The Coros Pace series has earned a devoted following among runners seeking exceptional value, serious training features without the premium price. With the November 2025 launch of the Pace 4, Coros made its boldest move yet, replacing the beloved memory-in-pixel (MIP) display with a vibrant AMOLED screen while maintaining the line’s signature lightweight design and strong battery life.
At just a $20 price increase over the original Pace 3 launch price, the big question is simple: does the Pace 4’s modern display and added features justify upgrading, or is the Pace 3 still the smarter buy?
Quick Specifications Comparison
| Feature | Coros Pace 3 | Coros Pace 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $229 (now ~$199) | $249 |
| Launch Date | September 2023 | November 2025 |
| Weight | 30g (nylon) / 38g (silicone) | 32g (nylon) / 40g (silicone) |
| Case Size | 43mm | 43.4mm |
| Thickness | 11.7mm | 11.8mm |
| Display | 1.2″ MIP | 1.2″ AMOLED |
| Resolution | Standard MIP | 390 × 390 |
| Brightness | Excellent in sunlight | Up to 1500 nits |
| Always-On Display | Yes (no battery penalty) | Optional (drops to ~6 days) |
| Buttons | 2 + crown + touchscreen | 3 buttons + crown + touchscreen |
| Water Resistance | 5 ATM | 5 ATM |
| GPS | Dual-frequency multi-GNSS | Dual-frequency multi-GNSS |
| Battery (Smartwatch) | Up to 24 days | 19 days / 6 days (AOD) |
| Battery (GPS High) | 38 hours | 41 hours |
| Battery (GPS Max) | UltraMax mode | 31 hours |
| Heart Rate Sensor | 5-LED optical | Redesigned 5-LED (larger LEDs) |
| Microphone | No | Yes |
| Action Button | No | Yes |
| Music Storage | 4GB (MP3) | 4GB (MP3) |
| Navigation | Breadcrumb | Breadcrumb + turn alerts |
| Training Load | Yes | Yes |
| Data Fields | Up to 8 | Up to 8 |
| Best For | Battery-first, MIP fans | AMOLED, voice features, latest hardware |
Quick Verdict
Choose the Coros Pace 3 if you:
- Prefer transflective MIP displays for outdoor readability
- Want maximum battery life with minimal charging
- Value always-on display with zero battery penalty
- Don’t care about AMOLED visuals or voice features
- Want the best value at ~$199
Choose the Coros Pace 4 if you:
- Want a modern, high-contrast AMOLED display
- Train indoors, at night, or in low-light conditions
- Want voice notes and location pins
- Appreciate the Action button and faster processor
- Are buying your first Coros watch
The Display Difference
The biggest change between these two watches is the display.
The Pace 3 uses a memory-in-pixel transflective display. It excels in bright sunlight, consumes almost no power, and supports always-on mode without draining the battery. Its downside is contrast and indoor visibility, it can feel dim or washed out in low light.
The Pace 4’s AMOLED display delivers a dramatic upgrade in clarity, color, and contrast. Text is crisp, colors pop, and indoor or nighttime readability is vastly improved. The trade-off is battery, enabling always-on display reduces smartwatch life to around six days.
For daylight outdoor runners, the Pace 3’s display remains excellent. For anyone who trains indoors, checks stats frequently, or runs at night, the Pace 4 is far more pleasant to use.
Battery Life Trade-Offs
Battery life is where the Pace 3 still shines.
The Pace 3 delivers up to 24 days of smartwatch use and 38 hours of GPS tracking. Always-on display comes at essentially no cost, making it ideal for runners who hate charging.
The Pace 4 still performs impressively for an AMOLED watch, offering 19 days of smartwatch use with raise-to-wake and up to 41 hours of GPS tracking. GPS battery life actually improves over the Pace 3, despite the brighter screen.
Both watches easily handle marathon training and ultra-distance events, but the Pace 3 wins for sheer convenience between charges.
Design and Comfort
Both watches are extremely similar in size and comfort. At roughly 43mm wide and under 12mm thick, they’re among the lightest GPS watches available.
The Pace 4 adds a third button, the Action button, which can be customized for shortcuts like marking laps, switching screens, controlling music, or recording voice pins. It’s a small but meaningful usability upgrade.
Both use 22mm straps and are comfortable enough to forget you’re wearing them.
GPS and Heart Rate Accuracy
GPS performance is effectively identical. Both watches use dual-frequency GNSS across five satellite systems and deliver excellent accuracy in cities, forests, and open terrain.
The Pace 4’s redesigned heart rate sensor performs slightly better during high-intensity efforts and strength training, but the difference is incremental. For running, both are very reliable. Bluetooth chest straps remain the gold standard for racing.
Voice Features
The Pace 4 introduces a built-in microphone, enabling two exclusive features:
Voice Notes let you record post-workout reflections or training notes.
Voice Pins allow you to mark locations during activities with audio annotations.
These features won’t matter to every runner, but they add context and are especially useful for coached athletes or trail runners.
Training Features
Both watches offer the full Coros training experience, including training load, recovery metrics, race prediction, VO₂ max estimation, and customizable data screens with up to eight fields.
Neither watch includes offline maps, only breadcrumb navigation. For road and known-route runners, this is rarely a limitation.
The Pace 4’s newer processor makes menus and navigation noticeably snappier, while the Pace 3 can feel slightly dated by comparison.
Music and Smart Features
Both watches store MP3 files locally and lack music streaming, contactless payments, or interactive notifications. These are training-first devices, not smartwatches.
The Pace 4 promises music controls via future firmware, but both models remain minimalist by design.
Value Proposition
At around $199, the Pace 3 remains one of the best values in running watches, especially for battery-focused runners.
At $249, the Pace 4 offers a modern display, voice features, faster performance, and improved usability for just $50 more. For new buyers, the upgrade is easy to justify.
For existing Pace 3 owners, upgrading makes sense only if you specifically want AMOLED or voice features.
Final Recommendation
The Coros Pace 3 is still an outstanding choice if battery life, outdoor readability, and value matter most. It remains a fantastic watch at its current price.
The Coros Pace 4 is the better option for new buyers who want a modern display, improved responsiveness, and additional features without sacrificing the lightweight design Coros is known for.
Both watches deliver exceptional performance for the price. The right choice comes down to whether you value maximum efficiency or modern usability.