Garmin Forerunner 165 vs COROS Pace 3

Garmin Forerunner 165 vs COROS Pace 3 is a running-watch fight: an AMOLED training face and Garmin Coach on one side, a 30-gram dual-frequency brick that lasts a long weekend on the other. If you want a bright touchscreen and a Garmin ecosystem you already live in, buy the Forerunner 165. If you want battery and a light watch you will still wear on a Tuesday XC, buy the Pace 3. Most people coming from a phone should own the 165. The Pace 3 is the runner who already hates charging.

Short version. Yesterday’s Speedcross still wants a sock. This page is the watch. A hiking watch under 100 is a G-Shock brick. Ski watches are the GPS-or-brick fork on snow. Check live prices. House-mile the shoe. Write the turnaround on the watch. A watch does not make a dark leaf carpet a good idea.

This is a comparison of two current GPS running watches you can still buy. It is not a Fenix cathedral and it is not a discount-store step counter. Forerunner 165 is Garmin’s current easy AMOLED runner: 43 mm, built-in GPS, training effect, recovery, morning report, up to 11 days in smartwatch language on Garmin’s sheet, 19 hours GPS language, 50 m. Music is a different SKU. Pace 3 is COROS’s current light runner: 1.2-inch transflective, dual-frequency GPS, 30 grams on nylon in COROS’s sheet, 38 hours GPS or 24 days daily-use language, breadcrumb nav. Confirm 165, not 265. Confirm Pace 3, not Pace 2.

Confirm Forerunner 165 / 010-02863-20-class and Pace 3 / W331. Music is 165 Music, a different box. A leftover 265 photo titled as 165 is a dump. A Pace 2 leftover is a different COROS.

Who should buy the Forerunner 165, and who should buy the Pace 3?

Buy the 165 if you want a bright face, Garmin Coach, and a watch that talks to a phone you already pair with a Garmin. Buy the Pace 3 if you hate charging and you run in noon sun where AMOLED washes. Buy neither if you wanted full-color maps and a flashlight on the bezel. That is a different Garmin and a different Saturday. The first cool September mornings is the sit these watches are for.

Tuesday XC still wants a sock and a turnaround. Speedcross 6 is the mud lug. A watch does not grip wet leaf. A watch writes the time you said you would turn around.

What the Forerunner 165 is actually for

Forerunner 165 is Garmin’s current easy runner: AMOLED touch plus buttons, pace and distance and wrist heart rate, training effect labels, recovery time, morning report, daily suggested workouts, Garmin Coach plans, smartphone notifications. Garmin’s sheet says up to 11 days smartwatch and 19 hours GPS. Those are Garmin’s numbers, not a promise you will ignore charging after every bright-always-on week. 50 m water rating is swim language, not a dive watch. A dive watch is a different page.

The Garmin Forerunner 165 black is the live 010-02863-20 we named. Confirm 165, not 165 Music unless you wanted music on the wrist. Check live prices. Whitestone is the other color. A leftover 245 or 265 photo titled as 165 is a dump.

Do: pair the phone, set a lap, write the turnaround before you leave the lot. Don’t: a first interval workout you learned in the dark. Race socks still matter more than a face you have not dimmed. A watch that blinds you on a night start is a brightness you should have set at the table.

What the Pace 3 is actually for

Pace 3 is COROS’s current light runner: 11.7 mm thin in COROS’s sheet, about 30 grams on the nylon band, 1.2-inch transflective touch, dual-frequency GPS, 38 hours GPS or 24 days daily-use language, breadcrumb navigation you build in the COROS app, modes for run, trail, bike, swim, ski. Always-on on a transflective face is a different battery story than always-on AMOLED. Noon sun is why people finish on COROS. A dark basement gym is why people miss AMOLED.

The COROS Pace 3 white silicone is the live W331 we named. Confirm Pace 3. Check live prices. Black silicone and nylon are other bands. A leftover Pace 2 is a different chip and a different battery story.

Monday gravel still wants a computer if the other Saturday is already a bike. The Pace 3 will log a ride. A bike computer is the bar. This is the wrist.

Battery language is a sheet. Charging is a Tuesday.

Garmin’s 11 days and COROS’s 24 days are smartwatch language with GPS off most of the hour. GPS hours are the number that matters on a long Sunday. Charge before a race you care about. A 10 percent start is a speech at mile 18. Date the cable. A unique COROS charger is a cable you do not leave in a hotel. Garmin’s cable is a cable you already own if you live in Garmin.

Always-on AMOLED eats the 165 faster than a button-only face. Dim it. Transflective Pace 3 reads outside without begging for backlight. Inside, you will click a light. That is the fork. A brick never charges and never tells you pace. Pick the job.

Dual-frequency is a city canyon. A park loop is either watch.

