Garmin Forerunner 305 Review

UPDATE: Read about the latest with our Garmin Forerunner 405 review.

The Garmin Forerunner 305 is a stylish update of the Forerunner 301, and there are a number of improvements that go beyond appearance, such as the addition of customizable data screens. But the thing likely to wow everyone is the SiRFSTAR III chipset, which has been getting rave reviews for acquisition time and awesome coverage under canopy, in urban canyons and even indoors!

The Forerunner 305 has all the features of the Forerunner 205, except that the 305 adds a heart-rate monitor.

Before we hear from other reviewers, here's a snippet of Amazon's Garmin Forerunner 305 review:

Compare prices on the Garmin Forerunner 305

"The successor to the Garmin Forerunner 301 is here, and it's better than ever. Weighing in at just over 2.5 ounces, the Garmin Forerunner 305 breaks new ground in terms of comfort, style, and performance. Totally redesigned, the 305 gives outdoor athletes and runners real-time information about speed, distance, pace, and heart rate on a device that's easy to use and amazingly compact...

The 305's digitally coded heart-rate monitor--which is worn as a chest strap--sends heart-rate data to the device so you can see whether you're training too hard or not hard enough. Alerts for pace, distance, time, and heart rate are also available. Additionally, the unit tracks speed, distance, pace, and calories burned. Meanwhile, a course feature lets you race against previous runs in order to improve your time or just compare heart rate and pace data at every point of the way."

More Garmin Forerunner 305 reviews

• GPSInformation.org does their usual thorough job in this Garmin Forerunner 305 review.
• Here's a review of the Forerunner 305 from SurfSki.info.
• Scott Gruby offers his Garmin Forerunner 305 review, complete with photos.
• Gadgetell chimes in with their Garmin Forerunner 305 review.
• Caylynn has posted a brief Forerunner 305 review.
• Here is a Forerunner 305 review from The Final Sprint.
• Business Week gives 4-1/2 out of 5 stars in their Forerunner 305 review.
• Nancy Toby has posted a Garmin Forerunner 305 review at Race Athlete.
• Wired gives a 9 out of 10 rating to the Garmin Forerunner 305 in their review.
• MSNBC reviews the Garmin Forerunner 305.
• Gear Digest compares the Forerunner 305 with the Timex Bodylink.
• Well over 100 consumers have written Garmin Forerunner 305 reviews at Amazon.
• Consumers have also posted Forerunner 305 reviews at CNet.
• GPS Maniac has posted a Garmin Forerunner 305 review.
• Kevin Kelly reviews the Garmin Forerunner 305.
• DC Rainmaker has posted a Garmin Forerunner 305 review.
• My Running Life has also posted a Garmin Forerunner 305 review.
• The Wall Street Journal reviews the Forerunner 305.
• A runner's review of the Forerunner 305.
• Health Nutrition has also posted a Garmin Forerunner 305 review.
• About.com gives a 3.5 out of 5 star rating in their Garmin Forerunner 305 review.
• Audioholics reviews the Forerunner 305.
• Addicted to Running continues his multi-part Garmin Forerunner 305 review (part two) (part three) (part four).
• EnduranceBuzZ.com posts a Garmin Forerunner 305 review.
• Tupps.com gets into the game as well with a Forerunner 305 review.
• And WhyNotTri? has also posted a Garmin Forerunner 305 review.
• Kitzzy has posted a brief review of the Forerunner 305.
• Marathon Moms share their experiences with the Forerunner 305.

I'll post other hands on reviews as they show up, but in the mean time, here's some...

More Garmin Forerunner 305 resources

• A PDF version of the Forerunner 305 owners manual.
• Want to see how the Forerunner 305 stacks up against other units? Use this handy Garmin GPS comparison tool.
• There is even a Garmin Forerunner discussion group at Yahoo.
• How to swim with a Forerunner.
• Skiing with a Forerunner 305.

Compare prices on the Garmin Forerunner 305 at these merchants:

• Check the current price of the Garmin Forerunner 305 at Amazon.com.
• Get a great deal on the Garmin Forerunner 305 Wristop GPS Unit at TheNerds.net.
• Find the Garmin Forerunner 305 Personal Athletic Training System NEW LOW PRICE at TigerGPS, where you get free shipping on orders above $250.
• Check out the deal on a Garmin Forerunner 305 at REI.com, where you'll find more customer reviews.
• Find a great deal on a Garmin Forerunner 305 at eBay.

