Shorter, good. Longer, no way.

By Marit Fischer December 1, 2008

I am in search of the perfect training partner watch/HRM/GPS unit. I am testing and trying and WANTING to find my match. As an autobio, I'm a multisport endurance athlete. This is closer to what I need than the Garmin 405 (see my review of that one, if you're interested) but it's still not "the one." First of all, the positives. The GPS tracks well, though I do lose the signal in very heavily wooded areas or deep in canyons. I have not tested the altitude feature extensively because my training is not centered on this factor. The computer interface and data reporting is exceptional and can even be addicting. I love the auto multisport features and the display screen can be adjusted to report to you the information that you need to know. One frustration is that you can set the screen displays for both running and biking, but those screens are not the default screens when the watch is in multisport mode. You have to hit the buttons to get to the screen that you want to see. (If you're not in auto multisport mode, you don't have to do this.) But the biggest let-down of the 305 is that again, similar to the 405, the battery life is just too short for long endurance athletes. Ten hours tops, but most of the time, I got 8-9 hours worth of tracking. So even though I don't wear it during the Ironman swim (it is not waterproof and is not intended for use in the water), I can't even get all the way through the run without a dead battery. And that's when I most want to know how I'm doing. It's hopeless on long training days and adventures too. So while I would definitely recommend this watch for any single- or multisport athlete who needs tracking only up to 8-9 hours, I cannot give the thumbs up for the rest of us. I'm still looking for my dream tracker. I'll let you know when I find it.

View Details: Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS

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