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Garmin 405 vs. Garmin 205 GPS Watch comparison (Read 1841 times)

JDF


Non-Stroller-Still Crazy

    Ok, in case you have ever wondered "Should I buy a Garmin 405 for around $300 or a 205 for around $150 here is a direct comparison of the two. I wore the Garmin 405 on my left arm and the Garmin 205 on my right arm for a 5k race today. The Garmin 405 was hooked up to the newest Garmin heart rate monitor. The Garmin 205 lacks the ability to record heart rate data. I have included the data and graphs from both watches below. I have also included direct links to the motionbased data for both watches. I let the motionbased website do the elevation and distance correction for both watches because it produces a much more precise result. Other than that the data is straight out of the watches themselves. The Garmin 405 was started about 2 seconds before the 205 and the 205 was stopped about 2 seconds after the 405. Review: Both Speed and elevation graphs look similar. However, the 405 does a much better job of smoothing out the highs and the lows. I think the 405 is actually more accurate in this case. My 205 is setup for auto data recording which only records points when it senses a change in speed or direction. That sometimes gives you erratic data(At turn arounds for instance. There were 3 of those in the race). However, it can not store as many data points if you set it to record every second. The 405 does not appear to have any options for this. It just seems to record the data points whenever it needs to and it seemed to do a VERY good job of it. Both watches were set to mark a lap at every 1.0 mile marker. The 205 marked the miles closer to the actual mile markings on the course. The 405 marked each mile about 8 feet in front of the actual measured mark while the 205 was within about 1 foot of the mark. However, the 205 was started about 1-2 seconds after the 405 so they were both marking the miles at approximately the exact same distance. Both of the devices were extremely accurate though. Within 10 feet is good enough for Government work. The Garmin 205 has several buttons that control all of the operations. They are quite easy to find while running. However, when your hands get FROZEN like this morning(24 Degrees F Wind chill) it is very difficult to actually push those buttons in. The 405 on the other hand has a nifty but tricky "Swipe Dial". It works well when you set it to high sensitivity but it takes A LOT of getting used to. It also has a "lock out" mode that is easy to engage and it will prevent inadvertent "Swipes" from changes your settings. The 205 does not appear to have any type of "Lock out" mode. The battery life on the 205 is supposed to be around 10-12 hours I believe. However, I have never tried it for that long. Only Ultra runners and tri-athletes would need that much time. The 405 is good for about 9 hours of GPS time. However, it has a great power save mode that automatically turns itself on after a few minutes. This allows you to see the time and the GPS is automatically turned off which saves the battery life greatly. The 405 also has a cool shortcut button press that will display the battery life in percent. The 205 only has a general full or not full battery life indicator. The heart rate feature of the 405 is extremely handy. It is very accurate and it was not uncomfortable to wear. Please note that I purchased the newest Garmin Heart Rate monitor(Part number 010-10997-00). It is supposed to be more accurate than the old one. I am not sure what the old part number is. The heart rate monitor is a great feature but I am not sure it justifies the 405's double the price. Both watches are extremely accurate and do a great job of tracking your distance, speed, and other data. The real advantage of the Garmin 405 is that it is extremely light! The 205 is actually not that much bigger than the 405 but the 405 weighs a lot less. Either one of them are great purchases. I would go for the 205 if you just want to "know how far and how fast you went" and you are on a tight budget(Who isn't on a tight budget these days?). If you are a more serious runner and you want to study every single detail or if you want a light watch with a heart rate monitor then I would go with the 405. Garmin 405 http://tinyurl.com/7ahg8m Garmin 405 at Amazon http://tinyurl.com/959xbe Total Time (h:m:s) 0:19:18 6:08 pace Moving Time (h:m:s) 0:19:15 6:08 pace Distance (mi ) 3.14 Moving Speed (mph) 9.8 avg. 13.7 max. Elevation Gain (ft) +250 / -257 1 5:36 1.00 13.1 183 230 124 2 6:38 1.00 10.8 183 187 124 3 6:18 1.00 11.6 189 193 125 4 0:44 0.14 12.9 194 195 16 Weather Data Average Low High Temperature (°F) 28.4 26.6 30.2 Relative Humidity (%) 43.2 40.1 46.4 Wind Speed (mph) 7.5 6.9 8.1 Heart Rate Data Avg Low High Heart Rate (%max) 100 49 124 Heart Rate (zone) 7.0 1.0 9.4 Heart Rate (bpm) 186 91 230 Garmin 405 Heart Rate Garmin 405 Speed and Elevation Profile Garmin 205 Speed and Elevation Profile Garmin 205 http://tinyurl.com/947uo6 Total Time (h:m:s) 0:19:20 6:09 pace Moving Time (h:m:s) 0:19:16 6:09 pace Distance (mi ) 3.13 Moving Speed (mph) 9.7 avg. 14.0 max. Elevation Gain (ft) +253 / -262 1 5:38 1.00 13.7 121 2 6:41 1.00 10.5 121 3 6:17 1.00 12.1 123 4 0:42 0.13 12.8 15 Weather Data Average Low High Temperature (°F) 28.4 26.6 30.2 Relative Humidity (%) 43.2 40.1 46.4 Wind Speed (mph) 7.5 6.9 8.1 Garmin 205 at Amazon http://tinyurl.com/8ncaah
      Wow very extensive! Where do you think the 305 would fall though?
      2009 Goals: Run 5x a week, Iron Horse Half-Marathon on a 6-month C2HM Program that completely made up and is probably unhealthy.
      JDF


      Non-Stroller-Still Crazy

        Wow very extensive! Where do you think the 305 would fall though?
        The 305 is essentially the 205 with the heart rate monitor. The 305 goes for the same price as the 205 brand new(About $150) so I would definitely buy the 305 over the 205 if they are the same price and new. The 205 might be easier to find used and you can pick one up for around $100 on ebay.
        MrH


          What's with the HRM data in the first part of the race? I presume you didn't actually reach 230 BPM Surprised

          The process is the goal.

          Men heap together the mistakes of their lives, and create a monster they call Destiny.

          jEfFgObLuE


          I've got a fever...

            Costo.com has the 305 for $159. Since the 405 wireless sync is not Mac compatible, and the wireless syncing in general is far less robust than USB syncing, I think the 305 is the way to go.

            On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office.  But you will wish that you'd spent more time running.  Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.

            JDF


            Non-Stroller-Still Crazy

              What's with the HRM data in the first part of the race? I presume you didn't actually reach 230 BPM Surprised
              Yea they got out the defibrillator and I was able to finish the race!