Garmin Forerunner 165 vs Coros Pace Pro

The Garmin Forerunner 165 democratizes Garmin's modern running experience, bringing a crisp 1.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen, 5-button physical lap controls, barometric altimeter, and adaptive Garmin Coach race plans down to $249. While it omits dual-frequency L1+L5 GNSS and Training Readiness to protect the Forerunner 265, its 11-day battery life and 39-gram comfort make it the best entry-level running watch available.

The Coros Pace Pro answers the single biggest request from COROS fans: pairing the featherweight 37-gram Pace silhouette with a blindingly bright 1,500-nit 1.3-inch AMOLED display and 32GB of fast-rendering global offline maps. Powered by a next-generation Ambiq processor that pans topo trails twice as fast as legacy GPS watches while holding 31 hours of dual-frequency GNSS, it directly undercuts the Forerunner 265 and 965.