Coros has been a name in the running smartwatch arena for many years now. The company makes watches hyper focused on good GPS and health tracking while not breaking the bank. I’ve been using the latest addition of the Coros Pace 4 for a few weeks now, and the company has another contender, but I do have some reservations when compared to the rest of the market.
Design
The Pace 4 checks in with a compact and comfortable build, familiar to anyone coming from the Pace series. The case is made from lightweight materials that, and you’ll almost forget you’re wearing it during a long run. Arguably, the most visible design upgrade is the 1.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen (390 × 390) with a 2.5D curved edge, replacing the MIP display of prior models.
That alone gives the watch a more premium feel, even though there are some MIP Stans that will disagree. I found the display a worthy upgrade. Having the AMOLED panel lends to a battery overall experience indoors, and the brightness outdoors hasn’t been an issue at all. There’s a slight delay on the raise to wake at times, but otherwise it’s been very good.
The light weight and 43mm size work especially well if you have narrower wrists or prefer something less bulky. The all-plastic polymer build means it doesn’t carry the heft or luxury feel of premium metal watches that may put off some. I’d challenge as a pure performance running watches, the Pace 4 hits a sweet spot.
Features
The Pace 4 offers a rich feature set for runners and fitness enthusiasts who care about performance more than flashy “smartwatch” extras. Key features include dual-band (multi-frequency) GPS, personalized marathon training plans, training-load metrics, and a new voice-logging capability called Voice Pins. These pins are an interesting concept exclusive to the Pace 4 I haven’t seen elsewhere.
The watch uses the dual mic system to take in voice memos and dictate them into text notes on an activity. You can do this during or after the completed run or workout. It’s a nice way to quickly take down mental notes pertaining to maybe your mental state or even the weather that day. I thought it was gimmicky at first, but in practice it’s kinda nice. The company also mentioned, in the product briefing, that a future software update would make the Action button for Voice Pins to dual as a shortcut for controlling music playback from the connected phone.
You have all your day-to-day fitness monitoring expected on a Coros: step count, active calories, floors climbed, HR variability tracking, sleep trends, and a full suite of sensors (optical heart rate, barometric altimeter, SpO₂) packed into the watch. I’ve found the sensors and GPS all to be accurate in my testing. I did see the heart rate monitor dip either low or higher than my AmazFit Helio Band (with bicep band) on a few workouts and take a few minutes to lock into the correct pacing. I took note of it, but it’s not outside blips I’ve seen on other wrist sensors.
The companion apps is also very minimal, but functions well. I found my daily activities, health metrics, and map features easy to find. The training profiles and coaching are also very solid in the Coros application. Other metrics like Sleep and Recovery have also been logged as expected, and I found this on par with other devices I’ve tested recently. All have slightly different algorithms, but the overall data has been similar.
Smart features are present but very modest. Coming from any competitor, I’ve found this the largest area in of improvement. You’ll find music file storage, weather widgets, notifications, but no full streaming service support or offline maps. In these options, weather is the most robust and the remaining are extremely limited.
Notifications in particular need a makeover. You get them for apps installed on the paired smartphone, but they are incredibly small font with text only and offer zero interaction with the notifications on the phone. Even dismissing them on the watch does nothing to the synced phone. I found them so anemic, that I simply disabled them entirely, as they didn’t offer value to my vibrating wrist.
I have no doubt some of this is intentional by Coros. The company seems to pride itself on being a bare-bones fitness wearable maker. Even so, I’d like to see the company expand these features as at least options. The fitness market is on a crash course with true smartwatches from Apple and Google as they catch up to the health tracking side of things. Being this far behind on the flip of the coin is concerning when compared to the likes of Suunto, Garmin, and AmazFit being much more robust already.
Lightweight, accurate, and built to go the distance, the Coros Pace 4 nails the essentials for runners who want pro-level performance without the premium price tag
Battery Life
One thing that doesn’t leave something to be desired is battery life. Even with the new AMOLED screen, the company rates the device of up to 19 days on time. This is an incredible estimation and I’d say very achievable. I average less than ten percent battery burned in a day of normal usage.
Daily use isn’t the only place it shines. Endurance runners should also be interested in the Pace 4 with the 31 hours of dual GPS performance. That’s a crazy amount of battery sipping with a watch this compact and lightweight. Coros knows it’s market in this regard and has nailed the time away from the charger.
Oh, and I love the keyring charger and carrying setup! This sleek little USB-C charging adapter is a fantastic way to always know where your charger is while on the go. All you need is a USB-C cable you probably already have in 2025.
Final Thoughts and Pricing
Awarded to products with an average rating of 3.75 stars or higher, the AndroidGuys Smart Pick recognizes a balance of quality, performance, and value.
Products with this distinction deserve to be on your short list of purchase candidates.
If you’re in the market for a running watch that delivers serious performance, strong battery life, and a comfortable design, and you’re fine with fewer “smartwatch” extras, then the Pace 4 is an excellent pick. It ticks the boxes that matter for training and running, while keeping cost in check at just $249 USD.
Competition is strong from options like the Garmin Forerunner 165 and Suunto Run, but existing Coros users may want to stay in the ecosystem, and new users would enjoy better battery life, and GPS, with the Pace 4.
