Okay, so I’ve been rocking the Garmin Forerunner 245 for a good while now, and it’s been a solid buddy for tracking my runs. But lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about the Coros Pace 3, especially how it’s supposedly giving Garmin a run for its money (pun intended!). So, I decided to grab one and see what all the fuss was about. I mean, who doesn’t love a good tech showdown, right?
Getting Started: Unboxing and First Impressions
First off, unboxing both watches. The Garmin 245, I already knew, felt pretty familiar. The Coros Pace 3, though? Super light! I mean, seriously, this thing feels like almost nothing on my wrist. That nylon band it comes with is surprisingly comfy too, way more than I expected.
Taking Them for a Spin (Literally)
My usual routine is a mix of road running, some trail stuff, and the occasional gym workout. So, I made sure to put both watches through their paces in all those scenarios. I wore them both at the same time, one on each wrist, to get the most direct comparison. Yeah, I probably looked a little ridiculous, but hey, gotta do what you gotta do for science… or, you know, a blog post.
Here’s the core of what I started checking:
- GPS Accuracy: I wanted to make sure I got consistent, clear tracking for my runs.
- Heart Rate: I was very curious how the sensors compared to my Garmin and if it had similar readings.
- Battery: Everyone talks about Coros battery, so I was keen to see how long this thing could really last.
- Features: What do they BOTH offer? Is anything missing? I wanted to compare these, point by point.
Tracking My Runs: GPS and Heart Rate
Over a few weeks, I did a bunch of runs, from short 5Ks to some longer weekend efforts. GPS-wise, both watches were pretty much neck and neck. They locked on quickly, and the routes they tracked were almost identical on my usual paths. Maybe a tiny bit of variation here and there, but nothing major.
Heart rate was also surprisingly similar. Both watches seemed to pick up my heart rate accurately, both during steady runs and when I threw in some intervals. I did notice the Coros Pace 3 sometimes reacted a little faster to changes in my heart rate, like when I was sprinting, but the overall average was usually within a beat or two of the Garmin.
The Battery Life Experiment
This is where things got interesting. Garmin claims the 245 gets up to 7 days in smartwatch mode and 24 hours with GPS. Coros, on the other hand, boasts a whopping 38 hours of continuous GPS tracking and up to 24 days in smartwatch mode. I wanted to test this.
I charged both watches to 100% and started my test. I used them both for my daily runs (about an hour of GPS use per day), plus kept them on 24/7 for sleep tracking and notifications. The Garmin 245? It lasted me about 5 days, which is pretty close to what they advertise. The Coros Pace 3? Dude, it kept going… and going… and going. I finally had to call it quits after 18 days! I was still at 15%! I mean, that’s just insane. It easily blew the Garmin out of the water.
Diving into the Features
Feature-wise, both watches cover the basics really well: pace, distance, heart rate, cadence, all that jazz. They both offer sleep tracking, which seemed pretty comparable in terms of accuracy (though I’m no sleep expert!).
Both have some smart features too, like notifications from your phone. The Garmin 245 has some extra music features that I found usefeul. The Coros Pace 3, however, has a built-in barometer, altimeter, and compass, so it’s a lot better for my trail runs.
My Overall Thoughts
After my little experiment, here’s my take. The Garmin Forerunner 245 is still a fantastic running watch. It’s reliable, accurate, and has a ton of features. But, the Coros Pace 3 really impressed me, mainly because of that crazy battery life. If you’re someone who hates charging your watch every few days, or you do a lot of ultra-distance running, the Coros is a game-changer. It is incredibly light, and I could easily see myself using this in my day-to-day more often.
For me, I appreciate not having to charge so often, and the extra trail features make this a great choice for my personal use. I’ll be using the Coros Pace 3 more, but I’ll definitely keep the Garmin on hand!