Coros Pace 4 review: Big battery life in a slim, lightweight package
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Coros Pace 4: One minute review
The Coros Pace 4 continues its predecessor’s mantle as one of the cheapest running watches and is a significant improvement on the previous model Coros Pace 3, which was also one of our best running watches overall. There’s a lot to like about a smartwatch, including runners who want to improve.
The watch is aimed at runners, triathletes, and cyclists who desire speed and simplicity. At just 32g (with nylon strap), the Pace 4 is incredibly light and rugged. Accurate distance tracking wasn’t pinpoint-sharp, but pace, heart rate, cadence, and other metrics measured accurately.
That said, this is not a smartwatch for most people. The lack of everyday smarts, like music streaming and NFC payments, make it limited for anyone looking for more than a training tool. I wouldn’t say this is the opposite, however, as not all wearables are for everyone. The Pace 4 sticks to its practical specifications, and at a budget-friendly price of $249 / £229, this makes it a very attractive proposition indeed.
Coros Pace 4: Details
|
Element |
Coros Pace 4 |
|
Price |
$249 USD / £229 UK / $479.95 AUS |
|
Size |
43.4 x 43.4 x 11.8 mm |
|
Weight |
32g (with Nylon strap) / 40g (with Silicone strap) |
|
The case/bezel |
Fiber reinforced polymer (Plastic) |
|
Show |
1.2-inch AMOLED touch screen 390 x 390 pixels |
|
GPS |
Dual-Frequency GNSS |
|
Battery life |
Up to 19 days or 41 hours of High GPS usage |
|
Communication |
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi |
|
Water resistance |
5 ATMs |
Coros Pace 4: Price and Availability
- $249 USD / £229 UK / AU$479.95
- A good price for a smart watch with dual GPS bands and an AMOLED display
- It competes well with the Garmin Forerunner 165
The COROS Pace 4, priced at $249 / £229 / AU$479.95, is an easy-to-use watch that balances high-end features like a vibrant AMOLED display with industry-leading battery life (up to 41 hours of GPS) with a competitive entry-level price. The 4.5-star Apple Watch SE 3 is equally priced, although it’s aimed more at casual users than runners.
Other options listed include the Garmin Forerunner 165 and the Suunto Run or if you’re looking for a rugged, outdoor-focused build, then the Amazfit T-Rex 3 Pro is a good one.
Value rating 4.5/5
Coros Pace 4: Design
- The lightweight design feels basic but comfortable to wear
- Bright, high-definition AMOLED display
- A hybrid with three buttons
The Coros Pace 4 is small, lightweight, and has a clear budget plastic feel. No one would describe a watch as premium, but that doesn’t mean the choice of materials doesn’t have its advantages. At 32g (with nylon strap), it’s light on the wrist, and the 11.8mm thickness means it slips easily under the sleeve.
At the heart of the Pace 4 is a small 1.2-inch AMOLED screen comparable to the Garmin Forerunner 265 and the Apple Watch SE 3. With 1,500-nit brightness and a resolution of 390 x 390px, the Pace 4 lacks nothing in terms of external visibility and image sharpness. To keep the device charged, Coros offers a proprietary charger that attaches magnetically to the watch. The charger also contains a built-in key, which reduces the chance of it being lost.
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While Garmin sticks to the traditional five-button layout and Apple relies on a single digital crown and side button, the Pace 4 uses a hybrid three-button system. This includes the signature digital dial of Coros and the Action button, similar to the Apple Watch Ultra 3. This brings reliable navigation through the menus even when your hands are sweaty or wearing winter gloves.
On the back of the watch, you will find a waterproof sensor that is flat enough to avoid skin irritation during long wear. I also found it to be more stable than most smartwatches I’ve tested recently. Additionally, its integrated dual microphone system is a rare design found in its price bracket.
Design Score: 4/5
Coros Pace 4: Features
- 19 days of daily training and sleep
- A new voice recording tool
- Built-in GPS
The Coros Pace 4 has a voice recorder, excellent battery life, and a dual-frequency GPS system. Starting with voice functionality, it’s fair to say that many other smartwatches offer a general-purpose voice memo tool, but the Pace 4 is unique because its voice features are integrated directly into running training. Specifically, Voice Pins can be added mid-run at certain points in your route, while Voice Notes are better suited for capturing specific information after a run has been completed.
