If you're comparing the Coros Pace Pro and Coros Pace 3, there are clear differences you need to be aware of.
The Coros Pace Pro and Coros Pace 3 are two of the best multisports watches we’ve tested and two of our favorite Coros watches to date.
While they share the Pace name, these two Pace watches aren’t built the same. And there are plenty of = reasons to opt for one over the other.
If you’re convinced to give a Polar, Garmin, and Suunto a swerve — and are looking in the direction of the Pace 3 and the newer Pace Pro — we’ve spent plenty of testing hours using both. Read our unique insights into which one is right for you.
Read the reviews: Coros Pace 3 review | Coros Pace Pro review
Price and versions
Coros keeps things relatively straightforward in terms of the options you have to pick from with the Pace Pro and Pace 3. For the Pace Pro, there’s one size option and your pick of black, grey or blue colours. All come priced at $349/£349.
The Pace 3 is also available in one size and while was initially only available in a few colours, now comes in seven different shades, including a Valencia edition to tie in with the Valencia Marathon along with a series of new retro colours like the violet one pictured. Pricing for the Pace 3 hasn’t budged since launch and remains at £219/$229, with a special Eliud Kipchoge edition pushing the price up to $249/£230.
If you want the cheapest Pace, it’s the Pace 3, by a fair amount. As we’ll get into though, the Pace Pro does offer pretty good value despite sitting at more of a mid-range price.
Winner: Coros Pace 3
Specs comparison table
| Product name | Coros Pace Pro | Coros Pace 3 |
| Price | £349/$349 | £219/$229 |
| Display | AMOLED | LCD Memory display |
| Case size | 46mm | 41mm |
| Waterproof rating | Up to 50 metres | Up to 50 metres |
| Screen size | 1.3-inch, 416 x 416 | 1.2-inch, 240 x 240 |
| Multiband/Sat IQ mode | Yes | Yes |
| Heart rate sensor | Optical and ECG | Optical only |
| Topographic maps | Yes (downloadable) | No, breadcrumb navigation |
| Music player | Yes, 32GB | Yes, 4GB |
Design, display and build
From a materials perspective, there are similar things in play here. Both have polymer watch cases and mineral glass protecting the displays. You’re also getting the choice of a 22mm removable silicone or nylon strap.
If you like a smaller sports watch, the Pace 3 is the dinkier of the two with its more diminutive 41.9mm case. The Pace Pro has a larger 46mm one, though doesn’t necessarily feel like a hulking watch to wear. We’ve liked wearing both and while you’re not getting the highest grade materials, they’re nicely weighted and have been comfortable to wear inside and outside of tracking time.
Size aside, it’s the screen technologies that separate these two watches in the most noticeable way. The Pace 3 has a smaller, 1.2-inch, 240 x 240 always-on memory LCD display, which is in keeping with other Coros watches.
The Pace Pro features a larger 1.3-inch, 416 x 416 AMOLED touchscreen making it the first Coros with a colour display. It’s a good quality AMOLED and a bright one too, making it generally easier to view than the Pace 3’s display.
The Pace 3 screen isn’t bad, just lacks that extra splash of color and vibrancy. It delivers where it matters most and also offers touchscreen functionality if you want a more smartwatch-like experience.
There’s no separating the two in terms of level of protection against water with both offering 5ATM water ratings, making them safe to be submerged in water up to 50 metres depth.
Winner: Pace Pro
Smart features and OS
Both Pace watches run on Coros’ own in-house operating system that’s compatible with both Android and iOS. They also offer the same rich third party app support for the likes of Strava, Stryd, TrainingPeaks, Komoot and Nike Run Club.
In terms of the on-watch software, the Pace Pro runs on a slightly different version that’s clearly been optimised to fit better on the bigger and more colourful screen. Icons and text are bolder and while getting around is pretty much the same, things just feel a touch sleeker on the Pace Pro.
There’s also some difference in overall performance. Coros claims that the processing power on the Pace Pro compared to the Pace 3 leads to an overall boost and that’s noticeable in some areas like using mapping features and getting around menus.
