Garmin Forerunner 165

An affordable AMOLED sports watch that does the essentials well and is among the best sports watches around, missing dual-band GPS and triathlon mode.

A best-selling, accurate GPS watch offering premium features without the premium price, with a vibrant display at the cost of mid-pack battery life.

Nails the balance between cost-cutting and quality, with accurate GPS and heart rate, an AMOLED screen and big savings over pricier Forerunners, unless Training Load matters.

A nearly perfect budget running watch whose AMOLED display, reliable tracking and Garmin's core features make it a great choice for all but triathletes.

A good-looking, reliable running watch with accurate core tracking and strong AMOLED battery efficiency, ideal for beginner and intermediate runners.

A solid Forerunner with lots of accurate data and good battery, whose main flaw is a painful music download process on the Music version.

A strong AMOLED multisport watch at a lower price with good battery, though it lacks dual-band GPS and Training Readiness and sits in a crowded Garmin range.

Very accurate, light and affordable, a great value GPS watch that the testers highly recommend despite weaker battery life and a smaller screen.

Detailed running statistics and fast charging, but weak navigation, off sleep data and an overall feeling that it falls short of the Coros Pace 3.

An easy-to-use, essentials-focused running watch that is great for newcomers, with solid sleep and workout tracking and a bright display.

An excellent-value running watch for beginner and intermediate runners with helpful workout suggestions and rich health data; only the large face and missing advanced running metrics hold it back.

The bright AMOLED screen and added features make this the reviewer's new pick for an entry-level running watch, with compromises such as no multiband GPS and no triathlon mode.

Essentially a cheaper clone of the Forerunner 265S that keeps nearly everything most runners need; the tradeoffs are worth the savings and it is the reviewer's entry-level Garmin pick.

After a month of use the reviewers call it one of the best fitness trackers for runners thanks to comfort, battery life and training tools, with only a learning curve in the app.

A comfortable, good-looking and accurate running watch that suits beginners and intermediates, though it costs more than rivals and locks music behind a separate edition.