I Traded My Garmin for a Coros Fitness Watch, and Here’s What I Liked (and Didn’t)

Posted on August 5, 2025 by resourcefulman

Garmin dominates the running watch market, even as runners increasingly have other options to choose from, including Suunto and Coros . I’ve long been a loyal Garmin user, but I wanted to give these competitors a serious run for their money, so for about six weeks (including the entire month of July), I decided to see how well Coros would work as my primary running watch.

So I put my everyday Garmin Forerunner 265S watch aside and replaced it with the Coros Pace 3 and Pace Pro , switching between them as my mood took me. While I wasn’t a fan, I learned a lot. Here’s what I liked and disliked—or at least annoyed—during that time.

How I started the transition from Garmin to Coros

I typically use Garmin to store all my personal running data. (For some, this might be a Strava account, but mine is a bit of a data dump, since most of the watches I review sync their data to Garmin, meaning many of my runs are saved there twice or even three times.)

Coros and Garmin models I compared

Both Coros and Garmin offer several models of running watches, and their features vary from model to model. I use the Forerunner 265S daily, and I also use the Forerunner 570 occasionally. These have become my main benchmarks for comparing features, as they are solid mid-range offerings. (I’m also familiar with several other models, including the entry-level 165 and the slightly older but still excellent 255. )

As for Coros, I had two watches to experiment with: the smaller, lighter, and slightly older Pace 3 , and the newer, more feature-packed Pace Pro .

Here’s my attempt to rank these models from the simplest to the most feature-rich:

Garmin Forerunner 165 ($249.99): An entry-level watch with a bright AMOLED touchscreen, but no dual-band GPS. It also lacks some advanced analytics features. One size fits all (43mm).
Garmin Forerunner 255 (now about $240; originally $349.99): More features than the 165 and more accurate GPS, but it has an older reflective MIP display. Available in small and large (41 and 46 mm).
Coros Pace 3 ($229): Similar to the 255 in features and display type (MIP). However, the Pace 3 has a touchscreen, while the 255 has buttons for navigation. Same size (42 mm).
Garmin Forerunner 265 ($449.99, but often on sale): Like the 265, but with an AMOLED touchscreen. Available in small and large (42mm and 46mm).
Garmin Forerunner 570 ($549.99): Like the 265, but with voice calling, heat acclimation, and other handy features like automatic finish line alignment. AMOLED touchscreen. Available in small and large (42mm and 47mm).
Coros Pace Pro ($349): Doesn’t support the voice capabilities or some of the analytics of the Garmin 570, but it has built-in maps that no other Garmin watch in this price range has. AMOLED touchscreen. One size (46mm).
Garmin Forerunner 970 ($749.99): Like the 570, but with maps and an LED flashlight. AMOLED touchscreen. One size (47mm).

The Coros Pace 3 is a little more basic than the Garmin 265 and 570 I’m used to, and the Coros Pace Pro is perhaps a little better – mainly because it has maps, which have come in handy on my trail runs.

Now that we have our bearings, let’s go for a run.

Accuracy and other key features are excellent on both the Garmin and Coros.

I know it’s my job to pick apart the subtle differences between different fitness tech models, but honestly, for most purposes, any watch will do. If the world only had Coros, you wouldn’t miss Garmin, and vice versa.

Having reviewed both watches in detail, I know they are great for running. Let’s stick with the Forerunner 570 and Coros Pace Pro. Here’s what I know so far:

Both devices have excellent GPS accuracy . On paper, this is because they connect to multiple networks and have dual-band mode for more accurate positioning among trees and buildings. In reality, I know they are good because I’ve studied the maps after runs with both devices, and they all track my actual route very accurately.

Both watches offer good heart rate accuracy . The optical sensor will never be perfect, but with the watch snugly on my arm, I get heart rate readings that are nearly identical to my gold standard chest strap. I’ve found that the larger watches don’t fit me well, so the data is a little skewed. That would be a minor gripe with the Pace Pro, which only comes in the larger size. (The Pace 3 is smaller, and the 570 comes in two sizes.) Still , both devices provide good readings.

You can connect a chest strap to any watch . If you value accuracy so much that you notice subtle differences between watches that all do a great job, you really need an electronic (rather than optical) chest strap. Every Garmin and Coros watch I’ve tested is compatible with just about any chest strap on the market. I use the Coospo .

Both displays are easy to read in almost any lighting condition . The AMOLED watch has its own backlight. It works great in low to medium light and is acceptable in bright sunlight. The MIP watch is great in bright sunlight, loses some light in the shade, but is usable with the gesture-activated backlight in the dark. The Pace 3 has a MIP display, while the Pace Pro and 570 have AMOLED. If you want to understand the differences between these display types, I have a detailed breakdown here . Overall, both are good.

Now that we’ve got the basics out of the way, let me talk about what I found new and different (in a good or bad way) between the Coros and the Garmin.

Disliked: Coros can’t control music on my phone.

I’ve never been interested in built-in music on a running watch. I’ll still take my phone with me (if only for safety reasons) rather than have music stored on the watch. Many Garmin watches, including the 570, can download playlists from Spotify (though they don’t support streaming). The Coros only plays MP3s loaded onto the watch.

When I listen to music on my phone, one feature the watch does have is that I like to see what song is playing right on the watch, especially if I’m going through a big playlist. Garmin handles this seamlessly, providing controls for pause, play, and skip; the same can be said for the Suunto Run I tested . But these two Coros watches can only play their own music, and don’t display or control playback on the phone.

