The Coros Pace 3 and Garmin Forerunner 165 are currently two of the best value running watches you can buy right now. If you’re weighing up which one is the better fit for you, Tester Mike (with input from the rest of the Testers team), takes you through the key differences between the two standout watches to help you work out whether you should go for the 165 or the Pace 3.
You can also check out our in-depth, multi-tester reviews of these two watches in the links below:
Garmin Forerunner 165 review:
Coros Pace 3 review:
CHAPTERS:
00:00 – Intro
01:00 – Key Design Differences
03:21 – Battery Life
04:52 – General Performance
07:27 – Software and Features
09:42: Smartwatch Features
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Hey this is M run testers and currently On my wrists I have the Gin FR 165 and The corus pay3 arguably two of the best Value running watches you can buy right Now and you'll know that because we have Very detailed multitester reviews of Both of these watches which you can Watch on the channel and we will put a Link up to those now if you're watching This video you are ultimately trying to Decide whether you should go for the 165 Or the P3 now we'll start by saying if You go for either watch you're going to Get a very good strong experience and There two watches as a team we've Collectively loved using and testing What we're going to do in this video is Really hone in on kind of key major Differences what you think are really Going to shape the experience that you Get with these watches really where they Kind of differentiate so what we're Going to do is take you through the key Differences between the 4 165 and the Chus P3 which we hopefully think will Help you decide whether you should go For the chus watch or the gun watch Which are two of the best value running Watches you can buy right Now So let's start those key design Differences because ultimately these are Two light compact watches to where and You know if that's something you want in
A running watch then both offer that now Key differences first one buttons the G For 165 has five physical buttons very Typical of garming watches in general The col Space 3 has two buttons one of Those buttons is a kind of twisting Crown style one that let you kind rotate It kind of scroll through menus and the Interface so that's really depending on Whether you want more buttons over less Buttons but you think the experience of Using them both hasn't been an issue There's no major difference really there In terms of the experience then you get Into the screen so it's different Display Technologies you're getting a Transflective LCD always on display on The cars page three so more kind of Traditional kind of watch displays or Sports watch displays on the 165 you're Getting an AMOLED display so more Typical of smart watches so things like The Samsung Galaxy watch you know those Proper kind of full kind of smart Watches so that kind of really dictates The experience you're going to get here In these two watches the Smartwatch kind Of like display on the 165 a little bit More responsive a little bit more slick Running the one on the pace three it's Also a touchcreen as well too but it has A more haptic kind of feel in terms of The experience so when you kind of Interact with it you can almost kind of
Feel it slightly vibrating when you are Kind of interacting with that display so We' say the maybe the 165 is slight more Responsive in terms of that touchcreen Just experience but if you want a Touchcreen Kind of functionality you get it on both Watches here the other thing to talk About here are straps now they are Different size straps you'll get here For the pace 3 and the 165 but they are Both removable and you do have the Option to kind of add kind of official Um kind of different kind of straps that Are offered by Garmin and chorus now the Chorus does offer silicon and nylon band Options the 65 has silicon only there Are nylon strap options in garmin's Range but ultimately isn't one for the 165 for the size for the 165 right now Maybe that will change but right now if You care about having those strap Options and we kind of light the nylon Strap and there are some kind of nice Advantages in terms of just overall Comfort and wearing it kind of dayto day But ultimately if you want those options Official options the car paace for you Will give you more on that Front battery is another decisive Factor Here if you are looking for the watch That's going to give you the best level Of battery life across the board really Whether that's going to dayto day or
When you are tracking then the corus p 3 Is going to give you the most in terms Of battery life performance now Ultimately these are two watches that Are going to comfortably get you through A week but if you want a little bit more Than that the cor p 3 is going to have The ability to do that that comes down To a few little things I think a big Part of it is the kind of display Technologies that are being used here You've got an am a display it does suck More battery life and if you've got that Screen always on and on 247 battery life Is going to drop from maybe roughly a Week to a couple of days that's Something to factor in here whereas with The display technology a display you're Get in the cars pce three it's an always On display but it just doesn't drain the Battery in the way that an Amal display Will as well other thing to kind of look Here and I think which is good about the Chorus as well on the battery front is The kind of battery usage battery modes You're getting here which I think really Gives you a good sense of you know if You want to keep an eye on how that Battery's been used and how it's Draining maybe how much you've got to Play with or getting a good idea of how Much you've got to play with the cor P Gives you a little bit more on that side In terms of that kind of you know
Management side of the battery as well Too so if you are looking for the watch That has the best battery life one of The biggest differences between these Two watches is the fact that the Pacer Is going to give you a little bit more On that front the two watch is going to Last roughly a week of worth of training But if you want a watch that goes longer It's the cars pce Through now we have to get into Performance and ultimately the Performance across these two watches has Been very very strong despite not having Matching features in all departments I Think in terms of that core running Experience you're going to get a good One on both the 165 and the choros pce But there are a couple of areas we think Maybe they do kind of slightly Differentiate in terms of that Performance now the first one is Probably we have to talk about is GPS Now the GPS support is different across These two watches now on the 165 you Have a kind of multi-gnss kind of Support there so it doesn't have that Kind of multiband mode or dual band mode It's kind of generally referred to that You do see on newer garment watches Whereas the corus Pally does have that Dualband GPS mode and that mode is Essentially there to kind improve that Kind of tracking accuracy where
