Popular Garmin running watch plummets to low price | Tech News

If you need to take your running regime to the subsequent degree by investing in a running watch, you might be actually spoiled for selection in 2026. From Garmin to Coros through Suunto, Polar and Apple, there are lots of completely different sorts of sports activities watches at many alternative price factors that offer completely different kind and performance. It might be laborious to determine what’s best for you.

I’ve examined scores of running watches in my decade as a technology journalist, and might vouch for the standard of Garmin watches, which is why selecting one up at a enormously decreased price is all the time particular.

Right now, you will get the Garmin Forerunner 165 for simply £182.99 from Decathlon, a enormous low cost on the watch’s typical £249.99 RRP.

The Forerunner 165 was launched in February 2024 and has gained a status as a stable, reliable entry in Garmin’s running focussed vary – however regardless of the identify, it may possibly monitor far more than simply your runs.

With an AMOLED touchscreen, 11 days of battery life and built-in GPS, carrying this gadget 24/7 will quickly rack up reams of health and fitness information for you to pore by means of on the Garmin app for iPhone or Android. It’ll monitor your steps, distance, energy burned and coronary heart charge, in addition to sleep, stress and more.

But it’s exercise monitoring the place the Garmin steps issues up above what is feasible on a Fitbit and even a competing, more costly Apple Watch.

Garmin’s metrics are constructed for deep insight into running information, so that you’ll get an indepth learn out post-workout along with your tempo, cadence, elevation change and more in addition to, all thanks to the sensors and GPS within the watch that tracks your route very precisely.

View the Garmin Forerunner 165 at Decathlon

After you’ve finished some runs and punched in your health particulars and exercise needs, the watch may even construct a coaching program for you. Whether you need to construct in the direction of a 5K, 10K or half marathon, you’ll have the opportunity to take Garmin’s advice and do the train it suggests to get your self prepared in time for race day.

Garmin additionally has an glorious function referred to as physique battery, which the firm says spits out a quantity out of 100 always to let the place it thinks your power ranges are at. Take it with a slight pinch of salt, however I’ve discovered it to be a good indicator of whether or not I need to relaxation up or hit the path. It would possibly even make you’re feeling much less unhealthy about taking that mid-afternoon nap in case your ranges are flagging.

The software program can be good for letting how long you must take to get better from strenuous exercise, plus the watch can be utilized to monitor your menstrual cycle or being pregnant, taking this all under consideration to suggest the correct of train and nutrition. Although Garmin presents a paid tier for its app, I’ve by no means paid for it, discovering the free options more than in-depth enough.

As you may see, you get a lot of perform once you go for a Garmin over an Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch. Though Apple and Samsung offer customers third get together apps – one thing Garmin lacks, so you may’t get Google Maps or AllTrails in your wrist – Garmin has each tech giants soundly crushed when it comes to pure health monitoring instruments.

It’s not clear how long the Decathlon sale on the Garmin Forerunner 165 is on, however it’s the best price I can discover within the UK for the watch on the time of writing.