🏃 Garmin Forerunner 405 with Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) and USB Connectivity: Stay Fit and Connected Review

I bought this GPS watch for my wife for Christmas. She walks quite a bit. She just completed her first half marathon 5 months ago and we're going for another one next week. I've seen her use this to collect and display all sorts of data about her running. Although the model we bought didn't come with a heart rate monitor, we bought it soon after. Pros: Lots of data collected so you can view many different stats about your run. Transfers data from clock to clock. Computer and transfer to your…

I got it for Christmas but didn't take it seriously until yesterday. When I first received it 3 months ago, I was disappointed with the weak instructions and found it difficult to use. I didn't look anywhere for instructions so I just gave it up until yesterday. I didn't have the patience for that, so it's been lying around since Christmas. Yesterday I decided it was time to give her a second chance after watching a few YouTube videos on the watch. Once I learned how to turn on the GPS, how to…

Bought this watch to complement my Garmin 305. 305 is large and bulky, have been using it for several years both on and off road road events . I was planning on leaving my 305 for mud and water off-road racing (works great either way) and using the 405 as my road running watch with its slimmer design and cool UI - BAD IDEA! The idea of a touch bezel sounds great in theory and can work great if the watch is working properly. For me, the enter/next button would keep getting stuck rendering the…

I love this watch! I run 90-150 minutes at a time and I can't imagine him not attending a workout. Overall, I think its strengths far outweigh its "weaknesses"; it's in quotes because I think these watches are often misunderstood. There are already many reviews on this, so I'm going to share some simple tips on how to get the most out of this watch. 1. The design should make you look normal, not some cyber cop with a bulky homing device. This made everything smaller, including the battery. If I

I'm a relatively new runner training for my first competitive runs - 5k and half marathon. The Garmin Forerunner 405 was a key part of my training program. As a beginner runner, I still don't have a good feel for the pace of my comfortable and fast training runs, mileage, hill elevation, etc. Garmin allows me to complete workouts with real-time tracking of all these elements, which I think has really improved the quality of my training . I love all of Garmin's training features and can compare…

Although the 405 is vastly superior to the 305 in looks, weight, and satellite location, I've found two fatal flaws in this office that are significantly inferior to the older version of Forerunner: 1. Diligent accuracy. I've tried this in two different places, both of which are good controlled experiments. First place was at an IAAF accredited race I attended last Sunday where the clock was over 1% behind on a perfectly straight route (out and back in a sparsely populated city). What's…

I decided to write a review on this watch as the reviews here are very mixed and gave me food for thought when ordering. I've been using the watch for about 3 weeks now, I like everything. It is easy to use and accurately records distance and pace. And the cool thing is that it automatically uploads data to your computer and the Garmin Connect website when it's in range of a computer with a USB stick with an antenna installed. Lots of interesting information to check about your mileage on the…

*UPDATE* After nine months of use the battery died and the clock completely jammed. The warranty is one year so I received a refurbished replacement and Garmin support was helpful but this is an upgrade and should have lasted longer than nine months. The replacement device has worked flawlessly so far, but my rating has dropped from four to three stars. Most of my activities include outdoor rowing and indoor rowing (heart rate only). For now that's my take - Battery: I wear this watch every…