For someone looking to get a Garmin smartwatch under $300, the two natural contending Garmin smartwatches are Forerunner 165 and Vivoactive 6.
Interestingly, Vivoactive 6 is the latest in the Vivoactive series of smartwatches. It was released on 1 April 2025.
Below, we perform a quick comparison between Forerunner 165 and Vivoactive 6. This comparison is worth a read time of under 4 minutes.
This comparison focuses on only the significant differences in the underlying technology of Garmin Forerunner 165 and Vivoactive 6.
Main differences
- Garmin Vivoactive 6 uses better display glass than Forerunner 165.
- Vivoactive 6 offers additional GPS sensors for QZSS and BeiDou.
- Vivoactive 6 offers higher internal storage (8 GB) than Forerunner 165 (4 GB)
- Vivoactive 6 includes Wi-Fi connectivity. Forerunner 165 does not have Wi-Fi connectivity (Forerunner 165 Music version does have Wi-Fi connectivity).
- Vivoactive 6’s underlying software supports higher number of profiles for various activities in comparison with Forerunner 165.
- Vivoactive 6 also includes special apps for meditation and sleep coaching. It also offers wheelchair mode.
- Forerunner 165 lacks music feature. Vivoactive 6 allows you to control and play music through the paired smartphone.
- Forerunner 165 is on offer at $249.99 and Vivoactive 6 was released at a price of $299.99.
Let us discuss the main differences in brief below.
Display performance
Vivoactive 6 and Forerunner 165 support AMOLED display. But, the display glass in Vivoactive 6 is a 3rd generation Corning Gorilla Glass. Forerunner 165 uses a chemically strengthened glass. Both watches have the display resolution of 390 x 390 pixels.
GPS
One of the notable improvements in Vivoactive 6 is the addition of GPS sensors for the QZSS and BeiDou GPS satellite networks.
QZSS is a set of satellites offering GPS services and managed by Japan. BeiDou is China’s satellite network.
Forerunner 165 and Vivoactive 6 already include sensors for GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo.
The addition of QZSS and BeiDou offers improved GPS performance in Vivoactive 6 for Asian users. Specifically, we expect improved GPS performance for users living in China, Japan and the far-east part of the world.
Sensors
Vivoactive 6 added sensor to offer Gyroscope services. Forerunner 165 lacks a gyroscope.
Forerunner 165 has a sensor for barometric altimeter. It, however, lacks a gyroscope sensor.
Wi-Fi
Forerunner 165 includes wireless connectivity for ANT+ and Bluetooth networks. It lacks Wi-Fi connectiivty.
Vivoactive 6 includes wireless connectivity for ANT+, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi connectivity in the smartwatch offers benefits such as:
- it allows users to get music using the Wi-Fi connectivity
- the user could download apps, Connect IQ apps, and music using the Wi-Fi connectivity.
Vivoactive 6 smartwatch allows the user to control or play music through the paired smartphone. You could even store music files in the Vivoactive 6 storage.
Storage
Vivoactive 6 includes 8 GB internal storage and Forerunner 165 has 4 GB internal storage.
The internal storage of a Garmin smartwatch can be used for storing music files, topo maps and app data to track performance metrics.
Intended users
Forerunner 165 is developed for runners, athletes and triathletes. Vivoactive 6 is intended to be used by almost everyone.
Cost
Forerunner 165 sells for $249.99 and Forerunner 165 Music retails for $299.99. Vivoactive 6 has been released at a price of $299.99.
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