Coros PACE 2 Accuracy

Return to Coros PACE 2 Review I've tested the Pace 2's accuracy for running, cycling and swimming over a variety of terrains and in a variety of conditions, including performing some standard tests to allow comparisons with many other GPS sports watches. The bottom line is that NOT ONE GPS sports watch on the market today can give you an accurate pace in all reasonable running scenarios. Sad but true. Conversely, most GPS watches will give you a generally good track of where you've been today. If you want an accurate pace then you need a footpod like STRYD. Optical HR *CAN* be meaningfully accurate but whether or not you get good levels of accuracy will depend on very many factors linked to your physiology, how you run and environmental conditions. I always recommend a chest strap if you want a much better chance of accurate HR. Elevation accuracy can be very good on some devices depending on the method used. The Coros Pace 2 uses GPS-based altimetry which is generally the least-good method. Nevertheless, it should be mostly alright in conditions where a half-decent GPS signal can be obtained. Hopefully, that's set your expectations LOW! Now let's build it up with the results of lots of tests. GNSS/GPS Accuracy Coros recommend you use GPS+QZSS or GPS+GLONASS with the Sony chip. Apparently, at the time of writing, the further option of the global BeiDou satellite constellation is not yet properly fine-tuned (I have tested it on other Coros watches). I used GPS+QZSS for my testing. Running One of my first runs with the Pace 2 was one of my 'round the block' runs. I was very excited by the Pace 2 (Gps, Pink) which was a bit better than both the FR945 (Glonass, Red) and the Vertix (Beidou, Yellow). [gallery type="rectangular" size="medium" ids="52255,52252,52253,52254"] Another run mostly under low but fairly dense tree cover also had the Coros Pace 2 out on top compared to the FR945 (Green, GLONASS) and the Coros Vertix (Beidou, Red). Coros+BeiDou is clearly not up to the job but Coros Pace 2+GPS was certainly as good/better than the Garmin, although each alternated slightly better performances over the other at various parts of the route. [gallery type="rectangular" size="medium" ids="52260,52256,52257,52258,52259"] A Formal Running GPS Test From the Suunto Ambit (Blue), here is the 'Best' ever track over my standard route compared to the Pace 2 (GPS, Green), Vertix (Beidou, Yellow) and 945 (Glonass, Red). The Pace 2 didn't score that well and wasn't quite as good as the 945, however, the score somewhat obscures what was a generally reasonable performance but with the track too often running too far away and parallel to the real route. I was a little surprised with this result and, based on other runs, had expected a notably better score. It is what it is...I'll try a re-run with GLONASS (the FR945 has had MANY re-runs) Link: FIT Files, Spreadsheets Results, Methodology [gallery type="rectangular" size="medium" link="file" ids="52157,52150,52151,52152,52153,52154,52155,52156"] Cycling GPS Accuracy Bolt (Blue), Coros (GPS, Red), 945 (GLONASS, Yellow). Surprisingly the Coros Pace was consistently the best here beating both the 945 and Bolt. The main takeout from this tale of 5 rural hills was that the Bolt didn't like tree cover and I didn't like 21% gradients. [gallery type="rectangular" size="medium" ids="52212,52201,52202,52203,52204,52205,52206,52207,52208,52209,52210,52211"] Turning to a mostly suburban ride plus a few trees then the Coros Pace 2 excelled here, again beating all-comers. With only trivial glitches, the Pace 2 (Red, GPS) trounced the Wahoo Bolt (Green), Edge 820 (Gps, Yellow), FR 945 (Glonass, pink) [gallery type="rectangular" size="medium" ids="52229,52216,52217,52218,52219,52220,52221,52222,52224,52225,52226,52227"] Another suburban ride over some of STRAVA's most popular segments and there is zero to report here. Coros Pace 2 (Red, GPS), Elemnt Bolt (Blue), FR 945 (Glonass, green). [gallery type="rectangular" size="medium" ids="52235,52231,52232,52233,52234"] Swimming GPS Accuracy Here there is only one comparator. The FR945 in red IS better but I would be perfectly happy with that track from the Coros for 3 laps of Shepperton Lake (about 2k). Running Pace In good GPS conditions, the Pace 2 showed a pace that matched STRYD give or take a second or two per km. Slightly harder conditions, like moderate tree cover, caused the pace to vary by 10-15 seconds/km from STRYD - that sounds bad but it is quite a bit better than many other devices which would fall in the 20 to >30 secs/km from the true pace in similar conditions. ie others would be unusable Heart Rate Accuracy Running Perfect here for extended, steady-state running After a few, small initial wobbles, this effort was pretty good too Zero problems here Cycling This was over an at-times bumpy ride and the Coros loses the plot on several occasions (only one comparator, but the Coros IS the one that is recording unusually high and unusually low values [caption id="attachment_52192" align="aligncenter" width="1321"] Oops no Elevate on the 945.[/caption] Another bumpy one, not quite so bad but I've highlighted the issues. This is a shorter, smoother ride with some near-maximal 1-minute (ish) efforts up some hills. There are some interesting anomalies where the Coros and Polar agree but differ to the Tickr. My Tickr strap may have been a little loose. I'd say this kind of performance is fine. This was on a turbo trainer so zero bumps. Here the OH1 had a 'moment' but the Coros was near-perfect. Coros Pace 2 Elevation Accuracy The Pace 2 (red) is pretty good here I would say when compared to the correct elevation (Green) Less good here but only one hill to deal with and the error is only 10m or so. Finally, there is a 7m or so error here over some 'bumps' but otherwise fine. Accuracy Take Out The Coros Pace 2 is a reasonably accurate GPS sports device in my experience. Overall the GNSS tracks seem highly comparable to the Garmin 945 but it's optical HR sensor, whilst potentially good, is not quite as good as Garmin's Elevate, in my experience. The GPS altimetry was surprisingly good but not especially noteworthy for the use cases of most runners. In as few words as possible?: "Like Garmin" Return to Coros PACE 2 Review