The COROS APEX 2 Professional has an extremely lengthy GPS battery life. And that’s just the start of a benchmark-setting look ahead to athletes, adventurers, and technophiles.
As a gradual ultramarathon runner, I’ve been let down by my watches far more than as soon as. In actual fact, though I’ve by no means DNFed on a race, my watches have each time.
I’ve but to file a complete 100-mile occasion on my smartwatch, having the battery poop out a few miles from the end line.
And whereas the whole market of smartwatches has improved during the last couple of years, COROS simply took an enormous leap ahead with battery life with the introduction of the APEX 2 Professional. (We’ll get into this extra beneath.)
Past outstanding battery life, the COROS APEX 2 Professional goals to compete with different premium manufacturers of sports activities and journey watches. Launching immediately, together with a cheaper, but in addition spectacular, COROS APEX 2, the APEX 2 Professional has huge capabilities.
I’ve had a pre-production pattern of each watches for a couple of week, and have barely scratched the floor of all of the capabilities.
Briefly: The COROS APEX 2 Professional ($499) and APEX 2 ($399) are top-shelf watches for athletes and adventurers. They provide a strong and full toolbox of coaching and navigational aids, plus a associated app that gives exercises, device administration, and well being insights.
With benchmark-setting battery life and an incredible person interface, these watches must be fashionable with critical adventurers and athletes.
COROS APEX 2 Professional Assessment: Wonderful Battery, Aggressive Instruments
Seventy-five hours! That’s how lengthy COROS claims the APEX Professional 2 can run in its normal GPS mode. That battery life stands alone within the area of journey watches.
Whereas some others, just like the Garmin fenix 7, can stretch for much longer utilizing restricted GPS modes, 75 hours of second-by-second GPS connectivity places the COROS APEX 2 Professional in a league of its personal.
I understand I’m speaking about loads of “claims” on this article. And to be clear, I merely haven’t had it for lengthy sufficient to confirm issues like battery life.
In every week, I’ve taken it operating 4 occasions and mountaineering as soon as. My whole exercises are about 5 hours, plus every day put on for every week. And the battery sits at 91% as I write this story.
My takeaway to this point? This battery goes to final a really very long time. And if I must stretch it, COROS presents an “UltraMax” mode, which connects to GPS much less typically and extrapolates the information in between. On this mode, it doubles battery life to 150 hours, or 6.25 days.
The APEX 2 (non-Professional) mannequin, additionally hitting the market immediately, has a 45-hour battery life with normal GPS.
APEX 2 Professional Accuracy
GPS watches have gotten actually darned good. In my admittedly temporary testing, I used the watch each within the metropolis and mountains. And the maps present accuracy down to a couple toes. I may even see brief deviations off my route the place I needed to go 10 toes off route and decide up my canine’s poop.
The APEX 2 Professional has an up to date optical heart-rate sensor, and from figuring out my typical athletic efficiency, it appears fairly correct.
I famous a couple of deviations that I’d not anticipate from a chest strap, however for a wrist-mounted monitor, the APEX 2 Professional was very near my anticipated exertion charges. I discovered that tightening the watch a bit eradicated virtually all surprising heart-rate readings.
The Finest Health Watches of 2022
A Mountain Journey Watch Toolbox
The APEX 2 and APEX 2 Professional share a complete device record that competes with the finest journey watches and health watches in the marketplace. In my temporary testing to this point, I’ve given most of them a brief spin and located them purposeful or higher.
One notable improve for the APEX 2 and a pair of Professional is the addition of music. You’ll be able to load MP3s instantly onto the look ahead to music on the path — no must carry your cellphone. The watch doesn’t but assist streaming providers like Spotify, however the model hopes to discover a streaming companion in 2023.
Outdoors of that, you get all of the instruments of the APEX watch. Which means navigation, maps, ABC (altitude, barometer, compass), plus some nice smartwatch capabilities like Discover My Telephone (I’ve used this already within the area whereas duck looking), digital camera management, timer, stopwatch, save location, and navigation and maps.
In well being instruments, you’ll discover an optical pulse oximeter, heart-rate monitor, health monitoring, and a bunch of uploadable exercises. I examined the fartlek exercise, and it was straightforward to observe on the watch (and kicked my butt).
For mountain athletes, you’ll be able to set a storm alarm because of the barometer. There’s even a metronome if operating to the beat is your jam.
Sturdiness
The brand new duo of COROS watches appears as robust as any sports activities watch in the marketplace. With a mode devoted to multipitch climbing, they higher be!
The construct specs have top-tier elements. Each watches have sapphire glass touchscreens with an always-on reminiscence LCD show. The bezel is Grade 5 titanium with PVD coating, and the duvet can also be titanium.
And I merely love the nylon-Velcro “Fast Match Band.” The strap is snug, infinitely adjustable, and stays comfortable. The bands have been one in all my greatest grips on some manufacturers, significantly Suunto. COROS nails it with this watch band.
The general result’s a good-looking watch that’s prepared for something you throw at it from -22 to 122 levels Fahrenheit. It’s water resistant to five ATM (atmospheres), equal to 50 m in depth.
COROS: A Every day-Put on Watch?
The APEX 2 Professional and APEX 2 make a robust case as daily-wear watches. Paired with a smartphone, it offers fundamental notifications reminiscent of texts, emails, and no matter different alerts you’d wish to arrange.
Put on it by way of the day, and it capabilities as a step counter. Put on it at evening, and it displays your sleep fairly precisely.
With the always-on display screen, the watch blends properly into an workplace setting. My solely gripe is, even with its least “sporty” obtainable face, the COROS system nonetheless has a reasonably athletic aesthetic.
I’d wish to see a couple of extra understated watch faces obtainable within the library. Given the superb high quality of the watch, the faces lag a bit behind the competitors when it comes to model and vogue.
The COROS additionally lags in the case of colour and vibrancy within the watch face. In contrast with the Suunto 9 Peak or Garmin fenix 7, its colours appear muted, and the show is dimmer. However these are minor gripes, particularly while you examine the person interface.
COROS Consumer Expertise
Right here, I discovered the APEX 2 Professional shined. It’s the simplest smartwatch to make use of that I’ve examined but. The buttons are easy and intuitive. And I actually recognize the locking mechanism, which retains the watch from beginning a exercise or ending one with no lengthy press.
I’ve had many situations of watches recording nothing, or not recording exercises, as a result of an absence of locks. The COROS lock requires a 3-second press to lock or unlock it. This strikes me as excellent and unlikely to inadvertently unlock whereas placing on a jacket, for instance.
Past that, the menus and buttons are easy to navigate and efficient. It took me a couple of hours of use to develop into fully fluent within the COROS ecosystem.
APEX 2 Professional Verdict
The APEX 2 Professional is a robust device for athletes and adventurers. It has among the many longest battery lives of any smartwatch in the marketplace. And outdoors of scuba diving and flight, it offers instruments for nearly each out of doors exercise you could pursue.
However at their increased value, the APEX 2 and APEX 2 Professional face robust competitors from Garmin and Suunto. Luckily for shoppers, COROS proves itself a critical contender even on the increased value vary. Past battery life, it provides you nice accuracy and utility in well being, navigational, and health toolsets.
So in the event you’re available in the market for a top-tier sports activities watch, the APEX 2 and APEX 2 Professional must be excessive in your record. For some, the selection of brand name will come all the way down to aesthetics, person interface, associated apps, and model loyalty. For a lot of, COROS will probably be a smart selection because the wrist-borne device they’ll go to day by day.
Examine APEX 2 & Professional Value at COROS
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