COROS PACE 4

Should you buy the COROS PACE 4?

The COROS PACE 4 is a running watch first and a smartwatch a distant second. At 32 grams with the nylon band it nearly disappears on the wrist, which is exactly what runners and triathletes logging serious mileage want. It sits second in our GPS smartwatch ranking at $249, tied on score with the Garmin Instinct 3 AMOLED. Pick it if you care about GPS accuracy, battery, and training data more than calls, payments, or apps. Pick something else if you want a watch that does phone things.

Where it earns its score

• Best value in the category. Value scores 90, the highest value mark among the ten watches we ranked, because $249 buys dual-frequency GNSS and offline maps.
• Free offline maps. Landscape and topo maps load onto the watch at no charge, something Garmin reserves for watches costing twice as much.
• Battery for ultras. Up to 41 hours of continuous GPS and up to 19 days of daily use.
• Two-year warranty. Double what Garmin, Apple, and Samsung offer on this list.

What to know first

• Sport watch only. No speaker, mic, NFC payments, ECG, or third-party apps. Notifications show up, but you cannot reply.
• Mineral glass, not sapphire. Combined with the polymer case, Quality scores 80, well behind the Instinct 3's 90.
• 5 ATM rating. Fine for swimming, but the Instinct 3 and T-Rex 3 are rated 10 ATM.
• Warranty is still the lowest factor. Two years is good for the category, but at 66 it remains the weakest of its six scores.

Questions buyers ask