Garmin → Coros, why do people switch away from the market leader to the challenger brand
The running watch war is fiercer than ever. For years, Garmin dominated with features galore, but Coros—the challenger brand—has successfully won thousands of loyal users by delivering superior battery life and a cleaner interface. We dived into the latest Reddit and Garmin forum discussions to update our research from earlier in the year. Here is a real-life breakdown of why runners are switching from the market leader to the challenger, and more importantly, what they miss when they do.
18 Reasons given for Switching to Coros
- Battery Life: Coros offers the very best battery life, essential for Ultras. OPINION: True, but Garmin’s solar models are close.
- Lightweight Design & Comfort: Coros has featherlight watches like the Pace 3. OPINION: True but… Some Garmin Forerunners are also very light (Fenix/Vertix models are heavy for both brands).
- Simpler & More Focused Features: Essential metrics without Garmin’s perceived “data bloat” (e.g., Body Battery, Endurance Score). OPINION. True. However, Coros is rapidly adding more features.
- User-Friendly Watch Interface: The menu system is easier to navigate, especially using the digital crown. OPINION: True.
- Better Pricing: Historically, better features at a lower price. OPINION: True, but Coros is actively raising prices (Pace Pro, Apex 4). Coros rarely discounts, while competitors often do.
- More Trail-Running Focus: Some perceive Coros as having better support for trail runners. OPINION: False. This is mainly due to Coros’ strong marketing; Garmin still offers more trail-specific features and maps.
- Faster, Smoother OS: The operating system is snappier and smoother in day-to-day usage. OPINION: True. Garmin may even artificially lower device speeds to preserve battery life.
- Better GPS Accuracy: Some prefer Coros’ GPS tracking in challenging environments. OPINION: False. Both brands are similarly accurate and unlikely to see major future improvement.
- User-Friendly App Interface: Clean and intuitive design. OPINION: True, though Garmin Connect has improved despite its complexity.
- Integrated Power Metrics: Coros provides built-in running power calculated from the wrist. OPINION: True. So does Garmin. Although external pods (Stryd) are more accurate, Coros’ power metrics are integrated more naturally than Garmin’s.
- No Subscriptions: Garmin has services like MAPS+ and inReach, with the controversial paywall for Connect+. OPINION: True but Minor. The controversial nature of Connect+ is a key differentiator, as Garmin plans to put future premium features behind this paywall.
- Sturdier Build: More durable, premium materials are often available more cheaply. OPINION: Broadly True.
- Minimalist Ecosystem: Running-focused, fewer extras. OPINION: Mostly True, but Coros is actively adding non-running features.
- Easier Routes: Simpler creation and integration. OPINION: False. Garmin is generally better for native route creation and syncing, though Coros has improved on-watch navigation.
- More Updates: Frequent firmware releases. OPINION: Mostly True. Coros is playing catch-up and can add new features more easily.
- Platform Reliability: Fewer sync issues and outages. OPINION: Generally True, though Garmin is also reliable.
- Accessory Compatibility: Cheaper, native. OPINION: False. Garmin is better, largely due to superior ANT+ support.
- Buggy software: Bugs well after launch. OPINION: True. Garmin watches often have notable bugs over a year after launch.
But it’s a two-way street, and some people moving to Coros miss some Garmin features they once enjoyed.
Things Users Miss from Garmin
- Garmin PacePro & Race Planning: Highly valued for pacing, especially on hilly courses. OPINION: True.
- Advanced Training & Coaching: Features like Daily Suggested Workouts and Garmin Coach are more advanced. OPINION: True.
- Music & Smart Features: Coros still lacks streaming music and contactless payments. OPINION: True. (Note: Some Coros models now support MP3/offline music).
- More Button Controls: Preference for Garmin’s 5-button layout over Coros’ scroll dial during workouts. OPINION: It depends on the task; buttons are superior for workout execution.
- Better Ecosystem & App Integration: Garmin’s longstanding ecosystem (Connect, bike computers, sensors) is superior. OPINION: True.
- Custom Watch Faces: Connect IQ has a wider range. OPINION. True, but the store’s organisation and discoverability are poor.
- Advanced Maps: Richer mapping, superior specialist map subscriptions, and smart on-device routing. OPINION: Mostly True.
- Body Battery: A much-loved daily stress/energy feature. OPINION: TRUE.
- LED Flashlight: Widely expected in Apex 4 but missing. OPINION: True. Coros missed a cheap-to-add opportunity to match one of garmin’s much-loved features.
October 2025: The Verdict—Who Should Buy Which?
