The Coros Vertix 2S is a small-but-meaningful improve on the Vertix 2, notably enhancing the accuracy of the GPS monitoring. It’s one of many finest sports activities watches you may get and regardless of the excessive worth, it’s cheap worth for many who need a rugged titanium watch with lengthy battery life.
Nevertheless, it’s nonetheless outclassed by the finest Garmin watches, just like the Garmin Fenix 7 or Garmin Enduro 2, which provide higher navigation and good options, whereas matching or outdoing the sports activities monitoring and coaching evaluation on the Vertix 2S. There are additionally AMOLED sports activities watches I choose just like the Garmin Epix Professional and Suunto Race.
Coros Vertix 2S: Value And Availability
The Coros Vertix 2S launched on April 25, 2024 and prices $699 within the US and £599 within the UK, the identical worth because the Coros Vertix 2. It’s removed from low-cost, however equal watches with titanium bezels and sapphire screens—just like the Polar Grit X2 Professional, Suunto Vertical and Garmin Fenix 7 Professional—are all dearer (for those who select the titanium fashions of every).
How I Examined This Watch
I used the Vertix 2S for 2 weeks previous to its launch, and can proceed to make use of it till I’m in a position to drain the battery completely. I’ve run greater than 60 miles with the watch, in addition to monitoring different actions like yoga and power periods. I’ve examined the remainder of the watches in Coros’s vary and the Coros Vertix and Vertix 2, in addition to one of the best sports activities watches from different manufacturers.
Design And {Hardware}
The Vertix 2S is a big watch, with a 50.3mm case that’s 17.6mm thick. It’s mild for its dimension although, with the case weighing 61g, which rises to 70g with a nylon band and 87g with a silicone band—each bands are included with the watch, and it’s also possible to use different 26mm straps with it.
There are three colours obtainable—black, grey and blue—and all have a titanium bezel and again case, with plastic used for the remainder of the case. The 1.4in memory-in-pixel touchscreen is created from sapphire glass. There are three buttons on the watch, with the center one additionally being a dial.
The Vertix 2S has a ten ATM waterproof ranking and can work in a temperature vary of -22°F (-30°C) to 122°F (50°C), in line with Coros. The supplies used, and the sturdiness of the watch, are a promoting level as a result of you need to pay extra to get equal supplies from different manufacturers. Nevertheless, the display is duller than others, together with different LCD watches just like the Fenix 7, and it’s much less shiny than the AMOLED show you get on the likes of the Garmin Epix Professional and Polar Grit X2 Professional. It’s clear sufficient to learn open air, however a bit uninteresting inside and I usually needed to activate the backlight to learn it all through the day.
The Vertix 2S has a brand new optical coronary heart fee sensor that guarantees extra accuracy than the sensor on the Vertix 2, however reduces the battery lifetime of the watch. In equity, the Vertix 2S has battery life to play with: the 2S will nonetheless last as long as 46 days in watch mode and gives 118 hours of GPS monitoring. As with the Vertix 2, the Vertix 2S gives dual-band GPS monitoring, although Coros has redesigned the antennae to enhance the accuracy. The Vertix 2S has a barometric altimeter and compass, and may measure blood oxygen saturation and coronary heart fee variability. You’ll be able to join exterior sensors by way of Bluetooth, however not ANT+.
HR And GPS Accuracy
The Vertix 2 was the primary sports activities watch I’d examined that supplied dual-band GPS monitoring, however it wasn’t as huge an improve in accuracy as I’d hoped. Since then many manufacturers have launched watches with dual-band GPS, and Garmin and Suunto’s watches had been extra correct than the Coros watches with dual-band particularly.
Coros appeared to repair this with the Coros Tempo 3, which is correct, whereas the redesigned antennae on the Vertix 2S have improved the accuracy in contrast with the Vertix 2. On all my runs I in contrast the Vertix 2S to the Garmin Epix Professional and it matched up carefully and there have been few, if any, errors on the GPS traces I checked out after runs.
Sadly, the image is not as rosy with reference to the Vertix 2’s coronary heart fee monitoring. That is usually a weak point with sports activities watches, however provided that Coros sacrificed battery life to place in a brand new optical sensor to enhance HR accuracy I anticipated higher.
On virtually all my runs the Vertix 2S has been inaccurate when in comparison with a chest strap, often studying manner too excessive, and for those who’re planning on utilizing its coaching evaluation or utilizing coronary heart fee to information your coaching, I’d pair a chest strap to the watch.
Battery life
Coros watches are famend for his or her lengthy battery life, and the Vertix 2S isn’t any exception. It’ll last as long as 46 days in watch mode, although this drops to 36 days for those who use the sleep monitoring on the watch, and gives as much as 118 hours of ordinary GPS monitoring, or 43 hours of dual-band GPS monitoring. All these numbers are comparable with the longest-lasting watches on the market, just like the Garmin Enduro 2 and Suunto Vertical, although the Vertix 2S gives much less battery than the Vertix 2 due to the brand new HR sensor.
There are a few damaging causes Coros battery life is so good which might be value noting. One is the uninteresting display in contrast with different watches, and the opposite is that the watch solely takes HR readings each 10 minutes moderately than constantly while you’re not exercising. You’ll be able to change this setting, although, and I believe taking readings each 10 minutes is an efficient choice to have as I’d moderately have good battery life over 24/7 HR stats.
