Our verdict
An ultralight AMOLED running watch that undercuts every other watch here on price while offering some of the best battery life and lightest weight in this roundup.
What we like
- Just 32g with the nylon band
- Up to 41 hours GPS / 19 days daily use
- Sharp 1.2" AMOLED display
- Voice recording and Voice Pins for training logs
- Excellent value at $249
What to consider
- No touchscreen maps as detailed as Garmin's
- Smaller brand ecosystem than Garmin or Apple
- No wrist ECG or skin temperature sensor
- Fewer third-party smartwatch apps
Image credit: COROS (official product imagery, used for editorial review purposes)
Overview
The COROS Pace 4 is the newest entry in COROS’s long-running Pace series, starting at $479 AUD for the standard model. It is built around a simple idea: strip weight and cost without cutting GPS accuracy, battery life or core training tools, and it succeeds well enough to be one of the best value picks in this entire roundup.
Design and Display
At just 32g with the nylon band (40g with silicone) and 11.8mm thin, the Pace 4 is among the lightest GPS watches available. Its 1.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen has a 164 percent higher resolution than the Pace 3, and a tapered edge design keeps it comfortable for sleep tracking as well as running.
Running and Training Features
All-Systems and dual-frequency satellite modes keep GPS accurate in cities and on trails, and the training toolkit includes a race predictor, personalised marathon plans, a virtual pacer and breadcrumb navigation. A new built-in microphone lets runners record Voice Pins, spoken notes tagged to a location or moment in a run, which is a genuinely novel feature not found on rival watches.
Health and Recovery
A recovery and wellness hub tracks recovery time, sleep stages, HRV and menstrual cycles, and a redesigned heart rate sensor with larger LEDs aims to reduce the spikes and drops that can affect wrist-based readings during hard efforts.
Battery Life
COROS quotes 41 hours of GPS tracking in All-Systems (High) mode and up to 19 days of continuous daily use, well ahead of the Apple Watch and competitive with Garmin’s Forerunner 965 despite the Pace 4’s much lower price and weight.
Price and Value
At $479 AUD, the Pace 4 is the cheapest watch in this roundup, yet it undercuts rivals costing two to four times as much on weight and matches many of them on battery life. It is difficult to find a more capable running watch for the money.
Verdict
The Pace 4 is the watch to buy if value and weight matter most. It will not match Garmin’s mapping depth or Apple’s app ecosystem, but for pure running performance per dollar, it is hard to beat.
Read our Editorial Policy and Affiliate Disclosure. Compare this model with the current best running watches in Australia guide.