Your decision depends on your running style and preferences. Here is the simple choice:
- Choose COROS if you are an Ultrarunner or more Minimalist. Prioritise a clean, fast interface and the absolute longest battery life. You don’t need music, advanced maps, or NFC payments.
- Choose GARMIN if you are a Data Nerd, a Multi-Sport Athlete, or need daily smart features (music, payments). You want the most advanced maps and structured training guidance, like PacePro.
The Takeaway: A two-year-old discounted Garmin usually beats a new Coros on features and price, but a 3-year-old Coros is still good enough for 99% of runners simply looking for reliability and a great training watch.
Coros Darkness – Does This New Look Signal a Shift In Its Watch Strategy?
Where to Buy:
Find the best Coros deals here and
Check the latest Garmin prices here.
Join the Discussion: Why did you switch, and are you happy?
Last Updated on 11 March 2026 by the5krunner
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors.
Apparently also Coros offers a nearly total absence of security from Bluetooth and trivial API key disclosure to take over an account. And a really, really prominent brand stamp or engraving on the bezel.
Holding those things aside.
I’m not sure there is a meaningful tide of people switching from Garmin to Coros. At just very high level numbers, Garmin has revenue of around $6.4 billion and around 60% of that is from fitness and outdoors — call it $3.8 billion. Whereas my understanding is that Coros has revenue around $30-50 million. That is a 100x difference.
I also don’t really see a lot of Coros devices in the real world around me outside of YouTube. I see a lot of Apple Watches and then various Garmin devices. I know a few people in a cost sensitive market in Southern Africa that have Coros and Suunto devices but most people will get a discounted slightly older Garmin or second hand Garmin before those options.
You kind of allude to this in your piece but a Fenix 7 / Epix 2 / enduro 2 era device is generally available new at prices that are competitive or even lower than these other brands but have features they don’t and never will. I think the actual biggest knock on Garmin is the asking price of new models before the discount cycle begins and the sometimes-sluggishness of map tiles.
Coros has done an amazing job of sponsoring a ton of athletes and content creator influencers. The fact that people even mention Coros is even in the conversation is a testament to an excellent marketing campaign in my eyes.
yes these were the hijack flaws: https://the5krunner.com/2025/06/30/exposed-coros-users-face-hijack-risk-from-bluetooth-flaw/
I doubted people were switchng too, at least from my peer group. but it seems that the brand is popular in various niche marets – climbing, ultra, bikepacking. all small ones. I’ve heard a few anecdotal stories about younger people using the brand 9a growing segment for new watch buyers), something I might miss normally. – the android app has OVER 500k downloads that must be at least $150m of retail watch sales for starters. plus those that use iOS, plus more for those that bought the higher priced watches. and so on
I would agree they’ve bought a lot of wrists (ambassadors rather than reviewers)…fair enough , all brands do that. Coros has punched above its weight and, with ultras, has chosen its wrists wisely.
first/second gen garmin watches – not sure there is any knock on garmin. IDK. we will see when the new quarterly results come out very soon. its sales keep rising so they must be doing something right. could they do even better? sure.
Yes. I think the larger opportunity for Coros is getting new buyers who are getting into their sport after finding a phone or apple watch not suitable rather than dislodging core Garmin users.
I think Coros sponsors Tommy Caldwell who is a legendary and charismatic climber. It is exactly like sponsoring Killian in the trail running world. They also have Jakob Ingebritsen and Eliud Kipchoge. Garmin I feel historically is pretty stingy with sponsorship given their prominence in sport — mostly pro cycling teams. Although they do seem to have Connor Mantz and Emily Sisson and others as sponsored athlete, now.
My sense is that Garmin does not spread product sponsorships around anything like as freely as Coros.
It’s a really good strategy for Coros because their sponsorships are exactly what is creating that impression that they are superior in climbing and trails.
There was a point when Coros released the Vertix 2 that it was just mind-bogglingly massive battery range that nobody else had. Suunto and Garmin have similar range now and the Vertix 2s actually pulled back the range a little bit. I think if pressed today I would rather Suunto Vertical 2 than a Coros if I had to give up my Garmin.
To your point, I would like to see how Suunto compares with new watch buyers especially in Europe. Suunto unlike Coros used to compete quite well with Garmin back in the Fenix 1 days. There were a lot of Ambits in the world. This is very different than Coros trying to pull up a chair to a table that was already taken.
I suspect Garmin went and ate in the restaurant next door.
yes.
of course Whoop personifies the use of ambassadors
Could give Amazfit T-Rex 3 Pro a chance too!
Could give Amazfit T-Rex 3 Pro a chance too!
You forgot to mention lack of integrated flashlight in Coros.
