Garmin 010 00658 20 Forerunner 405 GPS Enabled Sports Watch with Heart Rate Monitor Black
Garmin International is pleased to announce the Forerunner 405 GPS-enabled sport watch. During a run, this slim, sleek watch accurately tracks distance, pace, calories, and displays it all on the easy-to-read screen. Tap or slide a finger around the innovative touch bezel to change information without fumbling for a button. The optional foot pod can also be used to gather speed and distance information indoors. ANT+Sport wireless technology automatically transfers workout data to and from your computer when your device is within range. No cables, no hookups, the data’s just there. Users can upload data to Garmin Connect, a web-based application that lets them analyze, share and store workouts. Zone training, heart rate zone training, supports 5 heart rate zones Compatible with GSC 10 speed/cadence bike sensor – monitor pedaling cadence and wheel speed Compatible with foot pod – measures speed and distance and runners cadence when indoors Watch features – time of day (12/24h), dual time zone, (day/date), daily alarm Training and motivational features – Virtual Partner, courses, workouts, goals GPS features – mark waypoints, back to start, save location ANT+Sport wireless technology lets you automatically transfer information back and forth between the watch and the PC Unit-to-unit – transfer workouts and locations to other Forerunner 405’s Dimensions – 45.75mm x 70.5mm x 16.4mm Weight – 2.11 ounces (60 grams)
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars great companion
It took a couple of runs before I got the hang of it, and I’m still learning more of its features. What I want to know is at my wrist at the touch of a bezel or button…good running buddy.
5 Stars Excelent investment
I gave this Garmin 405 to my wife as a gift for the Mother’s day. She loved it and uses it on every race that we go. It is excelent.
5 Stars How did I train without it???
I hesitated to buy this because of the negative reviews I read, but went ahead and bought it from a place where I could return it if not satisfied. I will most definitely be keeping the 405!
I have had this watch just over a month now and it is just great! I wanted to have something to give a measure of miles in areas where I couldn’t drive or bike the distance before running. Now I use it every time I run, hike, or bike. I went out of the country a few weeks ago and I used the GPS to get record the mileage of my runs, as well as tell my altitude. Last weekend I ran my first Half Marathon and I was able to use the 405 to pace myself so I didn’t head out too fast and burn out too early, I downloaded the race into my computer, I got my splits, I saw a map of where I ran – it’s amazing!
As for the negative reviews, I have not experienced any of the negatives – it took a little getting used to, but I don’t have another Garmin to compare it to, so I think it was just me getting used to the unit. I LOVE the touch bezel controls, have used it in the rain, and used it when I’m sweaty and don’t have problems with the bezel not functioning. When I was out of the country, I never took it off and wore it in the shower, while washing my hands, while working, it was just fine. And everyone who saw it said, “Wow, that’s a cool-looking watch!”
One thing about the accuracy that other reviewers have mentioned: the only problem I had was when I was in Central America and the GPS took a while to find the satellites – I was impatient, since I was on a tight schedule, so I started the training feature without waiting for the satellites to fully load, and the watch told me I was running a 16 minute mile (I KNOW I’m a little faster than that!) but the next day I waited for the GPS to find all the satellites and it worked just fine. Every other time I have used it, I have had no problems with the distance measurement accuracy (and I have known routes I have measured many times, plus the Half Marathon course) and every time I use it it is dead on.
I have recommended this watch to several other friends and they have had the same reaction as I did – it is just an amazing piece of technology that makes a workout just that much more fun, and it is so good-looking, people think it’s a regular watch (for the sake of security, let them go ahead and think that!)
4 Stars Motivating
I’ve been using the 405 since December. A few observations:
1) It’s not small by watch standards, but insanely small by GPS standards. I recommend checking one out at a store to see for yourself. You won’t even notice it when running. This is a big plus — You don’t want to look like you’re heading to a Star Trek convention when jogging.
2) The watch has a touch sensitive bezel (the ring around the face) which is a bit temperamental. It works, but not as easily or as obviously as two more buttons could have been.
3) The GPS is really accurate. The tracks will easily show which side of the street you ran on.
4) The GPS locks on quickly. This is a big deal and Garmin did a fine job here. Nobody wants to stand around in a 39 degree rainstorm waiting on their gear.
5) The Garmin Training Center software that comes with the 305 and 405 is mostly lame and has annoying bugs. It will keep basic statistics and draw graphs of your pace, altitude, heart-rate, and a few other bits. The stats are useful – I like hitting each 100 mile increment for the year. The cool feature is the ability to see your path in Google earth. Fun, but you obviously won’t keep using it for the same old routes.
6) Absolutely get the heart-rate monitor option. It’s my first experience with a heart rate monitor and I found it insightful to gauge the physical stress from jogging with heart rate. Up hills and down hills show up loud and clear in your heart-rate.
For reasons I can’t quite put my finger on, the 405 is an extra motivation for me to get out there. That counts for something.
One final bit: My wife dropped mine and put a dent in the bezel. After that, the screen was permanently blank. I’m not sure if this means they’re overly delicate, but I’m taking extra care just in case.
I’ll add a well earned plug for REI, who replaced my dropped and broken 405 with zero hassle. I didn’t even miss a jog!
5 Stars Great running companion!
I had asked for the 405 as a present & had second thoughts based on the negative reviews. Fortunately my wife had already purchased it… I’m glad she did. I’ve been training with it now for the past 5 months & believe the negative reviews that I read must have been about some other watch. I’ve never take the time to write a review – ever – but thought I needed to come to the defense of this product. It fully exceeds my needs in my marathon training (I don’t use it for other activities so I can’t help you there). First, I’ve found running with a GPS device to be very liberating… not having to map routes, being able to know your exact pace & distance, etc. I ran a 1/2 marathon last month & it helped tremendously with pace. I was concerned with the reports about the touchiness of the bezel – especially when wet – but I simply set it to autoscroll, lock the bezel, & never had a problem. It finds satellites quickly enough – just enable it while you are warming up. Battery life has been more than sufficient (remember to disable GPS when you’re done your activity). The software interface is relatively painless. The only problem was when I had to re-load my operating system on my laptop, it couldn’t see the ANT USB. There was a quick-fix on Garmin support that solved the problem. One final comment; my training buddy the other day actually thanked my wife for HIS present – since he benefits from it so much everytime we train toghether!
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