The Forerunner 265 was an easy recommendation when it launched in 2023, striking a perfect balance of advanced features, value, and a stunning new AMOLED display. However, it now has a successor, the Forerunner 570.
While the 570 is the newer device, its price increase ensures the 265 remains a superb mid-range option. So, for anyone seeking the best running watch without paying flagship prices, these two Garmin watches are definitely worth considering.
The core question is whether the 570’s upgrades—the built-in speaker and mic, tweaked design, and updated sensor—are worth the extra $100 (and a surprising downgrade in ‘smartwatch’ battery life).
Having completed extensive testing on both models, we’re here to break down the key differences to help you decide which watch is the smarter buy in 2025.
The quick verdict: Forerunner 570 vs. 265
Trying to decide between the shiny new model and the trusted predecessor? Here’s a simple breakdown of who should buy which watch.
Choose the Garmin Forerunner 570 if… you want the latest and greatest hardware available in the mid-range. The more premium feel of the aluminum bezel, the brighter screen, and key smartwatch features like taking calls from the wrist are important to you. You’re also buying into a newer platform that will receive future software updates.
Choose the Garmin Forerunner 265 if… you are looking for the absolute best value. It delivers a virtually identical core running experience, from its flawless GPS to its deep training insights. Crucially, it offers better day-to-day battery life and can now be found at a significant discount, making it the smarter choice for most runners who can live without the newest bells and whistles.
Should you upgrade from the 265 to 570?
After comparing these models side by side, we don’t recommend that existing 265 users upgrade to the 570. However, there is an argument for upgrading to the Forerunner 970 if you crave even more detailed running insights, ‘proper’ offline map support, or better battery life. Don’t forget that the 965 is still very capable, too.
Price and competition
When the 265 launched, its $449/£429 price point felt like a pretty good deal, considering it came with an AMOLED screen, new training insights, and music support as standard. In 2025, it represents fantastic value, often available for less than its original retail price.
The 570 enters the market with a significant $100 price hike, retailing for $549.99 (although it is comparatively cheaper in the UK, at £459).
This pushes it into a more crowded and competitive space, where it not only has to justify its existence against its excellent predecessor but also against discounted flagship models from the previous generation, like the Forerunner 965.
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There are also very strong devices outside of Garmin’s range, such as the Coros Pace 3, Suunto Race (and Race S), and Polar Vantage M3.
For many, the decision will come down to this price gap. The 265 offers so much of the same core experience that the 570 has a tough job justifying the extra cash. And, as we’ll explore below, there are some baffling feature omissions for the price, such as maps.
Design, display, and hardware
At first glance, both watches appear similar, but the 570 represents a clear hardware evolution.
While the 265 features a solid all-plastic build that’s lightweight and resilient, the 570 adds a touch of class with a new aluminum bezel. This, combined with fresh, playful colorways like our pink/ translucent/orange test unit, gives it a more premium and modern feel on the wrist.
Both watches feature gorgeous AMOLED touchscreens, but the panel on the 570 is noticeably brighter and more vivid than the 265’s already-excellent screen. While this is a welcome luxury in harsh sunlight, it does come with a significant battery life trade-off, which we’ll cover later.
Garmin has also retained much of the case size dimensions across generations, with case options available in either 47mm/42mm for the 570 and 46mm/42mm for the 265. Still, there are minor tweaks.
The domed-edge display of the 265 has been dropped for the 570, the display dimensions have increased by 0.1 inches in both case sizes, and the buttons have been altered (with the ‘Start/Stop’ button being reduced in size for the newer model). None of these design features, though, are better or worse than the other in our view.
Instead, the most significant hardware difference, and one we’ll detail more below, is on the underside. The 570 features Garmin’s latest Elevate Gen 5 optical heart rate sensor and a new skin temperature sensor, promising improved accuracy and more health data layers over the 265’s still-excellent Elevate Gen 4 package.
Sports tracking and training features
When it comes to tracking your runs, the experience is remarkably consistent across both devices—and that’s a good thing.
