Fitness trackers, despite the name, are for everyone — not just runners and gym rats. That's because fitness trackers can help you keep an eye on your overall well-being and health through things like logging steps, calories, sleep, and even your heart rate.
Who's it for: Though other Garmin wearables are designed for serious runners, the Forerunner 265 is still great for even the casual runner who just wants some great health and fitness tracking in their smartwatch.The Garmin Forerunner 265 is similar to other Garmin offerings in terms of design. When you look at it, the first thing you'll think of is a running smartwatch, because the entire casing is composed of"fiber-reinforced polymer," which is plastic.
But the Forerunner 265 isn't just great for runs; it's also fantastic at other health and fitness tracking too. You get step count, heart rate tracking, heart rate variability , sleep, and VO2 max with SpO2 levels. Garmin takes all of these metrics to give you a Training Readiness score, which shows how fit your body is to train that day. It also keeps tabs on your stress levels throughout the day, which can be high-stress, medium-stress, low-stress, or resting periods.
So we know it looks good, but good looks that aren't backed up by great fitness tracking are useless. Thankfully, it's great. It's a dedicated fitness tracker, and it's as capable as you'd hope, with 20 exercise modes. A number of those start automatically, so it'll capture walks and hikes without you needing to start them, and while the GPS can lag behind slightly when starting a tracked exercise, it always caught up without severely impacting our workouts.
Fitbit Charge 5 Best fitness tracker on a budget More Related Apple Watch SE 2 Best fitness tracker for iPhones Apple Watch SE 2 review: simple, cheap, and brilliant Review Pros Cons Why you should buy this: You want the best-value fitness tracker and smartwatch for iPhone users. If you’re considering the Apple Watch SE 2 and health is a top priority, maybe consider the Apple Watch Series 8 as well. It’s more expensive at $399 but has an ECG, SpO2 measurement, optical heart rate sensor, and body temperature sensors designed primarily for fertility in women. Whichever one you choose, it’s by far the best health and activity tracker for iPhone owners.