What you’ll want to know
- The Coros Pace Professional, priced at $349, marks a significant milestone as the company’s first watch featuring an AMOLED display.
- The wearable device boasts a remarkable 20-day battery life, features offline maps, a cutting-edge satellite TV chipset for seamless dual-band GPS navigation, a sleek digital crown, and integrates the comprehensive Coros training software suite.
- Compared to the PACE 3’s typical price range, this device boasts a 2-fold increase in processing speed, an 8-fold surge in storage capacity, and a doubling of its dual-band battery life.
COROS has followed in the footsteps of leading wearable manufacturers Garmin, Polar, and Suunto by introducing the COROS PACE Professional, a professional-grade watch featuring a 1,500-nit AMOLED touchscreen display, marking a shift away from its earlier memory-in-pixel (MIP) designs.
Coros’ trademark lies in offering affordably priced timepieces that boast extended battery life, along with MIP displays that remain effortlessly legible under direct sunlight. By employing innovative technology, Coros successfully developed an AMOLED display that is remarkably readable while also sustaining power for nearly three weeks.
The Coros Pace Professional boasts significant upgrades over its predecessor, featuring a 2x faster CPU, tripled RAM, and extended battery life that adds five days of use and 16 additional hours of dual-band connectivity. It also enjoys three times quicker Wi-Fi downloads and the option for downloadable offline maps instead of breadcrumb navigation.
While the PACE 3 remains an excellent option for value-conscious runners, the PACE Professional’s advanced features render its predecessor somewhat obsolete. The PACE Professional and APEX 2 have a shared price point of $349, with the APEX 2 standing out through its substitution of titanium for polymer and its employment of stronger sapphire glass instead. The PACE Professional boasts significantly enhanced battery life, boasting a fourfold increase in storage capacity, more accurate GPS tracking, the same suite of sensors, and an upgraded AMOLED display for unparalleled visuals. Coros boldly claims that its maps zoom in a staggering three times faster than the Apex 2’s.
| Class | COROS PACE Professional |
| Dimensions | 46 × 46 × 14.2 mm, approximately 37 grams (nylon) or 49 grams (silicone). |
| Supplies | Durable polymer casing, reinforced with scratch-resistant mineral glass and a flexible nylon/silicone strap. |
| Safety | 5ATM, -20ºC to 50ºC |
| Show | 1.3-inch AMOLED (416×416, 1,500 nits) |
| Storage | 32GB |
| Battery | 345 mAh: Up to 20 days of typical usage, or up to 6 days with Always-On Display (AOD). |
| GPS battery | Thirty-eight hours (across all Global Navigation Satellite Systems, or GNSS); thirty-one hours with twin frequencies. |
| Charging | 100% in 1.5 hours |
| Sensors | Optical heart rate sensor comprising five light-emitting diodes and four photodiodes, in addition to an altimeter, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, pulse oximetry, and electrocardiogram. |
| Buttons | Digital dial, again button |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth, WiFI |
| Actions | Running Programs | Trail Running | Monitor-Based Fitness | Hiking | Walking | Cycling Programs | Gravel Biking | Mountain Bike Racing | Electric Mountain Bikes | Indoor Cycling | Open-Water Swimming | Pool Swimming | Rowing Exercises | Indoor Rowing | Flatwater Paddling | High-Intensity Interval Training | GPS-Tracking Cardio Workouts | Health Club Fitness Classes | Jump Rope Exercises | Snowboarding | Cross-Country Skiing | Triathlon Training | Multi-Sport Programs | Customized Fitness Regimens |
| Key options |
EvoLab’s Performance Metrics: Health Check, Optimal Coaching Load, Recovery Timer, Effort Velocity, Resting Heart Rate Monitoring, Customized Exercises, Personalized Coaching Strategies, Altitude Training Effectiveness, Daily Stress Management. |
Solely having worn the COROS PACE Professional for a handful of days isn’t enough time to fully assess its satellite TV chipset or heart rate accuracy, but I’ve already noticed a significant improvement in display quality thanks to the AMOLED screen – a welcome relief for my eyes, even with the silicone band that doesn’t add undue weight.
Its battery life has consistently exceeded my expectations, and I’m particularly pleased with the inclusion of a innovative keychain charging dongle, which enables seamless charging via any USB-C cable. The notion of being distinct in addressing the challenge at hand.
While it’s premature to declare this a standout product, it’s undeniable that the PACE Professional boasts the same comprehensive training software found in other COROS watches, coupled with impressive battery life and a vibrant full-color display that will undoubtedly captivate some runners. With Coros’ shift to AMOLED technology, I’m eager to see how the PACE Professional stacks up against our current top pick at $449?
The COROS PACE Professional is priced at $349 and is available for purchase as of now, with expected availability from retailers such as Amazon and REI in the near future. For fans of MIP shows, there’s still plenty to be excited about in the COROS PACE, APEX, and VERTIX collections.