Both the 570 and 265 are equipped with Garmin’s gold-standard Multi-Band GPS with SatIQ, which delivered flawless and virtually identical distance and route data in our testing. And while the Gen 5 Elevate sensor is undoubtedly an improvement over the 265’s Gen 4 equivalent—particularly, we’ve found, in cold and rainy weather and consistency in intervals—we wouldn’t necessarily say it’s worth the upgrade alone.
If you take heart rate accuracy that seriously, we recommend saving the cash and investing in a Garmin HRM 600 to pair with the 265, instead—there’s less latency, for a start.
Elsewhere, key software features like Training Readiness, Morning Report, and Training Status are the backbone of both watches, providing superb insight into your training and recovery.
The 570 does add a few minor, helpful software tweaks, like a feature that prompts you to crop a race activity if you forget to stop your watch at the finish line, or the improved, dynamic version of race-day time estimates. It has also received an expanded suite of triathlon features, including adaptive Garmin Coach plans.
The hidden factor: Future software potential
With so little to choose from in tracking, the most important distinction here is future-proofing. As a new-generation device, the 570 is on the current software track and will receive new features and updates going forward.
Of course, it’s currently unknown which features they will be—and we don’t necessarily anticipate the 970’s (Running Economy, Running Tolerance, and Step Speed Loss) exclusives rolling back in 2025, or perhaps at all. However, if recent history is anything to go by, one thing is sure: 265 owners won’t receive them.
While still fully supported from a bugs and minor software point of view, what you buy today is likely what you’ll have for the life of the device.
Health and wellness
The hardware upgrades in the Forerunner 570 give it a slight edge in health tracking. The primary difference is the newer device’s skin temperature sensor, which works overnight to provide an extra layer of data for sleep and recovery analysis.
Despite the 570 featuring the brand’s latest sensor, however, it surprisingly doesn’t include support for a feature that many similarly priced siblings have gained in the last couple of years: the Garmin ECG app. Even the cheaper Venu 3 has it, and it’s a significant omission at this price point—even if not necessarily one that we think is crucial on a running watch.
With such minimal upgrades, the experience remains largely unchanged in terms of sleep, stress, and advanced health tracking. As we noted in our 570 review, Garmin is at the front of the chasing pack in this area. There are many ticked boxes from the company, but accuracy, insights, and feedback still fall short in comparison to industry leader Oura.
Smartwatch features
This is a clear and decisive win for the Forerunner 570. The addition of the microphone and speaker fundamentally changes its utility as a day-to-day companion.
Being able to take quick calls from your wrist (again, when in range of your phone) or harness Garmin’s voice commands is a genuine convenience that makes the 570 feel like a much more capable smartwatch. It’s not something I felt compelled to use much in testing, as these features aren’t what I look for in a running watch. However, it’s also true that it should be included at this price point.
The 570 also benefits from the newer Garmin interface, including the Evening Report (shown above), which serves as a nice complement to the popular Morning Report by summarizing your day and preparing you for tomorrow.
The 265 has enough smarts to get by—notifications are rich and music support is excellent—but it’s a lesser experience compared to the 570. If you value smartwatch features as much as you do sports tracking, the 570 a much better pick.
Battery life
This is where the decision gets truly complicated, as the older 265 has a surprising and significant advantage. In our real-world testing with the always-on display enabled, the larger version of the 265 delivered a respectable four to five days of use between charges.
The newer 570, likely due to its brighter screen, only managed around three days under similar conditions. This was, of course, the smaller edition, in which battery estimates are understandably lower, but even the estimates across similar editions are lower in the general ‘smartwatch’ mode.
This means you’ll be reaching for the charger more often with the newer model, regardless of which size you pick.
However, when it comes to GPS tracking, the numbers are much closer. In bigger models, both have a 14-hour rating in the precise Multi-Band GPS mode.
The 570 does show a slight improvement of a couple of hours when tracking with GPS and music simultaneously, but for most users, the dip in daily smartwatch endurance on the 570 will be the more noticeable difference.
