Garmin Forerunner 405 (black)

• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 6 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

• Sort by: Most helpful Highest rating Lowest rating Most recent

• 10 stars

  I love it. The Forerunner is the new I-Pod for runners.

  by anna_klein on October 27, 2008

  Pros: You can go for a run on a whim and not worry about getting back home. The GPS takes you back to start. I had the NIke Plus application that hooks up to your I-POD - but the Forerunner 405 has better cal/HR/MPH etc.. and I can wear it with Asics:)

  Cons: It takes a little getting used to. I recommend reading the manual and watching the demonstration video on www.garmin.com

  Summary: For the novis runner or jogger - this is a great tool. For the hard core outdoor fitness enthusiast - the forerunnner 405 is a must buy.

  Summary: For the novis runner or jogger - this is a great tool. For the hard core outdoor fitness enthusiast - the forerunnner 405 is a must buy.

  3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 1 stars

  At 1st it appeared good but now I believe its rubbish.

  by arno0 on February 14, 2012

  Pros: 1. Good GPS functionality
  2. Virtual Partner

  Cons: 1. Poor software
  2. The "basel" control is rubbish
  3. Poor battery life
  4. Battery can't be changed
  5. Poor screen control when running
  6. Screen to small, 305 was much better
  7. Setting up a running program is
  8. Poor customer service

  Summary: I've been using Garmin watches now for 5 years. I decided to do a review since you read all these brilliant reviews on website that tested the watch and ...

  Read more

  Summary: I've been using Garmin watches now for 5 years. I decided to do a review since you read all these brilliant reviews on website that tested the watch and think the watch is fantastic. Unfortunately you only find out it real short comings once you use it for an extended time, and that is the purpose of this review.
  At first the 305 and loved it. Then it got stolen and I thought I'll buy the 405 upgrade, had it now for a year and realised I made a mistake, big mistake!
  
  1. Software support: The Garmin Connect online software and Garmin Training centre are both awful, clunky and not very user friendly. Interface between them are very difficult and transferring your completed runs are ok, but try transferring scheduled runs or pre set workout - impossible. Just look at forums on the 405 and see how much people complain about this watch and the software integration.
  
  2. Basel control: Very difficult to use, even more so when your fingers get wet/sweaty then its completely unusable. There is nothing more frustrating when running and you want to change the screen and nothing happens, no matter what you do. And when you running in high humidity then there is no way it works, try as you may. Renders the watch pretty much useless.
  
  3. Since the watch does not turn off, the battery life is very poor. On numerous runs I had run out of battery power and therefore did not record my run. If you buy one of these then charge it before each run to be safe, even if it still shows 60%, it sometimes lasts only 30min. The % battery life shown does not actually reflect how long it will last. Sometimes 30% lasts longer than 60%, etc.
  
  4. It seems from web forums that with most people the battery quickly starts fading after a year, very few people manage battery life over two years. And here is the trick; the battery cannot be changed at your local watch store. No, it has to be sent back to Garmin who will change it for half the price of your watch!! Therefore, be prepared to change watches once a year. Pretty much as you will change trainers.
  
  5. So you set up a number of screens to track your running and set up the virtual partner, total say two or three screen and the virtual partner. Now once you start running and you are say on screen two but you want to go to screen 1. You can't, unless you scroll through screen 3 & 4 first before it goes to screen 1. You would think no big deal, few taps on the basel and presto. But remember, the basel does not work that well. Becomes a massive struggle. This wasn't the case with the 305. Since it worked with buttons you could use the top button to go forward, bottom button to go back - and it worked every time.
  
  6. The screen size has been reduced from the 305 to make it an everyday watch. Now to be honest I hadn't seen anyone using their training run as an everyday watch. It's a training watch and therefore it needs to cater best for training. All other training watches are getting bigger and bigger for this reason. But no, Garmin designers are clearly not runners. They are clueless to the needs of runners and hence they come up with these crazy ideas. So if you run for two hours, the last thing you want to do is fiddle with the watch, squint in the sunlight to decipher your pace or hart rate. 305 were much better.
  
  7. I got used to download a running program from the Runner's World website. This is very useful and easy to do, select a program from a huge selection of programs, add the date of your race and download the file. Import it into one of Garmin's rubbish software packages and presto, you have a scheduled program for each day of the week until race day. How good is that? Now on the 305 it worked brilliantly. Turn on your watch, select training, workout and if you have a workout scheduled for today it will ask you if you want to proceed with today's program. You acknowledge and off you go. As simple as that. Brilliant.
  However on the 405 this has changed. Downloading the program remains the same. However once transferred to the watch you select training, workout, then advanced workout - no prompt of the scheduled workout. In fact, you have to remember self what you supposed to do and then select the required workout?!? What? In the past I had no worries, turn on the watch and just follow what was scheduled for the day. Garmin, what are you doing? What is the point of the training schedule? This is madness.
  
