Due to a screen de-lamination screen fault on my Garmin 935, I was able to trade it in for a brand new 965 model and even though I have had it only for 10 weeks, it is a seriously impressive watch.
The first thing that strikes you is the sharpness of the 1.4″ AMOLED display with its impressive 454 x 454 pixels. Not only that, the Garmin 965 also boasts a longer battery life with the new feature. The AMOLED screen is also now available to the smaller and slightly cheaper sibling, the Garmin 265.
With the watch comes a load of wrist-based running dynamics including run power which includes Vertical Ratio and Ground Contact Time in addition to Training Load Ratio and Chronic Training Load features. One of the most useful features for me is the HRV status and sleep scores. This is based on the optical wrist sensor but it gives you a good idea of the recovery patterns and the status of your physiological condition. This comes in the form of a daily morning report. When you wake up, you can choose to accept the report and it gives you a report on HRV, Sleep Quality, Workouts, Training Readiness, Body Battery and Weather all of which can be customised to suit your preferences.
I was sceptical when I first saw that the screen included a touchscreen feature. Sceptical because I have seen people with other models and brands struggle with their watch’s reliability with the touchscreen hammering the life out of the screen with their index finger but I have to say this is not the case and you can still use the trusty buttons if you so wish as well as disable the touch screen itself. Coming from the Garmin 935, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the watch strap silicon fastener had also had some upgrades since I relied on my daughter’s hair band, folded around 3 times to keep the watch strap in place
With these new features and technology, battery life is always affected. So far, I have to say, this has not been the case. The watch boasts several battery smart saving features which help preserve battery life. Of course, if I’m out on a 2hour run, listening to music and I have the “best accuracy” setting mode switched on for the numerous satellites (GPS and Multiband) then, yes, you do see your battery per cent get chewed up but on the whole, I would say that I am charging the watch every 10-12 days. Brilliant considering I use it every day! However, if you use all of the smart saving features, Garmin claims that the battery can last up to 23 days.
This is a great watch. Obviously, it will not make you run faster but it will help you to recover better. What I mean by that is you can closely monitor your physiological state and guide yourself when the appropriate time is to insert a spicy session and when to back off a little and have an easier week. There is a huge amount of data collected for each run and to be honest, I don’t think you need it all, but the HRV, sleep, and resting heart rate patterns are brilliant (and addictive – you get into a habit of wanting to know your sleep pattern for the night and resting heart rate) and you learn about yourself when to add/reduce load. Can only be a good thing right?
This watch is not cheap. It comes in at 2,645.00 aed (£565.00) and if you already own a Garmin, there may be the option to trade in your old watch for a new one and get it at a lower price. Alternatively, you could opt for the smaller Garmin 265 at 2,065.00 aed (£440.00) which has very similar features including the AMOLED screen and additional performance metrics.
This is an amazing multisport watch for the dedicated athlete. Yes, it is expensive but if you are passionate about the sport you do day in and day out and want a reliable, accurate and supportive watch, then this should be a serious contender.
Personal Favourites:
– Sync with Final Surge and Training Peaks seamlessly. Amazing as a coach to send structured workouts to the Garmin watches.
– Garmin Pay
– The AMOLED screen is simply unreal
– HRV stats
– Sleep stats
– The screen interface is bigger
– The watch is thinner compared to the 935 that I had
– Spotify as a music provider makes it really easy to download podcasts and playlists to your watch (Also uses Amazon and Deezer music)
– The ability to customize data screens. I have one screen for training, one for racing and one for the long run.
– Battery life is very good.
– Links to external HR monitors. I use the Garmin HRM-PRO. No issues. Works brilliantly.
Features not yet used:
– Maps (Been informed they are more detailed)
– Garmin’s CIQ App Store – You are able to download loads of screen faces, layouts etc