Wear Radar

Amazfit Band 7vsGarmin Forerunner 265

Amazfit Band 7
Buy/Wait:bad

Overdue for a refresh — no successor announced yet. Prices should be at their lowest

Best for: Budget-conscious users who want more features than a basic step counter — SpO2, stress, sleep analysis, and workout tracking — without paying for a full smartwatch. Works with both iPhone and Android.

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Garmin Forerunner 265
Buy/Wait:bad

Late in cycle — a new model is likely coming

Best for: Regular runners who race 5K to marathon distances and want accurate GPS, detailed training load management, and long battery life. Multi-band GPS makes it particularly valuable for city runners or trail runners where single-band GPS loses accuracy.

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Amazfit Band 7Garmin Forerunner 265
TierFitness TrackerSports GPS
PlatformiOS & AndroidiOS & Android
Battery18 days13 days
Always-on display
GPS
Cellular
Health sensorshr, spo2, stress, sleephr, spo2, hrv, stress, body battery, training readiness
ReleasedSep 22, 2022Mar 1, 2023
Cycle length699 days1188 days
Cycle advicebadbad
Deals advicegoodgood
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Why buy each?

Amazfit Band 7

18-day battery at under $50

18 days of typical use with health monitoring — nearly 3 weeks without charging, far beyond any smartwatch competitor.

Alexa built-in

Ask Alexa for weather, timers, reminders, and smart home controls directly from your wrist — unusual for a sub-$50 fitness band.

PAI health scoring

Amazfit's Personal Activity Intelligence score aggregates your daily activity into a single 0–100 health index, guiding you toward optimal activity levels.

Garmin Forerunner 265

Multi-band GPS accuracy

L1+L5 multi-band GPS reduces position drift in urban canyons and dense forest — a meaningful upgrade over single-band watches for competitive runners.

Training readiness score

Daily score combining HRV status, sleep, acute load, and recovery time — tells you whether to train hard, easy, or rest on any given day.

Race time predictor

Estimates your finish time for 5K, 10K, half-marathon, and marathon based on your current fitness — useful for pacing race-day strategy.