Garmin Forerunner 165 vs Coros Pace 3: Which Budget Running Watch Should You Buy?

Introduction

The Garmin Forerunner 165 and the Coros Pace 3 are arguably two of the best value running watches you can buy right now. Whichever one you choose, you are getting a strong, well-rounded experience, and both have earned plenty of praise from testers who have lived with them over long training blocks.

Rather than rehashing every spec, this comparison focuses on the key differences that actually shape day-to-day use: design, battery life, GPS and heart rate performance, training features, and how useful each watch is when you are not running. By the end, you should have a clear sense of which watch fits your training and lifestyle better.

Design and Display

Both watches are light and compact, which is exactly what most runners want. The main design difference comes down to buttons. The Forerunner 165 has five physical buttons, a very typical Garmin layout. The Pace 3 has just two, one of which is a twisting crown that lets you rotate and scroll through menus and the interface. In practice, neither approach causes issues, so this is largely a matter of preference.

The displays use different technology. The Pace 3 uses a transflective LCD with an always-on display, a more traditional sports watch approach. The 165 uses an AMOLED display, more typical of full smartwatches, and it feels a little more responsive and slick to interact with. Both are touchscreens, though the Pace 3’s has a slightly more haptic feel, with a subtle vibration as you interact with it.

Straps differ too. Both watches support removable straps with official options from Garmin and Coros, but Coros offers both silicone and nylon bands for the Pace 3, while the 165 currently has silicone options only for its strap size. If a lighter nylon band for all-day comfort matters to you, the Pace 3 gives you more official choices right now.

Battery Life

Battery is one of the most decisive differences. Both watches will comfortably get you through a week, but if you want more than that, the Pace 3 is the stronger performer across the board, in daily use and while tracking.

The display technology plays a big role here. The 165’s AMOLED display drains more battery, and with the screen always on 24/7, battery life can drop from roughly a week to a couple of days. The Pace 3’s transflective display is always on but does not drain the battery the way an AMOLED panel will. Coros also offers useful battery modes and management tools, giving you a clearer picture of how battery is being used and how much you have left to play with.

If you want the longest battery life and better battery management, the Pace 3 is the watch to pick.

Performance: GPS and Heart Rate

Despite not matching each other feature for feature, the core running experience is very strong on both watches. There are, however, a couple of areas where they differentiate.

On GPS, the Forerunner 165 offers multi-GNSS support but lacks the multiband or dual-band mode found on newer Garmin watches. The Pace 3 does have a dual-band GPS mode, which is designed to improve tracking accuracy in places where single-band GPS struggles, such as near tall buildings, in deeply forested areas, or in adverse weather. In testing, the multi-GNSS support on the 165 has held up well against the Pace 3, but if you want supreme accuracy, particularly for city racing where tall buildings can wreak havoc on GPS, the Pace 3’s dual-band mode is more reliable and is among the best dual-band implementations seen on a running watch.

Heart rate is a similar story. Both are compact watches with optical sensors that sit well on the wrist, but the Pace 3’s wrist heart rate monitoring has felt slightly more reliable, particularly during high-intensity interval training. Both watches let you pair an external heart rate monitor, which is always the best route if supreme accuracy governs your training. But if you want the best-performing wrist HR without extra gear, the Pace 3 has the edge.

Training Features

On core training features, the two watches are pretty level pegged. Both deliver reliable training insights, recovery recommendations, support for uploading and following training plans, workouts, and routes, plus breadcrumb-style navigation.

The differences are mostly about presentation and a few extras. Garmin presents information slightly more user-friendly, both on the watch and in its companion app. The 165 also offers features the Pace 3 does not, such as daily suggested workouts, plus additional HRV and fueled recovery insights and a bit more depth in sleep monitoring and fitness tracking. That said, the presentation of the recovery insights on the 165 is not the most user-friendly, and sleep tracking accuracy on both watches can be a little hit and miss, so you are not missing out on anything massive with the Pace 3.

Everyday Smartwatch Support

Away from running, Garmin clearly offers more. Notifications work on both, but the Forerunner 165 has richer notification support, especially when paired with an Android phone, where you get more for viewing messages and images.

Payments are another clear gap: the Garmin has payment support, the Coros does not. The 165 also has an app storefront, while the Pace 3 supports third-party apps and data syncing but has no storefront of its own.

Both watches have music players, though with different conditions. The music player is standard on the Pace 3 and uses a drag-and-drop approach for your own audio. On the 165 Music, which costs more than the standard version, Wi-Fi syncing lets you load your own audio as well as content from streaming services like Spotify, and the Garmin also supports music playback controls from the watch, something the Pace 3 lacks.

Connectivity reflects those differences. The 165 offers Bluetooth and ANT+ connectivity, with Wi-Fi added on the Music version for syncing audio. The Pace 3 has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, but its Wi-Fi is mainly for syncing data as an alternative to Bluetooth rather than for audio.

If the best smartwatch experience matters to you, Garmin is the clear choice.

Conclusion

Both the Garmin Forerunner 165 and the Coros Pace 3 are excellent value running watches, and neither is a bad pick. The 165 is the better all-round smartwatch, with a slicker AMOLED display, payments, an app storefront, and richer notification and music support. The Pace 3 counters with longer battery life, dual-band GPS, better wrist heart rate reliability, and more official strap options.

If you want the most capable everyday companion, go Garmin. If you want maximum battery life and top-tier tracking accuracy for your running, go Coros. Either way, you are getting one of the best value running watches available right now.