Garmin Forerunner 405 Wireless GPS Enabled Sports Watch
Garmin Forerunner 405 Wireless GPS Enabled Sports Watch
Fire your personal trainer and strap on the Garmin Forerunner 405 GPS Watch. This easy-to-use training tool uses GPS satellites for full monitoring and analysis of your workouts, as well as the ability to download wirelessly to your computer. The 405 continuously monitors your time, distance, pace and calories, and stores each of your workouts so you can track your improvement. The GPS functions allow you to store 100 different waypoints in addition to tracking your speed and distance. Race against Garmins Virtual Partner to keep yourself in check, and transfer your data wirelessly to your computer after your workout. The wireless function also lets you share workouts, locations, and courses with a friends 405. Garmins touch bezel eliminates the need for different buttons, so you can focus on your workout instead of fumbling with your watch.
Product Features
- Material: Plastic, rubber
- Dimensions: 1.88 x 2.78 x .65in (4.8 x 7.1 x 1.6cm)
- Antenna: Internal
- Routes: 0
- Waypoints: 100
- Mapping: No
- Digital Compass: No
- Computer Compatible:
- Waterproof: No, water resistant
- Battery Type: Rechargeable lilthium ion
- Battery Life: [Power Save Mode] 2 weeks; [ Training Mode] 8hrs
- Expansion Card: No
- Weight: 2.1oz (60g)
- Recommended Use: Training, running
- Manufacturer Warranty:
- Country of Origin: China
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars garmin 405
Easy to use, ability to adjust data fields and customize to your preference.
Very accurate. downloading data with ANT stick to view inofrmation on workouts at Garmin website very helpful.
5 Stars This is a great watch, don’t listen to the haters
I just wanted to add a positive review to help out anyone still wondering about purchasing this watch and still on the fence due to the numerous bad reviews it has received. The watch works great, fits great, and looks normal enough that I can wear it to work and other places when I’m not running. If you’re worried about the reports of the bezel not operating when the watch is wet, I’d say don’t worry about it: you can start and stop the watch with the top button and that’s pretty much all you need to do while you’re running. I lock the bezel 99% of the time, including while I’m running, to prevent accidental taps from changing the mode. It’s as simple as that. If you find yourself needing to tap and swipe the bezel to get more information than current time, distance, and pace *while* you’re running, maybe it’s time to concentrate more on running and less on the gadgets you are using to help you run!
5 Stars Garmin 405
First time using a gps device and couldn’t be happier. It completely liberated my running and I now look forward to my runs and exploring new areas off the beaten path. I would recommend this product to all level of runners. The bezel is great and has not given me any of the problems that others have mentioned.
4 Stars Less control
I bought the Forerunner in late February 2010 and installed the current software and firmware. For the last 6 months I used the 205. There are a lot of reviews written for the Forerunner 405 already, so first a few things I noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned elsewhere, and if you already have a 205 or 305 you might be interested to know:
(1) The 405 no longer has the “other” sport mode. Now it’s just running and biking modes. There’s no fast way to switch between sports like there was on the older models. Switching sports requires navigating through a few levels of menu.
(2) The 205 (and 305) had two display screen pages, and a third page dedicated to the sport mode for each of the running, biking, and “other” sport, and that screen would only be accessible if the watch was in that mode. This was useful for example if you wanted to see speed units in bike mode and pace units in running mode. Now, there are three non sport-specific pages, each of which is available in any sport mode, or disabled. That way, you can have a page with speed units and another page with pace units, but both pages are always there for both modes unless you turn one of them off. This makes things a little less convenient.
(3) The 405 cannot be operated while connected to the charger. Battery power only. Probably not an issue for most people but I suppose someone might want to have the option to have the watch run on external power in a lab setting or maybe a long bike ride using solar power or something. Not with the 405.
(4) There is no user setting to control how the device distributes waypoints, and the way 405 does it is mysterious.
(5) upper and lower pace/speed limits are not available on the fly. This functionality is now only available with pre-programmed (advanced) workouts.
(6) The ANT+ interface is a little bit slower and less user-controllable. Transfers happen automatically and in a background process on your computer called the ANT+ agent. (new) data is downloaded from the watch on to the agent and held there, from where it can be accessed by a third party like Garmin Training Center, Sport tracks, etc. If for some reason the transfer fails (like you walk out of the room while it’s happening), you have the option to force a re-send via a menu on the watch. If you want to send data to the watch such as workouts, courses etc, whatever software you use sends it to the ANT+ agent, where its held in a queue until the next time the watch is nearby to receive it. This stuff simpler in theory but it requires more things to work correctly and you have very little control over what’s happening except to plug or unplug the ANT+ dongle.
I did a 17 mile run yesterday with both the 205 and the 405 on my wrists. The 405 initially locked on to the GPS satellites significantly faster but once the connection is established the reception doesn’t seem that much different. The route I ran included several tunnels that go under the street. When going through these tunnels, the 205 tends to lose signal and register crazy instantaneous paces like 3/mile. This can be annoying if you have it set to keep you in a certain pace zone, and it starts beeping at you to slow down. The 405 also lost signal just about as often, but in different tunnels! But overall, the 405 is more reasonable about it and doesn’t give weird readings when it loses signal. Both watches gave the same distance within 0.1 mile, so no complaint there.
I don’t see the problem with the bezel that a lot of people complain about. It works fine. Sliding your finger on the bezel is only used for scrolling through menus, so unless you’re programming your watch while running it’s not an issue. Otherwise, you tap on the bezel to switch display pages or turn on the backlight, or tap and hold to change modes. Even in the highest sensitivity setting, you’d really have to put your finger on the bezel and hold it there deliberately to enter a menu and do anything drastic. Starting and stopping the timer is done with the side buttons. I don’t even see a need to lock the bezel.
3 Stars Garmin Forerunner 405
I bought this for my boyfriend for his birthday as an update to the older one that he had. He has had a harder time adjusting to this than I thought he would. The dial is a touch bezel and it seems more complicated to work than his old one. He hasn’t said it, but I think he actually liked the older one better.
