Coros Pace 4 Pro review: Lightweight Garmin rival with flagship features for less

Coros has spent the past few years building a reputation as the brand that gives Garmin watch fans something a little cheaper to chew on. But while the big rival tends to load its wearables with the latest smarts such as lifestyle features, app stores and contactless payments, Coros takes a different approach.

This company is all about doing the sporty stuff really well and not worrying too much about everything else. The Pace series in particular has become a favourite among runners and triathletes who care more about accurate GPS, long battery life, and lightweight builds than their Spotify playlists – and so far it’s worked.

The Pace 4 Pro is the latest addition to that lineup, sitting above last year's Coros Pace 4.

What Coros has managed to cram into this thing is pretty remarkable: you get a bigger, brighter AMOLED display than anything the firm’s done before, a titanium bezel with sapphire glass, full offline maps with turn-by-turn navigation, an ECG sensor, a built-in speaker and a quoted 60 hours of GPS battery life. All of that in a case that weighs just 43g.

On paper, it reads like a watch that should cost considerably more than its RRP. But does real-life performance live up to what this running watch says on its spec sheet? I've been wearing the Pace 4 Pro for the past few weeks across runs, gym sessions and daily life to see whether the brand has pulled it off. Here's what I think.

Coros Pace 4 Pro review

Price and availability

The Coros Pace 4 Pro launched in September 2026 and is available to buy now in black with a nylon strap or white with a nylon or silicone strap, directly from Coros and various online retailers, for £389 / $449 / AU$779.

That's quite the step up from the standard Pace 4, which starts at £229 / $249 / AU$430, and puts it into some fresh territory against rivals.

The obvious comparison anyone will make first is with Garmin, and on price alone, the Pace 4 Pro definitely has the edge.

The Garmin Forerunner 970, which is arguably its closest rival in terms of features, costs a wallet-busting £629 / $749 / AU$1,399, making the Pace 4 Pro nearly half the price.

The also AMOLED Garmin Forerunner 265, meanwhile, sits at around £379 / $449 / AU$799, which is almost the same price but comes with fewer premium materials and noticeably shorter battery life.

Design and build

The Pace 4 Pro makes a strong first impression right out of the box. The packaging is pretty elevated compared to what you’d usually find for a mid-range sports watch, and it feels like Coros has taken real care to ensure it has that premium edge, which sets the tone nicely for what's inside.

The watch itself is slim at 11.8mm thick with an impressive 47.6mm case and titanium bezel, all of which give it a subtle high-end feel that the standard Pace 4's polymer case doesn't.

The sapphire crystal covering the display should also keep scratches at bay far better than mineral glass, which is reassuring if you're planning to wear it for trail runs and outdoor workouts where knocks are almost guaranteed.

In the hand, the Pace 4 Pro is ridiculously light. At 43g with the nylon strap, you could almost forget you're wearing it, which is great news for running and sleeping.

Although I must say, the polymer case body, while perfectly sturdy, feels a bit plasticky and almost toy-like at first, which is an odd contrast with the titanium and sapphire sitting right next to it. It doesn't feel cheap exactly, but it also doesn't feel as premium as those materials might suggest on paper.

The good news is that once it's on the wrist and the display lights up, that concern fades pretty quickly. The screen certainly does a lot of heavy lifting in the overall design and build.

Speaking of the screen, it’s a 1.47-inch AMOLED panel, making it Coros' biggest ever. It runs at 466 x 466 resolution with a peak brightness of 3,500 nits during activities, meaning it’s super vibrant and sharp.

I had zero trouble reading it outdoors in direct sunlight, which is exactly what you need from something you’ll be glancing at mid-run. There's an always-on display option too, which looks clean and doesn't drain the battery as aggressively as you might expect.

One design detail that really impressed me – and I’ve probably not said this about a watch before – was the charger. Instead of packing yet another proprietary cable, Coros has designed a small key fob-style adapter that magnetically clips to the back of the watch and then accepts any standard USB-C cable.

It's genius, and a nice touch that makes you wonder why every gadget brand isn't doing it. Who knows, maybe they will be once they see this?

Performance and features

Getting the Pace 4 Pro up and running is about as painless as it gets. All you need to do is download the Coros app, pair it via Bluetooth, and you're going from box to wrist in about ten minutes. The app is well-designed and super slick, connecting without any drama to ensure a super-smooth setup.

On the wrist, the watch is snappy and responsive. Swiping between widgets, scrolling through menus and launching workouts all feel fluid, with no lag, probably thanks to the extra RAM that Coros has packed in compared to the standard Pace 4.

You really feel this when you're loading and panning around the offline maps, for example, as they render almost instantly.

As you’d expect from Coros, the Pace 4 Pro’s fitness and training features are very detailed, boasting dual-band GPS that locks on quickly and tracks routes accurately, as well as a multi-channel optical heart rate sensor that feels reliable during steady runs and gym sessions.

You also get SpO2, ECG, altitude, ambient temperature, and the full suite of training metrics that serious runners want, such as VO2 Max, training load, recovery tracking, race predictions, pace planning and interval workouts.

However, the offline maps are probably the watch’s most impressive feature. With 32GB of onboard storage, you can download detailed topographic and landscape maps with street and trail names, points of interest and proper turn-by-turn navigation, which is ideal for trail runners and hikers.

The maps load quickly, scroll smoothly, and the larger display makes them far more readable than on smaller-screened watches where you're doing a lot of squinting.

Battery life is where the Pace 4 Pro really excels. Coros quotes up to 60 hours of GPS tracking with all satellite systems active, or 46 hours with the always-on display running during activities.

For daily use, you're looking at up to 21 days with raise-to-wake, or around seven with always-on enabled. In my testing, with regular notifications, a few GPS workouts per week and raise-to-wake, I got about two weeks between charges, which (with this display) is pretty impressive.

Where the Pace 4 Pro falls short is in the smartwatch department. You won’t find an app store, music storage for offline listening, or contactless payments, and notification handling is pretty basic.

If you want a watch that doubles as a proper day-to-day smart companion alongside a serious training tool, Garmin and Apple still have the edge there.

But, as Coros fans will know, the brand has always been upfront about prioritising sport over smarts, and the Pace 4 Pro only continues that philosophy.

Verdict

The Coros Pace 4 Pro has to be the best watch Coros has made. The display is stunning, the battery life puts most AMOLED competitors to shame, and the combination of offline maps, accurate GPS tracking, deep training features and a build that weighs next to nothing makes it a seriously compelling package for runners and endurance athletes alike.

The plastic body won't feel premium to everyone, and at its price point, the Pace 4 Pro has moved well beyond Coros’ budget roots and into a space where Garmin’s offerings start to become serious considerations.

Smartwatch and lifestyle features are pretty lacking, too; if you depend on contactless payments, offline music or a proper app store on your wrist, this probably isn't the watch for you.

But if your priority is a lightweight, long-lasting sports watch with a brilliant screen, accurate tracking and offline mapping at a price that undercuts the Garmin equivalent by a couple of hundred quid, the Pace 4 Pro delivers all of that and then some.