Garmin Forerunner 405 or Polar RS 800 G3?
25
Member
982 days
emzman posted 23 weeks ago.
I've had my 405 for a month now and I love it. I've had no problems with it. I've used it in one race and it seemed to be pretty accurate as far as the GPS goes. I bought the cadence sensor for my bike and both seem to work w/o a flaw. I've owned a Suunto T3 and a Polar AXN300, both were good monitors but the 405 blows them out of the water. The only drawback is that the 405 is not 100% waterproof. I've accidently used it in the pool a couple of times, luckily it still works. I have to warn you, if you have big wrists, this watch might not be for you. All in all, I think this watch is worth the money.
I started competing in triathlons 2 years ago and fell in love with the sport. Because heart disease runs in both sides of my family, I figured that training and competing in tris will help delay the inevitable.
52
Member
469 days
kxux posted 23 weeks ago.
For triathlete neither of these is an ideal option (I have both plus some more). The Polar RS800 is listed on the Polar site as not recommended for swimming, same goes for the Garmin 405. I completed few races with the RS800 last year (before Polar revised their recommendations) with no issues. The GPS sensors in both are of comparable quality - they use the same GPS chip. Garmin provides location information RS800 does not. The Polar GPS pod is just speed/distance pod and you may find it little big.
Neither of the units will give you HR during the swim - they both use frequency that does not transmit under water. On the bike you will need to use the GPS pod with the Polar as it does not have any other bike sensor option. On the run both units offer comparable foot pod or GPS option for speed/pace/distance. I like foot pod for running better as it gives you more accurate pace/speed information than GPS unit. The accuracy of GPS is not good enough to provide good pacing info while well calibrated foot pod can be very accurate. Garmin gives you positioning information.
On the HR front - both can record the HR in 1 second interval, but the Polar can also capture the R-R data during the exercise. As far as size - RS800 is much smaller and lighter. 405 is bigger, but both can be used as daily watch.
Garmin - you will need to re-charge the watch every few days (depends on how often you train). The watch has about 8 hours of battery life when GPS is on. So not suitable for Ironman racing unless you can do a sub-8 Ironman. Otherwise when GPS is off the watch can last up to two weeks on one charge. I have the watch for over a month now and it is very good (my second most frequented watch right after T6)
If you are looking for a good tri-watch you may want to also check the Suunto T6c that just came out. It is a very nice watch (my most favorite as a daily watch and training HRM - I have the T6 - previous model). It is very well built, can be worn for swimming although does not show the HR during the swim for the same reason RS800 and 405 (you can record your HR with the Memory Belt from Suunto). T6 has many different pods just like Polar (footpod, GPS pod, bike pod, cadence pod). It records R-R and calculates additional training parameters. It does not have as many options for programming the guided workouts as Polar and does not have GPS mapping functions. They will be releasing Triathlon pack that has Memory Belt and few pods geared for triathletes. I use the T6 for racing and most training. I use the 405 for outside running, RS800 for interval run training and Polar S625X for biking as power meter/bike computer.
If you want to see size comparison with all the other watches check out the video I recorded when I got the 405 (shameless blog plug):
http://runtotri.blogspot.com/2008/04/garmin-405-review-video.html
3
Member
773 days
bigdeal posted 23 weeks ago.
I'm a long time user of Polar watches (720, 625x) and recently bought a Garmin 405 since the battery in my 625x ran out and figured I had a good excuse to buy a new watch with GPS. I took the 405 back for a refund 3 days later.
The 405 simply does not have the flexibility or functionality of a 625x. You can customize 3 different 'screens' to show you the data you want to see, each screen has 3 fields. 9 fields should be enough, however you can only set these fields via the watch and you have to use the buttons/touch-bezel to scroll through the 30 or so options. Hopefully you don't press the wrong button or accidentally touch the bezel because you'll have to start all over. I also found the GPS to be less than accurate, +/- 20 feet seems a bit wide to be accurately used for pacing. Finally, I thought it was a bit ridiculous that the watch is touted as a multiple sports watch but it's not really waterproof, Polar has always said their watches are not the best suited for swimming but the 3 watches I've used have swum countless miles with me without an issue.
Well, except for the one whose battery I replaced on my own......
66
Member
246 days
Carlos Mx posted 23 weeks ago.
Thank you all for the advice. I never expected such thorough reviews.
I do expect to be able to swim with my watch so I guess that the 405 is not an option. I have always swum with the Suunto or Polar watches I've owned without any trouble.
I' will have to go back and check the T6 as well.
I want to get a new watch/monitor and I am looking at the Garmin 405 and the Polar RS800, both with a GPS. Both are relatively new, so I want to know if you have any experience with them and can help me make a decision.
I have a Polar CS200 on the bike and I also have to consider if I could use the same strap for this monitor and the Garmin 405 when I get off the bike.
¿Any Ideas?