Why you should consider a Coros watch instead of a Garmin (2026)

There’s also a built-in music store for MP3 files (who owns those anymore?). But there are no third party applications. If contactless payments and streaming tunes aren’t negotiable, stick with Garmin.

However, when it comes to sports tracking and training analysis, the Pace 4 has the same tools you find in all Coros watches, right up to the top level. Vertex 2S ($699). It measures everything you need to get serious about your training and supports most athletic goals, whether you’re just starting out with cycling or running. Couch to 5KOr prepare for a marathon.

Coros offers tools like structured workouts, useful information about whether your workouts are productive, peaking, or sustained, what your fatigue level is, and recommended recovery times. It also has more in-depth features like a Virtual Pacer, marathon training plans, and fitness measurement with VO2Max and Lactate Threshold estimates.

Photography: Kiran Alger

In addition to workouts, you get all the usual suspects: activity, motion alerts, sleep score and stages, plus stress, heart rate variability, and menstrual cycles — a good bunch of all-around health stuff. The heart rate readings weren’t 100% infallible, but show me that visually. For the most part, he performed well against Leading chest straps. I did have difficulty at times during in-between runs, when I would change gears quickly. but This is common for wrist sensors.

Unfortunately, it comes up short on navigation. There’s detailed navigation, but you’ll have to go a bit further up the Coros food chain to Base Pro ($299) If you want offline maps. But other than that, in my tests, the Pace 4 handled everything from covered forests to tough urban roads as well as more expensive competitors like Garmin Forerunner 970 and the Apple Watch Ultra 3, even if Garmin’s mapping and navigation tools offer more depth.