As previously covered, I converted from Apple to Garmin in the middle of 2025 prior to my first 50 mile race. I liked the Forerunner 955 Solar enough that I decided to treat myself to an upgrade and bought a Forerunner 965 for the larger, fancier display. Here’s my experience now that I’ve had it for a couple of months.
- The screen is a great upgrade from the 955. It’s much easier to read, and brighter.
- Battery life is not as long as the 955. This was expected. By default, the 965 wants to operate without the display always on. In this mode, standby battery life is around 21 days or three weeks. Turning the display to always on dramatically shortens this to less than a week. I’ve tweaked the settings a few times and settled on having the display always on during a workout but on demand / with wrist flick at other times. This is slightly less than estimates for the 955 Solar but still plenty for me and my planned long distance runs for the next few years.
- The charging experience is the same, except that the included charging cable has been upgraded from USB-A to USB-C connection on the other end.
- The replacement bands I purchased for the 955 do not fit. The 965 is a different form factor. As a result, my friend – who bought a Forerunner 265 at my prompting – got my old 955 bands because they fit. The stock bands are okay but I wanted something a little more comfortable, so I purchased a stretchy, adjustable nylon strap.
- The flashlight function is inferior to that of the 955. On the 955 when you enable flashlight mode, the entire screen lights up white or red. For some reason on the 965, you get less screen lit up – a choice of one, two, or three circles instead of the whole screen. While this is fine for indoors and confined spaces, I find it less useful at night when outdoors.
- I was able to back up and restore my settings from the 955 to the 965. It remembered my device connections, including my Polar Verity Sense heart rate monitor as well as a number of other customizations. (A separate review for the Polar is coming soon!)
Overall I give the 965 a strong thumbs up, and would absolutely buy again. The only regret I have relating to the upgrade was not asking enough for the used 955 when I turned around and sold it becuase – now that it’s discontinued – the market price has gone up! This is just further reinforcement that Garmin smartwatches hold their value and typically have lifespans of several years.