  8. You would think that Garmin would take all of this on board, learn from all the people complaining on the forums and improve on their product. But Garmin being Garmin will go in the opposite direction and come up with new models that is worse then the previous one. Insane. But people believe the next one will be better.
  
  Therefore I have now gone back and ditched my 405 and bought me again a 305. Not brave enough to test the Garmin 410 or the new Garmin 610 with touch screen - who knows how they would muck that up!

  Show less

  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  Overall, great watch that will keep you motivated

  by K_Grote on February 4, 2011

  Pros: The data is great, Garmin connect keeps track of everything (how fast, how far, where, when etc.)
  The watch is easy to use and the display is easy to read
  Small, lightweight & normal-looking design (compared to most GPS watches)
  Loads of features

  Cons: The wristband could have been larger, I'm not terribly large yet it barely fits my wrist
  The bezel doesn't function well when wet, adding an unneeded annoyance.

  Summary: Bottom-line the pros far outweigh the cons and I would get this watch again in a heartbeat. Like anything, it's a bit clumsy to use in the first week ...

  Read more

  Summary: Bottom-line the pros far outweigh the cons and I would get this watch again in a heartbeat. Like anything, it's a bit clumsy to use in the first week or two, but after that this has been the best thing that I've ever added to my running gear. The VR partner is great, and using the Garmin software to make advanced workouts has helped diversify my training. Moreover, I've paired it with the option foot-pod and love the cadence feature. Recently, I've been using it a lot in cold weather and it holds up well in temperatures well below freezing and all summer I never had an issue with it in hot weather.
  
  Like others have said the bezel doesn't function well when wet, but I haven't found this to be very annoying. Moreover, the wristband is a bit small so, if you've got massive forearms you might consider getting the "wrist strap kit" from Garmin - it might be a little easier to get on and off.
  
  On balance, the watch is great but I do have a few gripes with it. The pros outweigh the cons by a lot and I still believe it's worth 4.5 stars.

  Show less

• 1 stars

  Whatever you do don't DROP it!!!!

  by Squidlipz on October 29, 2009

  Pros: Excellent functionality in a running watch. You couldn't ask for more.

  Cons: I dropped it when I undid the clip after a heavy session. It fell straight off my wrist and because of the weighting of the watch it landed face first and cracked the screen. $150 to repair. No warranty for dropping.

  Summary: It has great functionality but it's not a running watch. The manager of Garmin admitted that it will crack when dropped. It's not designed to be dropped. Garmin ...

  Read more

  Summary: It has great functionality but it's not a running watch. The manager of Garmin admitted that it will crack when dropped. It's not designed to be dropped. Garmin tried to claim that if you dropped your mobile phone it would break too - I don't go running with my mobile phone, and I've dropped it heaps of times and it still works perfectly. In short, go ahead and buy it if you like the watch, but work out how many times a year you're going to accidently drop it and then budget in the $150 cost of repair.

  Show less

• 3 stars

  Major problem if it gets wet

  by smrbin97 on September 2, 2009

  Pros: Works great for gathering data as long at it is not wet

  Cons: You cannot use this for multi-sport. If the bezel gets wet, the unit will lock up. Wet from sweat alone will cause this problem.

  Summary: Garmin was very unsupportive of my problem. They said that the unit was never marketed to be used in triathlons. I am basically out of luck. Almost a great product, ...

  Read more

  Summary: Garmin was very unsupportive of my problem. They said that the unit was never marketed to be used in triathlons. I am basically out of luck. Almost a great product, but if you sweat, your functionality will be limited. Try another product.

  Show less

• 10 stars

  Very Cool Device!

  by ddarche on March 24, 2009

  Pros: Easy to use
  Small and lightweight
  Digits are easy to read while running
  Backlight is bright.
  Great data after the run inclulding Google Map of the run along with pace data for all points along the route

  Cons: The initial setup was not as smooth as it should have been.
  It does take a bit of time to find all the satelights.

  Summary: The initial setup was a bit rocky. Initially, I could not manage to pair the watch with the thumb drive. However, the next day, I did another run, and after ...

  Read more

  Summary: The initial setup was a bit rocky. Initially, I could not manage to pair the watch with the thumb drive. However, the next day, I did another run, and after that run it paired up seamlessly. It does take a bit of time to find all the satellights, but once they have been found, it seems to lock in. The best part about the watch is the data that you have after the run. There is an option to load the software on your computer or use the online version. I used the online version. It's great. It pulls up a Google map and shows exactly where you ran, what your pace was, and what your elevation was at any point in the run. You can also use a "virtual" partner while you are running. Set the pace for your virtual partner, and the watch will tell you where you are in relation to the virtual partner.

  Show less

See pricing