I did indeed.
these were not my statements of what was missing but, you’re right, i defintiely recall a few threads on the omission of a flashlight
will add
All Chinese companies are under the strict control of the Chinese government. If you refuse, your company will be taken over, like Alibaba’s Jack Ma.
Even Apple, which has nearly all of its manufacturing plants in China, accedes to the Chinese government’s demands (though it refuses to comply with US government demands, lol).
The Chinese government can turn Chinese companies’ IT and IoT devices into tools for its government at any time. Chinese companies can’t refuse its demands.
Why are Chinese products cheap?
1. Cheap labor and long working hours
2. Chinese government subsidies
3. Ignorance of intellectual property rights and patent infringement
Chinese products aren’t justifiably cheap.
check out this post: https://the5krunner.com/2025/04/21/are-garmin-watches-made-in-china-or-the-usa/
basically everything is made in china. even tag heaur’s new smartwatch says made in china on the back!
there are only a tiny number of exceptions, garmin being one and that’s made in taiwan.
Of course I know. I use a Samsung Galaxy phone and only use Garmin watches.
The real question isn’t about whether to buy Chinese products, but whether the company has to follow Chinese rules respective where the business is established. Garmin started in the US, but now is a global company based in Switzerland. On the other hand… Suunto, Coros, and Amazfit are all establish Chinese companies. No matter where their main offices are, Chinese companies are tightly controlled by the Chinese government. Over the past decade, there has been several news reports (and warnings from the US NSA and FBI) regarding the Chinese government legislation that allows data to be collect and viewed by the Chinese government from Chinese based companies. Back in 2015, China even stopped its military from using smartwatches because China is aware the vulnerabilities the devices possess.
The Apple Watch is the only one I know that lets you keep health data off the cloud and only on your Apple Watch and iPhone. Yet, Apple still lets other services connect (like music and weather), but you can set your health data to stay offline while still using the app.
Garmin lets their watches work without needing Garmin Connect companion app, but then you can’t sync workouts with the app. Since syncing to the Connect app cannott be limited to just the device as you have to agree to send data to Garmin servers for processing in return giving you some extra insights & conveniences. But here’s the cool thing: even without the app, Garmin watches can still do things like track DSW (but not Garmin training plans), estimate VO2max, track how much you’re training, and keep track of your sleep. You’ll just miss out on comparing data (and associated conveniences), streaming music, getting weather updates, and other services that need to be connected.
that sounds right.
My reasons are simple – no small MIP Fenix and the fact that more than 3 years after launch my Fenix 7s still has bugs and unresolved issues.
yup.
i dont think garmin realises how mnany people they are pushing away with the software bugs, poor ui and retricted new feature time frames. all things that shoudl be easy to soleve. it’s much easier and cheaper to keep a customer than to win a customer
I think Garmin is actively addressing this with having the UI consistent across watches now. No more Fenix UI, Forerunner UI, etc.
Unfortunately, Fenix 7 and older users are left behind and that sucks, but going forward this will hopefully reduce the amount of bugs, and how long they exist before being addressed.
As for battery life, I don’t think Coros has the market on that as much as they once did. I think that used to be true, but not so much anymore.
agreed
but
when you next do someting unusual or involved with your garmin count the number of button presses. Imagine how hard it would be to explain that to someone new to garmin (I planned to do a video on that)
yes garmin is tinkering at how workouts can be started. But the whole watch management and everything else (widgets, menus,) is only slightly better than a few years ago.
ie the in-workout UI is ok although not entirely intuitive and certianly good enough.
I think this conversation has a lot of nuance. Below are a couple thoughts that I had having used Coros, Suunto and Garmin.
1. As a triathlete or someone who loves cycling and running, Garmin is the best choice. ANT+ is superior, Garmin tracks these activities seamlessly and having a watch and a cycling computer that work together well is really nice. Especially if you ride on the road and need radar. If I am zwifting or off the road I can use a watch, but one ecosystem that is solid really helps. I have used Suunto with Hammerhead and it is a close second. I know they are not working together anymore, but my rides did go into the Suunto app seamlessly and it was a good experience. Nontheless if you add swim Garmin is still on top for the triathlete in my opinion.
2. Sticker shock if you come back is real with Garmin. Having dabbled in Coros and Suunto towns I made the mistake of selling my Fenix 7x. I made the decision because running power and elevation were an issue on this watch (and many other Fenix 7s) and I could not get it to work correctly. When I thought about coming back I was instantly shocked at what an apples for apples equivalent of a Race or Apex would cost in Garmin town. Maps were always the thing that made it more expensive. Garmin continues to raise prices and they are more and more unobtainable for normal people.
