Garmin Forerunner 255 Update

[Pierpont Oldham]

HiRay, love your in-depth technical reviews and articles. They were a big factor in me (as a relative beginner running 13 miles per week currently) deciding to get a FR305 recently, and getting me up to speed on it quickly :)

Previously, with just a 181 HRMax my zone 3 was 126-144. I had been having difficulty running slowly enough to keep HR at even the top end of this, and was running almost exclusively four steps to a breath.

My initial thought was that the unit behaved erratically because of the cold. Temps were falling from 18F to 9F by the end of the race. Even though this keeps the 305 within the operating specs (-4F is given as the lower margin) I still think that the temp is the most likely reason. I still wanted to check if you have ever come across something like this. For an image of the overlay track on race course see here: link to cfospruns.blogspot.com

Thanks, and thanks also for this great blog!

Basically in your opinion if I really just want a watch to record details about a run / speed walk with HRM is it really worth getting the TGT or 310XT or better to save and get the 100 305? I am never going to be a triathlete and only run to improve my fitness for walking and challenge walks so does the TGT or 310XT really offer any advantages over the 305 for a general plodder?

My FR305 is barely 3months old but already the speaker vol is getting weaker and softer. I personally feels that the location of the speaker is poorly designed at the back of the watch as perspiration will leaked into it.

With my previous Polar HRM the analysis SW allowed me to overlay two or more workouts and make direct comparisons to the heart rate graphs. Is there a way to do this in any of the 3 SW packages mentioned above?

In terms of reliability, the HRM works as well as my previous polar one, and maybe a bit better. I got some funny readings at the beginning of a ride, but that was due to forgetting to wet the sensors. Once you get a bit sweaty, the HRM seems very accurate.

Grade is GPS based, which in general is a bit sketchy compared to the barometric altimeter based ones (for during ride use). Afterwards, the Garmin Connect site will apply better elevation data using elevation correction. Calories are indeed not as accurate as some of the newer units, especially depending on whether or not you were wearing a HR strap.

As long as your camera and watch are set to the right data (watch will happen automatically), I use Microsoft Pro Photo Tools (free) to do it, quick and easy. Though there are likely better and quicker tools out there these days:

link to microsoft.com

Yup, you can change the number of fields displayed on a given data page to be as few as one, which will cause the numbers to take up the entire screen. You can then change the number of data pages (each page can contain between 1-4 data fields), and there are three data pages you can customize. Enjoy!

I had recently gotten a used FR405 + brand new classic HRM strap quite cheaply, about 100USD for the bundle. However, after using it for a few runs, I find the touch bezel to be rather troublesome to use and I am now seriously considering getting the FR305, as the 310XT is out of my budget. But I wish to know if I will be missing out any useful features on the FR405 (if any) by making the switch to FR305. Thank you.

So I did a test same settings the only thing is that instead of ride the bike I walk for 10sec then hit Lap the T1 stars wait 5sec then hit Lap again the mulstisport screen appears walk for 10sec no problem distance is ok everything works perfect.

So I did a second test same settings the only thing is that I ride the Bike for 10sec hit Lap the T1 starts wait 5sec hit Lap and again the Distance Alert also appears and beeps and the distance for the multisport read 4,295km.

One question: when I ran outside with the footpod, the run in Garmin connect showed neither the map nor elevation data. I assume there are a limited amount of data fields, and the cadence bumped the others out when the footpod was activated. Is this correct?

Unbelievable review, very comprehensive and the attention to detail here is amazing. Thanks for providing such a thorough review of this product, one of our most popular in recent months. We may have to provide this as a review on our site. :)

I just purchased the Garmin Forerunner 305 and I am using it for mainly running purposes but I also work out indoors and take aerobics classes and would like a device that can show me my Heart rate and ACCURATE calories burned. Do you have a device you recommend????

