WHICH COROS WATCH FOR YOU
Posted on November 04 2022
SEPTEMBER 2023 Update.
COROS continue to push the boundaries of performance with the release in December 23 of a major update of its PACE 3.
This is a fabulous and serious update to the lightest yet now also a seriously capable watch. Read our First Review of the watch HERE
We have updated the BLOG to reflect the new watch.
Deciding on the right GPS watch can be very confusing, but still a substantial investment for any runner.
COROS have also managed to bring in endorsements from the sports best athletes Kilian Jornet, Emilie Forsberg, Eliud Kipchoge and Molly Seidel to form one of the best stables out there. Tommy Caldwell is now onboard also. Tommy is one of the best know rock-climbers in the business and his input on GPS accuracy on vertical surfaces has been a big influence on the new models.
Across the range there are a few aspects of performance that everybody wants from their watch. Good GPS accuracy, long battery life for an affordable price. COROS have become masters of this balance.
The technical details of GPS watches can be a bit heavy and for a lot of people a total turn off, so instead we have focused on you, the sort of people we meet everyday in the running community and suggested a watch that could best fit your needs. Of course nobody is exactly one profile but the characteristics hopefully can help you identify which is the best watch 4 you.
So this is our categorization.
We have defined 5 broad runner types:
1. "New to the sport, living a healthy life" : Top Wants: Low weight, Good Price, Simplicity, and this is likely your first GPS watch
2. "Focused Road Runner up to Marathon Distance". Top Wants: Low Weight, Price, Simplicity. Only the data I need.
3. "Dedicated Trail Runner, no bells and whistles". Top Wants: Battery Life, GPS Reliability, Navigation.
4. "Hard Core, Trail/Ultra Runner" Top Wants: Battery Life, GPS Reliability, Navigation, Data, Adventure Tools.
5. "Ultra Hard Core Adventurist" Top Wants: Max Battery Life, Navigation, Data, Adventure Tools, Extreme Reliability and GPS Accuracy,
The COROS Range provides a solution for all of these runners from just under $2000 HKD price point to just under $6000 HKDs.
Lets tackle the battery life issue first, this is how the models compare on continuous GPS and Heart rate monitoring.
The Vertix 2 is simply phenomenal, when Wong Ho Chung did the 4 Trails Ultra challenge this year his watch still had 76% battery life after operating continuously, on full GPS, for almost 50 hours. For most normal humans, the reality is this means charging is a rare event. I run everyday, never as far as Wong Ho Chung, but I only charge the watch once a month.
The PACE 3 is on the opposite end of the scale but also gets the same chipset as its Vertix 2 big brother . Loads of capability but at a fabulous price AND with a 26% increase in battery life to now 38 hours. Simply phenomenal. . You can see on the chart below where the PACE 3 now fits from a price perspective.
Obviously, price is also an important issue and for some people the size of the watch face is important. If you want lightweight or have small wrists, a large watch can be intrusive. Typically, the longer the battery life, the larger the watch (it has a bigger battery), but also the higher the price point, so this is how the new releases fit into the range.
But now, how does all that relate to you as a user. Of course it depends what you want from your watch so we come back to our 5 "typical" watch users again.
1. "New to the sport, living a healthy life" : Top Wants: Low weight, Good Price, Simplicity, and this is likely your first GPS watch
We would recommend the PACE 3. Its the lightest and cheapest watch in the line up yet has a phenomenal performance. The PACE 3 now gets navigation but maintains its super light weight and especially if you have thinner wrists this will be your watch.
2. "Focused Road Runner up to Marathon Distance and/or Enthusiastic Trail runner". Top Wants: Low Weight, Price, Simplicity. Only the data I need.
The PACE 3 is still your watch. While being at a great price point it is by no means a watch without capability and now with Navigation can push out into the great unknown. Light weight means you will hardly notice it is there and it will not effect your running form. Will give you all the necessary data to help you train and manage that important race. This is Eliud Kipchoge's choice. Everything you need, nothing you don't.
3. "Dedicated Trail Runner, no bells and whistles". Top Wants: Battery Life, GPS Reliability, Navigation.
You spend a lot of time on trails. Train regularly, understand what you need, like to explore new paths and expect to be out there a while. You are not bothered about lots of frills on your watch. If you are a Garmin user, you probably have a 945. The COROS watch for you is the APEX 2. Very affordable price and now an incredible 45hrs of battery life on full GPS (10 hours more than the APEX 1). You can download your routes on to the watch and have it guide you to places you have never been. Superb value for money.
4. "Hard Core, Trail/Ultra Runner" :Top Wants: Battery Life, GPS Reliability, Navigation, Data, Adventure Tools.
Now you want to step it up a bit. You have set yourself some ambitious goals. maybe the HK100 or the UTMB, or any other ultra race you might think of. You want GPS reliability, and yo want the watch to be there thought out the event, not concerned if it will die on you. You might be at altitude and you may want to monitor how much oxygen you have in your bloodstream. Bottom-line, you like data. There are two choices for you,
The new APEX 2 Pro or the VERTIX 2. The new APEX 2 Pro has gone from 40 hours of battery life to 75 hrs despite improved GPS tracking capability (dual frequency as per the VERTIX 2) and a slightly larger screen. The APEX 2 Pro is Kilian Jornet and Emilie Forsbergs choice. The VERTIX 2 still astounds with a battery life of 140 hrs, the trade off between the two is weight, 53g v 76g.
5. "Ultra Hard Core Adventurist" :Top Wants: Max Battery Life, Navigation, Data, Adventure Tools, Extreme Reliability and GPS Accuracy,
Now we come to the that person, imagining, planning and executing that really tough expedition. Extreme weather, the worlds toughest terrain exposed for many hours and days. It might involve scaling the vertical rock face of a previously unclimbed route. Tracking GPS coordinates up a sheer rock face is difficult as you can imagine. For this person, there is the VERTIX 2. The only watch on the market that simultaneously tracks all 5 GPs satellite systems AND uses Dual Frequency, previously only used in aircraft navigation. The result is an ability to accurately track a route or a pitch in any situation and then review it in 3D.
To power all of that requires battery horsepower and while fully connecting up to all of those systems is power hungry, when used in normal, comparable GPS monitoring mode, this watch has a phenomenal 140 hrs of battery life.
Add to that all the data you will ever need and an ability to operate in the most extreme environments, this is the true adventurers watch.
Its also damn good looking!
So we hope you find this useful and if you want to check out the collection click HERE
https://gone.run/collections/coros-watches
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