Garmin Forerunner 170 Music vs Garmin Forerunner 405

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Forerunner 170 Music compared with Forerunner 405
GarminForerunner 170 MusicGarminForerunner 405
Overview
ReleasedMay 2026April 2008
Display
Case sizes42.6 mm48 mm
PanelOLED–
Always-on displayYesYes
Display detail1.2-inch (30.4 mm diameter) colour AMOLED touchscreen, 390 x 390 pixels; optional always-on display and large-font setting; five physical buttonsBacklit monochrome screen, 1.06-inch diagonal and 124 × 95 pixels; a touch-sensitive bezel and two buttons control the watch. Panel technology is unpublished in the maker's specification.
Screen protectionChemically strengthened glass–
Health and fitness
ECGNoNo
Blood oxygenYesNo
Skin temperatureNoNo
Sleep apnoea alertsNoNo
High blood pressure alertsNoNo
Body compositionNoNo
Fall detectionNoNo
Crash detectionNoNo
GPSSingle-bandSingle-band
Water resistance50 m–
SensorsGarmin Elevate wrist heart rate; Pulse Ox; barometric altimeter; compass; gyroscope; accelerometer; thermometer; ambient light sensor; thermometer measures activity/ambient temperature, not overnight skin temperatureHigh-sensitivity GPS receiver; optional ANT+ heart-rate chest strap, foot pod and cycling speed/cadence sensor. No optical wrist sensor.
Health featuresContinuous 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 featuresMore 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 mapsPace, distance, time, calories, custom and interval workouts, Virtual Partner, Auto Lap and Auto Pause.
Safety featuresIncident detection during selected activities, assistance and LiveTrack require a paired compatible smartphone; live event sharing is Android-only; screen flashlight, not a separate LED torchStores up to 100 locations and provides direction to a saved location; no base maps.
Battery and connections
Battery life (maker's claim)Up to 10 daysUp to 8 hours
In low-power modeUp to 19 daysUp to 14 days
Mobile data optionNoNo
Works withiPhone and AndroidNo phone pairing
Storage4 GB–
Battery life detailSmartwatch 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 usageRechargeable lithium-ion battery; approximately eight hours with GPS or two weeks in power-save mode.
ChargingGarmin proprietary plug charging/data cable; rechargeable built-in lithium-ion battery; USB charging temperature 0–45 °CContact charging clip and AC adapter.
ConnectivityBluetooth, 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 connectionANT+ Sport wireless data transfer to a computer through a USB ANT stick; Garmin Connect and Garmin Training Center analysis. No direct phone pairing.
Storage4 GB memory/history with offline music supportAround 1,000 lap records; Garmin Taiwan quotes approximately twenty hours of track points at one point every four seconds.
Design
Weight (lightest version)41 g (better)60 g
SoftwareGarminGarmin
Case materialsFibre-reinforced polymer bezel; silicone band; chemically strengthened glass; 5 ATM water rating; operating/storage temperature –20–60 °CIPX7 immersion protection, one metre for thirty minutes; not intended for swimming.
Size42.6 x 42.6 x 11.9 mm; Garmin lists 41 g without a separate body-only weight48 × 71 × 16 mm; approximately 60 g. Width is used as the case size; the English manual instead lists 47.75 × 70.5 × 16.4 mm.
BandsStandard 20 mm quick-release two-tone silicone band; fits 126–203 mm wrists–
ColoursBlack 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 boxForerunner 170 Music; charging cable; documentationWatch, USB ANT stick, AC charger and manual; heart-rate strap included in some bundles.

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