Coros Pace 2 vs Garmin Forerunner 55: Powerhouse Performance or Budget-Friendly Friend?
By Elisabeth Christ
Published April 2024
Selecting the right sports watch can be as critical as the training itself, especially when the options include models like the Coros Pace 2 and Garmin Forerunner 55. Both priced at $200, these watches offer advanced features tailored for enhancing athletic performance, but they cater to slightly different user preferences and needs. The Coros Pace 2 is renowned for its ultra-lightweight design and extended battery life, making it ideal for endurance athletes. Meanwhile, the Garmin Forerunner 55 appeals with its robust training features and excellent GPS functionality, perfect for those who appreciate detailed workout analytics. Let’s delve deeper into both models to see how they compare across various aspects.
Key Takeaways
The Coros Pace 2 offers a larger, higher resolution display with advanced training metrics like VO2 Max and muscle fatigue assessments. It boasts a superior battery life (up to 80 hours in UltraMax mode) but lacks built-in music storage and smartphone notifications. Garmin's Forerunner 55 counters with smartwatch features like music controls and contactless payments, alongside PacePro pacing strategies and guided workouts. This breakdown helps runners choose between in-depth performance analysis and everyday smartwatch convenience.
Coros Pace 2
Better Choice for Battery Life
✓ low-energy component, 64-color MIP screen
✓ Do not disturb setting available
✓ GLONASS and BeiDou GPS support
✓ Up to 20 days of battery life
Garmin Forerunner 55
Better Choice for Fitness Enthusiasts
✓ 5 navigation buttons
✓ Customizable workout types
✓ New Women's health tracking
✓ Up to 14 days of battery life
#1 Price & Design
Coros Pace 2
The Coros Pace 2 hits the market at an accessible $200, available in navy and white with options for a nylon or silicone band, allowing for personalization based on comfort and style. This model stands out for its remarkably lightweight design at only 29g, which is great for those long runs where every gram counts.
The plastic case with a matte finish ensures durability without compromising on the aesthetic, providing a sleek look and feel. The device features a 64-color memory-in-pixel display with a resolution of 240x240 pixels, which is energy efficient and offers clear visibility under various lighting conditions. The user interface is navigated via a digital crown and a back button, simplifying the interaction and enhancing the usability during rigorous physical activities.
Garmin Forerunner 55
Similarly priced at $200, the Garmin Forerunner 55 is designed with practicality in mind, available in black, white, or aqua, and features a chemically strengthened glass case that promises durability. It weighs slightly more than the Pace 2 at 37g, and the case size of 42mm is optimized for comfort without being too bulky on the wrist.
The Forerunner 55 uses a memory-in-pixel display with a slightly lower resolution of 208x208 pixels but compensates with the capability to download custom watch faces from the Garmin Connect IQ store. This model incorporates five physical buttons, which, despite the absence of a touchscreen, facilitate easy navigation and quick access to features, even on the move.
#2 Features & Performance
Coros Pace 2
The Coros Pace 2 excels as a multi-sport tracking device, making it an optimal choice for athletes engaged in diverse disciplines. It integrates a robust suite of sensors that includes an optical heart rate monitor, an altimeter for elevation tracking, an accelerometer for pace and distance, a compass for navigation, a gyroscope for motion tracking, and a thermometer for ambient temperature readings. This array of sensors ensures precise measurements during activities, enhancing training effectiveness across sports like running, cycling, and swimming.
This watch also features a highly accurate GPS system that supports both GLONASS and BEIDU satellite networks, ensuring comprehensive coverage and signal stability during outdoor activities. Additionally, the Pace 2 offers a variety of sport-specific modes, such as indoor and outdoor runs, bike sessions, pool swims, and even triathlons, each designed to capture detailed activity metrics tailored to the nuances of each sport. While the watch lacks entertainment features like music and NFC payments, it compensates with practical tools like smart stride length detection and an AI trainer, which adaptively guides training intensity based on user performance and recovery needs.
Garmin Forerunner 55
The Garmin Forerunner 55, on the flip side, is designed to cater not only to running but to a wide range of physical activities, making it versatile for users who participate in everything from yoga to high-intensity interval training. It offers preset workout modes for a variety of sports, ensuring that users can track their exercise with high accuracy regardless of the activity type. The Forerunner 55 also includes Garmin Coach, an adaptive training platform that provides personalized training plans and goal-setting based on the user’s fitness level and historical data. Not to mention, Garmin Forerunner 55's PacePro feature acts like your personal pacer on your wrist where you can create a customized plan in the Garmin Connect app, considering factors like distance, target pace, or even a pre-loaded course with elevation changes. During your run, PacePro will provide on-the-go guidance with suggested paces, keeping you on track to achieve your running goals.
What sets the Forerunner 55 apart is its inclusion of advanced health monitoring tools. It features all-day stress tracking, sleep monitoring, and a body battery energy monitor that analyzes heart rate variability, stress levels, sleep quality, and activity data to provide a comprehensive view of the user's overall well-being. The watch also supports menstrual cycle tracking, which allows female users to track their cycle and record symptoms directly on the watch. For safety during solo workouts, Garmin has incorporated incident detection and LiveTrack features, which send real-time location data to emergency contacts in case of an accident. This model’s connectivity to the Garmin Connect IQ store allows users to further customize their watch with a variety of third-party apps, widgets, and watch faces, enhancing its functionality and user experience.
#3 Battery Life
Coros Pace 2
One of the strongest points of the Coros Pace 2 is its exceptional battery life, offering up to 20 days in standard watch mode and 30 hours in extensive use of GPS without needing frequent recharges. This feature is particularly beneficial for ultramarathon runners or long-distance cyclists who rely on prolonged battery life during competitions or extensive training sessions.
While not matching the Coros Pace 2 in battery longevity, the Forerunner 55 still offers a solid battery performance with up to 14 days in smartwatch mode and 20 hours of continuous GPS usage. This capacity is generally sufficient for regular training sessions and can comfortably support a week's worth of workouts without the need for daily charging.
Coros Pace 2 vs Garmin Forerunner 55
Final Thoughts
Coros Pace 2 vs Garmin Forerunner 55
Both the Coros Pace 2 and Garmin Forerunner 55 offer compelling features for their price points, but your choice will depend on what aspects of a sports watch are most crucial to your training regimen. If extended battery life and a feather-light design are your priorities, the Coros Pace 2 is unbeatable. However, if you value a wide array of training features, customizable options, and additional health tracking, the Garmin Forerunner 55 might be the better fit. Each watch brings strengths that cater to different types of athletes, making them both worthy contenders in the sports watch market.
If you like to read more about Smartwatches, check out our other relevant guides here:
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