Coros Vertix 2 review: a work in progress

In terms of multisport health watches, you most likely consider one thing from Garmin, Polar, or Suunto. However in the event you get pleasure from outside sports activities and are terminally on-line, you may need additionally heard of Coros. The corporate is a relative newcomer to the area, however I’ll admit to being curious once I began seeing it pop up extra regularly in operating subreddits, boards, and on TikTok throughout the pandemic. Probably the most devoted athletes on this class already know what they do and don’t like from their GPS watches — and I used to be wanting to see how the $699 Coros Vertix 2 would measure up in opposition to the class’s heavyweights.

The Vertix 2 is the costliest and full-featured watch in Coros’ lineup. Most notably, it helps dual-frequency satellite tv for pc communication and may entry all 5 main satellite tv for pc programs (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, and QZSS) concurrently. That’s a primary for a smartwatch, and the promise is the Vertix 2 ought to be capable of ship correct GPS monitoring even in probably the most difficult environments.

Principally, that is speculated to be a troublesome GPS look ahead to probably the most intrepid athletes. That’s evident from the Vertix 2’s specs. It has an estimated battery lifetime of 140 commonplace GPS hours and 60 days of on a regular basis use. In comparison with its predecessor, the Vertix 2 additionally provides colour topographic maps, the flexibility to manage an motion digital camera, 32GB of music storage, and “ECG functionality.” (It’s not really an ECG, although extra on that in a bit.) So far as sturdiness goes, the case is product of titanium, the show is a “diamond-like coated sapphire glass,” and it has 10 ATM (328 ft) of water resistance.

Simply don’t count on a sensible health watch. The extent of its sensible options is delivering push notifications and setting timers and alarms. You’re not going to get NFC funds, the flexibility to answer to texts, or a third-party app ecosystem. (That stated, the latest firmware replace did add the flexibility to ping your telephone!)

Taking a look at pictures of the Vertix 2, I knew it will be huge, chunky, and heavy. It’s obtained a 1.4-inch LCD show housed in a 50mm case and 26mm interchangeable straps. Regardless of using light-weight titanium, it nonetheless weighs a whopping 89 grams (that’s over 10 grams greater than two 45mm aluminum Collection 7s) and is 15.7mm thick. (I wince to consider what it will weigh if Coros used stainless-steel right here.) How might it not be a behemoth?

I obtained a minor rash after per week of damage as a result of the watch didn’t match me properly and rubbed in opposition to my pores and skin.

Even so, I wasn’t ready for simply how huge, chunky, and heavy the watch was on my wrist. It appears comically massive on me, and there’s no getting a jacket sleeve over this factor. I’ve to put on the strap tremendous tight throughout train, and but I can nonetheless match two chopsticks by the hole between my pores and skin and the lugs. I really feel gravity pulling on the case once I swing my arm operating. You possibly can wager I wakened in the midst of the night time to take it off once I wore it to sleep. After per week of damage, I ended up with a minor rash. I could make do with a forty five–47mm watch, however the Vertix 2 merely wasn’t made for my pint-sized wrists.

I’m totally conscious this watch caters to a distinct physique kind. However not each outside exercise fanatic is a big, hulking individual. This excludes many individuals, significantly girls, from utilizing Coros’ most superior smartwatch — by no fault of their very own. Even placing that apart, 50mm could also be too massive for individuals who like larger watches, because the Vertix 2 solely is available in one measurement. At the very least Garmin’s Fenix 7 collection offers you multiple size options.

There are advantages to the Vertix 2’s bigger display, nevertheless. Notifications are a lot simpler to learn, and the memory-in-pixel LCD is extremely seen in direct daylight. You may as well match extra knowledge inside every display throughout an train — which is neat as a result of Coros allows you to customise what you see to your precise preferences. If you wish to know as a lot as you presumably can at a look, the Vertix 2 is a superb possibility.

The case measures 50mm and virtually 16mm thick.