Hey RainMaker, i am just preparing to get FR305 and am confused whether it will work OK with Mac OS Lion 10.7.3? cannot find this information anywhere. Would be awesome if you could help.

Thank you for all your great reviews!

It rarely happens that a 6 year old product review is still so relevant. This is by far the best and most detailed review I have found. I have been contemplating getting a GPS enabled heart monitor, and I think this review may just have helped make my mind up.

I just got a new wheelset today with the cycle ops powertap hub and I was hoping to use the 305 to connect with it but looks like I cannot. Is there really no way (tweaks to the unit) that it would show the power meter readings?

I have a 305 and am doing a physical agility test for Search and Rescue this Saturday. Do you know if you can set the watch to do intervals and still be able to see the total time and pace while the interval is running? Thank you.

Great reviews! My 305 is getting well used and the battery life was decreasing rapidly. It was mentioned briefly in a previous post but I thought I would pass along the link to a great instructional video on replacing the battery with a IPOD Mini battery. . For about $6 I received the battery and mini toolkit from ebay. It took about 30 minutes (with basic soldering skills) to put the new battery in. The IPOD mini battery is slightly larger in size and almost twice the capacity so, although I have not fully tested it yet, the battery life should be greater than it was when new! I think I will pass it down to my 10 year old and order a 310xt for me. I like the features on some of the newer watches but I need/want 4 data fields on a screen and this really limits the options.

I have a footpod which I have not used with the FR305 while outdoors because i have seen written in some Forums that when you use a footpod outdoors with the 305 it will default to the footpod for distance/pace/speed/cadence instead of using GPS for those things and using the footpod only for cadence. Is that correct?

Very new to the sport and this wonderful blog, as will be reflected in my question: If the FR305 is discontinued (and thus not supported by Garmin?) what is your recommended replacement/advice for a rec. runner who is mainly interested in cardiac-related data/values that can be analyzed graphically, printed, and stored (eg, HR max, min, average pace, etc. ? I do not require GPS data but if I need that to gain access to use of superior software, so be it. (I was thinking about the FR70 with foot pod. Your thoughts?) Thanks.

I am wondering about waterproofness. I need to use this for a canoe sport. I outrigger canoe so it will get splashed on but not immersed unless I flip the canoe in the river. Thanks for the insight

Bren

Purely based on gps accuracy, would you still advice this watch in 2014? I can buy it in the UK but it costs more than the 310XT.

But I read a lot of positive user experiences, even people using this watch for 5 years!

I would need to import the data into Rubitrack.

Please react.

I like to be able to have Distance, Time, Heart Rate Avg, Heart Rate Lap, Current Heart Rate, Current Pace, Average Pace, and Lap Pace whilst running. Then the ability to upload results to my computer and review heart rate performance throughout each run.

Can the 305 connect to a HRM and footpod at the same time while gps is switched on. I cant get my 305 to pair with a Micoach footpod, the watch freezes every time and I have to restart the watch. The 305 works perfectly with the footpod accessory setting set to off though.

I am fairly new to running. I bought a 305 in 2007 for a breast cancer walk and have used it off and on since. Anyhoo- I would like to know what watch you would recommend for daily activity-steps/walking/running/heart rate/treadmill/swimming and is able to be programmed for intervals such as run 4 mins walk 1 min. Is there such a thing? lol I would like the HR monitor to be a wrist if possible. The chest strap aggravates my skin even when layered. I may be asking a lot! I have read your review on the forerunner15 and the tom-tom multisport cardio and mio. Thank you

I appreciate your reviews. they are very helpful! I recently purchased a FR305 on ebay. Am I missuing something or is it not possible to turn GPS off? Do you have to use the foot pod accessory for treadmill use?

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Great review and clearly still relevant. One major point to make new owners aware of. It seems the latest MacOsX is no longer compatible so if you want to upload data you will probably have to do this via Windows (no issues with Win 10). This may end up being sorted between Garmin and Apple but if not, a potential big disappointment for Mac owners

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