Garmin Forerunner 165 vs Withings ScanWatch 2
🗓️ Release Year
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: 2024
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: 2023
🏃 Activity
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: The Garmin Forerunner 165 is an accessible GPS running watch designed for new and casual runners, offering essential activity tracking. It precisely records steps, distance, calories burned, and active minutes, with a strong focus on core running metrics like pace, distance, and cadence using built-in GPS. It provides valuable data for monitoring and improving running performance.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The Withings ScanWatch 2 is a sophisticated hybrid smartwatch designed to seamlessly blend medical-grade health monitoring with elegant design and activity tracking. It accurately records steps, distance, calories burned, and active minutes, providing insights into your daily movement alongside advanced health metrics. Its activity tracking supports various sports with a focus on overall wellness and fitness trends.
❤️ Health Monitoring
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: This device provides continuous wrist-based heart rate monitoring, stress tracking, and sleep tracking for insights into daily well-being and recovery. It includes Pulse Ox for blood oxygen saturation monitoring, contributing to a more complete picture of overall health alongside its running features.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: This device is a powerful health monitor, featuring continuous heart rate tracking, SpO2 measurement for blood oxygen levels, and an impressive ability to take on-demand ECG readings to detect signs of atrial fibrillation. A key feature is its ability to track body temperature variations and perform a respiratory scan during the night, offering comprehensive health insights from the wrist.
🔋 Battery Life
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: The Forerunner 165 offers practical battery life for runners, providing up to 11 days in smartwatch mode and up to 19 hours with continuous GPS tracking. This ensures sufficient power for regular runs and daily wear without constant recharging.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The ScanWatch 2 boasts an exceptional battery life of up to 30 days on a single charge. This significantly longer duration compared to traditional smartwatches ensures uninterrupted health monitoring and activity tracking, making it ideal for users who prioritize longevity and consistent data collection.
😴 Sleep Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: Detailed sleep tracking on the Forerunner 165 monitors sleep stages and provides insights into sleep quality and patterns, helping users understand their recovery for optimal training and daily performance.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: Advanced sleep tracking on the ScanWatch 2 provides detailed analysis of sleep stages (light, deep, and REM), sleep duration, and sleep quality. It incorporates SpO2 and body temperature data collected during the night to offer deeper insights into respiratory health during sleep and overall recovery, contributing to informed decisions about rest and training.
📍 GPS Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: Equipped with built-in GPS, the Forerunner 165 provides accurate outdoor activity tracking for running, walking, and cycling without needing a paired smartphone. It delivers reliable pace, distance, and route data essential for runners.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The Withings ScanWatch 2 does not have built-in GPS. It relies on a connected GPS feature, utilizing the GPS from a paired compatible smartphone to accurately track outdoor activities like walking and running, providing pace and distance data when your phone is with you.
🏋️ Workout Modes
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: While primarily a running watch, the Forerunner 165 supports additional activity profiles including cycling, pool swimming, HIIT, and cardio, providing relevant metrics for these exercises alongside its core running features.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The ScanWatch 2 supports multiple workout modes for tracking various physical activities such as walking, running, cycling, and swimming. It displays essential real-time statistics on the small digital display, offering a blend of analog watch style and digital tracking functionality.
💫 Exercise Recognition
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: The device includes automatic exercise detection for common activities such as walking and running through its Move IQ feature, ensuring these basic movements are captured in your activity log seamlessly.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The device includes automatic exercise recognition for common activities like walking and running, ensuring that these basic movements are captured in your activity log without requiring manual initiation, contributing to a complete record of daily physical activity.
🍎 Compatibility
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: The Forerunner 165 is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones, connecting via Bluetooth for seamless data synchronization and smart notifications.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The Withings ScanWatch 2 is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones, connecting via Bluetooth to the Withings (formerly Health Mate) app for seamless data synchronization and comprehensive health analysis.
📲 App Support
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: Synchronization with the comprehensive Garmin Connect app is central to the Forerunner 165 experience, providing detailed analysis of running data, activity metrics, health statistics, and sleep insights. The app allows for setting goals, reviewing training history, and connecting with the Garmin community.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: Synchronization with the comprehensive Withings app is central to the ScanWatch 2 experience, providing a detailed dashboard for reviewing all collected health data, including ECG waveforms, SpO2 trends, temperature variations, and activity logs. The app offers insights and personalized coaching to help users understand their health metrics and make informed decisions.
