After many years of testing GPS watches, Coach Amanda was intrigued by the flood of runners falling in love with COROS. So of course our team had to put it to the test against one of the long standing giants: COROS vs Garmin!coros garmin

While both brands aim to suit beginners and long-distance trail runners, we found quite a few differences between the watches.

A few of the major differences between COROS and Garmin sport watches:

  • Garmin wants to be part of your ENTIRE life, with cycle tracking, daily events, etc
  • COROS is focused on your training and streamlining things

With so many GPS watches available at varying price points, it can be overwhelming to sift through reviews to figure out which one is right for you. The first step is to narrow down to a brand that fits you.

I’ve compared Suunto vs Garmin and Polar vs Suunto in previous articles, and this time I’m pitting COROS vs Garmin.

Are COROS watches any good?

After testing multiple watches, we can see why many users have fallen head over heels for them (including Coach Stacey, who helps to balance that I don’t particularly love them). The GPS appears to be very accurate; it has some amazing app features and streamlined watch navigation.

The main drawback Coach Amanda ran into was with HR readings and potentially the single dial, which we’ll detail below.

COROS vs Garmin Watch Comparison

Click any link below to see the watch and additional function details, watches are divided in to budget, mid-range and high end to help you compare models.

If you want a complete comparison of just the differences in Garmins, checkout our article on the best Garmin watches for runners.

Budget Watches

Both watches work for running, biking, and swimming. They also track HR, show phone notifications, and provide structured workouts. Below we’ll call out key differences.

Coros Pace 4($249)

COROS watches have a reputation for the wealth of data that they provide. The Pace 4 offers all the data that runners need with some additional features added on.

The updated design with a bright and clear AMOLED display makes it ideal for wearing all day long.

A new feature on the Pace 4 is the ability to record voice notes after a workout. After a workout, you can select your RPE using the dial of the watch. Then there is an option to leave a voice note using the built in microphone.

And a few small updates take this watch to the next level, making it an all-around top choice for runners.

Coros Pace 4Coros is really dialing in the features and each new model is impressing us more an more. Now that it has a touchscreen so you don’t have to rely on the dial, the price makes this a truly compelling choice for many runners.

Specifications

  • Dimensions: 43.4 x 43.4 x 11.8 mm
  • Weight: 32g with the nylon band/40g with silicon band
  • Display size: 1.2 inches
  • Satellite Connection: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, QZSS
  • Navigation: Breadcrumb navigation sync and follow route, touchscreen enabled map control, and safety alerts
  • Touchscreen: Mineral glass,1.2 inch, tapered AMOLED touchscreen
  • Battery: Up to 41 hours of GPS and 19 days of daily use
  • Water resistance: 5 ATM
  • Available at Amazon for $249
  • Read our full review of the COROS Pace 4 here >>

Garmin Forerunner 70 ($249)

The Garmin Forerunner 70 is a beginner-friendly watch that gives you plenty of useful training features without feeling overly complicated.

It covers the basics while adding upgraded tools that can help you better understand your training and recovery.

It’s a good option for newer runners who want more than a basic running watch, but you don’t need all the super high-end bells and whistles.

Garmin took the Forerunner 55 and gave it a little bit of a glow-up. forerunner 70 review

Specifications

Midrange Watches

This used to be a $100 upgrade, but now it’s more like $200 because they just keep throwing more and more and more into these watches. The mid-range watches have a few more features, like maps, longer battery life, more sports, etc.

Here are some of the key differences. Part of the upgrade is the watch’s style and materials, which make it more durable.

COROS Apex 4 ($449)

One standout feature of the COROS Apex 4 is its exceptional battery life, whether you’re on the roads, trails, or ultra-distance adventures.

It uses an intelligent power optimization system that lets it last for extended periods, even during long-distance runs or multi-day events. It offers navigation tools and mapping, along with the training and recovery data you’d expect from its other watches.

The touchscreen makes it easy to scroll through stats and navigation maps, while the buttons and dial give you another option when you’re on the run.

coros apex 4
image from benjohnson763

It provides precise distance, speed, and elevation measurements, along with advanced metrics such as running cadence, stride length, and ground contact time.

 

You can store MP3 music directly on the watch and leave your phone at home, or, if you still want to carry your phone, control the music there. It also has a built-in speaker and microphone, so you can answer incoming calls as long as your phone is nearby and connected. You just cannot initiate a call from your watch.