After 10 days of use, together with eight runs utilizing dual-band GPS and sleep monitoring every night time I used to be right down to 60% battery. Even for these coaching closely you possibly can count on two to 4 weeks of battery life, with the primary figuring out issue being how a lot time you spend coaching utilizing GPS—in between exercises the battery barely drops on the Vertix 2. The battery life is pretty much as good as, or higher than, what I acquired from the Garmin Enduro 2 and Suunto Vertical. The one watch that constantly outlasts the Vertix 2S is in reality the Vertix 2.
Sports activities Monitoring And Coaching Evaluation
The Vertix 2S has quite a lot of sports activities modes, together with triathlon and open-water swimming monitoring, together with a devoted observe mode for runners. You’ll be able to create a customized sports activities mode if certainly one of your favorites isn’t listed by default. It’s additionally straightforward to create and comply with structured exercises or coaching plans on the watch, and you’ll customise information screens to point out as much as eight stats without delay.
It’s a simple and intuitive watch to make use of for sports activities monitoring. Coros has upgraded the sports activities monitoring throughout its watches with a software program replace. This contains display mirroring so you possibly can see the watch’s stats in your cellphone throughout a exercise, in addition to the navigation display for those who’re following a route. This replace additionally added a digital pacer for working exercises.
The Vertix 2S additionally feeds into Coros’s EvoLab coaching evaluation platform, which supplies you a ranking of your working (and biking) health, predicted race instances and a breakdown of your current coaching load. That is obtainable throughout all Coros watches. I’ve all the time discovered EvoLab a fairly correct and helpful gauge of my present health and coaching load.
The sports activities monitoring and coaching evaluation on the Vertix 2S is as much as par, although it doesn’t stand out, except for additional options for outside climbing I’ve not been in a position to take a look at. Coros gives the identical array of options throughout its vary, and on one of the best Garmin watches you get extras like a coaching readiness rating, plus fascinating scores of your endurance and hill working capacity.
Maps And Navigation
The Vertix 2S has colour maps with turn-by-turn instructions on routes and a back-to-start function. It’s straightforward to create routes throughout the Coros app, or import them into it from different sources to load onto the watch. The maps will not be as colourful and clear to learn as these on Garmin, Polar and Suunto watches, particularly these manufacturers’ AMOLED watches, nor are they as detailed as Garmin’s, however it’s straightforward to navigate routes utilizing them.
You’ll be able to’t add the maps as a default information display inside an exercise, which appears odd to me, however I set the maps to come back up after I held down the sunshine button on the watch. You are able to do this throughout a run or different exercise so as to add the map to your screens with out pausing or stopping your exercise. This may present a breadcrumb path of your route to this point overlaid on the map, and it’s also possible to add a back-to-start pointer to any outside exercise. When following a route you additionally get an elevation profile that reveals the climbs and descents to come back, plus particulars on the entire distance and quantity of uphill you could have left.
The navigation options on the Vertix 2S are good and on a par with Polar and Suunto’s, however Garmin nonetheless reigns supreme right here. Its watches have “routable” maps that know the place you’re so you possibly can create or regulate routes on the fly, whereas the Coros routes are overlaid on a map, so for those who go flawed you’re simply instructed you’re off track. Garmin additionally has the superb ClimbPro software that reveals every climb and descent in your route individually that will help you decide your effort on lengthy uphills particularly.
Good Options
The Vertix 2S reveals your cellphone notifications and has a climate forecast widget, and may retailer music to playback on Bluetooth headphones. The watch doesn’t but work with any streaming platforms, so you will have the digital information to tug and drop throughout to the watch, whereas Garmin works with Spotify, Deezer and Amazon Music so you possibly can wirelessly switch throughout your playlists.
It’s good to have the choice to play music on the watch, however the way in which it’s achieved means it’s not a function I’d use commonly. I principally stream music and even getting maintain of podcast information to switch isn’t all the time straightforward. There isn’t any app retailer for the Vertix 2S—although you possibly can decide from a variety of watch faces within the Coros app—and it doesn’t supply NFC funds. If you need a sporty smartwatch then Garmin is a greater guess, whereas full smartwatches just like the Apple Watch clearly supply extra on this entrance.
Exercise And Sleep Monitoring
The Vertix 2S will diligently observe the same old day by day exercise stats, like steps, energetic minutes and energetic energy burned, and it tracks your sleep for those who put on it at night time. It’s not probably the most comfy watch to put on in a single day, which is an issue with any massive sports activities watch, however the sleep monitoring was broadly correct to me.
When you put on the watch at night time it additionally gives a coronary heart fee variability rating within the morning, which is in contrast along with your baseline. You should use this as a information to how burdened your physique is, and it could assist information how onerous you push in coaching every day, since HRV is the primary information used to underpin readiness scores from different manufacturers. The Vertix 2S tracks stress ranges all through the day, and you’ll take a wellness test, which supplies on-the-spot measurements of your HR, HRV, stress, respiratory fee and SpO2.
Is The Coros Vertix 2S Price It?
The Vertix 2S is a wonderful watch and a robust different to the Garmin Fenix 7 for many who need a watch that makes use of one of the best and most sturdy supplies, and does the necessities of sports activities monitoring effectively. You get extra options from one of the best Garmin watches although, and the options Coros and Garmin have are typically extra polished with Garmin, similar to music and maps.
The Fenix 7 can be in gross sales pretty commonly, so that you might be able to get a titanium one for the same worth to the Vertix 2S, and that will be a greater purchase, whereas the Garmin Epix, Polar Grit X2 and Suunto Race are engaging alternate options with AMOLED screens.
The principle improve you get right here, in contrast with the Vertix 2, is improved GPS accuracy, which will not be a significant function for some who’d moderately have the longer battery lifetime of the older watch, which continues to be getting common software program updates from Coros.