💡 Smart Features
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: Beyond its running focus, the Forerunner 165 includes essential smart functionalities such as on-wrist notifications for calls, texts, and calendar alerts. It also supports Garmin Pay for contactless payments (on the Music version, if applicable, but the data for 167 is just Forerunner 165, so sticking to basics) and allows for controlling music on a paired smartphone.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: Beyond its primary focus on health monitoring and traditional watch design, the ScanWatch 2 provides essential smart notifications for calls, texts, and app alerts on its integrated digital display. It maintains a minimalist approach to smart features, prioritizing health functions.
💦 Water Resistance
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: With a water resistance rating of 50 meters (5 ATM), the Forerunner 165 is suitable for swimming and showering, making it a durable companion for triathletes and those who incorporate swimming into their fitness routine.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: With a water resistance rating of 50 meters (5 ATM), the ScanWatch 2 is suitable for swimming and showering, making it a durable companion for everyday wear and various water activities without concern for damage.
⌚ Display Quality
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: The Forerunner 165 features a sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) color display, offering good readability in various lighting conditions, especially bright sunlight, which is ideal for outdoor running. The display technology is also power-efficient.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The ScanWatch 2 features a traditional analog watch face with a small integrated grayscale OLED display. This digital screen is discreetly placed and provides clear, readable information for notifications, health metrics, and activity data when needed, balancing classic aesthetics with digital functionality.
👌 Ease of Use
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: The device utilizes a five-button interface, which is reliable and easy to operate during runs or workouts. The user interface is designed for straightforward navigation and quick access to running data and essential features.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The device offers a user-friendly interface controlled primarily through the crown and a physical button, complemented by the integrated digital display for navigating options and viewing data. The intuitive design and seamless syncing with the Withings app make managing health data straightforward.
✨ Design and Comfort
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: The Forerunner 165 features a lightweight and comfortable design with a soft silicone band, making it ideal for extended wear during training sessions and everyday activities, prioritizing a secure and comfortable fit for runners.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: The Withings ScanWatch 2 features an elegant and comfortable design, closely resembling a traditional wristwatch with analog hands. It is made from premium materials and is designed for comfortable all-day and all-night wear, allowing for continuous health monitoring without the appearance of a bulky smartwatch.
🩸 SpO2 Monitoring
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: An integrated Pulse Ox sensor allows for monitoring blood oxygen saturation levels during sleep and spot-checks, providing valuable data related to acclimatization and overall physiological well-being, complementing its health tracking suite.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: An integrated SpO2 sensor is a key health feature, allowing for monitoring blood oxygen saturation levels on demand and during sleep. This provides valuable data for assessing respiratory health and contributes to the device's advanced sleep analysis.
💖 ECG Functionality
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: It is important to note that the Garmin Forerunner 165 does not support ECG (Electrocardiogram) functionality.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: A significant health capability of the ScanWatch 2 is its ability to take on-demand Electrocardiogram (ECG) readings. This allows users to check for signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib) and share the results with healthcare professionals, offering valuable heart health monitoring.
🧘 Stress Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: The Forerunner 165 tracks stress levels throughout the day based on heart rate variability and offers guided breathing exercises to help users manage stress and promote overall well-being.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: While not providing a specific "stress score," the ScanWatch 2 contributes to understanding stress through its continuous monitoring of heart rate variability (HRV) and sleep patterns, providing data within the app that can help users identify stress triggers and their impact on physiological state.
🩹 Recovery Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: The Body Battery energy monitoring feature provides insights into the body's energy reserves based on activity, stress, and sleep data, helping users understand their physiological readiness for training or the need for rest, contributing to optimized recovery for runners.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: Recovery insights are provided through the Withings app based on analyzed sleep patterns, heart rate variability (HRV), and potentially body temperature data collected during the night. This helps users understand their body's readiness for activity and optimize rest and recovery periods.
💳 Subscription
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: A significant benefit of the Garmin platform is that all core features and data tracked by the Forerunner 165 are accessible through the free Garmin Connect app, requiring no additional subscription fees for essential running metrics, activity tracking, or health insights, providing comprehensive value for an entry-level running watch.
2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: No subscription is required to access the core health features and data tracked by the ScanWatch 2, including ECG and SpO2 readings, through the Withings app. Premium features or deeper insights may be offered through optional services in the future, but essential functionality is free.
🏷️️ Price
1️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 165: $349.00
Check Garmin Forerunner 165 Price *2️⃣ Withings ScanWatch 2: $299.00
Check Withings ScanWatch 2 Price ** If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you