The COROS PACE 2 was the primary operating watch I reviewed for Android Central, and it blew me away with what number of high quality options it may supply for simply $200. Since then, I’ve tried all method of health watches that price two or thrice that, getting used to a sure “premium” high quality. It made me curious if returning to the COROS PACE 3 would really feel poor, in some way.I needn’t have fearful. The COROS PACE 3 delivered almost something I may presumably have hoped for in a $230 operating watch. It steals loads of {hardware} upgrades from COROS APEX watches that price twice as a lot, and it has full entry to the COROS EvoLab software program that judges your coaching load and impact based mostly on previous efforts. COROS despatched me the PACE 3 solely every week earlier than its embargo deadline, so I’ve spent that point dashing to test as many options and exercise varieties as potential. I have never gotten to every thing but, however I did carry out a number of accuracy checks to get a reasonably clear image of how dependable it’s for correct operating metrics.Looking at the perfect operating watches, you may see loads of choices that provide visible or software program upgrades. Only drawback is, they price twice as a lot. The COROS PACE 3 proves that in case you can settle for a plastic watch with a memory-in-pixel show (MIP), you needn’t spend that a lot on a health watch.COROS PACE 3 worth and availability(Image credit score: COROS)COROS introduced the PACE 3 on August 29 and can start delivery it the week of September 5. Specifically, it will promote the white and black variations with both nylon or silicone straps. In October, it will launch the purple PACE 3 Track Edition, if you wish to look ahead to one thing a bit flashier.It’s out there for buy within the United States ($229), Canada ($329), Europe (€249), Great Britain (£219), Australia ($399), China, and Japan. COROS will first promote the PACE 3 on its web site, however it ought to come to Amazon and specialty health retailers like REI down the road. Specs and updatesSwipe to scroll horizontallySpecificationsCOROS PACE 3Display1.2-inch (240 x 240) Memory-in-Pixel touchscreenMaterialsFiber-reinforced polymer; Corning GlassWater resistance5ATMHeart price sensor5 LEDs, 4 photodetectorsOther sensorsOptical pulse oximeter, barometric altimeter, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, temperature, put on detectionGPS trackingGPS (L1 + L5 Dual Frequency), GLONASS, GALILEO, BeiDou, QZSSConnectivityBluetooth 5.0, WiFi 2.4GHz/5GHzMusic storage4GBBattery life24 days; 38 hours (GPS), 25 hours (All programs), 15 hours (Dual frequency)Strap22mm nylon or silicone, “Quick Release”Dimensions41.9 x 41.9 x 13mmWeight30g (nylon) or 38g (silicone)Like the PACE 2, the PACE 3 is a light-weight, 1.2-inch LCD watch with a digital dial, normal well being sensors, and the core COROS software program suite. It’s 0.6mm thinner and 1g heavier than the final mannequin.If you examine the COROS PACE 3 vs. PACE 2, you may be aware some key upgrades. First, the PACE 3 now has a touchscreen the place it did not earlier than, although that is greatest for informal use. You’ll depend on the crown throughout exercises, at the beginning.The PACE sequence now helps SpO2 monitoring, although you may must take a guide measurement; there is not any possibility for steady or during-sleep readings. I’m not sure if it has the identical “Altitude Mode” because the APEX sequence, which takes extra common readings if the altitude is measured above 8250ft. My favourite improve is that the PACE 3 jumps from GPS-only to All-Systems GNSS and Dual Frequency GPS. Before now, you needed to pay $450 for the APEX 2 Pro to get this degree of accuracy. Of course, that watch has a a lot bigger battery for dual-frequency mode.You additionally get 5GHz Wi-fi connectivity for the primary time, which corresponds with a lot sooner replace downloads and health end result uploads to the app than the PACE 2’s Bluetooth connection. In addition, you’ll be able to add as much as 4GB of music MP3 recordsdata to the watch; you may want your individual onerous copies, there is not any app compatibility, and no playlists both. COROS solely elevated the battery capability from 220mAh to 238mAh, however claims it managed so as to add an additional 8 hours of GPS-only monitoring in comparison with the PACE 2 (38 hours in complete).Lastly, when it comes to software program, the COROS PACE 3 provides a number of new sports activities modes — Trail Running, Hiking, Skiing, Snowboard, XC Ski — however the PACE 2 will obtain these in a firmware replace later this 12 months. COROS additionally guarantees that its turn-by-turn navigation beta will find yourself on the PACE 3 when it formally launches.The solely downgrade between the PACE 2 and PACE 3 is that anybody with ANT+ equipment will not be capable of use them with the latter watch. COROS ditched the usual for its latest APEX watches, too, so possibly there is not a lot demand for it. COROS PACE 3: What you may love(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)Focusing on the apparent execs first, the 1.2-inch COROS PACE 3 measures a mere 30g, or 38g with the silicone strap, and 13mm thick. It’s nearer to the burden of a health