Coros Wearables Inc. sure has been busy. Including today’s launch, the California-based brand has rolled out four watches and a cycling computer in just three years.
Founded in 2016, Coros remains a relative newcomer to the sports-tech scene, but it has been quick to make a name for itself with performance-driven watches, a value-packed cycling computer, and supporting accessories. Endurance athletes have embraced the brand’s lightweight yet durable designs, advanced features, and a battery life that routinely outlasts many rivals.
Today’s release is the COROS PACE 4, a featherweight AMOLED sport watch designed to help athletes train smarter and become faster without the bulk. In addition to its lightweight, minimal design, it’s got an impressive battery life (as we’re starting to expect from Coros), and new features like a flashlight and a built-in microphone for voice recording. And as a bonus: it plays nicely with cycling setups.
Let’s dive in.
What’s New
(Image credit: Coros Wearables Inc)
Sleek and Slimmer:
Physically, the PACE 4 is slimmer and sleeker than its predecessors, at just 11.8mm thick and weighing just 32 grams with the nylon band. The watch features a 1.2-inch bevelled AMOLED screen, two slim buttons in addition to Coros’s signature rotation dial and a two-tone case.
Brighter:
The AMOLED screen, first used in the Pace Pro model, delivers bright colours with deeper contrast and sharper detail than the previous MIP display. AMOLED is short for Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode, and it’s the same high-contrast display technology used in modern smartphones. Each pixel emits its own light, producing vivid colours and true blacks while keeping power use low.
Even Better Battery Life:
Battery life is kind of Coros’s trademark and they once again outdid themself, adding 16 hours of battery life over the Pace 3 model, despite the watch’s small size. Battery life will now deliver 41 hours of operation in GPS mode or 19 days of everyday casual use.
New Hardware Upgrades:
Coros has also added two new hardware elements: a microphone and a flashlight. The mic enables voice-based training notes, while the flashlight doubles as a safety and convenience tool.
Better Heart Rate Data:
The optical heart-rate sensor has been redesigned for smoother readings, and satellite acquisition is faster and more precise even in urban or deeply forested areas.
An Elite-level Watch for More Users:
Coros says that while Kenyan marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge was spotted wearing the PACE 4 at the New York City Marathon earlier this month, the watch isn’t just for elites. The PACE 4 is designed to appeal to a much broader range of athletes, thanks to its sleek design, everyday health tracking and accessible pricing.
Beyond the usual endurance-sport metrics, the PACE 4 can track and provide metrics for a wide variety of activities from running, cycling and swimming to pickleball, jump-roping, strength training, and more.
Coros wants you to start talking to your watch
(Image credit: Coros Wearables Inc)
Among the PACE 4’s headline upgrades is its built-in microphone and new voice features. After workouts, athletes can now record short audio logs directly on the watch, which can be found in the app for later reference by the athlete and/or a coach. Coros says this is an easy way to capture notes about nutrition, effort or terrain while its fresh without having to pull out a phone.
Coros also used the Pace 4 to introduce Voice Pins, allowing users to drop spoken markers during or just after an activity. These are automatically recognised and categorised in the Coros App. Examples of these pins may be water sources or a cool road to explore, or because you’ve found a good gradient to return to for your next interval workout.
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
Like its predecessors, the PACE 4 comes loaded with Coros’s suite of training and health tools.
Health monitoring includes HRV, sleep tracking, training readiness metrics and (new) Menstrual Cycle tracking. The Coros comes loaded with a wealth of different activity tracking pages, all of which can be customised to the user’s liking.
And, like all Coros products, the watch is complemented by a robust training platform, accessible via the mobile app and the desktop Training Hub. It is free for device users and enables athletes to analyse performance metrics, communicate with a coach, create personalised workouts and training plans, and more. It’s like having TrainingPeaks included with your watch or cycling computer purchase.
Workouts and training plans can be synced with the device, and the watch can guide you through structured workouts, including FTP tests.
Most sport watches tend to be geared toward runners. The PACE range is no exception but there’s an increasing effort to include different sports and activities. As stated above, the PACE 4 has pre-set activity pages for various running and cycling disciplines, as well as swimming, snow sports, paddle sports, racquet sports, gym activities, and more. One can also create custom activity pages.
Some useful features for cyclists include guided FTP tests, activity tracking and metrics for road, mountain biking, gravel, and indoor cycling, as well as heart-rate broadcasting, allowing you to pair your watch seamlessly with the Coros DURA cycling computer and other compatible head units. The watch also offers navigation, including Breadcrumb Navigation, Sync and Follow Routes, Back-to-Start, Waypoints, Turn-by-Turn, and Pin. Which may be hard to see on a device that small, but on multi-day adventures, the watch will last longer than most GPS cycling computers will, which means the watch can help you if you find yourself in a bind.
Like the PACE Pro, PACE 4 makes use of the USB-C charging adapter
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
Pricing and Availability
The COROS PACE 4 is available now for $249 USD/£229 from the Coros website and select retailers worldwide.
At $249/£229, the PACE 4 is priced well below Coros’s more premium offerings like the APEX 2 Pro ($449) and VERTIX 2S ($699) as well as comparable units from its competitors like the Garmin Forerunner 255 ($349), Wahoo ELEMNT RIVAL ($329), and Polar Pacer Pro ($299). It should be noted that all of those models are heavier and, in most cases, have a (much) shorter battery life.
First Impressions
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
I’ve been wearing a Coros watch day and night for more than three years now, and coming from the PACE Pro, the PACE 4 feels familiar in the best of ways.
My test unit came with the silicone strap instead of the lighter nylon one, making it slightly heavier at 37 grams, but it’s still a total featherweight that disappears on the wrist. My only gripe so far is the new strap clasp, which tends to come undone a few times a day.
The AMOLED display is bright, easy to read and perfectly clear even in direct sunlight. The interface feels fast and intuitive, and it took me less than five minutes to go from unboxing to starting my first workout — granted, I’m already familiar with the Coros app and ecosystem.
I was happy to see Coros finally add menstrual cycle tracking, a long-overdue but welcome feature. The new activity cropping tool is another practical upgrade. No more getting flagged on Strava for hitting 55 mph on the highway because you forgot to end your ride.
The built-in flashlight is already getting daily use, although not exactly for its intended purpose. Now that the dark season has set in, I mostly use it to locate my dog’s poop on evening walks. Unglamorous but definitely useful.
Battery life is a Coros trademark, and it continues to impress: up to 19 days of typical use and 41 hours of continuous GPS.
While I’m primarily a cyclist, I also run, go to the gym, hike, play pickleball and walk my dog. While I do tend to use a head unit on my bike rides, I also wear a watch because it allows me to track all my activities on one device.
For newer riders who don’t use a bike computer, Coros’s cycling metrics are strong and accurate, and I appreciate how easy it is to customise ride data screens and scroll through them mid-ride, even with gloves on.
I still rely on a cycling head unit for navigation and detailed ride data like power and cadence, but the PACE 4 makes for a dependable backup, complete with navigation should my cycling computer.
At $249/£229, the PACE 4 is a sleek yet feature-packed watch that’s comfortable enough to wear 24/7. And considering that a Garmin watch with similar capabilities will set you back a few hundred dollars more, it’s hard not to be impressed.
