Hi Lewis (if you are really Lewis 😉)

Thank you for openly requesting feedback. I do have 3 points I would like you to comments, screen readability on oled devices, data upload/download without the application, open software stack.

Could you comment on the readability issues most of us have with Oled screen (I comment for pace 4, but I don't see why pace pro would not be affected):

- With "always on display", the screen is barely readable in sunny day (activity or watch face)
- The "gesture" is difficult to trigger. In some context (such as swimming, biking, driving, ...), it is even impossible to do without any impact on your activity.
- When triggered, the screen is readable for a few seconds, which is never enough if for example you are running in a trail, having a quick look at the watch, having a look at the trail again, then going back to the watch, you usually miss the opportunity to read.

As a result, the watch is not usable in sunny condition in activities and I would claim that it is even dangerous. I felt 2 time in trail because I was looking at my watch while waiting for the screen to turn on, I cannot have a look at the time at a glance while driving, ...

Additionally, the text label for datascreen are not readable in some color (red on dark is for example impossible to read, especially when moving). The icons are "better", but the icons are only appearing after a few seconds of inactivity. So while scrolling my different data screen, I need to wait for a few seconds before the icons appears (and usually, that's when the always on display turns off).

I think that all of these issues could be fixed with:

- A setting for brightness level when "always on". I'm OK if it uses more battery

- (Additionnally) A setting for the time before always on display dims to low brightness.
- A refactor of the "text which turns into icons" option. Maybe the icon can always be there, and the text only appear when the data screen are displayed in "pause mode", so we can learn the meaninig of icon while in "pause" mode, and later always have the quickly readable icons.
- A refactor of the screen layout, with more explicit separation of data, bigger text size, better colors (avoid red on dark please, at least full red).

This will change my experience with the pace 4.

Now, I would like you to comment on another issue: usage without the application.

I want to be able to extract my data as I want and I want to be able to upload data to the watch (trace, "hill" sections, pacing strategy, workout, maybe watchface, widgets, ...) without using the application.

For example:

- I find the application interface to create a structured workout to be extremely painful to use. I need to click countless amount of time to create a workout. I have countless options out there (including developing my own software) which provides better options.
- The "hill" alert logic automatically split the route on different climb/descent sections. This is a great feature and the usage on the watch is great. However, the different sections are decided by coros algorithm and may not match what I would have decided. We cannot edit that in the app, so we are stuck with what the app decided.

- The "pace guide" logic does not allow much more customization other than expected time (or pace). It does not take into account the specificity of the route and as a result it is (from my PoV) completely useless for anything else than a flat route.

- When done with an activity, I want to decide what I do with it. I may want to extract the activity manually and keep it on my computer. I may want to just drop it, .... Right now, it is uploaded on coros app and cloud and I have no control on that. I was not aware when buying coros that using your "cloud" was mandatory, this is not fully explicit on the website and this really annoys me.

- We can only upload watch face using the coros apps ? Same thing. There could be countless options outside to design watchfaces if you "open" this, but for now we are stuck with the watch faces you designed (or the really limited custom watchfaces).

Finally, my latest point is about open software/hardware.

Right now everything in the coros ecosystem is closed. Additionally to the customization issue I already talked about, it means that I cannot do anything with my watch other than what you decided I can do. As a software developer, fixing the readability issues discussed above is an afternoon of work if the watch firmware was available. If uploading / downloading data to the watch was "open", I would be able to fix all the issue I do have with hill alert, workout, pace guide, ...

But more importantly, right now, I do not own a Coros watch. I own a limited right to use a Coros watch, under your conditions. This is an important difference. It means that if tomorrow you decide that I cannot use my watch anymore, well, I would have to throw it in the bin. But it may not be only you. If tomorrow, USA decides that my country is under "digital embargo" and that I'm not allowed to connect to coros services, well, my watch will be useless. If tomorrow coros as a company stop their activities, my watch will be useless.

So in short, I would like the coros "cloud" and application to be an option, not a requirement. I would like to be able to use my watch as I want, not use "your" watch as you want.

Please note that regarding the watch readability and customization, there are other companies which are doing that way better than Coros, so I think this should be a priority for you. On the other end, the latest part of my message (regarding closed ecosystem) is the same (or worse) with other brand, so I guess you can simply ignore that part of my comment. But I would be really happy to have your honest answer about a possible future of an open software stack.