tracker than a real smartwatch, making it simply as comfy because the PACE 2.Most petite operating watches weigh someplace between 37–50g, and you will find watches that weigh two or thrice as a lot — just like the 89g Amazfit T-Rex Ultra I simply reviewed. Even although that watch is best than the PACE 3 in a number of key specs, I’d decide the PACE 3 in a heartbeat for consolation and worth alone.Also just like the PACE 2, your expertise with the PACE 3 will rely on how you’re feeling about petite crowns, or “digital dials” as COROS calls them. I discover it pretty comfy to make use of, with a pleasant tactile vibration via the watch each time you flip it sufficient to maneuver all the way down to the following widget. You could want a extra protuberant crown just like the Pixel Watch or Apple Watch Ultra have, however I admire that the PACE 3 dial is simply too compact to jut into my wrist throughout workout routines like push-ups.(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)I burned via my COROS PACE 3’s battery pretty rapidly as a result of I solely used twin frequency mode, which is rated to make use of up about 7% of the battery per hour (or 15 hours per cost). Thankfully, that quantity has lived as much as scrutiny; an hour of high-accuracy monitoring solely makes use of up about 6–8% capability in my expertise to date. So the COROS PACE 3 can simply final throughout an all-day ultramarathon, particularly in case you swap to All-Systems or GPS solely, the place different low-cost operating watches would’ve lengthy since died or provided no further satellites to start with. I do want COROS provided an equal to Garmin’s SatIQ mode and will swap between accuracy ranges on a dime, however I can not be grasping at this worth level. As you may see beneath, I’m happy with the PACE 3’s accuracy, and the watch at all times acquires a sign in a number of seconds. Hell, the COROS APEX 2 would not even have dual-frequency monitoring, and it prices $170 extra!(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)The foremost perk with any COROS watch is EvoLab, which judges my base health, coaching load, coaching impact, restoration time, operating efficiency, 4-week depth distribution, race predictions, and different metrics earlier than and after runs. Anyone conversant in Garmin’s Training Readiness metrics will discover very related instruments right here.Because I have never used a COROS watch in a while, I imported my final couple months of Garmin exercise knowledge into the COROS app. EvoLab took that info and spat out very related numbers for core metrics like VO2 Max and predicted race instances, if barely decrease. If I had time, I may observe COROS’ devoted “Running Fitness” check that has you run more and more quick throughout 30 minutes to evaluate your max skills.COROS’ coaching load knowledge was additionally very near my Garmin’s; for instance, after a 4-mile run, COROS judged a 235 coaching load to Garmin’s 224. That discrepancy is smart, on condition that COROS judges me to be a bit extra out-of-shape, so the identical effort obtained a number of extra factors. Unsurprisingly, my post-run restoration recs for each watches fell inside a number of hours of one another, too. (Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)If you care about something apart from health knowledge, you are out of luck with the COROS PACE 3. It caters solely to runners and triathletes. But in that space, it does about in addition to I may hope, not holding any options again to try to upsell you to an APEX watch.I additionally admire all the aforementioned PACE 2-to-3 upgrades like high-speed Wi-Fi downloads, the SpO2 monitoring to see in case you’re acclimated to excessive elevations, and the touchscreen. I’ll admit that the 1.2-inch display screen is a bit small for contact controls, so it’s important to swipe fairly intentionally to see an impact. But I nonetheless like having the choice so my hand would not get cramped when holding the petite digital dial on a regular basis.COROS PACE 3 accuracy check(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)I in contrast the inexpensive COROS PACE 3 towards the perfect operating watch I’ve examined if worth is not any object — the Garmin Forerunner 965 — in GPS accuracy, coronary heart price, and easy step depend. The best approach to test location accuracy is to take your watches to the native observe, which I did for a few runs. For the primary run, I stayed within the first lane throughout a number of laps and obtained this end result (blue is Garmin, orange is COROS):(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)Both have been approach off in solely other ways whereas staying solely constant for every lap, which made me suspicious.I went again to have a look at my previous Garmin runs and realized that it has constructed an incorrect native observe map throughout all of them, regardless of telling me precisely when I’ve hit 400 meters on the watch. COROS, in the meantime, obtained one lap right after which confirmed me drifting into an additional lane and stored me there for subsequent runs.I spotted that my higher guess for accuracy checks was to stay to a standard Run exercise with no algorithm messing with the outcomes. With this subsequent