From the official Garmin Forerunner 305 web page:

Form meets function with Garmin's next-generation, sleek and stylish line of personal trainers — the Forerunner 305 & 205. Don't let their good looks fool you. These taskmasters will continually push you to do your personal best. The Forerunner 305 combines all of the popular features found in the 301 along with a high-sensitivity GPS receiver, new courses feature, and robust ANT wireless heart rate monitor for optimal performance.                  

Designed for athletes of all levels, this running partner and personal trainer has one goal in mind — a better you. It continuously monitors your heart rate,   speed, distance, pace and calories burned so you can train smarter, more effectively. It tracks your every move with a super-sensitive GPS that even works on tree-covered trails and near tall buildings. Receive a detailed post-workout analysis on the PC with included Training Center™ software.

The Forerunner 305 keeps you on track with innovative features including:

 
• New! Sleek, stylish, lightweight design that "wraps" the GPS antenna around part of the wrist for a better view of the sky, improving reception during training
 
• New! High-sensitivity GPS receiver provides faster acquisition times and improves tracking under trees and near tall buildings
 
• New! Robust ANT wireless heart rate monitor with softer, more comfortable chest strap and superior battery life eliminates cross-talk with other devices to reliably measure and send heart rate data, and helps you train in your zone
 
• New! Customizable screens let you view up to 12 data fields on 3 data screens for immediate feedback on the information you need most when training
 
• Multi-sport™ capability lets you seamlessly transition between sports without resetting the unit, so you can use it for running, biking, and more
 
• Easy to use — no calibration required. Just turn it on and go
 

Customize your Forerunner 305 to get the most out of your training. To help you achieve your personal best, the Forerunner 305 includes the following smart features:

 
• New! Courses feature lets you download recorded courses and compete against previous workouts
 
• Auto Pause® pauses and resumes training timer based on a specified speed so you never have to start or stop the timer
 
• Auto Lap® records lap data when you reach a specified time, distance or position so you never have to punch the lap button
 
• Virtual Partner™ lets you train against a digital person at specified time, distance or pace goals
 
• AutoScroll™ cycles through data pages during a workout

Monitor your pedaling cadence as you ride with the purchase of the GSC 10. Like the heart rate monitor, this self-calibrating, wireless speed/cadence sensor uses the same robust ANT wireless technology to reliably measure and report your pedaling strokes per minute.

Included Training Center software helps you tailor workouts to meet specific goals and objectives. Create your own workouts or use workout templates included on the CD. Interactive analysis tools let you chart performance overlaid on a map.

Data acquired by the Forerunner may also be analyzed with MotionBased.com, a web-based application that has partnered with Garmin. MotionBased™ provides in-depth analysis of your workouts, online mapping and route sharing that will take your training to the next level. Endurance athletes may also use the Forerunner with TrainingPeaks.com, an easy-to-use web based training system designed to help athletes train for any event.

Forerunner 305: You'll like the results

Related posts:

• GPS for runners
• More GPS reviews
• Top ten GPS

Comments

[Daniel]

I bought a Forerunner 305 and would like to find how to convert a gpx log file to a crs which can be imported into the Forerunner 305. I have the MapSouce but could not find a way to convert it. Thanks

[Rich Owings]

Daniel-

I'm hampered tonight by a lousy internet connection, so it's hard for me to look too much, but I'm wondering about GPS Utility (http://www.gpsu.co.uk/download.html), which will apparently import and export .crs files.

[runningblogger]

You might want to check out http://www.mapmyrun.com (I am affiliated with the site). We recently added the ability to export runs to .crs files for Garmin import.

[JHT]

This is my third Heart Rate Monitor and my first GPS device. It is amazing. It's so much more intuitive and easy-to-use than the previous Polar HR monitors that I have owned. It is worth every penny, in my humble opinion. The web based application provided by Motionbased.com is so thorough, and it literally takes one click to upload your data and less than 15 seconds. Imagine a graph that includes your HR, time, distance, and elevation coupled with a satellite view of your trek, and bunch of other stats to review if you desire. And the Web based application works seamlessly with a MAC. Best of all, HR monitor and clock on the Forerunner are so easy to start and stop. In addition, one can customize the data that is on the screen. So whatever you care to track as you trek, simply configure the device to show you that information. Really it's easy. This thing is the coolest and smoothest application of technology. It makes training fun and informative. The only thing lacking is a countdown timer. But hey, perfection is just around the corner. Thank you Garmin. This product exceeds my expectations.