3. Garmin last gen tech is cheap, but it is often still buggy in some areas and it will NEVER be updated to newer specs. It is super easy to say “Just get a Epix Gen 2 for 369.00 on Amazon.” but if you want to ever have any of the new features you have to buy a new watch. Even then you know you will only get the new features for a year maybe two. If you buy a Coros (sucks that they are never on sale, but the refurbs abd cheaper) or Suunto you know that you will get the most current firmware your device can handle. That is really really nice.
For casual or amateur runners any watch will do. For pro athletes maybe it is the same. I don’t think they are looking at body batteries and things like that. Arguably if they are not sponsored by a Whoop like company they would not even use that. Killian Jornet uses Coros. The most basic watch even though he is super into pushing his scientific limits with tech. He was doing Lactate Tests at Western States and dabbles in lots of things like heat training. He climbed all the 14ers in the Western US last month without Climb Pro. I know that Coros sponsors him, but he seems happy with the tech. If he wanted something a Garmin had I am sure they would listen.
yup.
@Stavrogin: I cannot really agree with your points 2. and 3.
Ad 2. The “apples-to-apples equivalent” to most Coros units is a 2-3 generation old Garmin device, which are generally at least price competive (if not lower priced).
Ad 3. These devices generally _do_ still get bug fixes, security updates, etc. True that they do not get any additional features – but they generally still have more features than the current model Coros equivalent (notable exception: maps on some devices) both at the moment and probably even after Coros gets additional features.
No country is perfect by any means, but afraid I want to minimise as far as I can any Chinese products. So I wouldn’t buy Coros.
No country is perfect by any means, but afraid I want to minimise as far as I can any Chinese products. So I wouldn’t buy Coros.
…quite a few are owned by Chinese companies. That means I wouldn’t buy Sunnto or Salomon and similar brands either.
Especially where electronics are involved these days, can be hard to avoid entirely.
Not everyone will be bothered either of course. Just mentioning for those that might be, as it’s sometimes one aspect that gets forgotten about.
this post says where every brand is made: https://the5krunner.com/2025/04/21/are-garmin-watches-made-in-china-or-the-usa/ . you have principles that are very hard to stick by in practical terms!
even if you buy Garmin (assembled in Taiwan), many of the components come from the country you are trying to avoid!
I’m not sure what percentage of Samsung’s components are made in and around Korea. It would be interesting to know
Well said. If one is to assume that the person who is deciding to “not buy anything made in China, especially electronics” drives a car I would recommend they pull over immediately and abandon their vehicle. It is just not safe. Many if not most of the parts on all modern cars are made in China.
I would argue due to rare earths and parts of parts of parts that the only way to truly become a “I will not buy anything made in China” person would be to become Amish or live in some compound where you literally grow your own food from your own seed and build all your own infrastructure from your own hand made tools and resources you cut down/mined on your own land.
It is akin to vegans who wear leather, but worse. Due to greed most manufacturing has left the US/EU/UK and moved abroad. It might be assembled in Taiwan, Vietnam, or another SE Asian country, but thats just the Chinese diversify and trying to prepare for US tariffs and trade wars.
I get it, that is how politics work. It has always been easy to point a finger and say how evil or horrible THAT boogeyman is and how glorious our/your nation is, but that ship has sailed long long ago when most of not all companies went global because they wanted to save money to line their own pockets due to the labor movement and “needy” employees in their own communities. It is a product of labor unions, 5 day work weeks and minimum wage.
If you need to delete this I understand. I just have so little patience for ill informed nationalism and prejudges.
Thanks, there are at least two levels though.
Where it’s made is of course one.
The other is who it’s owned by.
As mentioned in my original comment, it is hard to do. But that won’t stop me trying to minimise the amount as far as I sensibly can.
You should have your opinion. And I hear it.
And in my original comment I said no country is perfect by any means.
But I particularly don’t like some of the Chinese state practices. That’s my opinion. So for me personally, I want to minimise (I realise probably impossible to completely avoid) the amount of Chinese products. Made and particularly owned or data stored by Chinese companies.
Totally get it. Sorry if my reply had an edge to it. I live in a country where we like to talk about how evil other countries are while praising our own. I would argue I do not want my information harvested by ANY state whether it is the UK/EU or the US. There might be a couple good things to come of this info, but there are just too many bad actors out there to justify me wanting to volunteer data.
Google and Facebook are a bit more nefarious to me than any country.
Agree on the weight and comfort points my Fenix feels like a brick after long runs. I’m curious if Coros’ trail support is really better or just marketed that way. Does anyone here use it for serious trail races?