Specifications

  • Weight: 56g with silicone band, 446 with nylon band
  • Size: 42.6 x 42.6 x 14 mm
  • Satelite Connection: GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BeiDou, QZSS
  • Waterproof Rating: 5 ATM
  • Navigation: landscape (with trail and street names), Topo, checkpoint, back-to-start, touchscreen-enabled map control
  • Touchscreen: no
  • Battery: 41 hours all systems (for 42mm), 11 hours with offline music
  • 40+ sport modes available
  • Available in 2 colors
  • Available in 46mm or 42mm
  • Available on Amazon.com for $449

Garmin Forerunner 265 ($449)

This watch tracks running, swimming, and cycling and tells you your ground contact time balance, stride length, and more. Plus, the screen is just gorgeous.

The colors on this watch are brilliant and so far, I’m seeing good things with the accuracy of the HR readings as well.  Coach Amanda is not always a fan of the touchscreen in winter running, but it means you don’t have to remember how to use all the buttons!

Right now this has been a go to watch for road and treadmill runs.

Garmin 265

Specifications

  • Weight: 39 g
  • Size: 41.7 x 41.7 x 12.9 (mm)
  • Satelite Connection: GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BeiDou, QZSS
  • Waterproof Rating: 5 ATM
  • Navigation: point to point, breadcrumbs, back to start
  • Touchscreen: no
  • Battery: smartwatch 15 days, GPS only 24 hours, GPS with music 7.5 hours
  • 40+ sport modes available
  • Available in 6 colors
  • Available on Garmin.com for $449.99

Note: We believe this model is being phased out for the new Garmin 570. Price point is a little higher, it has a few more features, but we still think the 265 is one of the best options so snag it now!

High End Watches

Now we’re taking the materials up a notch and adding in a few additional features that make these watches even better for a trail run and those spending a lot more time in the great wide outdoors.

You’ll also find sapphire glass which is less likely to scratch and again an upgrade in materials.

Do we often need everything on these watches…no.

Do they often look cooler…yes.

The Garmin Fenix S series is focused on creating a smaller watch to fit on a smaller wrist, so that it can look like a timepiece you want to wear all day long. Listen the rose gold sold me!

Coros Vertix 2S ($699)

This is the one watch our team hasn’t tested yet, but we’ve heard from many trail runners who just LOVE their COROS watches. So we feel comfortable suggesting it, as long as you read the notes above.

The Coros Vertix 2S is a robust, advanced GPS adventure watch designed for outdoor enthusiasts, mountaineers, and athletes who engage in extreme activities. This rugged timepiece offers a wide range of features and durability, making it a reliable companion in challenging environments.

COROS Vertix 2S

One standout feature of the Coros Vertix 2S is its exceptional durability and resistance to harsh conditions. It is built to withstand extreme temperatures, shock, and impact, making it suitable for adventures in rugged terrains. The watch is also water-resistant up to 150 meters, ensuring it can handle swimming, diving, and other water activities without any issues.

Specifications

  • Sizes: 50.3 x 50.3 x 16mm
  • Weight: 87g with silicone band, 70g with nylon band
  • Satellite Connection:GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, QZSS
  • Waterproof Rating: 10 ATM
  • Navigation: Landscape, Topo, Checkpoint, Back-to-start, Touchscreen-enabled map control, Safety alerts
  • Battery:118 hours GPS battery life
  • Display size: 1.4 inches
  • Touchscreen and Sapphire glass to protect from breaking
  • 3GB of music storage on the watch
  • 3 colors available

Garmin Fenix 9 ($999.99- our review coming soon)

The Garmin Fenix 9 is one of the updates that might be worth coughing up the big chunk of cash for.

The new Garmin Fenix 9 will feature a brighter AMOLED display, improved maps and navigation, and a new Stamina metric that gives you an idea of where you’re at, fitness-wise.

We’ll have more details here once our team puts it through some miles!

Specifications

  • Sizes: 43 mm, 47 mm, 51 mm
  • Weight: 61 grams (for 43 mm), 75 grams (for 47 mm), 91 grams (for 51 mm)
  • Satellite Connection: GPS
  • Waterproof Rating: 10 ATM
  • Navigation: Turn by Turn, Point to Point Navigation
  • Touchscreen: Yes, with AMOLED screen
  • Battery: Up to 10 days (for 43 mm), up to 16 days (for 47 mm), up to 29 days (for 51 mm)
  • Display size: 1.3 inches (for 43 mm), 1.4 inches (for 47 mm and 51 mm)
  • More than 100 activity profiles
  • 2 colors available
  • Available from garmin.com for $999.99
  • Read more from our preview of the Fenix 9 here >>

COROS Vs Garmin Watch Feature Comparison

Nearly every watch now includes some standard features like heart rate monitor, pace, distance, calorie tracking, recovery time and lap function.

