Coros

Vertix 2 GPS Adventure Watch

Very Solid Activity Tracking Watch

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

I have had the Coros Vertix 2 for just over a month now and here are my thoughts and impressions. Including some inside knowledge of where the product software will be going. My first day/first workout of backcountry skiing. The first thing I suspected could be an issue is the placement of the buttons; most specifically, the main button. With it being in a traditional watch location I personally, run into the issue of accidental button pushes. I’m coming from using the Garmin Vivoactive 3 for the past 4 years. I often would accidentally hit the start stop button; whether it is from bending my wrist or, or gloves or sleeves hit the button. I found that to be the case on the Vertix 2 with my first AT ski outing, even when activating the locked screen. From a hardware aspect; that is my only complaint. Other than that, I do not notice the weight of the watch or the size. I do not have a huge wrist (178mm or 7” in circumference) yet the watch looks and feels right in place. The strap feels really good, I have purchased a separate nylon strap from Coros for use in the warmer weather when my wrist will get sweaty. I have found this to help with moisture control and not get sores on my skin. Wrist based heart rate. As shown in multiple YouTube reviews; the heart rate took awhile to catch up to the chest strap. But once it did, it was very close to the chest strap. The elevation came up higher than the Strava iPhone app. That could possibly be because I used all of the satellites, the highest level the watch has. For cycling, in comparison to my Hammerhead Karoo 2; the Vertix 2 has consistently read lower elevation. After my first few activities, I went from Dual Frequency to All Systems to save on battery life. It's a long running debate, which device is the most accurate. Talking about battery life; this is the what Coros wants to be known for and what they boast in many of their promotional materials. I made it 4 weeks on one charge and had a total of just under 40 hours of GPS activities recorded on this device. At 4 weeks the watch was at 5% battery life remaining, it would not sync to the app as it gave the message “Connect to power source to upload your activity.” I plugged in the watch and roughly two hours later it was fully charged. The battery life is really good and a big selling point to Coros and the Vertix 2. Who is this for? Coros seems to focus towards runners. I say this because in order to take advantage their EvoLab feature; all the health tracking i.e. your fitness and recovery, you have to run for a week. This watch is for the athlete who likes to do everything but has a core training of running or has running included in their training. For me as predominantly a cyclist, and essentially an anti-runner, this watch currently is not the best for me. What cyclist could this be for? It can be for a triathlete. It can be for the cyclocross rider/racer. Once you have done your basic fitness testing through running you can access all of the health and fitness tracking this watch has to offer. In speaking with the product experience manager at Coros; he told me the main reason for the EvoLab being based on running is because anyone can just go out for a run. You do not really need anything other than sneakers. Whereas cycling requires more equipment not everyone has to get going. He also told me they do have plans to get other activities to count towards your base fitness, like cycling by the end of 2022. At this point I can only give 4 stars for this product. The main reasons being the placement of the main button and doing accidental start stops presses. The second reason is some of their widgets that operate the on the watch. I still have an issue with the sleep tracking getting cut short if you wake up after 6 hours go to the bathroom and go back to sleep. The other widget I feel is not needed is the ambient temperature. I will post some other data comparisons in "reply" below this review for some more info.