Coros Pace 4 vs Garmin Forerunner 165: Two Entry-Level Running Watches, Two Different Philosophies

Introduction

Few running watch comparisons are as close as this one. The Coros Pace 4 and the Garmin Forerunner 165 sit at the affordable end of the GPS running watch market, and they match each other on size, build, screen quality, and even core tracking accuracy. Yet they make noticeably different trade-offs, and those differences should drive your decision.

After extensive side-by-side testing, including training and racing with both, one clear pattern emerged: the Pace 4 is the richer, more running-focused tool with better battery life, while the Forerunner 165 is the friendlier, smarter all-rounder for beginners. Neither is a bad choice, but the right one depends on what you value.

Design and Everyday Wear

Both watches are small, compact, and built from plastic, which keeps them very lightweight and comfortable enough to wear around the clock. Each comes in one size, roughly the same footprint, so neither gains an advantage in screen estate. They also feel well made despite the cheaper materials, and both are genuinely good-looking if you like dinky little plastic watches.

The AMOLED screens are bright, vibrant, and easy to read, with the Garmin arguably feeling a touch sharper and swiping through its menus a little slicker. There’s little to separate them on daily visibility.

Controls are the most meaningful design difference. The Forerunner 165 carries five physical buttons, while the Pace 4 uses three buttons plus a digital crown. Button runners tend to prefer the Garmin layout, and some testers found the crown occasionally triggered by accident, leaning on button lock to prevent it. Fans of digital crowns, however, will prefer the Coros, which also supports more emphasis on touchscreen use. The Coros also squeezes more mid-run stats onto its screen, up to eight data fields, while the Forerunner 165 is restricted to four. If you like dense stat screens during runs, that’s a genuine Coros advantage.

GPS and Heart Rate Accuracy

Accuracy is largely a tie in practice, despite a paper difference. The Coros Pace 4 has multi-band GPS; the Forerunner 165 is single-band. In real-world testing, including built-up race environments like a city half marathon and a winter 10K, the 165 held its own against pricier multi-band watches, matching their routes closely. Still, if you regularly run twisty routes through dense city centres, the Pace 4’s multi-band tracking offers more peace of mind.

Heart rate tracking is good on both, with typical optical sensor behaviour: some runs match a chest strap beat for beat, others produce brief errors that self-correct quickly rather than ruining the whole run. Neither is infallible. The compact case size on both watches helps achieve a reliable wrist fit, which itself improves optical performance.

Training Features and Analysis

This is where the watches diverge most. Garmin restricts its deeper training tools to more expensive watches, so the Forerunner 165 gets a fairly stripped-back analysis experience: a recovery advisor, race predictions, and daily suggested workouts. Those suggested workouts are a real highlight for beginners or anyone needing training inspiration, though the recommended intensity can occasionally swing wildly depending on how the watch reads your overnight recovery.

The Coros Pace 4, by contrast, gets the full suite of training analysis found on Coros’s pricier watches, including training load, suggested weekly training load, and more comprehensive running performance metrics. It also supports interval workouts, training plans, strength training guidance, and multi-sport modes, something the Forerunner 165 lacks entirely. For triathletes or anyone combining disciplines, that’s a big plus, and the Pace 4 can even connect to cycling power meters.

Garmin still presents its health and training insights better on the watch and in the Garmin Connect app. Connect isn’t perfect, but it offers more to dig into and feels more like a coaching tool. For overall breadth of training data, though, the Coros wins.

Smartwatch Smarts and Battery Life

On smartwatch features, the Garmin is the slicker, richer option. Both watches handle notifications, weather, and music controls, but the Forerunner 165 adds more actionable notifications, and the Music version adds offline Spotify plus Wi-Fi connectivity for a little extra money. Garmin Pay works in the UK and the US, and Garmin’s watch face customization is far more flexible, letting you add stats and weather data freely. The Pace 4 offers 4 GB of drag-and-drop MP3 storage, but no streaming services and no NFC payments, an approach Coros deliberately keeps focused rather than comprehensive.

Battery life is the Pace 4’s strongest suit. With the always-on display enabled, the Coros reliably pushes through around five days of high-mileage daily training, while the Forerunner 165 manages closer to three or four days under the same conditions. With raise-to-wake use, the Coros comfortably covers a full week of training and everyday use.

The gap also shows in single-stint GPS battery life. In maximum accuracy modes, the Forerunner 165 burned roughly 5% per hour of running, compared with 2 to 3% on the Pace 4. Over a four-hour marathon, the 165 used around 20%, which is still respectable, but ultra runners will appreciate the Coros’s staying power. A nice touch: the Pace 4 ships with a keychain-style portable charger, while the Garmin uses a more conventional charging cable.

Overall Buying Advice

Both watches are strong entry-level options with comparable accuracy, similar lightweight designs, and bright AMOLED screens. Choose the Garmin Forerunner 165 if you’re a beginner runner who wants the most approachable experience, richer health tracking with tools like body battery, stress, sleep, and nap tracking, plus smartwatch conveniences such as offline music and NFC payments. Note that the 165 has been on the market longer, so sales can make even the Music version competitive on price.

Choose the Coros Pace 4 if you want the best running-focused value: fuller training analysis, multi-band GPS, multi-sport support, more data fields per screen, and noticeably better battery life in daily use and long single efforts. For keen runners who prioritize staying power and training depth over smartwatch extras, the Pace 4 is the more complete package, and it’s the newer watch of the two.

Conclusion

You won’t be disappointed with either watch, but they reward different buyers. The Forerunner 165 is the friendlier first running watch with smarter everyday features, while the Coros Pace 4 delivers more running substance for the money, from training load insight to multi-band GPS to battery life that simply lasts longer. If battery and advanced training metrics top your list, the Pace 4 earns the pick; if beginner-friendliness and smartwatch polish matter more, the Forerunner 165 is your watch.