Image: Garmin
Argos launched its early Black Friday Garmin deals this week and most of it is noise. One watch is not. The Garmin Forerunner 165 is sitting at £149.99 in Mist Grey right now and that is the lowest price we have found for it anywhere in the UK. The remaining three watches in the same sale are more interesting in November than they are today.
The Garmin Forerunner 165 at £149.99 Is the Best Running Watch Deal in the UK Right Now
The Forerunner 165 launched in early 2024 as Garmin’s entry point for runners who want a proper training watch without the premium price tag. It has a 1.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen, built-in GPS, wrist-based heart rate and HRV status, Body Battery, Morning Report and daily suggested workouts that adapt based on how well you have recovered. Battery runs to 11 days in smartwatch mode and 19 hours with GPS active. It weighs 39 grams and is water-rated to 5 ATM. There is no multiband GPS and no onboard maps, which is exactly the right trade-off at this price.
The practical case for it is simple. If you are training for a half or full marathon, logging 30-50km a week and want a watch that tells you when to push and when to pull back, the Forerunner 165 does that job well. The daily suggested workouts alone justify the price. Garmin’s adaptive training logic, which has historically lived in watches costing £100 more, sits in this one too.
At £149.99 it is a stronger deal than it looks. Amazon’s lowest recorded UK price for the Forerunner 165 has been £171.99, making the Argos Mist Grey listing the best we can find in the market right now.
Deal at a Glance
- Buy from: Argos
- Watch: Garmin Forerunner 165, Mist Grey, 43mm
- Argos price: £149.99 (was £199.99)
- Saving: £50 / 25%
- Display: 1.2-inch AMOLED, 390 x 390 pixels
- Battery: Up to 11 days (smartwatch) / 19 hours (GPS)
- Weight: 39g
- Water resistance: 5 ATM
- Best for: Beginner to intermediate runners training for half or full marathon
Three Garmin Watches to Wait On Until Black Friday (November 27)
The other three watches Argos has discounted this week range from underwhelming to actively misleading. Here is where each one sits and why patience is the right call.
| Watch | Argos Price | Was | Saving | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forerunner 265S 42mm (Whitestone) | £309.99 | £369.99 | £60 | Wait. John Lewis had it at £299.99 last Black Friday and deeper cuts are expected this year. |
| Instinct 3 Solar 45mm (Black) | £279.99 | £299.99 | £20 | Skip. Seven per cent off a £300 watch is not a deal. Hold out for November. |
| Fenix 8 47mm Glass (Grey & Black) | £599.99 | £699.99 | £100 | Shop around now. John Lewis has this watch at £567.15 today, already £33 cheaper than Argos. |
Fenix 8 buyers, check John Lewis first. The Fenix 8 47mm is already listed at £567.15 at John Lewis as of today, October 30, and it is a cheaper price than the Argos “Black Friday” deal on the same watch. Garmin offers a standard two-year warranty in the UK regardless of where you buy, so retailer price is the only variable. At John Lewis you also get their well-regarded returns policy if anything goes wrong in the first year.
What Actual Black Friday Should Bring for These Garmin Watches
Black Friday 2026 falls on November 27. Based on 2025 discount patterns and analyst expectations for this year, here is what the more interesting watches in this list should do.
The Forerunner 265 dropped 33 per cent last Black Friday. Analysts tracking Garmin pricing are calling for up to 40 per cent off this November. On a £369.99 RRP that puts the 265S somewhere in the £220-230 range if those predictions hold. That is a very different conversation to today’s £309.99.
The Fenix 8 is heading into its second full year on shelves and last year’s Black Friday brought 25 per cent off. A 30-35 per cent discount is plausible this cycle. It has already hit £555 at Amazon during mid-year sales, so a late-November price below £520 is realistic.
The Instinct 3 Solar had a quiet debut in last year’s sale. With the Instinct 3 AMOLED now in Garmin’s lineup alongside it, retailers have more incentive to clear the Solar model in November. That £20 saving from Argos today should grow substantially.
Tip: Early Garmin Black Friday deals at Amazon and John Lewis typically go live around November 20, a week before the official date. Set a price alert on the 265S and Fenix 8 now so you are ready to move when those prices drop.
FatMarathoner Verdict
Buy the Forerunner 165 at £149.99 if you need a running watch before December. At this price it is the best value GPS running watch currently available in the UK and a genuinely capable daily trainer for most runners. The Forerunner 265S and Fenix 8 are better watches but this is not the right week to buy either of them. Bookmark this page and check back in the last week of November. We will be tracking both when proper Black Friday deals land.