COROS PACE 4 Pro Review | A Lightweight Watch With a Massive Display

COROS PACE 4 Overview

A mid-tier watch with a premium feel: this new addition to COROS’ lineup is a watch stacked with so many features, setting customization options, and the latest technology.

The COROS PACE 4 Pro blurs the lines between mid- and premium-tier, with a battery life that makes it okay if you forget a charger, but not enough to carry you into multi-day ultras.

At a $150-200 price increase from the PACE 4 (2025) and PACE Pro (2024), the expectation was that the COROS PACE 4 Pro would be a significant improvement, not only in hardware, but also in display, processing, and battery life.

The battery life at default is about 1.5x better than these two previous watches, which in itself is a huge win.

I wore this for two weeks straight without having to even check whether I had to charge it. When it got to 10% charge or below, it alerted me to charge it, which I appreciated.

The watch is bigger and brighter than any other by COROS, with faster processing and new hardware features.

My first impression was that the watch looked BIG and I was worried about how bulky it would feel for daily use.

As soon as I picked it up and put it on, my worries disappeared – it’s incredibly light for the display size, it’s thin, and it sits very nicely flush against my wrist, so it doesn’t stick out or get in the way of daily life movements.

The band features the same snap button we’ve seen from COROS that places the end of the band flush against itself after you loop it into place, so there is no snagging or flapping.

The 1.47-inch display lit up bright and vibrant, so that you can easily see all the metrics during your runs, even in bright light. The only time I found screen reflections to be an issue was when I was taking photos of it.

Light rain and lots of sweat didn’t affect the touchscreen. If it does, there is a setting to lock the screen during workouts and in daily use.

This is also the first time COROS has made a running activity data page that shows 11 metrics in one place. It’s a busy screen option and not something optimal for race day when you need to see the metric fast, but it’s really cool to be able to have all that information at a glance.

Whenever I go on a run, the app also lets me share that run so other people can live-track me on a map. Beyond a great safety feature, I can see this being very helpful during busy races like marathon majors — but I didn’t get a chance to test how accurate it would be in that situation.

COROS’ signature scroll button is there, but I find myself gravitating to the touch screen. Regardless, the screen responds quickly to either, and it loads any feature incredibly fast.

One feature I’ve been loving is the ability to switch body parts that I’m working on right on the watch during strength workouts. It seems minor, but it’s a better way to keep track of exactly what I’m doing in the gym.

The COROS PACE 4 Pro is also a seamless extension of your phone. This is the first mid-tier COROS watch to allow users to take calls right on the watch, but your phone needs to be nearby.

When connected to Bluetooth headphones, the watch has 32GB of storage you can use to listen to music without your phone; however, you have to transfer MP3 files from the computer onto your watch via cable connection.

You can also use the storage for maps, using the app to choose which area to download global landscape and topographic maps that you can then use offline. You can use these to view where you are or for a route during an activity.

The voice control is also a nice new software feature that lets you say things like “start a run” or “find brightness setting,” for example, and it will take you to each of those options. To use this, press and hold the button on the bottom left.

Before we dive into specs, I also want to mention that the watch comes with a charging adaptor and a keyring.

COROS PACE 4 Features

Let’s dive into the details of the different features and what I found in testing.

Activity Tracking

Like other COROS watches, press the top right scroll button to access all the activities on the PACE 4 Pro. This watch adds whitewater, speedsurfing, and windsurfing to its 30+ activity library.

It lacks the climbing mode that the APEX 4 and NOMAD have, such as mountain climbing and bouldering, and the fishing activities that NOMAD has.

It defaults to outdoor running, but other activities are easily visible and accessible from the watch. To reorder, you do have to go into the COROS app.

Once GPS, heart rate, and any accessories connected load, there will be a small vibration and sound to indicate the watch is ready for you to start. After it starts, you can easily swipe between the preset Activity Data Pages.

New Activity Data Pages need to be set up in the app, where you can also change the button settings and what they do during activities, and set alerts like a nutrition timer or heart rate notice if it goes above or below a certain beats-per-minute number.

To stop the workout, click the scroll button to pause, scroll down to Finish, and hold for 3 seconds as the watch counts you down to finalize the activity.

The load time into your metrics is incredibly fast, and the sequence of metrics is easy to scroll through and click into to see more.

The watch is also very quick to alert with sound and vibration if you’re outside the pace range or heart rate range you’ve set in a workout, for example.

Mapping & Navigation

The PACE 4 Pro offers the option between the default all-systems (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, QZSS) tracking and the dual-frequency tracking for max accuracy.

With the offline topographic mapping and global landscaping (trail and street names), you’ll have checkpoint features, alerts if you veer off the path, touchscreen map control to zoom, and more.

The GPS and maps come together when you’re following a route to guide you turn by turn. It alerted me when my path was set for the other side of a neighborhood road, instead of the one I was running on.

If you go off your route, it’ll notify you a couple of times, then prompt you to click the scroll button once to indicate whether you’d like to keep going.

