To The Test: Coros Apex 2 Pro

You’re a runner, and you are looking for a new watch. Where do you start? Choosing a GPS watch can be overwhelming. There are so many watches on the market and so many different features to choose from. It can be difficult to know what watch is right for you. We are here to help you out. Coros is a relatively new GPS watch brand that has challenged other brands for the past few years. We have been using some of their watches for the past few weeks and this is what we thought of them.

We are giving one away!

Our first impressions

When we unboxed the watch, our first impressions were; that it was durable looking, surprisingly lightweight and extremely comfortable thanks to its slim form factor and fabric band.

According to the box it comes in it has; an impressive battery life, a 1.2″ screen, a next-generation heart rate sensor and is waterproof to 50 meters. However, we wanted to see how the watch performed in the real world not just on paper. So we wore the watch, straight out of the box for all of our training to see how it would perform.

Features

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The Coros Apex 2 Pro, like most GPS watches nowadays, is jam-packed with useful features. Here are some of the features of the Coros Apex 2 Pro that we have used and enjoyed the most.

Maps: As outdoor enthusiasts, we think that having a digital map on your wrist at all times is an extremely powerful backup navigation tool. On the Coros App, you can draw courses to follow and then sync them to the watch for easy navigation. We think this is very useful if you’re in an unfamiliar area or are exploring a new outdoor space.

Recovery: The Coros Apex 2 Pro gives you a recovery score and recovery time which is very useful to prevent you from overtraining.

Camera Control: You can remotely control a camera such as a GoPro from the watch. This is a unique feature that we have not seen on any other smartwatch. If you are the kind of person who likes to take videos and photos on the run you might find this useful.

Touch Screen: We were extremely sceptical about a touch screen on an outdoor sports watch. We thought it would be glitchy, difficult to use and unnecessary. How wrong we were! We loved the touchscreen. You can fully customise when the watch is controllable by the touchscreen. We found that being able to easily swipe between data screens mid-activity was extremely simple and practical.

Effort Pace: For runners who like to spend time in the mountains Coros watches measure your Effort Pace. This metric takes the gradient and your running power into account to give you a more accurate representation of how hard you are working.

What makes it unique

We had heard from many people who own Coros watches that the battery life is one of the standout features of the Apex 2 Pro. This was the case. As we write this we still have not charged the watch. It has been powered on for almost 3 weeks now. Within that time we have tracked multiple bike rides, runs, hikes, rock climbs and my sleep every night.

There are also several really smart inbuilt UI features on the watch that you won’t realise you wanted until you begin using the watch. If you are coming from another watch, for example, you may have experienced the annoyance of prematurely saving a workout. This is not possible on the Coros line of watches. To save an activity you have to hold the selection button down for three seconds to select “finish activity”. This may seem like a very small feature, but as somebody who has prematurely saved many runs at traffic lights accidentally, it’s a very welcome one.

Our Testing

Running

We used the watch for a variety of different runs, ranging from straightforward road loops to big mountain days. We found the GPS to be super accurate when we did routes of a known length, the distance on the watch was never more than a hundred meters off even on longer runs. The heart rate was also super accurate. We compared the Coros’ wrist-based heart rate sensor against a chest heart rate strap attached to a different watch and, apart from a slightly slower reaction time on the watch, the heart rates were almost identical which is incredibly impressive.

As a runner who spends the vast majority of their time off-road on technical trails and hills, we found the addition of running power to be a very useful metric. When you are running on trails or even open mountains the pace you are running is rarely reflective of your effort level. Running power is an excellent way of keeping track of how hard you are pushing.

Winter Essentials for Runners

Climbing

We used the indoor climbing profile on the Coros Apex 2 and found it to be one of the easiest ways to keep track of your climbing sessions. The intuitive data screens are easy to use even with chalky hands! The overall slim profile of the watch helped it to fade into the background of our consciousness as we climbed. It never got in the way. The indented screen also helped us to not worry about scratching the screen.

Hiking

As part of our testing, we brought the watch on a 6-hour hike in the Wicklow Mountains. We wanted to test the GPS navigation feature of the Coros Apex 2 watch and see how much battery it would consume when used for half a day. On other watches, 6 hours of navigation would drain the battery significantly, up to 60% of the battery life. However, during our hike, the Coros Apex 2 watch used only 10% of its battery, which is wildly impressive!

Biking

We took the watch mountain biking. One of the most important features of a sports watch when it comes to mountain biking is its durability. It is common when you are out on the trails for your watch to brush up against branches. Or even worse if you were to take a tumble. The chunky yet lightweight design of the watch filled us with confidence to hit the trails! Just not literally!

Who is the Apex 2 Pro for?

If you are looking for a watch with a durable design, an incredible battery life and offline maps then the Apex 2 Pro from Coros might be the watch for you!

We enjoyed using this watch over the past few weeks and we are certain that when you get one on your wrist you will think the same!

If you are looking for a pared-down version of the Apex 2 Pro, and maps are not important to you, you should check out the Coros Pace 3. We have been testing this watch alongside the Apex 2 Pro and we think it would be an excellent watch for a road runner that dabbles on the trails. You can listen to our “pros and cons” list for both watches on this Instagram highlight.