Pace 3’s dual-frequency chip is why COROS talks about tall buildings and tree cover. A Tuesday XC in a hardwood is still a Tuesday XC. Either watch will draw a loop you can live with if you start GPS before you start running. A first lock at the start line is a sausage track. Wait for the lock. Then go.

Breadcrumb on the Pace 3 is a line you built in the app. It is not a full map you pinch like a phone. The 165 is not a cartographer either. If you need maps, you are shopping a different Garmin. Leaves on the trail still wants paper and a lamp. A watch is a wrist. A watch is not a map in a pocket.

The shoe and the sock are the other half of a watch you will still wear

A 165 does not grip wet leaf. Speedcross 6 is the mud lug. A rail trail wants a different shoe. House-mile the last. The Darn Tough micro crew is the live merino we named when cotton is a blister. Check live prices. Blisters still start with a sock you have already worn.

Write the turnaround on the watch before you leave the lot. Equinox dark comes early. Tuesday XC already said that. A watch that says 6:12 does not make 6:12 legal light on a hunt trail you should not be running. Stay on the corridor you are allowed to use.

What this fight is not

It is not a cheap hiking brick. It is not a ski computer. It is not a tactical smartwatch. It is two running watches, plus the mud shoe for wet leaf. Confirm 165. Confirm Pace 3. A leftover 265 photo titled as 165 is a dump.

Race socks still finish a mud mile. Cool mornings still want a layer. Check live prices.

Wrist numbers are estimates. A chest strap is a different Saturday.

Both watches estimate heart rate at the wrist. Garmin says the data is a close estimation. Treat it that way. A chest strap is the other sensor if you train by zones you actually believe. If you already own one that pairs, pair it. If you do not, the wrist is still a useful story for easy days and a worse story for intervals you care about.

Sleep and recovery scores are coaches, not doctors. A red recovery face does not diagnose you. It says go easy. Leave some tank is the longer sermon. A watch that nags you into a rest day is a watch you should listen to once in a while.

The cable is the other SKU. Date it like a CR2.

Garmin’s charger is a clip you already own if a Forerunner or a Fenix lives in the house. COROS uses a unique cable. That cable is the one you do not leave in a hotel. Pack a spare if the other Saturday is already a race. A 10 percent start is a speech at mile 18. Charge the night before a race you care about. Always-on AMOLED on the 165 eats more than a dim face. Dim it for a long Sunday. Transflective Pace 3 reads outside without begging. Inside, click the light. That is the fork, not a moral.

Music on the wrist is 165 Music, a different box with storage. The watch in this comparison is the standard 165. If you run without a phone and you want playlists on the watch, buy Music and confirm the listing. Pace 3 will hold a few hours of audio on some firmware stories. Confirm the live COROS sheet if that is the job. A leftover 265 photo titled as 165 is still a dump. A brick never needs a cable and never tells you pace.

50 meters is a pool. It is not a dive watch.

Both of these will survive a pool and a rain. Rinse chlorine. Dry the band. A silicone band that never leaves the wrist is a rash you will treat later. Swap to nylon on a long week or wash the silicone. A dive watch is a different page with a different rating. Do not free-dive a Forerunner and call it a computer. Lap swim on the 165 is a Garmin mode. Pace 3 will log a swim. Neither replaces a coach who can see your kick.

Wrist heart rate in the water is a worse story than wrist heart rate on an easy road. Treat the number as a sketch. A chest strap you already own is the other sensor if the set matters. If you do not own one, the watch is still a useful clock. Leave some tank still applies after a pool Tuesday.

Garmin Coach is a plan. COROS Training Hub is a different app.

If you already live in Garmin Connect, the 165 is the watch that does not ask you to learn a new church. Daily suggested workouts, training effect labels, recovery time, a morning report — those are Garmin’s sentences. They are coaches, not doctors. COROS Training Hub will build plans and read a Pace 3. It is a good app. It is still a new login. A first GPS watch is easier when the phone already talks to a Garmin. A runner who already hates Garmin’s menus is why Pace 3 exists.

Write the turnaround before you leave the lot. A watch that says you have one mile left does not make a black leaf carpet a good idea. Tuesday XC still wants a lamp for the dark start. Speedcross 6 still wants a house mile. The watch is the clock. The shoe is the grip.

So which running watch should you buy?

Buy the Garmin Forerunner 165 if you want AMOLED and Garmin Coach and you already live in Garmin. Buy the COROS Pace 3 if you want battery, a light wrist, and a face you can read at noon. Our default for a first GPS watch is the 165. Our default for a runner who already hates charging is the Pace 3. Lock GPS before you go. Write the turnaround. Wear a sock that is not cotton. Check live prices. A watch in a drawer is a receipt.

The Speedcross still wants a house mile. Tuesday XC still wants a lamp for the dark start. A watch that says you are fast is a number. A watch that gets you home before the leaf carpet is black is a run.

Also in the magazine

Keep going with Speedcross 6, a hiking watch under 100, cool September mornings, and blisters. Check live prices.