Garmin Forerunner 305 vs Garmin Forerunner 70
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| GarminForerunner 305 | GarminForerunner 70 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | 2006 | May 2026 |
| Display | ||
| Case sizes | 53.3 mm | 42.6 mm |
| Panel | – | OLED |
| Always-on display | Yes | Yes |
| Display detail | Backlit 33 × 20.3 mm monochrome display, 160 × 100 pixels; configurable training screens and physical buttons. Panel technology is not specified by Garmin. | 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 |
| Screen protection | – | Chemically strengthened glass |
| Health and fitness | ||
| ECG | No | No |
| Blood oxygen | No | Yes |
| Skin temperature | No | No |
| Sleep apnoea alerts | No | No |
| High blood pressure alerts | No | No |
| Body composition | No | No |
| Fall detection | No | No |
| Crash detection | No | No |
| GPS | Single-band | Single-band |
| Water resistance | – | 50 m |
| Sensors | High-sensitivity SiRFstarIII GPS receiver, included wireless heart-rate chest strap and optional GSC 10 cycling speed/cadence sensor; no optical wrist sensor. | Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate; Pulse Ox; accelerometer; ambient light sensor; no built-in barometric altimeter or body-temperature sensor |
| 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; smart wake alarm; Health Snapshot; lifestyle logging; Health Status; women's health tracking via Garmin Connect; no ECG app |
| Fitness features | 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. | More than 80 sports apps; training readiness, status, load, load focus and recovery time; Garmin running, cycling and strength coaching; daily suggested running workouts including run/walk; quick workouts; wrist-based running dynamics and running power; PacePro; VO2 max and race predictions; breadcrumb course navigation, back-to-start and TracBack; pool swimming; no open-water swim or triathlon mode; no full offline maps |
| Safety features | Stores 100 locations and 50 routes; basic route display, direction to a stored location and navigation back to the start. No base maps. | 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 |
| Battery and connections | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 10 hours | Up to 13 days |
| In low-power mode | – | Up to 28 days |
| Mobile data option | No | No |
| Works with | No phone pairing | iPhone and Android |
| Battery life detail | Internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery; ten hours of typical use. | Smartwatch up to 13 days, or 5 days with display always on; battery saver smartwatch up to 28 days; GPS-only GNSS up to 23 hours; all-systems GNSS up to 16 hours; actual life depends on enabled features and usage |
| Charging | Docking cradle with AC charger and USB cable. | Garmin proprietary plug charging/data cable; rechargeable built-in lithium-ion battery; USB charging temperature 0–45 °C |
| Connectivity | 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. | Bluetooth and ANT+; GPS, GLONASS and Galileo; no multi-band GNSS; Android-only text responses and notification images; Connect IQ apps/watch faces/data fields; Garmin Share; controls smartphone music without offline playback; no Garmin Pay, speaker/microphone calls or cellular connection |
| Storage | Up to 1,000 laps; smart recording or one-second recording. | 512 MB memory/history; not storage for offline music playback |
| Design | ||
| Weight (lightest version) | 77 g | 40 g (better) |
| Software | Garmin | Garmin |
| Case materials | IPX7 immersion protection, one metre for thirty minutes; the owner's manual says it is not intended for swimming. | Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; silicone band; chemically strengthened glass; 5 ATM water rating; operating/storage temperature –20–60 °C |
| Size | 53.3 × 68.6 × 17.8 mm and 77 g. Width is used as the case size. | 42.6 x 42.6 x 11.9 mm; Garmin lists 40 g without a separate body-only weight |
| Bands | Vinyl wrist strap with an expander strap; fabric strap available separately. | Standard 20 mm quick-release silicone band; fits 126–203 mm wrists |
| Colours | – | UK Black, Whitestone, Citron and Cool Lavender; global range additionally offers Tidal Blue and Soft Pink |
| In the box | Watch, heart-rate chest strap, wrist and expander straps, docking cradle, AC charger, USB cable, Garmin Training Center software and documentation. | Forerunner 70; charging cable; documentation |
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