While there might be some differences in terms of the user interface and processing power, the smartwatch features at your disposal are largely the same. These are watches you can view notifications on, pick from a small handful of watch faces, make use of find my phone and watch modes and you can load on music too. The Pace Pro gives you more storage to play with offering 32GB of memory compared to 4GB on the Pace 3.
Winner: Pace Pro
Battery life
Coros watches in general offer great battery life both when you’re tracking and when you’re not doing much at all aside from wearing it. When you compare the numbers, the Pace Pro is effectively beating the Pace 3 despite having that more power-hungry AMOLED.
If you compare battery life numbers in smartwatch mode, it’s 15 days on the Pace 3 compared to 20 days on the Pace Pro. That number drops from 20 days to 6 days when you keep the Pace Pro’s AMOLED screen at all times. Those numbers ring true based on our experiences with both watches.
Get into the GPS battery numbers and again, the Pace Pro comes out on top. When using the all systems GPS mode, the Pace 3 gives you 25 hours compared to 38 hours or 28 hours with the screen always on on the Pace Pro. Use them in their best, dual-frequency GPS accuracy modes and it’s 31 hours to 15 hours in favour of the Pace Pro.
Both take roughly two hours to charge up when you hit 0%, but are ultimately watches you can potentially use for well over a week depending on how regularly you’re using the GPS tracking and whether you keep that screen on at all times.
Winner: Pace Pro
Tracking performance
The great thing about Coro’s watches is consistent software and features from its cheapest devices up to its most expensive watch. Across the board here you’re getting its latest dual-frequency GPS and optical heart rate monitor, with support for pairing external HR monitors over Bluetooth. You can also access features like the Evolab suite of training insights to better understand your training volume, recovery needs, see race predictions and whether your training is having a positive or negative impact on your fitness.
The core tracking modes are the same too, so these are watches that focus on running, cycling, swimming (pool and open water) and also offer modes for winter sports like skiing and snowboarding as well as indoor workouts like indoor rowing. They also make affordable triathlon watches.
The key tracking differences lie in a few areas. The first is mapping and navigation, where the Pace Pro offers free, full topographical and landscape maps, while the Pace 3 only offers the ability to follow simpler breadcrumb-style navigation.
Both offer the ability to upload and follow routes, you’re just going to get richer detail on screen on the Pace Pro.
Another area is the upgraded optical sensor and added ECG sensor on the Pace Pro, which you won’t find on the Pace 3. Now this isn’t the kind of ECG sensor you’ll find on an Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch to offer medically certified heart rate readings. Instead, it’s there as a more accurate way to power the Pace Pro’s general wellness check that starts to delve into the health monitoring space without claiming medical grade insight or accuracy.
Outside of those differences, we’ve found the performance of the two watches in general very similar. They offer solid GPS tracking and similar for heart rate tracking during exercise. The smaller case and combination of a nylon strap on the Pace 3 seemed to deliver more reliable heart rate tracking at higher intensities, but we wouldn’t say there’s a huge amount in it and we’d always opt for pairing up an external sensor if you crave the best heart rate data for all workouts. It was a similar story for tracking activities like swims and indoor workouts like rowing. The data across the two watches felt very good overall.
In other areas, we’ve found sleep tracking on the Pace Pro to be a touch more reliable, while the mapping and navigation experience on the Pace Pro comes out comfortably on top thanks to the bigger display and that AMOLED screen.
Ultimately, the cheaper watch doesn’t feel like an inferior watch in the key areas, and while it feels like there are some improvements with the Pace Pro, there’s not a massive gulf between the two.
Winner: Draw
Verdict
We’ve told you how we got on with the Coros Pace Pro and Pace 3. Now, if you’ve got to pick one, which should you go for? Here’s our take:
Buy Coros Pace Pro if…You really care about having an AMOLED screen, full maps and more battery life.
Buy Coros Pace 3 if… You prefer a smaller watch with a similar core tracking performance to the Pace Pro and costs less money.
Also consider: Garmin Forerunner 165 – If you want an affordable Garmin watch with an AMOLED screen and a good mix of sports and smartwatch features with similar navigation support to the Pace 3.
