If you follow influencers or athletes on social networks, you have surely seen them with a Coros watch on their wrist. And for good reason, this brand has established itself in recent years as the absolute reference, particularly in the (no longer so small) world of running.
To maintain these praises at the end of the year, Coros wanted to review its range. The firm therefore presented the new Pace Pro. After several weeks of testing, let’s see if this connected watch is indeed the ideal Christmas gift for a sportsman.
Buy the Coros Pace Pro at the best price
Coros Pace Pro: a big yes, for athletes
In a few words, the Coros Pace Pro is exceptional, provided you’re on target. The watch is indeed very divisive. It doesn’t display nice notifications, blend into your smartphone’s ecosystem, or offer you third-party apps in spades.
For this it is better to turn to the Apple Watch, Pixel Watch (Google) or Galaxy Watch (Samsung). It is also not as complete as the Fenix 8 from Garmin, the test of which you can find here. So the question is, who is this watch for?
Coros makes no secret of the fact that the watch is designed for athletes. Runners, cyclists, swimmers or athletes in the general sense of the term, you will be very well supported with a Pace Pro on your wrist. You just have to take it out of its box to understand its sporty DNA.
The highly breathable strap wicks away perspiration, the lightweight case (49g) is shock-resistant, and the tactile buttons are very easy to use. The Pace Pro has two: a notched crown for navigating the menus and a more standard push button, for performing a few simple actions (it mainly serves as a back button).
Well-thought-out features
If the watch is intended for athletes, you don’t have to have both feet in it to understand how this Pace Pro works. Everything is quite fluid and the companion application, although summary, brings together the essential data.
Among the options that will delight athletes, we find a “race level” ranging from 0 to 100 as well as a “race predictor”. Just below, the training load is displayed. This is followed by the recovery level and sleep-related data.
A real professional watch
It’s simple, it’s effective, like the rest of this watch which is intended to be accessible to everyone. A universality which is also found in the price of €399.99. We are a long way from the €1099.99 requested by Garmin for its Fenix 8. Despite this immense price gap, the difference in components between the two watches is quite small.
Coros defends itself more than well with a very well finished watch. In particular, it offers an ultra-bright 1.3-inch AMOLED panel. Inside the case we find a dual frequency GPS chip, a heart rate sensor, an oximeter and a thermometer.
Thanks to them, the watch is able to calculate resting heart rate, and other health data such as blood oxygen level and body temperature. For athletes, it can also create a “virtual pacer”. This virtual avatar is a difficult opponent to beat during your workouts, but it is an incredible source of motivation.
Autonomy and recharging
If the watch is able to do all this, it is thanks to its very durable battery. Coros announces on its website 38 hours of battery life with “all systems activated”. With daily use, battery life can reach 20 days.
If you choose (like me) the “always on screen” mode, this autonomy will drop to 6 days. During our test, we were able to verify these figures and our results are close to Coros’s estimates. We lasted precisely 12 days with the watch (without the screen always on) with 4 one-hour sports sessions per week (with the GPS).
By activating “always-on” for the screen, the watch was not able to accompany us for more than 4 days, with 2 training sessions. Recharging takes no more than 2 hours, you can even go from 20% to 80% in less than an hour.
Special mention for the charger (owner) of the watch which comes with a small key ring clip (see above). It’s extremely practical to always have it with you and not lose it. We would have preferred USB-C charging, but this is impossible due to waterproofing issues. Wireless charging is not there either.
Buy the Coros Pace Pro at the best price
Our opinion on the Coros Pace Pro
Ultimately, this watch has no glaring flaws. It is not made for everyone, but once this initial premise is established, it is very difficult to be disappointed. It meets all our expectations, both in everyday life and in training.
We would have liked more elaborate, more readable notifications than simple strips of text, but once again, the Coros Pace Pro is not there for that. During training it works wonderfully, its GPS is very precise and with the companion application it is easy to import complex sessions (with intervals, changes in pace, etc.).
With a selling price of 399 euros, we can only recommend that athletes, both beginners and experienced, put the Coros Pace Pro around their wrist. Unlike other high-end sports watches, this Pace Pro knows how to speak to beginners. The interface is simple, intuitive, but at the same time complete enough to respond to more specific requests.
Coros offers its Pace Pro in black (model tested) or in gray and blue. Bracelets are available in these three colors at a price of €29.
Coros Pace Pro
€399.00
We love
- Autonomy
- Simple interface
- Digital crown
- Data accuracy
We like less
- Slightly low brightness