I did have some snags when creating routes. When I simply clicked for the route to cross the street, it sometimes mapped me as going the long way all around a certain road to then go across the street. This added almost 0.5 miles to a course I created.

It also takes some time to create a route on the app, especially if you want it in a specific way, but you can always import existing routes from different apps.

Keep in mind that routes and run-workouts can’t be done at the same time. Lastly, if you’re on a route but want to keep the metrics tab open, that will be overridden whenever the route has a turn coming up.

Display & Usability

The large display does make it easy to not be overwhelmed by the number of options, metrics, and information on the watch.

It’s very customizable and can be as minimalistic as you want, or it can have up to 11 data fields in a single Activity Data Page.

I thought the page with 11 data fields would be overwhelming, but it turns out it’s nice to have all the information without scrolling. I can’t see myself using this for race day, but it will be fun to have it on daily runs.

You can choose to swipe through the watch menu by scrolling the top right button, or by using the touchscreen.

The daily usage features that we’ve seen through COROS’ lineup are still there, with the addition of being able to answer calls and talk right on the watch.

This feature wasn’t 100% reliable, as sometimes I’d stop hearing the call from the watch speaker and would have to switch to my phone.

I love the Find My Phone feature and being able to see texts come in on the watch, although you can’t reply to texts. Also, COROS still hasn’t added smart pay.

Heart Rate Tracking

Knowing that wrist-based heart rate isn’t the most accurate way to track heart rate, sometimes that’s the tool we have, and that’s perfectly fine.

Already having the COROS Heart Rate Monitor that goes on my arm, I was able to compare readings on similar runs. Yes, daily variability can definitely happen, but circumstances were similar enough on multiple occasions to get an idea of how they compare.

I found the heart rate from the watch to be pretty accurate, maybe with a difference of +/-5 beats per minute.

The PACE 4 Pro uses a 4th-generation optical heart rate sensor that sits very comfortably and flush against the skin. I actually didn’t notice as much movement of the watch on my wrist as I have with some watches in the past.

As for using it to track sleep, I wore it to test out some metrics. This was probably one of the more comfortable wearables I’ve ever worn, so it’s a great choice if you want to track your heart rate during the night.

App Features and Integration

I’ve been really enjoying the COROS app interface and layout. Everything is labeled clearly, and the icon design makes me want to click into a metric and explore more.

You do get most of the same information as the Garmin app, but the COROS app is more vibrant, while Garmin gives more of a “down to business” vibe.

The one thing that’s been a bit frustrating is the Direct Transfer feature for firmware updates. I’ve had instances where it’ll try to connect for a minute or two, and then it says it can’t connect.

You can also easily create workouts in the app for 10 sports:

• Run
• Indoor Run
• Trail Run
• Bike
• Pool Swim
• Strength
• Hybrid Fitness
• XC Ski
• Indoor Climb
• Bouldering

After creating the workout, you click “Send to device” at the bottom of the screen, and the watch will ping when it receives it. I love that sound interaction because it confirms the workout is actually on the watch.

COROS also has a workout library to choose workouts from, and it can create a personalized marathon plan, although it limits your goal time based on the running fitness score it gives you and your previous race times.

I found the limiting factor to be annoying, because if you have only party paced a marathon, it will limit its plan based on that.

On the other hand, this is a great feature that I’m sure it’s put into place to do its part in encouraging people to not push too hard in order to stay injury-free.

Miscellaneous Features

The Live Tracking feature has to be one of my favorite things about this watch and COROS. As runners, we sometimes spend a lot of time out on our own, especially when training for longer distances, and I don’t always feel comfortable being out by myself.

Once I start an outdoor activity, this feature allows me to go into the app and send people a link via text message where they can click and track me on a map in real time. It gives my loved ones and me peace of mind depending on location, time of day, etc.

I can also see this being very useful during larger races where it can be hard to spot your runner.

The built-in speaker and microphone are another fun feature I’ve been experimenting with. In addition to taking calls that allow you to hear the other person talking from your watch and talk into it, you can record voice notes when you pin a location on the map, and after any activities.

An important thing to note is that when you share the link of an activity with someone (via text, for example), they will need to download the COROS app in order to see the full performance metrics and transcribed voice note.

The COROS PACE 4 Pro does have a flashlight feature that uses the screen and brightness levels. With the AMOLED display and 3,500-nit peak brightness, I can see it being useful for searching for something in the dark, but it won’t illuminate your early-morning or late-night runs.

Pace Strategy is another in-app feature that allows you to set a goal time for a certain distance, then use a toggle button to set the mile pacing for an upcoming race.

You can choose to evenly run, positive split or negative split, and as you slide the toggle, it’ll tell you what your fastest and slowest miles will be set to when you send it to the watch. From there, go to Run, scroll down to Pace Strategy, and choose the specific one you want (if you have more than one).

Lastly, the Cycle Tracking feature is very basic. On the app, it’s easy to track menstrual period days and any symptoms throughout the whole cycle; you can add any notes on any day.

On the watch, you can simply see what day of your cycle you’re on. There isn’t a way to add whether you are using any form of hormonal birth control or account for pregnancy.

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