As you’d expect from a running watch, the Pace 4 uses an advanced All-Systems dual-frequency GNSS chipset, which allows it to connect to the big five satellite networks (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, and QZSS). The ability to connect to two frequencies is designed to improve position accuracy in challenging environments such as cities and forests.
The lack of full offline maps is a bit disappointing, although breadcrumb-style navigation with turn-by-turn directions for a planned route is available. Another notable feature is its ability to sync routes from platforms like Strava.
And finally, battery power. The Pace 4 continues the growing trend of providing long-lasting performance. As for the advertised numbers, that looks like 19 days of continuous daily use and 41 hours when using All (High) GPS mode. This is about the same as the latest Amazfit Balance 2, which has 21 days of continuous daily use and 33 hours of GPS use.
Features Score: 4/5
Coros Pace 4: Performance
- Fast and responsive interface
- Accurate health tracking
- Reasonable GPS performance for a budget-smartwatch
Coros Pace 4 features an Ambiq Apollo 510 processor, which, compared to its predecessor, is a big leap in internal processing power and efficiency. This results in a responsive interface that shows no sign of lag when performing health measurements or activity tracking. The interface is basic but easy to navigate, Coros has chosen to display all non-functional features within a ‘Control Center’ interface that shows everything within a single watch face rather than cycling up and down a long list, as is more common in other watch brands.
The improved processor also enables voice recordings and training logs, which form an integral part of the Coros Pace experience. Recording these audio notes is easy and fast and is a much better solution than using a separate app or paper-based alternative. The next step development will be to introduce an AI feature that can transcribe these notes and summarize the progress.
In terms of positional accuracy, the Pace 4 uses an advanced All-satellite, dual-frequency GNSS chipset to maintain a lock in difficult terrain. I had no problem getting a strong enough signal, even in rural areas and surrounded by tall buildings.
In a distance-walked benchmark test against the widely tested Huawei Watch Ultimate 2, I found the Pace 4 to be within 200 meters, not very accurate but good for casual runners. We’ll be testing the Coros Pace 4, along with other watches, to better test long-distance accuracy in the near future – watch this space. However, it’s safe to say that the Pace 4 provides a good GPS range estimate, with a margin of error.
Biometric tracking has also seen a hardware overhaul with a redesigned heart rate sensor that includes five LEDs and four image sensors. This updated list provides reliable health data compared to the Watch Ultimate 2. That said, I had to make sure that the watch ended up fitting well against my skin; otherwise, light leaking from the sensor caused the measurements to jump around.
Despite moving to a 1,500-nit AMOLED screen, battery efficiency remains outstanding, offering up to 41 hours in High GPS mode and 31 hours in Dual-Frequency mode. While using the device to track a few runs and bike rides a week, I managed to get between ten and fourteen days of use. The 5 ATM water resistance rating stands when using the watch in wet conditions and when submerged in a bowl of water for more than a minute.
The Pace 4 is the perfect weight and size for runners and athletes who want their smartwatch to fit in the back. It will track your essentials and tasks with reasonable accuracy, especially given the price point.
Performance score: 4/5
Coros Pace 4: Scorecard
|
Section |
Comment |
The result |
|
Price |
A budget-friendly watch with some high-end features. |
4.5/5 |
|
Design |
It’s simple and compact but has an unmistakable budget feel. |
4/5 |
|
Features |
Some innovative features are made for the works, but nothing that will set the world on fire. |
4/5 |
|
Working |
Health tracking and reasonably accurate performance, especially for the price. |
4/5 |
Coros Pace 4: Should I buy?
Buy if…
Don’t buy if…
Think again
How did I check?
I used the Coros Pace 4 over a period of several weeks, focusing my activities on running, cycling, walking, and cardio. I was determined, even though I didn’t have it all, I wanted to see how much I could use the voice recording features. This is a unique feature that I wanted to explore. I also ranked it among its measures in terms of GPS accuracy and the impact of its use on battery life. The smartwatch shipped with both nylon and silicone straps, so I tested both. Finally, despite not being the main feature of the watch, I also tested its sleep tracking capabilities.
First updated: February 2026
