In Depth Garmin 305 Review
07. Mar, 2011 
1 Comment
This is my honest and in depth Garmin 305 review. I’m sure you know what a Garmin Forerunner 305 is as you have stumbled upon this page which is good as you will learn all about this amazing gps watch.
I have been running off and on for a few years but only recently started running properly (all my training is on my website runningvest.org) and by this I mean that I’m running races such as the half marathon and training for the full marathon. I have always been fascinated by the stats and time and have used a few different ways to track the miles I run. I have used the car to measure the distance and for over a year I have been using Nike+ and was very happy with it.
That was until it started playing up as I got more serious about my running and my pace and Nike+ was not showing the right stats it was probably around 90% accurate. I probably could have got it more accurate if I calibrated it but I guess I wanted a change as well from it and looking (spending 2 weeks) for a watch that would provide the stats that I needed and is more accurate.
Hours Of Research
Well after hours of research and watching videos and even going as far as downloading the manuals and reading them. Their were only 2 watches that kept coming back as the top watches on the market and they were the Garmin 305 and the 405.
Once I seen both gps watches I actually liked the forerunner 305 the best as the screen looked big and would be easy to see it when I’m out running, even running at a fast pace I could see the stats perfectly.
I didn’t really like the forerunner 405 although its smaller it has a bevel touch screen and the reviews were saying things like; not waterproof or sweat proof and no button to switch the watch off.
The Garmin Forerunner 305 reviews mentioned loads of times how good and how many features this watch has, the only bad feature about this watch was that it’s bulky.
But once I got the 305 in my possession it’s actually not that big it’s just like a normal watch and very comfortable to wear. I even seen a review of a woman on YouTube wearing it and she loved it which also made me think that it must be ok.
The only other negative I had is that if I was out running through trees and it didn’t record the data I would be well annoyed which is what happened when I used the Iphone Nike+ GPS. I wasn’t even near any trees and it kept losing the signal. I also heard now that the iPhone GPS isn’t that good and no way near as good as the Garmin GPS.
I got my Garmin on a Friday and my run wasn’t until Sunday so I decided to walk the dog through lots of woodland area and using the GPS it connected straight away and didn’t lose signal once. The walk was about an hour and it counted all 3.15 miles.
I also uploaded the data to gamin connect and was amazed at just how much data it shows. It showed so much more than Nike+ which only showed pace, distance, time.
Garmin 305 is also a heart rate monitor so it can also track your heart rate and this also shows when you upload the data, it will also give you your speed, elevation, pace, time, lap times and more. Words can not describe just how good the data it shows is.
Here is a list of what convinced me to purchase the Garmin 305;
Screen Size – The biggest screen out of all the other watches on the market so you can see the stats better.
Can Show Up To 12 Different Stats (data fields) – You can setup 3 different screens that can have up to 4 different stats showing and then you just have to click up or down arrows to scroll through them.
I have on 1 screen – Pace, Distance, Time, and Lap Time
I have on the 2nd Screen – Heart Rate, Heart Rate Zone and Distance
I have on the 3rd Screen – Calories, Accuracy, Average Pace, and Speed
You can pretty much have anything showing up to 4 on each display or you can just have the time showing. This I think is what sold me on the Garmin running watch.
Auto Lap Feature – This is another great idea you can set it up in the settings to beep every time you reach a distance. I have mine to record every mile so I can quickly look down and see if I’m on my target pace, if not I just speed up or slow down if too quick.
Race Against A Time Or Previous Workout - Another feature is that you can setup a race; I did this for my 1st run which was 12 miles long. I set it up so that I would run 12 miles at 8:00 per mile pace. It will then tell you how far you are ahead or behind. I managed to win by 14 seconds so I was happy to see that my running pace was bang on.
After just a few runs with the Garmin Forerunner 305 I’m so happy to have found it and now using it and I personally don’t think I will ever switch to another model as this really does everything a running watch is meant to do.
There are countless more things it can do such as maps, navigation and training programmes that you can create or download. I’m not going to go into them as I haven’t really played with those yet so it’s not fair to give a review on something I haven’t used.
Anyway all I can say is if you want a GPS and hear rate running watch that tracks everything then visit Amazon and check out some more of the benefits that you can get.
After all the searching I did I found that Amazon was so much cheaper for the Garmin that all the other websites.
Click Here To View The Garmin Forerunner 305
And Get The Cheapest Price Online.
I have been using the Forerunner 305 for the past five months and can’t imagine how I got along without it.
I primarily use the unit for my running, which has improved dramatically. This is because the unit allows me to easily monitor a wide variety of items on three screens that can be customized to each show four items.
My first screen shows total time elapsed, speed in MPH, total distance and heart rate. My second screen shows the time for my current lap, the time for my last lap, the lap distance covered so far (I set a lap to equal one mile), and again heart rate. My third screen shows calories burned, time of day, paused time and sunset time. There are many other combinations available.
For me these settings have enabled me to improve my running by giving me an accurate picture of how I am doing. I can then download each run onto my computer and compare my progress from week to week. The Garmin software is primitive, but is suitable for my needs. There are more sophisticated software alternatives that you can read about in other reviews.
I have been able to get a GPS signal even on completely cloudy days, and have not lost it when running through paths with lots of trees.
The heart rate monitor readings do not “bounce around” like they do on many execise monitors, but rather are always steady. This enables accurate heart rate monitoring instead of bouncing around 10 or 20 beats at a time.
As a separate accessory you can purchase a footpod, which is a transmitter that attaches to your sneaker so that you can use the 305 indoors on a treadmill, which I do very often during the winter months.
The unit itself is not bulky to wear, and feels pretty much the same as wearing a watch, though of course it is somewhat larger.
When running I especially like the auto pause feature, which stops the time being recorded for laps and records the time standing still, such as a rest stop or waiting for a traffic light to change. This is far superior to manually stopping the timer, because many times you resume running and forget to turn the timer back on.
My one minor gripe is that there is no auto off feature, so that if you forget to turn the unit off, you will drain the batteries.
Overall I highly recommend this unit and have not had any problems with downloading my data or installing software updates.
UPDATE Sept. 23,2008: If you own a Mac, the Garmin Training Center software is even more primitive than the PC version. I highly recommend a Mac software program called Ascent. It is highly customizable and terrific for organizing your data and training. I wish they made a version for the PC as well.
UPDATE July 4, 2009: A few weeks ago I bought the Forerunner 405cx (which I have reviewed on Amazon) to replace my 305 and am very happy with my decision. But since the 305 costs less than half of the price for the 405cx, you have to decide whether the new features are worth the extra money to you.