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Garmin dominates the running watch market, even as runners have an increasing number of other options to choose from, including Suunto and Coros. I’ve long been a faithful Garmin user, but I wanted to give one of these competitors a fair shake, so for about six weeks (including the full month of July), I decided to test out how well a Coros could serve as my main running watch.
So I set my daily wear Garmin Forerunner 265S aside in favor of a Coros Pace 3 and Pace Pro, swapping between them as the mood struck me. While I didn’t come out of it a convert, I did learn a lot. Here’s what I loved and hated—or at least found irritating—along the way.
How I started the switch from Garmin to Coros
I normally use Garmin to store all my personal running data. (For some people that might be their Strava account, but mine is kind of a garbage pile of data, as most of the watches I test for reviews sync their data to it, which means a bunch of my runs are double- or even triple-logged there.)
I decided that, for the length of this test, I would only use the Coros app, and not Garmin. (When the test was over, I synced my runs back over to Garmin so I would still have accurate data when I looking back at my monthly and yearly totals.)
Before I could start the experiment, I needed to take care of my shoes. I have three pairs in rotation, and I use the Garmin app to track their mileage. One of my pairs has over 900 miles, and I’m trying to get it to 1,000 just out of stubbornness and spite, so accurate tracking is important to me.
I looked up each shoe’s mileage in the Garmin app, then added it to the Coros app with the appropriate starting mileage. (Coros perk: I was able to set my trail shoes as the default for trail runs, and my road shoes as the default for regular runs. Garmin only lets you set one shoe as the default for all types of runs.)
I set up Coros to sync to Strava, and disconnected Garmin from Strava. I also familiarized myself with the Coros training hub, a web interface for downloading and analyzing run data that’s similar to Garmin Connect’s web version. If I were switching permanently, I would have exported all my run data from Garmin and imported it into the Coros hub. Coros has step-by-step instructions for doing that here.
The Coros and Garmin models I compared
Both Coros and Garmin offer several models of running watches, and features vary from model to model. My everyday Garmin is a Forerunner 265S, and I also sometimes use a Forerunner 570. These served as my main reference points for comparing features, since they are solid offerings in the middle of the product range. (I’m also familiar with a few other models, including the entry-level 165, and the slightly older but still excellent 255.)
On the Coros side, I had two watches to play with: the smaller, lighter, and slightly older Pace 3, and the somewhat newer and fancier Pace Pro.
Here’s my best stab at ranking these models, from the most basic to the most full-featured:
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Garmin Forerunner 165 ($249.99): an entry-level watch with a bright AMOLED touchscreen but no dual-band GPS. Some of the more advanced analytics are also missing. One size (43 mm).
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Garmin Forerunner 255 (around $240 these days; originally $349.99): More features than the 165, and more accurate GPS, but it has the older style reflective MIP screen. Comes in small and large sizes (41 and 46 mm).
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Coros Pace 3 ($229): Similar to the 255 in both features and display type (MIP). The Pace 3 has a touchscreen, though, while the 255 requires buttons for navigation. One size (42 mm).
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Garmin Forerunner 265 ($449.99 but often on sale): Like a 265 but with an AMOLED touchscreen. Comes in small and large sizes (42 and 46 mm).
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Garmin Forerunner 570 ($549.99): Like a 265 but with voice calling, heat acclimation, and some other convenient features like automatic finish line trimming. AMOLED touchscreen. Comes in small and large sizes (42 and 47 mm).
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Coros Pace Pro ($349): Doesn’t have the voice features or some of the analytics of the Garmin 570, but it does have onboard maps, which aren’t available on any Garmin watches in its price range. AMOLED touchscreen. One size (46 mm).
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Garmin Forerunner 970 ($749.99): Like a 570 but with maps and an LED flashlight. AMOLED touchscreen. One size (47 mm).
The Coros Pace 3 is a little more basic than the Garmin 265 and 570 I’m used to, and the Coros Pace Pro is arguably a little nicer—mainly because it has maps, which come in handy on my trail runs.
Now that we’ve got our bearings, let’s go for a run.
