COROS PACE Pro - impressions from long-term use
author: ralpu
May 29, 2025
Introduction
In the fall of 2024, the COROS brand launched the new PACE Pro model. It belongs to the PACE family – watches that emphasize light weight, not robustness or battery life. Typically, PACE models are designed for road runners, but they are very popular in the community due to their price-performance ratio and can satisfy the sports needs of the vast majority of active people. I have been getting to know the new PACE Pro model for more than five months – in everyday life, but especially during sports activities. Here are my observations.
PACE Pro in brief
The COROS Pace Pro (€399) offers a great mix of advanced features and an interesting price tag. Perhaps the biggest innovation is the use of an AMOLED display on the COROS device. Specifically, it is a 1.3-inch AMOLED display with a brightness of up to 1500 nits, which offers excellent readability even in direct sunlight. More about the display and in more detail below.
Note: AMOLED displays regulate brightness by rapidly turning pixels on and off (a commonly used power-saving technique called Pulse-Width Modulation). If the timing of the camera shutter coincides with the phase when the pixels are off, black bands will appear in the photo, as seen in this photo.
The PACE family is distinguished by its very low weight and the Pace Pro is no exception in this regard – with a silicone strap (standard in the package) it weighs 49g and with a nylon strap it weighs only 37g. ( PACE 3 with a nylon strap weighs 30g.) The control is simple, via two buttons – one classic button and one rotating crown, which can be turned up and down and pressed at the same time. For COROS, this is a de facto unified control system for both the watch and the DURA cycle computer (some models also have one classic button for instantly turning on the display backlight, or this button can be mapped to any other function). The Apple Watch has been offering this same control paradigm for almost a decade, and the latest Suunto models are also gradually switching to this control system.
Note: AMOLED displays regulate brightness by rapidly turning pixels on and off (a commonly used power-saving technique called Pulse-Width Modulation). If the timing of the camera shutter coincides with the phase when the pixels are off, black bands will appear in the photo, as seen in this photo.
There is a modern All-Satellite Dual-Frequency GPS chip, which is already used by almost everyone. The internal memory with a capacity of 32 GB can easily accommodate global offline maps, which are of course free. The watch offers turn-by-turn navigation - that is, it proactively warns you of upcoming turns, either by sound or graphically on the display, or by deviating from the planned route.
PACE Pro is equipped with the latest generation of optical heart rate sensors and an oximeter. Of course, there is also a whole range of other commonly used sensors for monitoring the body's stress and recovery.
Devices with power-hungry AMOLED displays usually suffer from shorter battery life. However, COROS has addressed this challenge very thoroughly. In normal mode, the watch lasts up to 20 days and with active GPS recording for approximately 38 hours. This is truly exceptional considering the power demands of the AMOLED display and the number of advanced features. How COROS achieved these values and what compromises it had to make, I discuss in more detail below.
Display
COROS has decided to use an AMOLED display for the first time in the new PACE Pro model. This is a big step, especially for a brand that has been known for its emphasis on battery life and practicality.
In the world of electronics, there is a simple rule – the longer a technology is on the market, the better tuned and more reliable it is. COROS took its time. It waited several years for AMOLED display technology to mature and achieve acceptable power consumption.
AMOLED displays work completely differently than the ones COROS has used so far – Always-On Memory LCD. Each pixel of an AMOLED display must be actively backlit to display data or graphics, which naturally leads to higher power consumption.
In contrast, Always-On Memory LCD displays do not emit light. They use the reflection of ambient light and maintain the image and shape even without power supply. Power is only consumed when the content on the display changes. This is precisely why COROS watches could display the time or other data continuously 24/7, without a significant impact on battery life.
Note: AMOLED displays regulate brightness by rapidly turning pixels on and off (a commonly used power-saving technique called Pulse-Width Modulation). If the timing of the camera shutter coincides with the phase when the pixels are off, black bands will appear in the photo, as seen in this photo.
COROS has made it clear that it is remaining pragmatic in this regard. It does not plan to use AMOLED technology exclusively. On the contrary, it wants to further develop both technologies and use them according to what the model most requires. If battery life is the key criterion, Always-On Memory LCD will be used. If visual experience or other criteria are more important, AMOLED will be preferred.
But back to the new PACE Pro. For COROS to achieve the battery life typical of this brand, the AMOLED display alone - no matter how tuned - was not enough. Behind the scenes, there had to be a lot of software adjustments, optimizations and decisions that made all this possible.
Here are some of my observations and interesting details on how COROS approached the challenge of bringing AMOLED technology without a major impact on battery life.
Note: AMOLED displays regulate brightness by rapidly turning pixels on and off (a commonly used power-saving technique called Pulse-Width Modulation). If the timing of the camera shutter coincides with the phase when the pixels are off, black bands will appear in the photo, as seen in this photo.
