COROS Pace 3 Review: GPS Sports Watch

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COROS Pace 3 Review

The Coros Pace 3 GPS Sports Watch is here, and it’s ready to take the baton from its predecessor, the Pace 2. With an array of exciting new features, including a touchscreen, an enhanced heart rate sensor, and a dual-frequency satellite chipset, the Pace 3 aims to continue the legacy of its predecessor as a budget-friendly sports watch with a myriad of impressive capabilities.

In this review, we will delve into the various aspects of the Coros Pace 3, from its design and build to its sports and fitness performance.

Design and Build

The Coros Pace 3 maintains a familiar look while subtly upgrading its design elements. Compared to its predecessor, the Pace 3 is slightly larger in terms of case diameter, but its new heart rate sensor is more flush, allowing the watch to be thinner. The lightweight nature of the watch remains intact, ensuring a comfortable wear during sports activities.

The bands, whether silicone or nylon, offer a blend of comfort and security, making them suitable for both everyday use and sports. While the nylon band is a bit lighter, it may retain moisture after workouts. The watch’s durability is assured with its nylon fiberglass blend plastic construction, which is more rugged than the Pace 2. The Pace 3 maintains its 5 ATM water resistance rating, making it suitable for various water activities.

Display and Touchscreen

The 1.2-inch full-color memory pixel display, with a resolution of 240 x 240 pixels, is vibrant and clear. While the display performs well outdoors, its brightness and contrast are notably improved indoors. The introduction of a touchscreen adds an extra layer of convenience to navigation.

Users can choose to enable the touchscreen for navigation or activity interface, enhancing the watch’s usability. Despite the touchscreen addition, the two-button configuration remains, with one button also acting as a digital dial.

Battery Life and Charging

The Coros Pace 3 boasts impressive battery life, with up to 24 days advertised. However, real-world usage will vary based on settings, activities, and usage frequency. With typical use, including sleep tracking and outdoor activities, users can expect around 8 days of battery life. The watch charges via a standard Coros charging cable with a USB Type-A connection.

Heart Rate Accuracy and Performance

The updated heart rate sensor on the Pace 3, shared with the Apex 2 and Apex 2 Pro, promises enhanced accuracy. Real-world testing across various activities, including indoor cycling, outdoor running, mountain biking, and weight training, shows that the watch performs admirably.

Heart rate tracking appears solid and responsive, aligning well with the Polar Verity Sense Optical heart rate sensor in most scenarios. The watch excels in steady-state activities, though occasional anomalies were observed.

Sports and Fitness Features

The Pace 3 caters to a wide range of sports enthusiasts with its activity profiles. It retains the multi-sport and triathlon modes present in the Pace 2 while adding profiles like trail running, skiing, snowboarding, and more. These profiles further enhance the watch’s versatility and make it a great value proposition in its price range.

The watch’s breadcrumb-style navigation and route importing capabilities offer convenience and utility for outdoor activities. The dual-frequency satellite chipset contributes to improved GPS accuracy, particularly in challenging environments like dense forests.

Indoor Activities and Connectivity

The Pace 3’s capabilities extend to indoor activities as well. It effectively estimates distances during indoor treadmill runs, and its compatibility with Coros Pod 2 improves distance and instant pace accuracy.

The watch’s connectivity features include Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi, enabling one-way notifications from smartphones and offline music playback using Bluetooth earbuds. While the music playback feature is limited to locally stored MP3 files, it caters to those who prefer to leave their phones behind during workouts.

 

Conclusion

The Coros Pace 3 GPS Sports Watch builds upon the foundation of its predecessor, the Pace 2, delivering a range of enhancements that enhance its performance and usability. The addition of a touchscreen, improved heart rate accuracy, and a dual-frequency satellite chipset elevate the user experience.

With a variety of activity profiles, breadcrumb navigation, and the ability to estimate distances for indoor activities, the Pace 3 proves to be a well-rounded companion for fitness enthusiasts. While it may not have all the features of its higher-end siblings like built-in maps, the Pace 3 offers exceptional value for its price point, making it an attractive choice for both newcomers and experienced athletes seeking a capable and affordable sports watch.

Edouard Balik
About the author: Edouard Balik is a Tech writer at Superfashion.us website. He creates Tech related articles using natural creativity and language tools, Market realities. Edouard loves discussing smartphones and smartwatches Tech and specs using his expertise in the field and reading their news. https://twitter.com/BalikEdouard

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