Garmin Forerunner 170 Music vs Garmin Forerunner 305

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Forerunner 170 Music compared with Forerunner 305

	GarminForerunner 170 Music	GarminForerunner 305
Overview
Released
Released	May 2026	2006
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	42.6 mm	53.3 mm
Panel
Panel	OLED	–
Always-on display
Always-on display	Yes	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	1.2-inch (30.4 mm diameter) colour AMOLED touchscreen, 390 x 390 pixels; optional always-on display and large-font setting; five physical buttons	Backlit 33 × 20.3 mm monochrome display, 160 × 100 pixels; configurable training screens and physical buttons. Panel technology is not specified by Garmin.
Screen protection
Screen protection	Chemically strengthened glass	–
Health and fitness
ECG
ECG	No	No
Blood oxygen
Blood oxygen	Yes	No
Skin temperature
Skin temperature	No	No
Sleep apnoea alerts
Sleep apnoea alerts	No	No
High blood pressure alerts
High blood pressure alerts	No	No
Body composition
Body composition	No	No
Fall detection
Fall detection	No	No
Crash detection
Crash detection	No	No
GPS
GPS	Single-band	Single-band
Water resistance
Water resistance	50 m	–
Sensors
Sensors	Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate; Pulse Ox; barometric altimeter; compass; gyroscope; accelerometer; thermometer; ambient light sensor; thermometer measures activity/ambient temperature, not overnight skin temperature	High-sensitivity SiRFstarIII GPS receiver, included wireless heart-rate chest strap and optional GSC 10 cycling speed/cadence sensor; no optical wrist sensor.
Health features
Health features	Continuous heart rate with high/low alerts; HRV status; Body Battery; stress and respiration; advanced sleep, sleep coach, breathing variations and nap detection; meditation; smart wake alarm; Health Snapshot; lifestyle logging; Health Status; women's health tracking via Garmin Connect; no ECG app	–
Fitness features
Fitness features	More than 80 sports apps; training readiness, status, load, load focus and recovery time; Garmin running, cycling and strength coaching; daily suggested running workouts and quick workouts; wrist-based running dynamics and running power; ground-contact balance requires a compatible accessory; PacePro and grade-adjusted pace; VO2 max and race predictions; cycling power-meter and Varia radar/light support; pool and open-water swimming; no dedicated triathlon mode; Breadcrumb course navigation, point-to-point navigation, back-to-start and TracBack; elevation profile, future elevation plot and Up Ahead; no full routable offline maps	Running, cycling and other-sport profiles; quick, interval and advanced workouts, course racing, Virtual Partner, Auto Pause, Auto Lap and heart-rate, pace, time and distance alerts.
Safety features
Safety features	Incident detection during selected activities, assistance and LiveTrack require a paired compatible smartphone; live event sharing is Android-only; screen flashlight, not a separate LED torch	Stores 100 locations and 50 routes; basic route display, direction to a stored location and navigation back to the start. No base maps.
Battery and connections
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 10 days	Up to 10 hours
In low-power mode
In low-power mode	Up to 19 days	–
Mobile data option
Mobile data option	No	No
Works with
Works with	iPhone and Android	No phone pairing
Storage
Storage	4 GB	–
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Smartwatch up to 10 days, or 4 days with display always on; battery saver smartwatch up to 19 days; GPS-only GNSS up to 20 hours; all-systems GNSS up to 14 hours; with music, GPS-only up to 7.5 hours and all-systems up to 6.5 hours (exact series manual; UK web table mislabels 7.5 hours as days); actual life depends on enabled features and usage	Internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery; ten hours of typical use.
Charging
Charging	Garmin proprietary plug charging/data cable; rechargeable built-in lithium-ion battery; USB charging temperature 0–45 °C	Docking cradle with AC charger and USB cable.
Connectivity
Connectivity	Bluetooth, ANT+ and Wi-Fi; GPS, GLONASS and Galileo; no multi-band GNSS; Garmin Pay contactless payments; Android-only text responses and notification images; Connect IQ apps/watch faces/data fields; Garmin Share; controls smartphone music and plays downloaded personal audio or supported music-service content through compatible Bluetooth headphones; third-party services may require subscriptions; no speaker/microphone calls or cellular connection	USB computer transfer through the cradle; Garmin Training Center software and MotionBased analysis were supplied at launch. Wireless heart-rate and cycling sensor connections; no direct phone pairing.
Storage
Storage	4 GB memory/history with offline music support	Up to 1,000 laps; smart recording or one-second recording.
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	41 g (better)	77 g
Software
Software	Garmin	Garmin
Case materials
Case materials	Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; silicone band; chemically strengthened glass; 5 ATM water rating; operating/storage temperature –20–60 °C	IPX7 immersion protection, one metre for thirty minutes; the owner's manual says it is not intended for swimming.
Size
Size	42.6 x 42.6 x 11.9 mm; Garmin lists 41 g without a separate body-only weight	53.3 × 68.6 × 17.8 mm and 77 g. Width is used as the case size.
Bands
Bands	Standard 20 mm quick-release two-tone silicone band; fits 126–203 mm wrists	Vinyl wrist strap with an expander strap; fabric strap available separately.
Colours
Colours	Black with Black/Amp Yellow band; Whitestone with Whitestone/Cloud Blue band; Teal Green with Teal Green/Citron band; Red Pink with Red Pink/Mango band	–
In the box
In the box	Forerunner 170 Music; charging cable; documentation	Watch, heart-rate chest strap, wrist and expander straps, docking cradle, AC charger, USB cable, Garmin Training Center software and documentation.