Typically it can be problematic in that Kind of single band GPS mode so when You're tracking near kind of tall Buildings youve kind of deeply forested Areas I think weather you know adverse Weather conditions can affect that Performance as well too what we've seen In the GPS performance and I've kind of Gone back and used both of these watches Is actually the multi-gnss support on The 165 is been pretty good and held up Pretty well against the chus pce three But ultimately if you are looking or Hoping or wanting that kind of supreme Accuracy particularly if you're looking For maybe racing racing in a city where You know that can wreak havoc on GPS Then you're going to get something a Little bit more reliable we say on the Carus PAC just because it has that Dualband GPS mode and it's probably one Of the best dualband GPS modes we've Seen or support we've seen on a running Watch based on our testing the other one To talk about here is heart rate now These are two small like kind of compact Watches that sit very well both have Optical sensors ultimately we found that The corus pce 3's heart rate monitoring Performance has been a little bit better For us particularly in kind of the high Intensity kind of kind of interval Training where it just felt a little bit More reliable for us as a team
Collectively in our testing so Ultimately if you did want to rely on That kind of wrist Optical HR we think That cars pay3 is going to give you a Little bit more on that front in terms Of the accuracy But ultimately you're Getting the opportunity to pair external Heart rate monitor to both of these Watches and we always say if you want That Supreme accuracy and you are Governed by heart rate in your training Then that's what we do but if you are Looking for a watch that has the the Best performing risk HR for US perally Based on our testing we would say it's a Chus pace three so GPS performance very Much similar in terms of that experience But if you want that Supreme accuracy The corus p is probably going to give it To you go the optical heart rate as well We think the cor py just slightly gives You a little bit more the accuracy fun Compared to what we experiened on the 165 So talking about the kind of key Features here we' say they're pretty Level pegged on that front I think if You're looking for watches that give you Kind of good training insights kind of Reliable training insights kind of Recovery Recommendations kind of training Features in terms of uploading kind of Plans kind of following plans uploading
Workouts uploading roots and also using Kind of breadcrumb style navigation you Get that across both of these watches I Think there's a few things where they Differ I think one is the kind of Presentation of that information I think Maybe it's slightly more user friendly Across garmin's watch and also its Companion app you know they both have Their kind of areas kind of definitely Improve on that front but I think the Presentation of most of that information Is a little bit better on the Garmin Side there's a few features that maybe You get on the Garmin side is things Like daily suggested workouts but I Don't think corus doesn't have a feature Like that but ultimately I don't think It's a poor watch because it doesn't Have a kind of suggested workout style Feature and you know so that's an area Where you know it might be a big deal For people I think ultimately it's not Going to massively you know influence Your kind of you know experience of Using these as running watches there's a Little bit more on the gar in terms of Kind of HRV heart rate variability kind Of fueled recovery insights but Ultimately I think the presentation of It on the 165 isn't the most user Friendly so while it has it and the Carus generally does you know doesn't Have it here I don't think you're again
You're missing out on something there Massively in terms of the recovery or Heart rate recovery insights in terms of Fitness tracking and kind of sleep Monitoring both do that you know you're Getting a little bit more on the Sleep Monitoring side in terms of information In terms of insights on the Garmin but Ultimately both of these watches can be A little bit hit and miss in terms of That sleep tracking performance so those Are things that you are looking for in a Watch I think ultimately you're going to Get a little bit more information from The Garmin the experience and the Accuracy is probably going to be around About the same ultimately so key Features differences really being the Kind of presentation of that information The daily suggested workouts that you're Getting on the Garmin the HRV fueled Kind of recovery insights which we don't Think are that user friendly on the Garmin and then you're getting a little Bit more in terms of sleep monitoring And fitness tracking and kind of Day-to-day activity tracking on the Garmin as Well and then we get to how useful these Watches are when you're not tracking Your run so ultimately the kind of level Of smart watch support you're getting Here now if you look at what these two Watches offer and experiences the
Garment definitely has more on that frun If you look at something like Notification spot both do notifications But it's a much richer notification kind Of support on the Garmin watch and Particularly if you are pairing with an Android phone you get a little bit more In terms of viewing your messages and Images as well if you're looking at Things like payments the Garmin has Payment support the caros does not have Payment support if you are looking at Things like kind of the access to kind Of apps and downloading apps now the Carus will support kind of third party Apps and syncing and sharing data but it Doesn't have an app storefront like the G which has the IQ storefront what both Do have are music players now you both Get music players here if you go for the 165 music version obviously costs more Than a standard 165 the music play comes A standard on the carus pay 3 now the Experience of using those kind of music Players are slightly different it's more Of a kind of drag and drop situation on The corus pce 3 in terms of getting your Own music on there the Garmin 4165 music Has Wi-Fi additionally and that lets you Sync that kind of in uh that kind of Audio and that's across your own audio But also streaming services like Spotify And Diesel so the the music player Functionality is a lot richer on the
Garmin the Garmin also has music Playback control so if you're listening To something on your phone and control It from your watch you don't have that Functionality on the coros pace 3 the Other thing to talk about here is Connectivity so on the Gan fro 165 you Have Bluetooth and you have amp plus Connectivity if you go for 165 music you Get the Wi-Fi function it and that's There really to kind of sync your music Over on the watch or from the watch on The corus pay3 you're getting Bluetooth You're not getting an plus you are Getting Wi-Fi but you're only really Getting that to kind of sync your data You know as another way o over kind of Blube so it's not about syncing your Kind of audio over Wi-Fi it's really About syncing your data offering an Alternative way to do that so ultimately If you are looking for the best Smartwatch experience the Garment is Ultimately going to give you a lot more Okay okay so there you have it those are What we consider the key differences are Between the Gan 41 165 and the cars Pace 3 hopefully that gave you a bit sense of How these watches compare and which one May be a better fit for you but Ultimately as we said in the start of The video these are two the best value Running watches you can buy right now Now if you want to hear more about these
Watches or compared to any other watches That we have tested do let us know in The comments as always like And Subscribe hit that little bell to find Out about our latest videos and yeah We'll see you for the next round Test's Video