map, I ran my first 4 laps in lanes 4, three, two, and one to see if it may precisely measure the change:(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)In this case, you’ll be able to see that the Forerunner 965 is extra correct, usually exhibiting me within the internal lanes the place the COROS PACE 3 drifts outward into lanes I by no means entered. Oddly, on the opposite facet of the observe, the PACE 3 does get extra constant in staying within the internal lanes, presumably attributable to a greater satellite tv for pc sign. In common, it is a lot better than what you may get with a GPS-only watch. In this third map of my normal neighborhood run (you may must zoom in), you’ll be able to see that the PACE 3 stays side-by-side with the Forerunner 965 quite a bit higher than another operating watches I’ve examined. It does drift barely into inaccessible areas every so often, however will get the gap principally proper, buzzing my wrist on the mile markers inside a second of the Forerunner when different watches have been 10 seconds off per mile.(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)Considering I had some GPS monitoring points when testing the APEX sequence, and given its low price ticket, I’m usually thrilled with the PACE 3 GPS accuracy even when it loses barely to a watch that prices greater than twice as a lot.The PACE 3’s coronary heart price knowledge is inconclusive to date. Not as a result of it is unhealthy, however just because COROS’ evaluate information inspired me to check its coronary heart price knowledge towards the COROS Heart Rate Monitor it despatched me…solely the HRM outmoded no matter coronary heart price knowledge the watch would have given, so I solely have the strap’s outcomes for a few runs. Whoops! I’ll have extra to say in a few weeks.(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)The one strap-less run I carried out (my first observe run), the 2 watches have been principally in lockstep at first — you’ll be able to ignore that bizarre stretch within the center, it was attributable to inconsistent pausing — however for the previous few laps, the PACE 3 both lagged behind the Forerunner 965 or failed solely to register the elevated coronary heart price as I pushed to my max tempo. I’m undecided but if the watch got here free or if it was a problem with the PACE 3 LEDs themselves. Hopefully, I can discover out extra about anaerobic accuracy within the subsequent couple of weeks; usually talking, for low- or high-aerobic actions, it appeared to be as correct as you’ll hope for. I discovered that the Garmin and COROS altimeters have been calibrated barely otherwise (exactly 6m totally different for every run) however that each registered minor hills with the very same change in elevation. I must take each watches to an precise hilly path to see how they examine, however I’m tentatively happy.As to the ultimate level (steps), the COROS PACE 3 was inside 10 steps of the Garmin Forerunner 965 after 10,000 steps throughout operating, sprinting, and strolling. COROS’ APEX 2 Pro positioned third in my step-walking check behind the Garmin Forerunner 265. While I have never explicitly examined the 965’s accuracy, I assume it is no less than pretty much as good as its cheaper sibling, which makes the PACE 3’s related step depend fairly encouraging. COROS PACE 3: What you will not like(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)Most “quick release” smartwatch straps are available in two items; you slide a small swap to take away either side, then slot your new bands into the holes on both facet. Simple! But after the PACE 2 allowed for this, COROS made the inscrutable resolution so as to add a metallic pin to 1 finish with no launch slot to the PACE 3, so that you want a particular software — or some actually sturdy fingers and a paper clip — to take away it simply to take off the nylon strap.Because of that, I wasn’t in a position to take away the nylon strap and check the silicone strap COROS despatched as a backup possibility, previous to the embargo deadline. The nylon strap itself is decently comfy, helps make the PACE 3 insanely mild, and offers you a great match for coronary heart price readings. But it has the same old concern of amassing and holding onto your sweat throughout runs and may really feel a bit scratchy till you get used to it. Worse, it’s kind of tight to suit my hand inside. I at all times have to slip the strap open to the very edge, which at all times will get caught for a second on the velcro. Once my hand’s inside, it’s totally free and tends to fall and cling off of my wrist till I tighten it, probably bonking right into a desk or desk beneath. All of this takes no quite a lot of seconds after you nail the routine, however it’s nonetheless a bit annoying to undergo each time. The official silicone strap feels a bit generic and has extra holes than it does silicone in most locations. I’m undecided if I’d advocate it over the nylon; I simply want it was simpler to swap so anybody with their very own 22mm bands may add them as an alternative.Overall, I’m in all probability making a mountain out of a molehill, however the watch band scenario soured me on the watch till the general expertise received me again. I guess I will not be the one one irritated by it as quickly as they unbox it.