The two brands differ in watch navigation, screens, and apps. Both brands have STELLAR apps, which adds to the watch’s appeal.

Let’s go through some feature overviews, followed by head-to-head comparisons for budget, mid-range, and high-end watches.

Watch Usage – Tie

The biggest difference between the two brands is how you actually use the watch.

  • COROS has a dial on the side to navigate.
  • Garmin has at least 4 buttons, with two on each side.

Some users LOVE the dial and find it far simpler. I’m so used to the buttons that I was not as enamored.

I fully detailed how the dial works in my COROS Apex Review. It was easy enough to find a training mode, but once in the mode, it felt harder to get what I wanted.

Screen Display and Tracking – Tie

The screen display vibrancy is now a win for Garmin if you have one of their AMOLED watches like the photo below. It’s so much more vivid than the COROS.

Both Garmin and COROS watches display customizable real-time data, such as pace, time, distance run, calories burned, and heart rate, plus more if you desire. Summary information like average pace, stride count, and elevation gain is also available in real time at the push of a button.

You can also set up structured workouts and customize your screen display.

The biggest difference between the two brands in this arena comes in the updates.

When COROS makes a functional update, they push it out to all watches, rather than it being only for new models. This is something that many COROS users rave about.

What does that mean? When COROS added a new feature for structured workouts or running power, that became available on all models. Often with Garmin new large features become only available in new watches.

AND NOW that many Garmin and COROS watches have new AMOLED screens, they are so much brighter and more brilliant than anything we’ve tested before; it’s very enticing.

Garmin S Sizing
Garmin 265 vs Venu 2s

GPS Watch Battery Life – COROS

Most COROS watches have an average GPS battery life of 30 hours and regular use about 30 days. They have GPS-save modes that can double GPS life. In testing the Apex and Pace, I didn’t find they lasted 30 days, but they certainly have long batteries.

The budget and mid-range Garmin models are closer to 14 hours of GPS battery life and 7 days of usage.

However, the Garmin Fenix 7 and Forerunner 955 can switch to UltraTrac mode, which sacrifices GPS accuracy in exchange for a longer battery life, up to 60 hours. UltraTrac mode is a battery-saving feature that periodically shuts off GPS and uses the accelerometer to determine speed and distance.

**Click here if you’re looking for which GPS watch lasts the longest.

Mapping and Navigation – Tie

For those running new routes or who tend to get turned around during a run, the navigational features on Garmin and COROS watches will help you stay on course and return home safely.

On mid- and high-end models, you’ll find:

  • Breadcrumb navigation
  • Downloading routes
  • Back to start navigation

If you don’t mind looking at a map on a tiny screen, the Garmin Fenix series and Garmin Enduro include color topographic mapping capabilities.

Heart Rate Monitoring – Tie

These days, most GPS watches come with either strap-based or wrist-based optical heart rate monitors.

Optical monitors are known to provide inaccurate results due to recording random movements; however, the Polar Vantage series has the only watches currently available on the market that use bio-impedance technology to override readings caused by movement.

  • COROS all models were extremely inaccurate for me (the new Pace 3 with an updated monitor is much better)
  • Garmin models fluctuate in accuracy (more expensive did not mean more accurate, right now the Enduro and 265 have been most accurate)

Both brands track wellness-related data like sleep metrics and heart rate throughout the day.

The difference between the two brands is that all of the COROS watches include some variation of this feature, where Garmin has a few models that do not.

Since training using low heart rate training I’ve come to understand the relevance of using a heart rate monitor to complement my training. All of the Polar watches and the higher end watches in the Garmin lineup  include wrist-based and or optical heart rate monitoring.

For some tricks on getting more accurate heart rate readings check out my GPS watch tips.

Data Management and Apps – Tie

Both brands have apps that allow you to see more details about each individual workout, your total workouts, sleep data and to manage your data. But they also have some differences.

Garmin uses a program called Connect which allows you to earn badges for different activities, which many people find highly motivating. MORE importantly, it lets you track your hormonal cycle, which can be eye-opening for female athletes.

COROS now has cycle tracking, which our team was really excited about! It also lets you build strength training workouts from a library. We like this integration because it helps ensure runners do their strength work.

Coros App Workouts

If you’re switching between brands, then an app like Strava is probably the best place to keep all of your data safely in one place.

The COROS Vs Garmin comparison feels anything but straightforward to me. They have a different feel, different style, and almost a different marketing to who their user is.

It really comes down to: do you like the dial on the side, do you like that they’re lightweight, and maybe focused more on training than some of the lifestyle factors.

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