Liked: Coros offers maps at a much lower price than Garmin.

I did a lot of trail running in Koros during the summer. The trails are shady and relatively cool when it’s hot elsewhere. A local trail running group had organised a fun challenge. To take part, I downloaded GPX route files created by the group and followed them through the forest.

All of the Garmin and Coros watches I mentioned support basic navigation. The process is the same for both brands: Download a route file to your phone, tap the Share button to open it in the Coros or Garmin app, save the route, and then tell the app to send it to your watch. When you start a run, you can select the saved route to follow.

On the basic display (on the Forerunner 570 and earlier, as well as the Pace 3), all you see is a line on a black background showing the route you should take, a different-colored line showing where you’ve actually gone, and a marker showing your current location. For example, on the Forerunner 570, the route is pink, and my current path is white. So as I run, I just have to glance at my wrist, and as long as the pink and white lines line up, I’m on the right path.

In this mode, neither watch knows where the trails actually are. I get a right turn warning when the trail I’m following turns right, regardless of whether I have the option to take another path. If the trail forks in two and my path is more or less straight, the watch doesn’t know I’m trying to make a decision, and it doesn’t help.

A watch with maps does more. It may not know every route in the area, but it can at least tell you when to cross the road or pass a big, visible landmark like a pond. The Pace Pro is a $349 watch that puts full-color maps right on your wrist. There’s no such feature in the world of Garmin, unless you fork over the Forerunner 970 for $749.99, which is more than twice the price of the Pace Pro.

What do you think at the moment?

Didn’t like: Coros stops running after finishing a workout.

It’s a tiny, microscopic flaw that I’m almost embarrassed to mention here because of how insignificant it is, but OH MY GOD, CAN’T YOU LEAVE THE EXERCISE ON AFTER YOU’RE FINISHED??? Garmin has spoiled me in this department.

Let’s say you use Garmin to track a structured workout of about 3.5 miles. After the workout, you jog with a long cool down because you want to increase your daily mileage, so why not? Garmin simply starts a new loop when you finish the workout, so when you reach the end of your run for the day (say, 5 miles), you’ll see a 3.5-mile workout and a 1.5-mile cool down recorded in the same activity.

Coros, on the other hand, pauses the workout when it’s finished. Several times I heard the end-of-workout signal and ignored it. I kept running, enjoying the break, and after five or ten minutes I realized that the last five or ten minutes of running hadn’t been recorded at all.

If I was training on Coros and switched to Garmin, I wouldn’t care. But when I switched from Garmin, I kept forgetting to resume training after “finishing” it. I lost miles of tracking. I’m just pissed. That’s it.

Liked: Koros’s training status seems less offensive

Here’s another subjective point: I like Garmin’s status for workouts, but mostly because I’m chasing the thrill of getting “productive” status and am disappointed every time I’m told I’m just “keeping up.” (I want to get a good score on Garmin, which is both normal and possible.)

Garmin’s harsh judgments are the stuff of memes , but sometimes it’s frustrating to hear that your efforts aren’t paying off. Coros also has a workout status feature, with similar terms, but they seem to be defined differently.

Here’s Coros’ explanation of the term “training status.” “Maintenance” is still there, but I didn’t see it on the watch very often. Most often, I’d get “Optimized” if I was training really hard. This explanation from Coros also shows how you can evaluate your training status differently in the Training Hub dashboard: If your load exceeds your base fitness, you’re doing well. Garmin doesn’t have charts like this, or at least not ones that are as easy to use and access.

Ultimately, does this affect my training? Not really. But I find Koros’ approach more interesting and inspiring.

Disliked: Coros doesn’t have an app store.

The Garmin ConnectIQ store is where you can find watch faces, as well as little mini apps that help you do specific tasks. Most people don’t download a lot of apps, but when they do, it’s nice to be able to choose the one you need.

For example, to use the body temperature sensor I use to monitor my heat tolerance , I went to the Garmin ConnectIQ store and downloaded a data field created by the sensor company’s developers. I had to manually add it to the activities I wanted to track temperature for, but it showed up anyway. I could see my body temperature, skin temperature, and heat stress index all on one screen, and it would record that data in my workout results.

The Core sensor also works with Coros, but not as well. I can see my body temperature while running, but not my skin temperature or heat stress index. (The heat stress index is the most important piece of information for me, and I missed seeing it in a visual way.) There’s no app to download for more functionality.

There are still plenty of watch faces and useful tools built into the Coros app and devices themselves, but it would be nice if there were third-party options as well.

Liked: Coros watches lock the display in a more convenient way.

The Pace 3 and Pace Pro both have a scroll wheel. Both models default to a screen lock, which requires you to either hold the scroll button or, my personal favorite, turn the wheel one full rotation before you can do anything with the watch.

I like the swipe version. I just start swiping up, and when the watch unlocks, I can keep swiping and see widgets that I often unlock to check. (You can turn off this lock if you don’t need it.) You can still see the time when the watch is locked or unlocked.

Garmin, on the other hand, doesn’t have this feature. You can enable device lock, but then every time you tap the screen or press a button, the time will disappear and a message will appear asking you to unlock the device. You can also set up a quick-disable feature for the touchscreen, which is handy if you find yourself constantly tapping it unintentionally.

I like the Coros version better.

Bottom line

Garmin and Coros are both great watches. I was neither disappointed nor excited when I switched back to Garmin at the end of the month. I’m glad that workouts will no longer end without a button press, and I like that I can easily see what music is playing. But I’ll miss the maps on the Pace Pro and the clearer workout status.

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Fitness