[Rich Owings]

JHT,

I'm glad you're so pleased with it. I got to play with a Forerunner 301 for awhile and it was pretty neat. And I agree that MotionBased is a great application. Keep an eye out for firmware upgrades -- Garmin might add that countdown timer yet.

[Patrick]

Currently I am comparing sport watches. And the Forerunner 305 has all options that I would like to see on a complete sport watch. The only thing that is worrying to me is that the battery will only work for 10 hours. Can someone tell me if the 305 can be used as a normal watch? Can you switch off the GPS and other function (while not running) so you can use the 305 for days before charging?

[Rich Owings]

Patrick,

I'd be surprised if it does. You might want to ask here...

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/GarminF/

[John Minnesota]

I purchased a Garmin Forerunner 305 about two months ago, and while I really liked the idea of having the GPS and HRM and tracking data, my experience with Garmin and this particular product has not been good.

When I first got it, I followed the instructions, got it plugged in and went out for my first ride with it. When I got home and plugged it in to my computer USB bus, the computer froze and required a reset to reboot. Once the computer came up again, the USB bus didn't work. I realized that the likely problem was too much current draw on the USB bus, and was going to need to get a new motherboard :( Darned disappointing, but being a computer and electronics person, I went and purchased the new motherboard and a powered external USB hub and about 12 hours later I was up and running again.

So, this time I plugged the Garmin Forerunner 305 into the powered USB hub instead of the computer. As soon as I did this, my computer blue screened (crashed) and it did so nearly every time I plugged the Garmin in. At this point I decided it must have been a problem with the Garmin Forerunner and got on their support system. Here is where the real problems happened.

Their support person told me:
1. Check for chipset names that are INTEL, NEC, etc. These are compatible chipsets with our devices.
2. If you have a chipset name that contains SiS, Via, OpenHCD, Ali, or Alr,
these chipsets are not compatible with our devices and may not allow the USB Card Programmer to function.

That wasn't on the package, or in the instructions, but regardless I learned that I had a compatible chipset from the manufacturer. So after letting them know that and that I now expected some compensation for my loss and that something definitely caused my motherboard's USB bus to go bad they asked that I send the unit, cable, charger, etc back to them so they could determine what might have caused the problem, which I did. After a week or so I asked if anything had been determined about what had happened but they didn't have any answers. I told them at this point that I expected some compensation for my damaged motherboard - another unit maybe? Something. They offered to send me a new unit and a cadence unit (for my bike) but I indicated that I already purchased the $60.00 cadence unit and that it didn't work on my bicycle due to the frame/pedal design and that a new unit would help since I really wanted to start using the new toy I bought.

After getting the replacement unit which didn't cause any blue screens (after about a week) and seems to be functioning as well as the rest of them, Garmin refused to compensate me for my motherboard - I offered to accept the unit that I sent in back as payment - Garmin's response:

"Unfortunately, it appears as if we are unable to determine why the failure occurred given the information you provided. Thus we question whether the Forerunner 305 had anything to do with the failure on your PC. The device you provided does meet all specification standards. I apologize we could not provide a more conclusive answer.".

Unfortunately, I had already sent the bad Forerunner 305 back to Garmin along with the crash dump files from my PC and offered to send them the motherboard several times as well - they were never interested in what brand/make/model of motherboard I had - so I was no longer able to determine if a component had failed in the charging circuit of the Garmin and was out of luck.

And that has been my experience with Garmin. Great idea, but a bad company. There are a lot of problems with Garmin's products, unlike many better manufacturers like Canon and Apple computer, they don't deal with the problems in an equitable manner.

Be ForeWARNED!

[Rich Owings]

John,

That's quite the cautionary tale. Thanks so much for sharing it here. I hope that it will help others avoid the same fate.

[Cathy]

Anyone else having problems with 305 Forerunner NOT correctly recording altitude? Mine will be replaced by Garmin, a friend is on his 3rd replacement. My 301 worked much better, as long as I was not under trees. I have the latest software loaded. It's been reset quite a few times now.

Yesterdays run, 4 miles, 535 gain, the Garmin said over 10,000 feet!! Sunday's 1/2 marathon, flat course, (550 feet gain over 13.1 miles) Garmin said 3120 feet.