Past {hardware}, the watch’s software program and options are typical for this class. Except motion cam management and dual-band satellite tv for pc frequency, Coros isn’t bringing something we haven’t seen earlier than. (Talking of which, I wasn’t in a position to check the motion cam characteristic as I don’t personal one.) My major challenge is the Vertix 2 seems like a piece in progress.

Take menu navigation. Buttons reign supreme for multisport watches as a result of they’re extra more likely to register sweaty fingers than touchscreens. The Vertix 2 opts for 2 buttons together with a rotatable crown — and the crown throws a wrench in issues because it’s the solely strategy to scroll up and down by menus. It’s merely not intuitive.

In actual fact, Coros doesn’t actually observe the principles in relation to smartwatch UI. You possibly can’t flick your wrist to wake the watch. You really can’t do a lot till you long-press the crown to unlock the display. I can see that stopping unintended presses throughout exercises, nevertheless it’s annoying once you wish to shortly entry one thing. (I’m additionally used to long-presses citing digital assistants or app shortcuts.) That’s only one instance. There have been loads of occasions once I needed to combat in opposition to muscle reminiscence whereas utilizing the Vertix 2 — like swiping to view notifications or utilizing the again button to scroll down. I think about numerous individuals would have comparable issues at first.

It’s thick! The crown can also be the first type of scrolling, which doesn’t at all times work properly.

You get used to it over time, however the crown can nonetheless often be finicky. Whereas making an attempt to finish one run, I stored scrolling previous the “End” button although I used to be barely rotating the crown. You don’t have that challenge when scrolling with bodily buttons. And whereas the watch has a touchscreen, it’s restricted to swiping by maps, widgets, and exercise stats throughout exercise. Even then, the latter isn’t enabled by default — it’s important to manually flip that on within the settings. A whole lot of this might’ve been averted by giving customers an extra possibility apart from the rotating crown.

For well being options, it sounds cool that the Vertix 2 has an ECG sensor. In observe, it’s a gimmick. You possibly can’t really take ECG readings for atrial fibrillation in the best way an Apple Watch, Fitbit, or Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 can. Not like these watches, the Vertix 2 hasn’t acquired FDA clearance to try this. As a substitute, it measures your coronary heart charge variability (HRV) for 60 seconds, which you’ll then view within the app. HRV may be useful for gauging restoration or stress, however you don’t want an ECG-level sensor to trace that metric.

Equally, sleep monitoring was a miss. I by no means really made it by a complete night time carrying the Vertix 2, however even when I did, the sleep metrics are extremely primary. The vast majority of the time, I didn’t even have entry to sleep levels. That modified with a current firmware replace, which added REM monitoring.

And whereas it’s high-quality that Coros added 32GB of storage for music, it’s not that helpful as a result of the Vertix 2 doesn’t help streaming providers or offline downloads. It’s a must to go old style and sideload MP3s. It’s true there’ll at all times be individuals who want that, however the overwhelming majority of individuals don’t curate MP3 libraries anymore. Personally, I haven’t needed to drag and drop music recordsdata onto a transportable participant in a couple of decade — and I’m not about to begin once more in 2022. In all equity, Coros isn’t the one health watchmaker that does this. It simply makes much less and fewer sense with every passing 12 months.

This watch arrives in a really further carrying case.

Maps on the Vertix 2 are satisfactory, although it’s not going to dethrone the navigation options supplied by Garmin or Polar. I’d’ve been extra okay with this had the Vertix 2 been priced decrease. Because it stands, you’re paying the identical as some Fenix 7 fashions however getting much less element and context. There are not any labels, and landmarks aren’t highlighted, both. There’s additionally no turn-by-turn navigation, which I’d count on to see at this worth level. The Vertix 2’s maps could be higher than nothing in a pinch, however once I obtained rotated throughout a path run, I ended up reaching for my telephone as a result of not less than Google Maps labels issues.

