Garmin Forerunner® 965 Fitness Watch

I’m so happy with this watch! The sleep and stress tracking are so much better than my 245. Well worth it for a much needed upgrade!

I got this watch from another customer who wasn't using his anymore, and it was certainly an upgrade over the FR35, which had only basic features. I think the biggest annoyance of this watch is that it DOES NOT have an option for a permanently on, full brightness feature (even when doing activities), which is really annoying for me. This is because of the AMOLED display, which many people praise for its quality (I will agree that it looks nice) In comparison, the FR35 (and many other models) are always on at full brightness (a backlight can be added, but during the daytime i haven't even considered that difference) which is efficient due to the MIP display. Back to positives, I love how many features this watch has, even if many of them are inaccurate or unnecessary (see below for a couple more negatives). The GPS is also significantly better than my FR35 (which was my original reason for wanting the watch), although it still appears to be 1-3% off during normal runs, which is significant for intervals at a specific pace. Nearly everything can be customized, although a tutorial or help on the app would be appreciated (I'm 18 yrs old, so I doubt my ability to use the interface is an issue). But generally, I enjoy using the watch, it's dynamic and customizable activity interface is good, and it attempts to track nearly everything. Given the price tag and the amount of features put into this watch, I am surprised by some lacks that could easily be fixed, and which I find relevant (beyond the screen, which is an issue that might not be resolvable). For example, my sleep is cut short when I get up, so when I get up to use the restroom at 5:30am but sleep until 6:45am, the FR965 often assumes that my sleep ended at 5:30am. Sleep schedule can be edited, which helps (I think), and naps can be added, but only for up to an hour, and they are not automatically detected. I think this is an obvious flaw which should be addressed if people are using this watch to check sleep quality. On that note, several of the recovery features seem to overestimate the necessity of recovery, and can generally be more inaccurate than they make themselves to be. Not only is my sleep quality score almost always far lower than the other watch I wear (of another brand, not a running watch, and it might overestimate - but the Garmin isn't much better), but also, after an average workout, the watch recommends 40-70 hours of recovery, which athletes know is unnecessary (I think it can climb up to 96 hours). Anyways, these features could be adapted to fit different people. Another basic mistake, in my opinion, are the options for turning on the screen that prefers to be always off but can also be dimly lit. If you made it thus far, thank you, and I should have put this higher as it's a decent mistake. Tapping the screen can be used to turn it on, but then slapping it turns it off. And a gesture can be used to turn the screen on, but the opposite gesture turns the screen off. While these settings can be turned on or off (i.e., whether those motions affect the display), but the on/off settings are paired. This annoys me. I would prefer to be able to gesture the screen on, but have it stay on for those 15 seconds. Or vice versa. This could also be helpful when running, since there is lots of movement. And considering that this watch has a ton of random activities you can use, the fact that it connects two settings which i think should be separate is a basic flaw. Back to the on/off display, there is around 1-2 instances per day where I want to view the watch but cannot easily flick my wrist or tap the screen (if i'm holding something, for example). It should definitely be an option to have full brightness display on for shorter activities, and be able to toggle it on/off during an activity. As a less relevant question, the battery estimates on the watch seem to be pretty bad, and it's unclear how much the watch will last (for me, around 7-10 days between charges at ~20%). But it claims that with the battery saver on and using few features, it can last well over a month - I haven't tested it, so I cannot confirm nor deny. In any case, I wish that newer watches were made with older screens, less features, but improved battery life and improved GPS/other feature accuracy, although these seem to go hand in hand. Thank you.

Huge upgrade for me from the 945. I love the bright display and touchscreen.

Great watch—very durable and handles bumps and impacts without issues. It also looks fantastic on the wrist, combining a sporty and premium design. Highly recommended.

Excellent watch, best I ever had. Extremely functional and very precise

Forerunner 965 only made it four months. Same problem I’ve experienced 3 times. Altimeter goes haywire providing inaccurate data by 10s of thousands of feet. No way to disable this feature and this is my 3rd failure of the exact same nature. I soak it in distilled water after every swim and take excellent care of the unit. It looks brand new.

So far so good. Upgraded from my 745 and love the added specs.

I bought this 1 week ago - spent 3 hours trying to set it up. Failed. Keeps flipping in to Russian. I have given up and thrown it in the cupboard