Bitti said:

VA5 doesn't have a barometric altimeter

That was mentioned a couple of times, yeah, but tbf I only said “baro”. Good point about VO2 Max altitude adjustments probably not being available on vivoactive 5.

I should’ve also mentioned that no Vivoactive supports Garmin running power (whether using a strap or from the wrist, whether built-in or using a Garmin CIQ app). Personally I don’t think it’s a huge loss.

3490833 said:

It's just like you said, all the litte thigs that add up and might tip the scale to invest more...

Yeah there’s a reason they got rid of the baro in va5. They want you to buy a Venu 3 (or Forerunner) if you want a baro. Without that difference, there would be very little to differentiate Vivoactive 5 and Venu 3, I think.

Based on the somewhat regular complaints about Garmin’s market segmentation, I’d guess there’s a few cases where people end up paying a few hundred bucks extra just for 1 or 2 features that exist on the higher end model. Garmin knows what they’re doing (even though having this many models is insane by today’s consumer product standards.)

3490833 said:

As far as I can tell from the FR265 manual it has the auto run feature.

Yeah I assume the only reason VA5 doesn’t have it is bc of the lack of the baro, especially since VA4 has it.

To add some insight about the Inline Skate feature, it's true that it does not have any sport specific data measurements, although it does take advantage of the data field customization being it's Garmin's and not IQ, which also lets you pair it with other IQ data fields. Other nice additions being native is that after an activity it automatically gets categorized as Inline Skating, while an 'Other' activity would need manual re-categorization even if making a copy and naming it Inline Skating. This is helpful if you want to avoid changing the sport type in Strava too. Some features are still being requested to make the activity even better for the community.

I'm biased from having VivoActive 3 be my first Garmin watch and still want it to have Inline Skating in the future, but for the amount of data, data fields and higher chance of receiving newer features after later versions (hence why VA5 doesn't have Inline Skating even though it's also a relatively new model in comparison) I'd suggest going for the FR265.

P.S. Venu 3 doesn't have Inline Skating either. 

My Forerunner 265 arrived yesterday. Even though the Vivoactive 5 might have been enough the "little things" convinced me to spend the extra 200€.

Now I got one quick question. Is it possible to synch my Edge 840 and the FR265 so that activities I do with my Edge also show up on my watch and are considered for training readiness and such?

3490833 said:

Is it possible to synch my Edge 840 and the FR265 so that activities I do with my Edge also show up on my watch and are considered for training readiness and such?

I think the latter part (“[activities] are considered for training readiness and such”) is possible because both devices support Unified Training Status.

https://support.garmin.com/en-CA/?faq=EjPECQK58qA0xzJ5X74vm7&identifier=798777&tab=topics

According to the linked support article, you should set your FR265 as your primary training device and your primary wearable.

However, activities themselves won’t sync between devices. It would be possible to manually copy them over, but there isn’t much benefit imo. (You would get to see them in activity history, assuming that there’s no problem viewing an Edge activity on a watch.)

Enjoy your new watch!

FlowState said:

a specific built-in profile for inline skating currently doesn’t provide as much added value as, say, the built-in profile for jump rope.

I agree as well. It's disappointing that even after it being "developed" before Jump Rope this last one has reached models that Skating even hasn't yet. Plus it also has its own badges. But that's that. 

What we have now is basically a copy of 'Other' with its own name and icon, 'Inline Skating' already selected as sub-category and a custom order of charts—with some left out and just showing numbers like Elevation and Calories. Sadly it also carries the same disadvantages like no map overlays of Pace, etc. Go to Connect Mobile and you'll see no differentiation with 'Other' sports when reviewing activities—only in Endurance Score does it separate Inline Skating as its own factor. Still it was a much needed activity, even as it currently is.

FlowState said:

if a proposed built-in activity would not have any sport-specific features (special data fields / algorithms), then Garmin wouldn’t bother adding it even to their high-end watches.

I think that's on them to decide if they wish to develop these features. I'm no developer so I don't have a clue of the intricacies that go behind the process to make these. But some and myself have suggested these metrics as sport-specific:

• Fastest and Slowest lap using GPS but without altering the watch's lap itself (set to time, distance, etc.) Kind of like what Strava does with its segments without influencing the intervals.
• Cadence / Number of total pushes
• Number of pushes by segment or lap
• Stride length

FlowState said:

However, activities themselves won’t sync between devices.

Hmm maybe I was wrong. I think this def works between compatible forerunners, but I had assumed (probably wrongly) that it wouldn't work from edge to forerunner.

https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/GUID-9D99A9D4-467A-4F1A-A0EA-023184FEA3DD/EN-US/GUID-2D2EA72B-5952-4D5D-ACDB-CE628C3D3331.html

Syncing Activities and Performance Measurements

You can sync activities and performance measurements from other Garmin^® devices to your Forerunner^® watch using your Garmin Connect account. This allows your watch to more accurately reflect your training status and fitness. For example, you can record a ride with an Edge^® bike computer, and view your activity details and overall training load on your Forerunner watch.

Sync your Forerunner watch and other Garmin devices to your Garmin Connect account.

TIP: You can set a primary training device and primary wearable in the Garmin Connect app (Unified Training Status).

Recent activities and performance measurements from your other Garmin devices appear on your Forerunner watch.

Thanks for the replies. I went skating yesterday and I can see the activity on my Edge device aswell. So this should work vice versa. Nice! No special data for skating but at least it synchs as skating to strava without any hassle.