© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
I am not much of a runner, have never been. But I do keep myself very active these days to compensate for a sedentary 20s that gave me early onset diabetes like many others in my family. This year I resolved to up the ante and try and gradually push my body to run, first in short bursts and then longer stints. And this was about the time Garmin reached out to me to review the Forerunner 265, a smartwatch designed with runners and triathletes in mind. I was not even close, but I anyway decided to wear this one for a few weeks.
The watch can last a week easily with a single charge, provided you don’t have the GPS switched on. With that, I could not squeeze in more than 24 hours. Best is to switch on GPS on while on a run. And remember, this needs a proprietary charger that goes at the back of the watchface.
The Garmin Forerunner 265 has a round watchface and comes in two colours. I am testing the Whitestone version which comes with a comfortable silicone band that stays in place and does not spoil with heavy sweating. The 1.3-inch AMOLED display is bright and colourful enough for you to be able to see everything clearly even under the bright April sun.
While the watch has a touchscreen there are physical buttons to navigate the menu as well as to start and stop runs. This can be a bit confusing initially, especially if you are moving here from a full-touch environment. It took me a while to figure out how to move back and forth with the buttons and select what I wanted to. The ability to do everything via touch should be offered via the settings, I think.
That said, there is not much learning involved in using this smartwatch as many of the features all of us are familiar with. I struggled more with understanding the deep metrics being offered for runners, which was not something I was used to. But the onboarding via the Garmin Connect app makes it easier for new users and you can set up everything just the way you want. This is one of the most exhaustive smartwatch apps I have used and with the kind of data that is actionable and pushes you to achieve more.
The Garmin Forerunner 265 connects easily to the iPhone and the data flows into the Apple Health app too. But you will not need to use that much as the Garmin Connect app does a wonderful job of collating and analysing all the data from the watch from stress level to respiration and heart rate. All the data can be viewed over a 30-day period also.
One of the data points that really interested me was the ‘body battery’ metric which looks at how rested you are to take on another day. For me, the data showed negative on days I had not slept well. And in the midst of the review, when I was down with Covid, the same plummeted showing something was really wrong.
I had just started getting into the habit of long late-night walks as part of a routine to step up into runs when I tested positive again. While the symptoms were mild, this meant I had to stop exercising for a few weeks on the doctor’s instruction. Even when I got an okay to return to daily walks, there was no clearance to start running.
The Forerunner does not even offer the option of walks while selecting workouts and you have to go deep into the phone to select the option and bring it out as a favourite. And this is when you realise the scores of options this watch packs for users from hikes to swims. And there is Live Tracking on the device via the app that keeps your dear ones alerted about where you are — a very good feature if you are the trekking type. You have SATIQ and multiband GPS modes on the Garmin to assist with this and a lot of other features.
While on a run, the watch shows you the timer along with the distance covered, the pace per lap and real-time heart rate with an indicator of the zone you are in. I got a bit confused when I was jogging with Apple Watch and Forerunner 265 on either arm. While Apple said my lap was about 11 minutes (yes, that’s slow, but remember I am recovering from Covid) Garmin put this at about 17 minutes. And this was when I realised that while the Apple Watch was calculating my pace per kilometer, the Garmin was looking at an exact lap and closing the pace when I reached the same point again as per the GPS — yes, I was jogging in circles inside our gated community. But then for a runner, the latter might have much more real value.
You can load music into the watch via a computer or use the Garmin Connect app to download a streaming service app onto the watch. Remember, this watch also lets you manage calls and messages that come on your phone. But if you are someone who like me gets hundreds of messages a day, then it might not be a good idea to keep it on all the time.
The Garmin Forerunner 265 is a complex watch and I don’t mean that in a negative sense. The combination of five buttons and the touchscreen opens up so many possibilities with each option it shows on the screen. From getting your run setting just right to tweaking the battery life on your device, the possibilities are endless. It is just that you will need to spend some quality time here to get the hang of it. And there were times when the navigation took me to a screen from where I could not find a quick exit to the homepage. This was a bit frustrating, to be honest. Also, one-tap access to customise the watch faces would be appreciated.
Every day, you wake up to a morning report that tells you how ready you are for the day which I really love for it is a good indicator of how well-rested you are. Then on the app, there are tonnes of training options that you can enable to take you further up on your fitness or endurance journey. The app can become a full-fledged coach with personalised insights and recommendations and like many other brands, this is not a paid feature yet.
At Rs 50,490, the Garmin Forerunner 265 might well be the most advanced running watch around, but the beauty of this device is the simplicity of the watch and the complexity of the data it provides for you to act upon. But I would recommend this only for the serious fitness freaks and athletes as it could be a bit overwhelming for everyone else. If you are the type that starts your day with a 10-mile run, then you cannot find a better companion for your wrist.