[Rich Owings]

Cathy,

A quick search of this group (http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/GarminF/) turned up a couple of threads. I used advanced search, specifying post titles including elevation or altitude. HTH.

[Bruce C]

The Garmin Forerunner 305 has two MAJOR problems. First, Garmin's algorithm for altitude recording is poor. It apparently records every foot of elevation it thinks you gain or lose. Since there will always be some measurement error in altitude, you could run a mile on a track and the Garmin Forerunner 305 will say you've done 300 feet of elevation when you're done. I've had Polar and Avocet altimeters and both gave accurate readings on known elevation climbs. The Garmin typically doubled the true elevation gain!

Garmin's bigger problem is customer service. After using the Forerunner for two weeks, I had a software problem and emailed Garmin's customer service. No response. I emailed again. No response. After five emails over four weeks with no reply from Garmin I gave up and returned the Forerunner.

Until Garmin gets some customer service, I'd advise getting a Suunto or another brand.

[Bobbi]

I still need to look at this in person, how will it be for a slight, 5'2" woman with tiny wrists?

[Rich Owings]

Bobbi, I think that's the best idea. Do you live near an REI? They would probably have it. I can tell you that I have small wrists for a guy and I didn't notice any problems.

[David Ragsdale]

I purchased a Garmin 201 when they first came out. For the first few years, it was excellent on mileage and speed, however something happened and the watch started losing the signal, so it would not calculated distance accurately. After more than a year of being frustrated with the 201, I recently purchased a new Garmin 305.
In my first outing, I noticed that I was going at a fairly rapid pace but the watch showed me going at less than 4 mph. I worked like a dog to every get my pace over the 4 mph. This made be skeptical of the 305's ability, so I went out on a pre measured route with the 201 on one wrist and the 305 on the other. The route is 2.21 miles. I never got that distance out of the 305. It measured everything from 2.03 to 2.18 miles in the ten or so laps I made. The old 201 measured the route exactly right the first time and got it right about four or five times after that. It measured the route between 2.16 to 2.22.
So, I sent the Garmin 305 back and I am living with the 201 losing signal. I tried to e-mail Garmin about this, but their e-email did not work correctly either.

[Bob]

Garmin Forerunner 205 causing a blue screen of death when I hook it up through USB port on my laptop. Works fine other than that.

[Rich Owings]

Hmm, you could be sure you have the latest USB driver. Other than that, I'm not sure what to suggest. A call to Garmin may be in order.

[Terry Galvin]

Has anyone had experience with using a GPS unit, or specifically the Forerunner 305, when rowing?
I'm interested in particular whether anyone has used the cadence accessory to track stroke rate. Seems doable but I don't want to buy one on the chance that I'm right.
My wife wears ours running and I wear it rowing, and it works well for each of us.
Our wish list would include a countdown timer (useful for rowing starts when you can't take your hands off oars to push buttons), better waterproofing, a stroke-rate monitor and a way to assign units to a mode, such as metric to a rowing mode, so you don't have to change units of measure in addition to mode every time.
We have had a great experience with our Garmin, except that the first one failed. The second one has done well, and the replacement was fairly quick.
Thanks for whatever input.
Terry

[dave]

I am attracted by the 305 as it does (on paper) all I want, but I have previously had a 301 which was useless, as was the support from garmin (all e-mails were sent back to me requesting that I forward them to a particular e-mail address - the same one as sent the forwarding request - I guess this was a way of getting rid of the support request).

A significant No of 301's were doa, or died with a few weeks of purchase. What is the consensus on 305's are they as bad ?

[Rich Owings]

Dave,

I haven't heard of that problem with the 305's. You might want to check one of the Forerunner forums.

[Wayne]

I have a 305 and find it an amazing piece of kit, it was a little complicated at first, but I have learned a little at a time.
My only problem (and I don't think I am doing anything wrong) is that I cannot create a route on my PC and send it to my Garmin.
I have tried "map my run" & "GPSIES", both with no success. I get an error message saying route transfer was not successful. Can anyone help with this.

Thanks.

[Rich Owings]

Wayne,

Have you tried it with any Garmin software, like Trip & Waypoint Manager?

[Jim]

Great product, wear it running and biking and have had no problems at all with it! Reccomend it highly! Except it is a little bit bulky, the new 405 solves that. A little waterproofing would be nice for those who get the triathlon bug however