While in all previous COROS models the user could choose between two display modes in the display settings – black text on a white background or vice versa, white text on a black background – in the new PACE Pro only the latter option is available. The reason is simple: with AMOLED displays, the device consumes significantly less power when displaying only a few bright pixels on a black background.
A new and expanded display settings section has also been added to the watch menu. The “Brightness” option offers three different modes that the user can adjust to their needs. Another important option is “Always On” – whether the display should display data continuously. The display behavior can be set separately during normal wear (e.g. permanent display of the time) and during activity (e.g. permanent display of sports metrics).
The third option is “Gesture Backlight”, i.e. lighting up the display with a gesture – when we turn the watch towards our face. But that’s not all. In the case of the activated “Always On” mode, COROS tries to intelligently save energy through other sensors as well. For example, if the watch is turned away from our face or hidden under our sleeve, the display automatically goes into power saving mode – it only displays simplified outlines of the digits instead of full graphics or nothing at all.
If someone is switching to the PACE Pro from an Always-On Memory LCD model, they may feel a little overwhelmed. What used to work simply and automatically now requires more attention and patience. Adjusting the display at home, in peace, is not enough. You need to try the watch in different situations – in everyday wear and especially during sports activities – and see what suits you best.
For example, I personally set the brightness mode to “Standard”. It worked well in the shade, but it was not enough during activities in direct sunlight. In order to be able to comfortably read the data from the display, I also had to activate Gesture Backlight – i.e. automatic backlighting when moving your hand towards your face. Each user will have to find their own combination of settings that suits them best. And it takes a little time – give yourself some space to test, adapt.
So what are the benefits of the new AMOLED display? Compared to the Always-On Memory LCD, the analogy of a black and white TV with a color one is apt. The strong backlight of the display (up to 1500 nits in maximum mode) literally breathes life into the display. The colors are very vivid and saturated. Black is really (deeply) black. Almost twice the resolution (416 x 416 pixels) also renders the data on the display with great precision, sharpness and contrast. The display is a pleasure to look at. One of the other benefits of the AMOLED display is its significantly smaller thickness compared to the Always-On Memory LCD display. That is, the watch itself can also be significantly thinner, less prominent on the wrist (more on that below).
Impressions from use
In addition to using the watch during activity, I've also gotten into the habit of wearing it at night to measure sleep quality. Especially since COROS added a nighttime HRV (Heart Rate Variability) measurement feature – a valuable metric that tracks the time differences between individual heartbeats. This metric helps understand how well the body coped with the previous training load and how ready it is for the next load.
Sleeping with a larger and heavier watch on your wrist is not very pleasant. PACE Pro weighs only 37 grams and is almost invisible on the hand. Thanks to the thinner AMOLED display, the watch itself is also thinner, less noticeable and almost disappears on the wrist.
The low weight is also very pleasant for sports where the wrist is put to the test – for example, cycling. In the past, when I used larger and heavier watches, they would bounce on my wrist with every bump in the road, even when they were tightly fastened. The PACE Pro stays on my wrist like glue. This has another advantage – more accurate heart rate measurement. Since the optical sensor on the bottom of the watch is in constant contact with the skin, the measured values are more reliable.
Note: AMOLED displays regulate brightness by rapidly turning pixels on and off (a commonly used power-saving technique called Pulse-Width Modulation). If the timing of the camera shutter coincides with the phase when the pixels are off, black bands will appear in the photo, as seen in this photo.
The display is a joy to look at once you find the right mix of settings to suit your needs. However, I would have appreciated if the motion sensor worked more precisely and reliably when pointing my wrist at my face. Sometimes the display backlight was slower to activate than I would have liked, or I had to turn my arm a little to get the watch to understand that the display should light up.
During one long activity, I forgot to charge my watch and it turned off at about 10% battery level. I was used to the fact that even if something extraordinary happens, the COROS watch saves the data of the ongoing activity before turning off. However, in this case, I had no data and I was not happy about it. I can't say for sure what exactly happened, but out of hundreds of activities I've done with the PACE Pro, this was the only isolated case.
Note: AMOLED displays regulate brightness by rapidly turning pixels on and off (a commonly used power-saving technique called Pulse-Width Modulation). If the timing of the camera shutter coincides with the phase when the pixels are off, black bands will appear in the photo, as seen in this photo.
Battery life largely depends on how often and how intensively the display is used (brightness, Always-On function, etc.). With my display settings and All-System On GPS accuracy, one hour of activity consumed approximately 4–5% of the battery. In practice, if I wanted to keep the battery charge between 20–80%, and I was doing 2–3 hours of activity per day, I had to charge the watch approximately every 4–5 days. That is, once a week. I find this to be completely sufficient, especially for a watch where battery life is not the main priority.
Overall impressions from several months of active use are very good. The AMOLED display takes some getting used to. At every step, you can feel that COROS did everything possible to ensure the best battery life. I think they found a good compromise – and from there it can only get better in the future.