Forerunner® 265

My FR 255 has a classic ski option, and it looks like the 265 does too: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/886785/#specs I change my skate sessions to skate skiing in the Garmin app (edit activity).

This is exactly what I would say. What do you need, for me a refurbished Garmin 265 is perfect. But some people need and want more.

This is bad info. The 265 has the older hr sensor, Venu 4 has the elevate 5 sensor. Venu has all the training features the 265 has, including training readiness, and more. The 265 is a sweet spot as far as bang for the buck running watch IMO. I’m trying to decide between the Venu 4, 265 and 570 myself.

Sometimes I want to switch to another brand. Garmin have become such a behemoth in the industry it makes it less attractive to support their overpricing. The thing is the 265 is an absolute beast of a watch if you’re a runner. They nailed it. Oh and I want a web interface for data. I don’t think Suunto (which is where I’d go) have that? Also having so many years of data with garmin. But I can also see the pull of a fresh start.

Most of these calorie counters are estimates and not even close to accurate for any sport with high amount of directional changes, they're more accurate for more straightforward sports like running cycling and swimming, but even then those are broad estimates. I use a relatively high end garmin, fenix 7 pro which I wouldn't recommend for badminton as it is heavy and sometimes will smack into your racket and your racket will lose the clash. If you want to try one I would recommend the Forerunner 265, or basically any sports watch thats not too big, garmin has significantly better optical sensors but aside from hr data don't trust the calorie estimates too much.