COROS PACE 4 REVIEW

Today COROS released the PACE 4, and I have been testing it for a couple of weeks now, and in this review I am going to cover all the new features, accuracy, battery life and more!  Let’s get right to it!

Well lets get right to the pricing of the COROS PACE 4.  It is available now, and retails for $249.00 USD, and you can see the prices in other markets on the screen.  While that is 20 bucks more than the PACE 3, I think by the end of this video you’ll see it is well worth it! At the time of launch today the PACE 4 will be available in either the black like I have here, or a white version. 

In the box you’ll get the PACE 4 obviously, as well as the 22mm quick release band. The band is actually a two color band, on the inside you can barely see it on the black color here, but the middle is a bit lighter in color.  The clasp is now the same type of push pin style we saw on the APEX 4 and NOMAD.  Although this one is shaped a bit differently.  I should note the PACE 4 is compatible with COROS’s other 22mm quick release bands as well.  Also in the box you get the USB-C A2 charger, and the usual paper things no one ever reads.  

A big update from the PACE 3 is now the PACE 4 has a beautiful 2.5D AMOLED display! The display is lightweight mineral glass, and where the 2.5D comes from is the tapered edges.  Its hard to see on camera, but the edges of the display are tapered which makes for a very nice touchscreen swiping experience.  The display is 1.2” in size, with 390 x 390 resolution, which is 164% greater resolution than on PACE 3, only slightly smaller than the PACE Pro.  The PACE 4 display brightness is up to 1500 nits, and you can adjust the brightness from Standard / High / and MAX, but I think the High is about perfect for me.  

For comparison, you can see the difference in the displays of the PACE 3, PACE PRO, and PACE 4 here.  Notice how the MIP of the PACE 3 is always on, where the AMOLED you have to raise to wake or push a button.  

Another nice feature of this 1.2” AMOLED display is the bright flashlight mode!  You can now turn on a flashlight mode with adjustable brightness, and it is quite bright!  Perfect for early mornings or late nights when trying not to wake up your partner.  Plus, there is even a red-light SOS mode, which is a great safety feature! 

The PACE 4 is 43.4 x 43.4 x 13.6 mm thick, which is a little bit bigger than the PACE 3, but it is smaller than the PACE Pro.  With the included 22mm silicone watch band, my PACE 4 weighed in at 39 grams, which is very light weight, and the same as the PACE 3.  When wearing the PACE 4 on my 16cm circumference wrist, I can hardly even tell I am wearing a watch as it is so lightweight and comfortable.  

The bezel and casing of the PACE 4 is made of a high strength polymer or hardened plastic material, which is a huge contributor to the light weight.  I have been wearing the PACE 4 for about 2 weeks now in the gym lifting weights and running, and mine still looks really good.  I think for the targeted market of the PACE 4, this should be plenty durable.  The PACE 4 afterall is marketed to runners and cyclists, and those that want an accurate and lightweight sportswatch. 

The button layout of the PACE 4 has carried over from the APEX 4 and NOMAD, with the digital crown on the top right, and below that is the back/lap button, then on the lower left side of the watch is the action button; and of course the watch is touchscreen as well.  You can customize the action button and back button inside of each activity, which is nice to add a voice pin or lap.  

Inside the PACE 4 is the AMBIQ APOLLO 510 processor, which is COROS’s fastest processor and the same one in the APEX 4, NOMAD and PACE Pro.  The user experience is very fast and smooth!  There is no lag when using touchscreen or scrolling between screens, it is just so smooth.  

Another new feature on the PACE 4 is the microphone, which you can use to create voice pins during an activity, or after the activity you can enter a training log. The training log is a great way to take notes about how you felt on the run, and they do appear in the COROS Coaching hub if you have a coach that uses that platform.  Now it should be noted this is not the same dual-mic setup with noise reduction as on the APEX 4 and NOMAD, as the PACE 4 only has one microphone on the right side. 

You can even customize the action or lap button to be a shortcut to add a pin during an activity.  This can be used to add things like water on the route so you know where you can refill your bottle while running through a city. What's really neat is that these pins show up on the explore map in the app.

