Just received my Coros Pace 3… um..

My Pace 2 has none of those issues.

No I don't work for Coros

"Heart rate only records once every 10 minutes (...) Metrics suck (again, once every 10 minutes!?)"
What does the screen show between those 10 minutes intervals?
Personally, my wrist is useless for the optical HR regardless brand/model.

1) HR records every 10 minutes during daily wear, but every 1 second during workouts. So, that's not an issue.

2) Screen is 1.2 inches; your Garmin was 1.23 inches. Clearly a tragic decrease.

3) Light as a feather and plastic are design features, not bugs. The Pace 3 weighs 30 grams; 25% less than your Garmin. You should be thankful. My Timex is also plastic and I've had it for 35 years; plastic is not the same as not durable.

4) Do you use your packaging for running?

5) Software interface can be customized, and various operational changes can and should be done off the watch, in the app, just like with other GPS watches. Also, 10 minutes? see above. Personally, I grouch about the font size all the time because I'm old and need reading glasses, but you can just customize the watch face to use a different font/organization.

Same here. My Pace 2 is 2 years old, still going strong and works great. The battery life is still really good too.

The whole "plastic" versus metal thing is funny to me on phones and watches. Like it makes a difference at all. It's only your own perception of plastic being a cheaper material.

I've owned a Coros Pace 2 for 2 years now. Never once, until now, have I ever thought to myself "Ugh. I hate that the watch is plastic"

Literally no one outside of the "Garmin is the greatest thing ever" and the Apple fan boys who cream their pants at every new iPhone release care about the metal v plastic.

Give me a running watch that's "light like a feather" any day. I mean are you even a runner?

Still enjoying my Pace 1 I got in 2019

Good answer. I hated Coros because my Pace 2 conked after 2 years and 3 months and their warranty was just two, but my credit card warranty extension refunded me. I swore not to buy Coros again and tried Garmin 245 (and a couple other models) but hated both the buttons and the app. I’d never even care to look at my run data with the garmin app. Coros’ data layout is just so nice that it makes me want to look at it for at least a minute or two after every run.

So I went back to Coros and bought an Apex 2, and also paid ~$120 more just for a nicer metallic look even though the Pace 2 and 3 have practically the same features as Apex 2.

As someone that actually runs all I want is functional, reliable, and lightweight (aka plastic). Coros serves all of those at a much better price. I don't need to pay twice as much for a little bit of metal and bunch of useless gimmick features.

I have a Garmin Fenix with the sapphire glass. I bashed the screen against some metal piping at work, there's not a mark on it. If I had a Coros I think the thing would've caught fire, exploded, imploded, melted, and erupted into chinese newspaper clippings.

Does the Coros integrate well with other (software) platforms?

Not sure which ones you have in mind, but it works well with Strava.

Week 2 updated on Pace 3.

Cereal box gift design also applies to the software. I’m on day 2 of “server error” whilst trying to upload watch data.

This is truly unreal.

My coros 2 is perfect. None of these “issues”

Timex ftw

So you had an “expensive” watch, got use to those expensive features, then tried to get one half the price, from a different brand, and you are having a little bit of a learning curve/adjustment.

everyone calls it a nice starter watch. Not sure why you would downgrade and switch brands

1) heart rate only records once every 10 minutes. >> You can set it to real-time.
2) screen is tiny. >> I prefer this size since it fits my wrist. So, yeah, it's a matter of preference.
3)it’s 100% plastic. Light as a feather and not durable. 100% made in china, designed by china. >> I honestly don't understand why someone would prefer a heavy watch over a light one. As others have already explained, being made of plastic doesn't necessarily make it non-durable. Many of the best talents in the US are of Chinese descent, which makes it increasingly irrelevant to dismiss a product just because it is from China.
4) the packaging it came it was utter trash. Fell apart once opened… btw: I ordered right off their website. >> Mine didn’t.
5) software interface on the watch is garbage. Hard to read. Metrics suck (again, once every 10 minutes!?). >> Many have said that the interface on Coros is much better than Garmin. You should expect to experience a learning curve if you've used Garmin before. It's just like how I don’t like my wife’s iPhone interface, and she doesn't like my Android's. Trust me, once you understand how to read the graphs, you will like the interface, especially the training hub.

It seems like your review of this watch might be biased. It's so unjustifiable, make it looks like you got paid.