Live Science Verdict
The Coros Pace 3 continues this family ’s custom of being one of the good value - for - money fittingness watches . It ’s highly affordable for a watch with phone - free euphony , in general skilful accuracy and route syncing for on - watch piloting . These modern features do n’t match Garmin ’s version . But for the money ? We do n’t mind so much .
Great value
Solid stat truth during example
The transflective screen looks very clear, even in direct sunlight.
Supports phone - free music streaming
Interface is n’t as slick as Garmin ’s
Advanced features would benefit from further development
The Nylon strap is more comfortable than silicone, though this design may get dirty quickly.
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The Pace is the easiest of the Coros series to highly recommend . It ’s swell value , and offer up everything most people will need to track a workout routine . Even a middling serious one .
Display:1.2 - inch , 240x240 pixel screenAlways - on : YesDimensions:41.9 x 41.9 x 11.7mmColors : Five availableFinish : Mineral glass , formative polymer casingGPS : YesCompass : YesAltimeter : YesWater resistance:5ATMNFC Payments : NoSensors : Heart , Altimeter , Accelerometer , Gyroscope , Thermometer , OmimeterCompatibility : iOS or AndroidStorage:4 GB
We found the sensors provided accurate readings throughout our tests.
Coros ’s Pace 3 does see the price start a little from theCoros Pace 2 , but it gains a few features that you have to pay more for from Garmin . It will stream music or podcasts to wireless headphones for speech sound - devoid rill , for lesson , and you may see pre - aforethought routes on the watch screen itself .
A $ 219 vigil that can do all of this is clearly out to show up Garmin , and in some respect the Pace 3 does . The software is a touch less polished in parts , and there ’s heap of extra developing Coros could do for features like route provision . But for the money , the Coros Pace 3 is one of the good fitness watch deals of the year .
Coros Pace 3: Design and display
In our last Coros review , theCoros Apex 2 , we note how the companionship used much high - end material than the contention . You do n’t get Sapphire glass or stainless brand here , but that style keeps both the exercising weight and price low .
The Pace 3 is a plastic sentinel with a ' mineral shabu ' top layer , and with the nylon strap we ’ve used onboard it weighs just 30 g. It melts away on your articulatio radiocarpea and does n’t leave anywhere near the skin indent of a standard silicone polymer strap when tighten up for more accurate heart rate reading .
It ’s a pleasure to don . And while we imagine this blanched shoulder strap may get a flake grimy after a while , you could well remove it for a slipstream . It ’s held in place using standard strap fasteners you’re able to unhook with a finger .
The Coros Pace 3 tracks a plethora of sports from running, skiing, rowing, strengh training, jump rope and more.
There ’s nothing really to blockade you from washing the shoulder strap while sequester either , as the Coros Pace 3 has 5ATM water resistance , the same as anApple Watch Series 8or a mid - tier Garmin observe like theForerunner 265 .
Unlike those watch , though , the Coros Pace 3 does not use a trendy , extremist - poppy organic light-emitting diode screen . It has a 1.2 - column inch transflective LCD , the Greco-Roman tech for an partizan physical fitness watch . These screen look very clear in direct sunlight . The inverse of a smartwatch screen , they feed on ambient light rather than having to compete with it .
That say , this dash also comes with the downside of muted color and involve a Casio digital watch - style front light to illuminate the projection screen in dark . As long as you do n’t come expect smartwatch - like pop and clarity from the Coros Pace 3 , we think you ’ll have sex it . This type of display is also ' always on ' by design , bang-up for those moment when you just need to be able to glint at the time without bringing the watch up to your face .
The stats are comparable with those offered by more expensive models from other brands.
Only five watch face come pre - installed on the Pace 3 , but countless more are available in the Coros app . It also lets you design your own and contain your own photograph . Want a lookout man case with your dog as the background ? No job . Just , again , do n’t expect an Apple - Watch - form reproduction of its color and detail .
Coros Pace 3: Features
We considered the olderCoros Pace 2a great choice for common people who desire an affordable fitness spotter that can nail the basics . The Pace 3 adds enough characteristic that it can actually match much more expensive spotter from other manufacturer .
One of these feature is threefold - band GPS . This is found on high - end watches like the Garmin Fenix 7 Plus andApple Watch Ultra . It helps in domain where the signaling might be patchy , such as a sky - scraper - packed city or dense woodland .
twofold - dance orchestra has an inauspicious effect on battery life , though , so it ’s change over off by default . The ideal solution is what Garmin does , where dual - ring can be switched on automatically when require . There ’s only manual switching here .
Route syncing is another of the Pace 3 ’s high-pitched - last quality . you could draw routes using the Coros app on your speech sound and broadcast them over to the watch .
These can be manual point - to - point itinerary , or you’re able to just select a beginning and remnant , and let the app do its thing , working out an effective route for running , take the air or cycling . It work on surprisingly well , and even when we worked out a run route from London to Birmingham , a 170km - plus journey , it did n’t gate-crash or take an age .
It ’s important to take note of the limitations here , though . You do n’t see map data on your wrist , just a ' breadcrumb ' line , and there are no turn - by - turn guidance either . Instead , the Pace 3 will give you a buzz when you go off - route , and an on - silver screen command prompt tells you how far off - course you are .
Route creation is a trivial less lustrous than Garmin ’s , too . There ’s no option to create a circular route base on length of a run or bicycle either , something we love the Garmin for . But would we use this feature to plan a run or hike itinerary in a position we do n’t bed so well ? It ’s a noteworthy cock for the Pace 3 to have considering the price .