(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)While I really like the feathery simplicity of the PACE 3 design, you might not like its matte plastic look. This watch is not a looker by any means. It’s not truthful to count on beautiful aesthetics in a $230 watch, however you may select one thing just like the Amazfit GTR Mini that is even cheaper whereas wanting extra fashionable. I personally care extra about what’s beneath the floor, however simply hold that in thoughts.It lacks some key instruments like NFC for tap-to-pay or background AFib detection that another health watches supply. You additionally could need to have a look at a model (like Amazfit) that prioritizes a vibrant display screen whereas nonetheless providing strong battery life, just like the $300 Cheetah Pro. Generally talking, most operating watches on this worth vary stick with MIP shows, so this primarily issues in case you’re prepared to spend far more than $230. Truly, other than the issues I had with the watch band, I’m principally declaring gaps within the specs desk slightly than something that bothered me whereas utilizing it. I solely thoughts the dim MIP show as a result of I’ve gotten used to an AMOLED; loads of runners will fortunately swap from one MIP show to the following as a result of ignorance is bliss.My solely different actual grievance is that the COROS working system may be very a lot one the place you scroll via a ton of widgets, click on on one, and see a obscure graph with not that a lot follow-up info. I feel COROS needs and expects you to spend extra time within the COROS cell app, so you will not discover plenty of detailed coaching load knowledge on the watch itself — one thing you do get on rivals just like the Forerunner 255. Competition(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)COROS actually undercut the $400 APEX 2 with its personal PACE 3 watch, providing plenty of the identical perks and show high quality whereas providing dual-frequency GPS (whereas the APEX 2 sticks to All-Systems. Still, the PACE 3 misses out on its titanium materials and sapphire glass, electrocardiogram, and double the music storage. The PACE’s 4GB is fairly stingy for becoming an epic operating playlist.Ignoring the $200 Forerunner 55 — which is lengthy overdue for a brand new mannequin — the closest Garmin equal is the superb Forerunner 255, which prices $120 extra. Or make that $170 extra to get the Music model with 8GB of storage and Wi-Fi downloads. The Forerunner 255 solely lasts 14 days to the PACE 3’s 18 days with sleep monitoring, however their outcomes are fairly comparable for GPS (30 vs. 38 hours), All-Systems (each 25 hours), and Dual Frequency (16 vs. 15 hours). Garmin affords two dimension choices and offers you a Morning Report along with your exercise suggestions and restoration time; however it sadly nonetheless hasn’t added Training Readiness to the 255 — whereas COROS would not reserve any software program instruments for its dearer watches like Garmin does. One intriguing various is the $300 Amazfit Cheetah Pro. For simply $70 extra, you get a watch with a 1.4-inch AMOLED show with 1,000-nit brightness, titanium bezel, dual-frequency monitoring, music storage, and the Zepp Coach AI in a 43g package deal (5g greater than the PACE 3 with silicone). Aside from the truth that I nonetheless want COROS’ fundamental UI and EvoLab suggestions to Zepp Coach, the Cheetah Pro is a very robust rival to the PACE 3 when it comes to specs alone.COROS PACE 3: Should you purchase it?(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)You can purchase this if…You need an affordable operating watch with out too many compromises.You want dependable well being and GPS accuracy, together with restoration knowledge.A lightweight design issues greater than anything.You should not purchase this if…You want a extra readable AMOLED show. You dislike crowns. You need a standing image exterior of runs. When I reviewed the PACE 2, I known as it “a fitness smartwatch with simple controls, near-endless battery life, and a compact design that won’t swallow or burden your wrist,” together with “an excellent purchase for runners, swimmers, and cyclists.” All of that also applies to the COROS PACE 3, which retains the identical design rules — apart from the watch band swap that I’m nonetheless bitter about — and added some key upgrades to make it really feel extra trendy than ever. If I may have picked and chosen PACE 3 upgrades myself, I can not consider what else I’d need besides an AMOLED show. And that will make it a much more costly gadget.So in case you’re out there for an inexpensive operating watch that will not damage your wrist, I wholeheartedly advocate the PACE 3 based mostly on my time with it. And I’m excited to maintain testing it within the coming weeks to guarantee that I have never missed any underlying points. I’ll replace this evaluate if something regarding pops up.
The COROS PACE 3 affords as much as 24 days or 38 GPS hours of monitoring, a 1.2-inch LCD touchscreen, in-depth EvoLab operating metrics and Training Hub evaluation, music storage, and new options like blood oxygen monitoring. All of this for simply $230 makes the PACE 3 a heck of a deal.