One other factor to concentrate on: the Vertix 2 drops ANT Plus compatibility. Personally, I largely use Bluetooth equipment so it didn’t have an effect on me a lot. It might probably additionally measure operating energy from the wrist with no further equipment wanted. Nonetheless, in the event you use plenty of ANT Plus equipment in your coaching, the Vertix 2 isn’t your best option for you.

The ECG sensor is just used to measure HRV.

It would sound like all I’ve are complaints, however I wish to acknowledge that the Vertix 2 is an efficient exhibiting for a corporation that’s solely been making health watches for 4 years. In fact a youthful firm has issues to iron out when in comparison with firms which have been main the area for not less than a decade.

There’s loads I preferred in regards to the Vertix 2 as properly. For starters, the Coros app retains issues easy however nonetheless presents a great stage of customizability. I preferred that you may program your personal customized exercises and coaching plans. That was one thing I wanted I might do extra simply once I was coaching for a half marathon not that way back. Not everybody will use that characteristic, however I respect the choice exists. I cherished that you may simply customise a number of exercise screens to your precise preferences. I dug coaching insights, like my VO2 Max, operating energy, and even my humbling race time predictions. The streamlined design was additionally a refreshing change of tempo from the crowded Garmin Join or Polar Circulate apps. Knowledge nerds would possibly bristle, nevertheless it’s greater than high-quality if you wish to spend as little time in a companion app as potential.

The place the Vertix 2 shines is battery life and GPS accuracy. I haven’t been carrying this look ahead to 60 days, nevertheless it’s been about two weeks with about 30–60 minutes of GPS exercise a day. I nonetheless have 85 p.c battery. Enabling dual-frequency satellite tv for pc communication or something past commonplace GPS mode drained the battery sooner — however that is nonetheless phenomenal stamina. I’ve zero doubt that it is a watch the place you may depart the charger at house, even in the event you’re on a multiday journey jam-packed with GPS exercise.

Whereas this watch is simply too huge for me, bigger screens do supply higher readability.

Talking of GPS, the Vertix 2 by no means had hassle discovering a sign. That’s spectacular contemplating I dwell in a difficult space for GPS with numerous tall buildings and water. It additionally had no hassle once I went path operating in a park with dense tree protection. In my testing, the Vertix 2 recorded distances that have been constantly inside a tenth of a mile of my telephone and my Apple Watch Collection 7. The routes recorded by the app, Vertix 2, and Collection 7 additionally extremely corresponded to one another. There have been some elements the place the Collection 7 was barely extra correct than the Vertix 2 in commonplace GPS mode. However there have been additionally areas the place the Vertix 2 outdid the Collection 7. All in all, the Vertix 2 met all of my GPS monitoring expectations.

It had just a few hiccups when it got here to coronary heart charge, largely throughout interval runs. However the majority of the time it was inside 5–10 beats per minute of my Polar H10 chest strap. On this case, I largely attribute any wonky readings I noticed to the truth that the watch didn’t match me properly.

General, the Vertix 2 seems like a step on the best way to one thing higher. It exhibits promise, particularly because it excels in two areas that endurance athletes care about: battery life and GPS monitoring. It’s encouraging to see that Coros continues to push firmware updates that add further worth as properly. Nonetheless, these tough edges are nonetheless there, and for the value, you’ll be higher served by a reduced Garmin Fenix 6. With Coros’ different watches, the lower cost is an unbelievable cut price for the characteristic set. If just a few issues are unpolished, the value makes them simpler to miss. It’s more durable to try this when the Vertix 2 prices $700. The $499.95 Polar Grit X Pro, for instance, has a wealth of coaching options, correct GPS, and turn-by-turn navigation.

This isn’t the look ahead to me (or actually anybody with the same physique kind as me), however that doesn’t imply nobody can buy it. I’d suggest it if you could find it on sale, aren’t postpone by cumbersome and heavy watches, regularly journey to areas with poor GPS sign, or simply need one thing easier than a Garmin or Polar. In any case, I noticed sufficient on the Vertix 2 that I’m intrigued to see what Coros does subsequent.

Pictures by Victoria Track / The Verge

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