Garmin Forerunner 305 Review (part 1) - What’s in the box?

I’ve always been a Polar heart rate monitor user before but having not been best pleased that the strap broke on my RS400sd after less than a year, I decided to buy a Garmin Forerunner 305.

I carried out a lot of research online before buying my Polar RS400sd last year - and on the whole every comparison I saw was Polar vs Garmin. And it boiled down to one thing - footpod technology vs GPS technology.

For those that don’t know, footpods are small devices that attach to your trainers and have some cunning technology inside that somehow manage to work out how far your feet are moving when running. GPS however, means that your location is constantly monitored by satellites in order to work out the distance (and therefore speed) of your run. Footpods are the option if you go with Polar, whereas Garmin use GPS.

In the past I was really put off by many posts and discussions I read that said that in cloudy conditions or built up areas it was really difficult to get satellite receptions. However, two things changed my mind on buying a Garmin Forerunner 305…. Firstly, most of the negative posts I read were posted a good couple of years ago, and from what I could see the chip inside the Garmin had been updated quite recently. And secondly, my Dad got a Garmin Edge (for cycling) at Christmas and having seen it pick up lots of satellites whilst sitting in my living room, I assumed that things had indeed moved on!

There’s probably a third reason too… I’m now a Mac user, and Polar offers absolutely no support whatsoever for Mac users. I find this absolutely unbelievable. I therefore don’t want to spend time using a gadget that produces stacks of data that I can’t review on my computer of choice!

So anyway, having the tendency to make the odd impulse buy I decided to buy a Garmin Forerunner 305…. and now it has arrived.

What comes with the Garmin Forerunner 305?

Now, I know that first impressions shouldn’t be everything, but I was quite impressed by the packaging of the Garmin…

Nice box, eh?

Right, let’s open her up…

1. The wrist unit
   First impressions are good. One of the other reasons I wasn’t keen on the Garmin Forerunner 305 in the past was the perceived size of the wrist unit. Now it’s here it’s a pleasant surprise. It’s no way near as big as I thought it would be. Don’t get me wrong, you would be a bit mad to wear it as a normal watch, but I don’t think it looks as stupid on your wrist as a footpod looks on your trainer!
2. Interchangeable watch strap
   Now, this is a nice touch Garmin include a watchstrap just in case the one included as standard doesn’t fit your wrist!
3. Screwdriver
   An even nicer touch.. a screwdriver in case you do indeed want to change the watch straps!
4. The Heart Rate Monitor chest strap
   This is the strap that goes round your chest (on top of your sternum) to send your heart rate details to the wrist unit. It has the look of an earlier Polar model I used, but it’s much more comfortable. And it’s certainly better than the strap that comes with the Polar RS400sd. The Garmin type is much easier to put on and take off.
5. USB cable
   For attaching the unit to your PC (or in my case my Mac).
6. The docking cradle
   This is what the wrist unit needs to be attached to when you transfer data to and from your PC/Mac.
7. Charging unit
   Needed if you want to charge the unit using a standard wall socket.
8. Plug
   Not much explanation needed for this bit!
9. 2 pin adapter
10. User guides and software
    It’s nice that there are two guides - a quick start-up and a full manual. Obviously being a male I decided to scan read the quick start guide!

Right, time to charge the Garmin Forerunner 305 up so it’s ready to use…

Update: Should I now upgrade to a Garmin Forerunner 405?