Accuracy and other basics are excellent on both Garmin and Coros
I know that my job is to uncover the minute differences between different models of fitness tech, but honestly, for most purposes any of the watches will do the job. If the world only had Coros, you wouldn’t miss Garmin, and vice versa.
I know from reviewing both sets of watches in detail that they both make excellent running watches. Let’s narrow down the stable to just the Forerunner 570 and the Coros Pace Pro. Here’s what I already know:
Both watches have excellent GPS accuracy. On paper, that’s because they connect to multiple networks and have dual-band capabilities for better accuracy among trees and buildings. In the real world, I know they’re good because I’ve pored over maps after running with both, and they all track my actual path very closely.
Both watches have good heart rate accuracy. An optical sensor will never be perfect, but anytime I have a good snug fit on the watch, I get heart rate readings that are nearly identical to what I get from a chest strap, my gold standard. I have sometimes found that larger watches don’t fit me as well, thus giving slightly glitchier data. This would be a minor caveat to the Pace Pro, which only comes in a larger size. (The Pace 3 is smaller, and the 570 comes in two size options.) That said, I still get good readings from both of these.
You can pair a chest strap to either watch. If you’re so interested in accuracy that you care about the subtle differences between watches that all do the job well, what you really want is to pair an electrical (not optical) chest strap. All of the Garmin and Coros watches I’ve tested can pair to pretty much any chest strap on the market. I use a Coospo.
Both displays are legible in pretty much all lighting conditions. AMOLED watches provide their own light. They are great in dim to medium conditions, and OK in bright sunlight. MIP watches reflect brilliantly in bright sunlight, suffer a bit in shadow, but can be used with a gesture-triggered backlight in the dark. The Pace 3 has a MIP screen, and the Pace Pro and the 570 are both AMOLED. If you want to dig into the differences between these display types, I have a detailed breakdown here. Bottom line, both are good.
With the basics taken care of, let me tell you about the things that stood out to me as new and different (either in a good or bad way) between Coros and Garmin.
Hated: Coros can’t control the music on my phone
I’ve never cared for onboard music on a running watch. I’m going to bring my phone with me anyway (for safety, if nothing else) so I don’t need to store music on the watch. Many Garmin watches, including the 570, can download playlists from Spotify (although they can’t stream directly). Coros can only play MP3 files that you’ve loaded onto the watch.
When I’m listening to music on my phone, the watch has one function: I like being able to see what song is playing from the watch, especially if I’m shuffling a big playlist. Garmin can do this without a problem, and provides controls to pause, play and skip; so can the Suunto Run I tested. But these two Coros watches can only play their own music, not display or control what my phone is playing.
Loved: Coros gives you maps at a much lower price point than Garmin
During my summer of Coros, I ended up doing a lot of trail running. The trails are shady and comparatively cool when it’s hot everywhere else, and the local trail running group had a fun challenge going. To participate, I’d download GPX route files created by the group, and follow them through the woods.
All of the Garmin and Coros watches I mentioned above can do basic navigation. The process is the same on both brands: download a route file on your phone, use the share button to “open” it in the Coros or the Garmin app, save the route, and then tell the app to send the route to your watch. When you start a run, you can select a saved route to follow.
With the basic display (on the Forerunner 570 and below, or on the Pace 3), you just see a line on a black background showing the route you’re supposed to follow, a different color of line showing where you actually went, and a marker showing where you are right now. On the 570, for example, the route is pink and my own path is white. So as I’m running, I just have to glance down at my wrist, and as long as the pink and the white lines are tracking together, I’m on the right path.
In this view, neither watch knows where the trails actually are. I’ll get an “approaching right turn” alert when the path I’m following turns right, whether or not I have an option to go any other way. If the trail branches into two forks, and my path is more or less straight forward, the watch doesn’t know I’m trying to make a decision, and provides no help.
On a watch with maps, you get more help. It still may not know all of the trails in the area, but at least it’s easy to tell when you’re supposed to cross a road or pass a big obvious landmark like a pond. The Pace Pro is a $349 watch that gives you full-color maps right on your wrist. In the Garmin world, you don’t get that feature on a new watch unless you splurge on a Forerunner 970, for $749.99, more than twice the price of the Pace Pro.
