GoKawiilEver since it ushered in the GPS running watch era way back in 2003, Garmin has been turning out some of the best fitness trackers in the business. Many companies have tried to keep pace, but today I’d say the majority of the beeps on race start lines still come from folks firing up a Garmin sports watch.
But Garmin isn’t the only option, and if you’re on a tighter budget, you should look at Coros. Coros’s formula of big battery life, impressive training tools, and budget-friendly pricing puts the brand firmly in the mix among the best running watches that you can buy right now. The Coros Pace 4 ($249) is a prime example.
Reviews editor Adrienne So and I have spent months testing the Coros Pace 4. We think it’s not only a serious rival for Garmin’s own entry-level trackers, but one of the top-value fitness watches going. Here’s why.
Serious Staying Power
Photograph: Kieran Alger
Photograph: Kieran Alger
Photograph: Kieran Alger Chevron Chevron Save to wishlist Save to wishlist Coros Pace 4 $249 Amazon $249 REI
Unrivaled battery life has been Coros’ main selling point since joining the GPS arms race in 2018 with the original Pace running watch. I’ve left Coros watches in drawers for weeks. When you come back, they’re still good to go. It's all very Nokia 3310. The Pace 4 keeps that train rolling with a whopping 41-hour GPS battery life. That's more than double the endurance of the Garmin Forerunner 265 ($350) and the Garmin Forerunner 570 ($550).
The Pace 4 packs enough dual-frequency GPS-tracking juice to cover a 24-hour 100-miler, or a good 3-4 day hike on a single charge. You have to trade up to a Garmin Instinct 3 ($400) to get anywhere near that on a Garmin with an AMOLED display.
In testing, the Pace 4 was impressively frugal. It burned an average of 3 percent for an hour’s max accuracy GPS activity and lost no more than 2 percent overnight. If you’re training three or four times a week for an hour, you can strap the Pace 4 on and happily forget about the battery for weeks.
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