What did our go-to guy for running watches have to say about the COROS PACE 2?

"This thing is an amazing value. It has so many features for runners. There's not much that can compete with it for 200 bucks!"

And we agree!

So why did he make 2 review videos? The early watch COROS sent him had faulty GPS. They sent him a new one, and he put it to the test in a second video with much better results!

This solid GPS running watch puts heart rate and GPS on your wrist that compete with higher-end brands. Plus, it has excellent wrist-based running power and Stryd built right in! With all that and more it manages to be the lightest running watch on the market.

The COROS PACE 2 features a 1.2" Always-On Memory LCD color display with a 42 x 42 x 11.7mm case size and weighs 35g-36g (with silicone band); 29g-30g (with nylon band).

Dave used the nylon band in his second PACE 2 review, which he found to be crazy comfortable!

The COROS PACE 2 features a 2-button layout that consists of a digital knob and a back button.

The digital dial is small, easy to use, and functions smoothly.

The overall design is minimalistic with 2 colors to choose from: Navy and White.

The display on the PACE 2 is Gorilla Glass, making it scratch resistant but not scratch proof. Not surprising on a $200 running watch.

The color screen looks similar to the COROS APEX and APEX PRO. The PACE 2 display is super visible outdoors and allows you to have up to 6 customized data fields showing at once!

For $200 you get a lot of sensors in the PACE 2 GPS watch, which include:

• Optical Heart Rate Monitor

• Barometric Altimeter

• Accelerometer

• Compass

• Gyroscope

• Thermometer

Plus, you have Bluetooth and ANT+ for connectivity. Pretty robust at this price point!

According to COROS, they've put a much faster CPU in the PACE 2.

And in his review, Dave says he's noticed it! He found it to be very snappy and responsive—no delay in the user inteface of this running watch!

This is due to a 1.5x more powerful processor, offering 5x more RAM and 4x more storage than the original COROS PACE, leaving plenty of room for expanded features.

This COROS watch is in it with you for the long haul!

Choose from a ton of preconfigured watch faces in the COROS app to make your COROS PACE 2 your own.

Scroll up or down from the watch face to get into the widget loop where you'll find temperature, heart rate, elevation data, and more—including phone notifications.

Click the digital dial once to get into activity selection menu. While you can re-order activities in the app, you can not add to them. What you get out of the box is what you get—14 multisport activities that make this a pretty robust triathlon watch.

Along with your activities, you can select "Training" and "Training Plans".

Use Training to set up a training plan for intervals or strength training.

Training Plans is a newer feature that incorporates a calendar view of a training plan.

Customize a training plan to your needs, whether you're getting ready for a marathon, ultra marathon, etc.

Use the COROS app to manully select days and set up your miles and intensity for given days.  

The COROS app is available for both Android and iOS.

Get a breakdown of the summary of your day: active calories burned, active energy, steps, heart rate data, sleep, training load, VO2 Max, fitness index, resting heart rate, and threshold pace.  

Get past history of all of your runs. Dive into any run to get the details on all your data.

You can set up your training plans in a personal profile.

Additionally, you can set up and customize your COROS PACE 2.

Dave says the wrist-based running power on the COROS PACE 2 is pretty awesome and reliable because it mimics the Stryd Pod closely.

What does this mean?

If you do not have or opt not to use a running meter, you can be sure that the PACE 2 is giving you consistent, reliable data because, as Dave shows in both of his COROS PACE 2 review videos, it gives similar results to the Stryd Pod.

So, with the running watch only, you can get your main running power metric and variants. But if you want more—like Form Power, Air Power, and running efficiency metrics—you can simply pair your PACE 2 to the Stryd or COROS Pod and go!

The COROS PACE 2 is one of the first watches to include full Stryd support out of the box!

Unlike with other running watches that need the Stryd app to work, in the PACE 2, it's baked into the firmware (as Dave puts it) with full Stryd support—all the data, all the metrics—no additional steps necessary. Simply pair the Stryd Pod as if it were any other Bluetooth or ANT+ accessory.  

If you want perfect heart rate data, it's always best to go with a chest strap or an arm strap—which is why Dave always tests new running watches against one.

In this case, the PACE 2 did a good job of sticking to the trendline with the Polar H9 chest strap. You can feel confident that you are getting reliable heart rate data with this COROS watch.

And remember, the PACE 2 does have Bluetooth and ANT+, so you can pair it with other heart rate sensors if you want to get even more spot-on data!

In his second COROS PACE 2 review, Dave got much better GPS results than in his first video, confirming that the first watch he had recieved had faulty GPS in it.

The PACE 2 did a great job of following the course, and according to Dave, "did a way better job than the first time I tested it out!"

The takaway? You can count on this running watch to be rock-steady and nail the GPS when you take it out for a run, hike, etc.

Accurate GPS, heart rate, and wrist-based running power make the PACE 2 a standout GPS multisport watch for the money!

COROS watches are known for their battery life, and even with the featherlight PACE 2 you get an ample amount of it.

Here's what the PACE 2 battery life looks like:

• Daily Use: 20 days
• Standard Full GPS: 30 hours
• UltraMax GPS Mode: 60 hours

This is more than sufficient battery for most athletes, and unless you're on long runs away from charging sources, these are nice numbers for the price point!

What are the upsides to the COROS PACE 2? It's the running watch for you if:

• You like the $200 price tag.
• You want an affordable running watch that has some features on par with higher-end watches.
• You want GPS and heart rate accuracy that competes with the best running watches.
• You want wrist-based running power and full Stryd Pod compatibility.
• You want a superlight running watch.

What are some issues?

• You can't add activities (Dave didn't like that it didn't have Trail Running).
• Because it's so light, you might find it doesn't feel as premium as pricier watches.
• Not a ton of smartwatch features.