Garmin Forerunner 265 is the latest Forerunner watch released in March 2023. Vivoactive 4 is a year-old smartwatch. We look at the main features and differences between the Forerunner 265 and Vivoactive 4 smartwatches below.
Display
The biggest difference between the Forerunner 265 and Vivoactive 4 is the display technology used in both watches. Forerunner 265 uses an AMOLED display. Vivoactive 4, however, continues to use the MIP or memory-in-pixel watch screen.
AMOLED display has improved display clarity, contrast, and resolution.
- Forerunner 265 has a display resolution of 416 x 416 pixels; Vivoactive 4 has a display resolution of 260 x 260 pixels. The difference in display resolution is substantial. Before buying either of these two watches, it would be a good idea to have a look at each of these side by side.
- Forerunner 265 supports Always-on-display or AOD. This has been made possible because of the AMOLED display.
Physical specifications
There are some very generic differences between the Forerunner 265 and the Vivoactive 4 smartwatches. We list these small, yet important, differences in the physical specifications below.
- Forerunner 265 has a size of 46.1 mm and a thickness of 12.9 mm. Vivoactive 4 has a size of 45.1 mm and a thickness of 12.8 mm.
- The display size for both watches is almost 33 mm. Forerunner 265 has a display diameter of 32.5 and Vivoactive 4 has a display diameter of 33 mm.
- Forerunner 265 is made entirely of fiber-enforced polymer. The body of Vivoactive 4 is made of fiber-enforced polymer. But, the bezel of Vivoactive 4 is made of stainless steel.
- Forerunner 265 weighs 47 g and Vivoactive 4 weighs 50.5 g.
Battery
Forerunners are designed to provide a longer battery life. The idea is to provide the runners with a reliable battery backup. Forerunners are known to keep the good company of runners amid outdoor activities.
- On the smartwatch mode, Forerunner 265 can last up to 13 days and Vivoactive 4 can go up to 8 days.
- On the GPS mode, Forerunner 265 can last for up to 20 hours and Vivoactive 4 can last for up to 18 hours.
The difference in battery backup between the Forerunner 265 and Vivoactive 4 is marginal.
Activity profiles and features
Forerunner 265 has a rich set of features for runners and fitness enthusiasts. Some of the biggest improvements in the Forerunner 265 over the Vivoactive 4 include the availability of the multi-band GPS on the Forerunner 265.
- Forerunner 265 has a multi-band GPS because the watch comes with a multi-frequency positioning sensor. This allows you to get GPS data from multiple satellite systems on different bands at the same time. The improvement in GPS accuracy is noticeable on multi-band GPS devices.
- Forerunner 265 also has in-built profiles for running, outdoor recreation activities, swimming, and cycling. None of these profiles are available on the Vivoactive 4 smartwatches.
- Vivoactive 4 has Golf support and includes all the standard features of the Garmin Golf app. Golf support is missing on the Forerunner 265 watch.
- To help runners’ safety, Forerunner 265 also supports ‘Spectator messaging‘ and ‘Live Event Sharing’ on Android phones. Vivoactive 4 misses the spectator messaging and live event sharing features.
Primarily, Forerunner 265 is designed for runners. All the additional activities profiles, safety features, and multi-band GPS features and abilities are included to provide the runners with a more comprehensive dataset to track performance.
In the image below, you can also see that the Forerunner 265 has a separate ‘Run’ tactile button on the watch body.
Other features – Table of comparison
Apart from the differences shared above, other features of the Forerunner 265 and Vivoactive 4 are common. We list the core features of both watches below in the table of comparison for ready reference.
| Features | Forerunner 265 | Vivoactive 4 |
|---|---|---|
| iOS compatibility | Yes | Yes |
| Android compatibility | Yes | Yes |
| Display glass | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Display technology | AMOLED | MIP (Memory-in-pixel) |
| Display resolution | 416 x 416 pixels | 260 x 260 pixels |
| Color display | Yes | Yes |
| Touchscreen | Yes | Yes |
| Recommended wrist circumference | 135-205 mm | 135-205 mm |
| Device storage | 8 GB | 200 hours of activity data |
| Water rating | 5 ATM | 5 ATM |
| Weight | 47 g | 50.5 g |
| Heart rate sensor | Garmin Elevate sensor | Garmin Elevate sensor |
| Multi-frequency sensor | Yes | No |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes | No |
| Accelerometer | Yes | Yes |
| Gyroscope | Yes | Yes |
| Thermometer | Yes | Yes (requires tempe sensor) |
| Pulse Ox blood oxygenation sensor | Yes | Yes |
| Compass | Yes | Yes |
| Barometric altimeter | Yes | Yes |
| GPS Networks | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo |
| Wireless connectivity | ANT+, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | ANT+, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
| Daily resting Heart rate | Yes | Yes |
| Abnormal heart rate alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Sleep monitoring | Yes | Yes |
| Body battery | Yes | Yes |
| Sleep score | Yes | Yes |
| Incident detection | Yes | Yes |
| Music storage | Yes | No |
| Control smartphone music | Yes | Yes |
| Control watch music | Yes | Yes |
| NFC App | Garmin Pay | Garmin Pay |
| Women’s Health | Yes | Yes |
| Health Dashboard | Yes | Yes |
Price
As of writing this, the Forerunner 265 smartwatch is available at a list price of $449.99 and Vivoactive 4 is marketed at a list price of $349.99. The Vivoactive 4 is cheaper than the Forerunner 265 by $100.
Closing thoughts
For an incremental expense of $100, a Forerunner 265 watch provides additional features or functions over the Vivoactive 4. Some of these features are:
- AMOLED display with a better display resolution
- Multi-band GPS through multi-frequency positioning sensor
- Better battery backup
- Ability to store music files on the smartwatch storage
- Better safety features like spectator messaging and live event sharing on Android phones
Apart from these features, the Forerunner 265 is a relatively newer model and has been released in March 2023. Vivoactive 4 is a relatively dated smartwatch model that was released for the first time in 2019.
You may also like to read more content related to Forerunner smartwatches below:
- Forerunner 265 vs Venu 2 Plus
- Garmin Forerunner 265 vs 265S running watches
- Forerunner 965 vs Forerunner 955 Garmin running watches
- Garmin Forerunner 265 vs Forerunner 955
Helen Kurt is a geeky nerd who loves to cover the wearables space. She has over 5 years of experience in the smartwatch domain. You can reach her on email at [email protected].