement

Garmin Canada's page carries the Running > Previous Models breadcrumb, and both colours show $349.99 with shipping in one to three business days. The Forerunner 70, the model now in that slot, is $349.99 as well, the 170 sits above it at $419.99 and the 170 Music at $489.99. Higher on the Running page the 265 is $659.99 in its 46 mm size and the 570 is $799.99 in 47 mm. Best Buy Canada sells and ships the Black/Slate Gray watch itself at $369.99, $20 over Garmin. Amazon.ca's Black listing, $289.99, belongs to a third-party seller, so it is a number to watch rather than a price to plan around.

Read the 165 and 70 sheets against each other and, at one price, the older watch is not simply the worse buy. The 70 wins on runtime, up to 13 days in smartwatch mode and 23 hours in GPS-only against 11 days and 19 hours, and it adds Training Readiness, Training Status and Sleep Coach. The 165 wins on hardware the 70 sheet does not carry: a barometric altimeter, a compass, a thermometer, Garmin Pay and 4 GB of storage where the 70 lists 512 MB. Floors climbed is on the 165 list and not on the 70's. Garmin's own comparison blurb says the 170, $70 above the 165, adds Garmin Pay and floors climbed over the 70.

Where the phone comes back into it

Connected features require pairing through the Garmin Connect app, and the manual's list of them is specific: glances, the controls menu, notifications, safety and tracking features, and anything that comes from the phone apps. Weather and calendar data arrive from the phone. Courses and custom interval workouts are built in Garmin Connect and sent to the watch, which then runs them without the phone in hand; the manual also walks through setting up a PacePro plan on the watch itself from a course already loaded. Wind-adjusted running power uses wind data from the phone combined with the watch's own barometer, heading and speed, so the metric degrades to no-wind on a phone-free run.

The two restrictions that separate this watch from the music version are stated plainly in the manual: Wi-Fi is available only on the Forerunner music watch, and Bluetooth sensors are available only with a music watch. So activity uploads, software updates and downloaded training plans travel over a paired phone rather than a network of its own, and external speed, cadence or heart rate straps have to speak ANT+. Safety features have the same dependency with a sharper edge: Assistance and incident detection send your location through a paired phone that has a data plan and coverage, and Garmin states that the app does not contact emergency services for you.

Bands, a proprietary plug, and twelve months

The case is 43 by 43 by 11.6 mm and 39 g on a silicone strap, over a wrist range Garmin gives as 126 to 203 mm, with a chemically strengthened glass lens and a fibre-reinforced polymer bezel. Bands are 20 mm quick-release, which the manual shows swapping by hand and which the spec calls an industry standard, so a worn-out strap is an off-the-shelf part rather than a model-specific order. Water rating is 5 ATM, described as withstanding pressure to 50 m, and pool swim metrics are listed.

Charging is the weaker half of the accessory story: the spec lists a Garmin proprietary plug charger, and a fully depleted battery takes up to two hours. Garmin Canada's Consumer Limited Warranty covers non-aviation products for one year from purchase, with the customer paying transportation and Garmin choosing repair, replacement or refund; a repaired or replaced unit then carries 90 days or the rest of the original year. Damage from power or data cables Garmin did not supply is excluded, as are cosmetic wear and batteries unless a defect caused the damage. Best Buy Canada adds 30 days to return or exchange.

Skip it if the phone is coming with you

If the run keeps the phone in a pocket, the 165 is more watch than the task needs. Garmin's own vívosmart 5 lists connected GPS at $199.99, which is a band that borrows the phone's fix rather than a training computer, and on a run with the phone in a pocket that borrowed fix is all the band needs. The Fitbit Charge 6 lists built-in GPS and GLONASS at $219.95 on Google Store Canada, so a runner happy with a band shape saves about $130 against Garmin's price for the 165 and gives up the barometric altimeter, floors climbed and the training screens above.

Within Garmin the two hard skips are also clear. Runners after the newest coaching metrics belong on the Forerunner 70 at the same $349.99, which lists Training Readiness, Training Status and Sleep Coach and runs 23 hours in GPS-only mode; the 165 sheet carries no row for any of the three. And a runner wanting music on the wrist with no phone at all has nothing to buy here: Garmin Canada describes the Forerunner 170 Music, $489.99, as the model that adds music download, $140 above the 165.

How we put this together

Built from the product pages and listings below, without test scores or results we have not measured. Specifications and prices change, so check the original page for the exact model, current price, delivery, and returns.

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