As for the audio quality of the mic, I think it is actually quite good.  The transcription was spot on too. 

As for GPS tracking, the PACE 4 uses MAX GPS mode, which is the highest accuracy dual band frequency, and HIGH GPS mode, which uses all-systems on checking all satellites during the activity.  These are the only two GPS modes available on PACE 4.  

The GPS accuracy on the PACE 4 is really good.  During this activity the PACE 4 was in MAX GPS Mode, and the COROS APEX 4 was in the MAX GPS mode as well. You can see both GPS tracks look pretty good overall. However, there were a couple of places where the PACE 4 GPS track looked off course, and overall the APEX 4 GPS track appears to be tighter.  .  

The optical heart rate sensor on the PACE 4 received an upgrade as well, and is the same as on the APEX 4 and NOMAD, which has larger LED’s and photodetectors than on prior watches.  The PACE 4 also has a new blood oxygen sensor, which COROS says is more accurate due to some internal changes.  As for the HR accuracy, it appears to be incredibly accurate in my testing against the COROS APEX 4, which I tested against the COROS HRM arm band and found to be incredibly accurate.  Also just to note, the PACE 4 does not have an ECG sensor, it just uses the PPG Optical Heart Rate sensor for its readings and HRV. 

The battery life of the PACE 4 is really great, and even increases over the PACE Pro!  In daily use COROS claims you can get up to 19 days of use.  As for activity battery life; In MAX GPS Mode you can get up to 31 hours in an activity.  In HIGH GPS mode you can get up to 41 hours in an activity.  As you can see, the PACE 4 battery life increased 16 hours compared to the PACE 3, and 3 hours compared to the PACE PRO, when using the HIGH GPS Mode.  So even though this is marketed as a road running or cycling watch, it still has plenty of battery life for those that want to venture into the world of ultra running.  

If you take a look at this comparison chart, you can see all the ways the PACE 4 has improved over the PACE 3 and PACE PRO.  It should be noted that as you can see on this chart, the PACE 4 still does not have any mapping capabilities, and only has breadcrumb trail navigation.  This is due to a storage limitation on the PACE 4, which has 4gbs of storage, and it can be used for storing music on the device to listen to while on your runs. 

Another cool feature from the October release is the activity cropping.  Have you ever run a race or a training run and forgot to stop your activity? Well now you can crop the activity to eliminate all that time you spent driving in your car.   

For the ladies out there, your COROS wearable and app can now help you monitor your menstrual cycle too. This data is from my wife, but from your daily view, just scroll down and click on the menstrual cycle.  You start by adding your typical cycle length and length of your period, and then each month you enter when your period starts and stops, and over time the app will learn and adjust to you.  As you can see, it gives the user some information about each phase of the cycle, and what the user may expect.  Like during the menstrual phase here, it says the HRV may increase, fatigue and discomfort can increase, and so on.  It also gives you predictions about when the next phase may start. The user can also input other data like their mood or cervical mucus for better tracking.  However, if you want the most accurate data about when your luteinizing hormone is at its peak, then you should actually test this with test strips.  I just completed a coaching specialization course in Ovarian Hormone Profiles in Sport, and I’m not trying to mansplain here, but if you want the most accurate data, then as the course said, you should “test, don’t guess.”  The course I took said the menstrual cycle apps are just educated guesses, and should not be relied upon.  Just an FYI. 

Well overall I think the COROS PACE 4 is an amazing value!  For $250 bucks you get really accurate GPS and heart rate data, an incredibly lightweight and comfortable form factor, plus really awesome battery life that's more than enough for us crazy ultra runners too.  So if you are looking for a new watch to help you in your marathon training, then I can highly recommend the COROS PACE 4!  If my video was helpful to you, please be sure to use my link in the description as it will help support the channel but wont cost you a cent extra!  

Well what feature are you the most excited about on the PACE 4, please let me know below in the comments.  

Another new great watch from COROS is the APEX 4, perfect for those needing mapping and more durability for the mountains, so go check out that review next.

Affiliate Link: https://alnk.to/aAQKmmy 

Full video review: https://youtu.be/eIT2uLTW8t0