COROS released its first AMOLED-display sports watch today — and perhaps to the surprise of some, it’s debuting in the brand’s most budget-conscious watch tier: the PACE series. The new watch, called the COROS PACE Pro, ushers in other major changes, especially at this level, including mapping capabilities and significantly faster processing power.

COROS catapulted into the wearables conversation around the COVID-19 pandemic, boasting impressive battery life and catering largely to the trail running community (successfully siphoning off significant audience from Suunto and Garmin). And the PACE lineup, specifically, has been recognized as delivering one of the biggest bangs for your buck among sports watches. 

Yet with a $349 price tag — compared with the $229 launch pricing of the PACE 3 about a year ago — it will be interesting to see how users respond. But, to be sure, that higher price tag comes with significantly more features.

According to COROS, the PACE Pro has:

• Enhanced satellite chipset for better urban and backcountry tracking. The Pro has dual-band GNSS (a feature in which COROS was the industry innovator), with 31 hours of battery life in that mode.
• A 1.3-inch 1500-nit AMOLED display, which is more than Garmin’s 1000-nit Epix Pro but a hair less than the newly released Fenix 8. With the recent batter improvements in AMOLED devices, this category is widely seen as the future direction of the market.
• Offline global mapping, which is a big step up from the previous devices in the PACE series that had only breadcrumb navigation. The Pro has 32 GB of storage and can take advantage of COROS’ turn-by-turn navigation functionality that was unveiled last year.
• Improved responsiveness, including double the processor performance and triple the zoom speed of its predecessors.
• A screen consisting of reinforced mineral glass, which is generally seen as a lower-end material for modern sports watches, behind sapphire and Corning’s Gorilla Glass.

COROS also noted that the PACE Pro weighs 49 grams with a silicone band, making it the lightest AMOLED sports watch on the market. Compare that to something like the Suunto Race S Titanium, which comes in at 53 grams. However, the PACE lineup is known for its lightness largely due to the polymer bezel and casing, which isn’t going to be as robust as the titanium or steel components on something like the Race S.

Still, for users looking to shave weight, the PACE Pro is ideal, and it’s possible to shave off nearly 10 more grams by switching from a silicone to a nylon band.

“COROS PACE Pro represents more than the next evolution in our product line; it reflects our dedication to empowering athletes with the tools they need to train better,” Lewis Wu, COROS’ Co-Founder, said in a statement. “PACE Pro embodies not just our commitment to constant innovation and continuous software updates, but also to our users, who inspire us every day.”

The brand calls its app and website an “athlete-first ecosystem,” where users can get essential insights and tools to perform at their best, including Training Status, custom workouts, detailed activity summaries, and sleep analysis.

The COROS PACE Pro is available for purchase starting today in three colors (black, gray and blue) at COROS.com and at select retailers worldwide.