Hated: Coros pauses the run after your workout is finished
This is a tiny, itsy micro-peeve that I’m almost embarrassed to note here for how minor it is, but MY GOD COROS CAN’T YOU LEAVE THE ACTIVITY RUNNING AFTER THE WORKOUT FINISHES??? Garmin spoiled me for this.
Let’s say you’re using a Garmin to track a structured workout that covers 3.5 miles or so. After you finish the workout, you jog a long cooldown because you’d like to add some more mileage to your day, so why not? Garmin just starts a new lap when the workout finishes, so that when you get to the end of the run for the day—let’s say you went five miles—you’ll see a 3.5 mile workout and a 1.5 mile cooldown logged in the same activity.
Coros, by contrast, pauses the activity when the workout finishes. On several occasions I heard the end-of-workout beep and thought nothing of it. I kept running, enjoying my cooldown, only to realize five or 10 minutes later that my last five or 10 minutes of running hadn’t been logged at all.
If I had been trained on Coros and moved to Garmin, this wouldn’t bother me. But coming from Garmin, I kept forgetting that I needed to resume my workout after it “finished.” I lost some miles in my tracking. I’m mad. That is all.
Loved: Coros’s training status feels less insulting
Here’s another subjective one: I love Garmin’s training status, but mostly because I chase the thrill of earning a “productive” status, and get disappointed every time it tells me I am just “maintaining.” (I want to get a good grade in Garmin, something that is both normal to want and possible to achieve.)
Garmin’s harsh judgements are the stuff of memes, but it does sting sometimes to be told that your hard work isn’t moving the needle. Coros also has a training status feature, with similar terms, but they seem to be defined differently.
Here’s Coros’s explanation of its training status terms. “Maintaining” is still in there, but I didn’t see it show up on my watch very often. More often, I’d get “optimized,” provided I’d been working pretty hard. That explanation from Coros also shows how you can look at your training status in a few different ways from the training hub dashboard: If your load impact is higher than your base fitness, you’re doing pretty good. Garmin doesn’t have graphs like this, or at least, nothing so easy to access and read.
Ultimately, does this affect my training? Not really. But I find Coros’s approach more interesting and more encouraging.
Hated: Coros doesn’t have an app store
Garmin’s ConnectIQ store is a place to find watch faces, but also little mini-apps to do specific jobs. Most people won’t download many apps, but when you need one, it’s very cool to be able to grab the right one.
For example, to use the Core temperature sensor that I’m using to monitor my heat tolerance, I went to Garmin’s ConnectIQ store and downloaded the data field created by the developers at the company that made the sensor. I did have to manually add it to the activities where I wanted to track my temperature, but then it was there. I could see my core temp, skin temp, and heat strain index all on one screen, and this data was logged in my workout results.
The Core sensor also works with Coros, but not nearly as well. I can view my core body temperature during the run, but not skin temperature or heat strain index. (The heat strain index is the most valuable to me, and I missed having it available at a glance.) There’s no way to download an app for more functionality.
There are still plenty of watch faces and useful tools built into the Coros app and the devices themselves, but it would be nice if there were third-party possibilities out there too.
Loved: Coros watches lock the display in a nicer way
The Pace 3 and Pace Pro both have a scroll wheel. Both of them, by default, use a screen lock that requires you to either hold in the scroll button, or—my preference—scroll the wheel one full turn before being able to do anything on the watch.
I like the scroll version. I just start scrolling up, and as the watch unlocks, I can keep scrolling and see my widgets, which is often what I’m unlocking the watch to check. (You can turn off this lock if you don’t want it.) You can still see the time while it’s locked or while you’re in the process of unlocking.
Garmins, on the other hand, don’t have quite the same feature. You can turn on the device lock, but then any time you tap the screen or push a button, the time disappears and you see a message telling you to unlock the device. You can also set a shortcut to turn off the touchscreen, which is handy if you keep bumping it when you don’t mean to.
I like the Coros version better.
The bottom line
Garmin and Coros both make great watches. I was neither disappointed nor excited to return to Garmin at the end of the month. I’m glad the workouts won’t end without me pressing a button anymore, and I like that I’ll be easily able to see what music is playing. But I’ll miss the maps on the Pace Pro, and the kinder and more transparent training status.