Wireless music support is more than welcome too . you could store up to around 2.8 GB of air to the on - control panel 4 GB storage . However , there ’s no reinforcement for streaming service like Spotify . You will have to source your own MP3 single file . Plug the Pace 3 into a microcomputer or Mac , it shows up just like a USB thumb driving force for you to load your tunes onto . Simple enough ( and gives us a routine of a nostalgic feeling too ! ) .
We really wish take ' structured exercising ' . This is where you might have , say a 30 - second plank or a 2 - minute hard run cause . The watch tell you what to do . These can be construct , brick by figurative brick , in the Coros app .
you’re able to use Coros ’s ready made workouts too . But they ’re not on the watch . Or in the Coros app , but on the Coros website . Browse them on a phone and a tie-in clit lets you add them to the phone app . These workouts zest up what is a familiar array of trailing mode that cover everything from walking to snowboard .
But , as in other sphere here , there ’s a sense the terminal consumer - favorable layers of glossiness are n’t all in shoes here .
There ’s some of this in the user port in general too . you may potter around the Coros Pace 3 ’s software using the touchscreen or the rotary jacket on the watch side . Touchscreen implementation is pitiful , requiring far too many moving-picture show to get anywhere . And the crown does n’t exactly let you fly around . The port come across like a Garmin copy , and does n’t fare that well in the comparison .
Still , the Pace 3 feels just as fluent as Coros ’s more expensive watches . There ’s no obvious lag , but the rhythm of the user interface itself is just a bit ho-hum .
Coral Pace 3: Performance
Throughout examination , we used the default GPS Pace 3 setting . This is without twofold - ring but allows for all the orbiter arrays .
We had zero issues . Triangulation is fast . There were zero fall - outs without threefold - band GPS switched on . And even after looking right down into the mathematical function sentiment , the Pace 3 is broadly speaking on - power point enough to , for exemplar , show correctly which side of the road you are on . Route wavering is minimum .
Across a smattering of workout where we wore both the Coros Pace 3 and either theGarmin Forerunner 965or Garmin Venu 3 . The Coros consistently recorded almost on the nose one percent less distance than Garmin . You ’ll see less deflexion in straight section , but in the end , every tracked test end up at a one percent downhearted length . This could be down to how the watches treat route mapping between GPS triangulation nodes , for deterrent example .
It ’s good hooey . We also had few heart charge per unit truth issues with the Pace 3 than with theCoros Apex 2 , which appears to habituate the same , or at least very similar , heart rate hardware . Once again , heart rate readings trail very nearly with watches using Garmin ’s latest hardware during exercise . Coros was perhaps fractionally slower off the German mark with detecting affectionateness rate addition at the start of feat , but there ’s not much in it .
In ourCoros Apex 2review , our biggest gripe was with the ticker ’s tendency to massively overreact to motion when not exercising . 140 metronome marking just to make a cupful of tea ? We do n’t opine so . However , thankfully we have n’t noticed this variety of effect with the Pace 3 .
Just like last meter , though , we would n’t advise set up too much trust in the SpO2 blood oxygen Reading . Coros put a seaworthiness angle on this , suggesting it ’s used for altitude training . But some of its result looked a little low to us .
Accuracy is the best we ’ve find out from a Coros watch to particular date . We ’d still head to a top Garmin or Apple Watch for peak accuracy but because we ’ve tension - test their software and computer hardware more . But for such a reasonable price , the Pace 3 is a winner .
It ’s also beautifully low maintenance . Coros enjoin it can last up to 24 days from a single full charge . While you ’re improbable to see anything like that if you use the watch properly , it ’s certainly one you could take on holiday without a courser . And we do it that . Very different to theSamsung Galaxy Watch 4and 5 where battery anxiousness is a problem .
We have n’t always been able to attain the GPS battery life story figures Coros cite , though . It says the watch can last up to 25 hours in the ' all system ' default mode . But our meter reading paint a picture something closer to the 15 hours Coros quotes for the ' dual frequence ' style .
Was that more battery - sapping mode engaging mechanically due to a bug ? Who knows . This was n’t always the display case , though , with one 35 - min run taking just 2 % armorial bearing off . Either fashion , we think two - calendar week use is a sensible expectation for those who plan to track quite a band of run , ride or paseo .
Coros Pace 3: Should you buy the Coros Pace 3?
The Coros Pace 3 ’s ideal audience is mass who might have been considering a Garmin , but find those too expensive . Its airless Garmin rival is the Forerunner 255 Music ( the same as theForerunner 255but with music ) , which is arrive up for double the toll based on launch pricing .
Coros ’s Pace 3 has an unlikely hardening of high-pitched - end abilities for its price . for certain , they are a bit basic or unexploited in section , but the raw potentiality are here .
Accuracy is slightly good than we ’ve seen from previous Coros model too , make the Pace 3 among the good alternative for seaworthiness watch buyers on a budget .
Coros Pace 3: If this isn’t for you
The obvious measure up from outside the Coros line - up is the Garmin Forerunner 255 Music or the smaller Forerunner 255S Music . We think those Garmins are more fun to use , but the extra toll may sting when , on paper , they do n’t appear to provide a whole lot more .
You could also see the older Forerunner 245 Music , which is close in price . It ’s capable too , but recommending a four - yr - erstwhile vigil that has already been supersede a couple of times feels odd . Not fussed about that ? It ’s a adorable wearable .
Within the Coros chain , your next step up is theApex 2 , which has a snazzy metal case and underpin downloadable maps for superior on - watch navigation . However , the experience of the Pace 3 is otherwise commendably similar .
