Coros Pace 2

from £180 / coros.com

Coros might not be a household name just yet, but it’s a sports watch maker on the rise. And while the Pace 2 is not the priciest member of its small watch family, it does hit the sweet spot for price and features that you can put to good use for both indoor and outdoor exercise.

It’s super-light at 29g, to make sure it doesn’t weigh you down on long-distance runs, and is a good fit for tracking swims. Grab it in one of the new Speed Series looks and you can also add a nice pop of colour to your wrist.

ELEVATE ME DATA

All Pace 2 models are primarily made for runners, cyclists, swimmers and triathletes, serving up key metrics with support for additional sensors to give runners and riders more data to pore over. When you’re training indoors it can count reps, with muscle heatmaps available to make sure you’re not neglecting those upper body workouts.

Coros’s Evolab platform offers deep insights into your training, including telling you when fatigue is hitting and you should focus on recovery. There’s also advanced data to help runners closely examine technique and form. And if you’re worried about missing out on kudos for a big ride, you can send workouts over to Strava and other apps like Training Peaks.

The Pace 2 can go long, giving you up to 20 days’ battery life and over a day of tracking outdoor activities. It scrimps a little on the smartwatch features – but if you want to fill your head with stats, and accurate ones at that, that’s where the Coros Pace 2 delivers.

Stop seethin’ The lightweight polymer case is partnered with a nylon strap that’s available in colours aplenty and, crucially, includes a more breathable band to wear when you’re out on sweaty runs. Silence lit It can leave the built-in backlight on during workout time and keep it bright enough to let you see your stats without hammering the battery life. When you’re done, it’ll simply switch it off. Cut your spare When you’re not cardio blasting, the Pace 2’s strength training mode feeds into muscle heatmaps to show you the groups you’ve worked on over weeks and months to build that strong base.