Coros has gone from a newcomer to one of the most established brands within the sports watch world in an impressively quick time, and having tested every watch Coros has launched since the original Pace in 2018, I’d say it has something to suit most athletes and adventurers.
The Coros line-up is fairly small and easy to understand in general. The Pace series of watches is designed to be small and light, and suits road runners and triathletes in particular.
Then the Apex line is for more adventurous activities, like trail-running and climbing, with the Nomad offering a more affordable option for the great outdoors.
Lastly, the Coros Vertix 2S sits at the top of the line-up and offers the hardest design and longest battery life.
There are a lot of software similarities across all Coros watches, which have the same training analysis and most of the same sports modes, so mostly choosing between them comes down to factors like price, design and battery life.
I’ve selected what I think are the three best Coros sport watches for most people below, but I’ve also covered great alternatives within each section.
Coros Pace 4 — Best for most people
The newest addition to the Coros line-up is also the best Coros watch overall, in my opinion. The Coros Pace 4 is one of the best sports watches from any brand, in fact, offering all the features runners and triathletes need in a tiny, lightweight design with a bright AMOLED display.
Along with accurate tracking and useful training analysis, the Pace 4 has surprisingly good battery life for a small AMOLED watch, lasting me around five days when running every day with the screen always on, and over 10 days with the screen set to raise to wake.
The other Pace watches still available are also good choices for most runners and triathletes. The Pace 3 is cheaper and some might prefer its MIP display (I like the brighter Pace 4 myself), while the Pace Pro is $50 more expensive but offers offline maps, whereas the Pace 4 only has breadcrumb navigation.
Coros Nomad — Best for adventure
Coros has quite a few adventurous options in its range, but the Nomad is the best value option for those who regularly find themselves in the great outdoors. It has a rugged plastic design that offers a contrast to the sleeker Pace line, and also has offline maps to help with navigation.
The Coros Nomad’s battery life is also highly impressive — it can last up to 22 days in watch mode, and offers up to 50 hours of GPS tracking. Throughout my testing, the Nomad proved accurate, and if you’re a runner or triathlete who loves its design, it’s a great option for those sports as well as more adventurous activities.
If you are happy to spend a bit more, the Apex 4 and Vertix 2S watches are also excellent options for outdoor activities, with their main upgrades being more durable, metal designs.
Coros Apex 4 — Best for durability
If you want a more premium Coros watch with a metal bezel and a sapphire crystal screen for extra durability, then I’d opt for the Apex 4, which comes in two sizes — 42mm and 46mm.
While the brightness of the MIP screen underwhelmed me a little during testing, I found the Coros Apex 4 to be accurate and a very practical watch thanks to its durable design and long battery life — it lasted me 18 days, even when running every day using the most accurate and power-intensive multi-band GPS mode.
If you wanted an even more rugged and long-lasting watch, then the Coros Vertix 2S is worth looking at. However, it’s more expensive, considerably larger and heavier than the Apex 4, and lacks the useful Action button on the Apex 4, which you can use to toggle between your map and activity stats during workouts.
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