This can be a assessment of the Coros Vertix 2 in 2022. Particularly, it is a assessment of how this watch performs when climbing, backpacking, path operating, and extremely operating.
For longer than anybody can keep in mind the largest problem with watches used for climbing and backpacking has been the battery life, or ought to we are saying the shortage of it. Enter the Coros Vertix 2 with a battery life that backpackers and hikers on multiday journeys will admire. However is that sufficient so that you can purchase this watch? How good are the options? Are the maps and GPS correct? Is it straightforward to make use of?
I examined this watch over a interval of months on backpacking journeys, path runs, and in cities with restricted means for the GPS watch to be correct. And the outcomes left me impressed. Maintain studying to search out out extra concerning the Coros Vertix 2. Discover out if this needs to be the watch is the Finest GPS climbing watch. Is that this the perfect watch so that you can use for climbing, backpacking, path operating, and ultra-marathons?
In-Depth Evaluation: Coros Vertix 2
Coros Vertix 2
Weight: 3.14 oz / 89 grams
Professionals:
> 60-day battery life for regular use and 140 hours with GPS
> Giant watch face
> 100-meter water resistance
> Good offline coloration maps
Cons:
> Not low cost
> Not everybody will just like the very massive watch face
It wasn’t that way back {that a} GPS watch might hardly have sufficient battery for most individuals to complete operating a marathon with out the battery operating out. Over time, issues improved as they all the time do. And now we’ve got GPS watches which are considerably higher than only some years in the past.
Coros went all in with the battery life on the Coros Vertix 2. It looks like they positioned the characteristic of battery life above every little thing else on this watch.
In comparison with the competitors from Garmin and Suunto there’s nothing that may compete for battery life and GPS accuracy. For that purpose, it’s doable to go on a week-long backpacking journey and use all of the features together with GPS and monitoring and are available house with out having to recharge the battery. Nothing wanting extraordinary.
With battery life being the perfect at school by far, there should be one thing stopping this watch from being worn by each runner, hiker, backpacker, bicycle owner, and path runner on this planet. The key purpose is price. It’s not low cost.
Maintain studying to be taught extra concerning the good and unhealthy issues about this watch. Trace, I prefer it a lot I now use this watch in favor of all of the others available on the market.
Options
In terms of options let me say one factor proper from the beginning. This has the perfect battery lifetime of any climbing watch available on the market for the time being. And secondly, it’s not low cost. Contemplating the value there could be an expectation that this watch needs to be filled with options, and it’s.
Battery
Undecided what number of occasions I’ve talked about how good the battery is on this watch, so I’ll point out it once more. It’s the greatest at school by far. If you would like a climbing watch that has every little thing and won’t go away you confused about having to cost the battery midway by way of a hike or ultra-marathon then this watch is for you.
Even when utilizing all of the features on the watch together with the extremely correct GPS and monitoring features you possibly can simply go for a week-long backpacking journey and nonetheless not use all of the battery.
One other cool factor concerning the battery is the truth that it costs in a short time.
GPS and Accuracy
After battery life, the following greatest characteristic of this watch is the accuracy of the GPS. The GPS accuracy is healthier than every other watch available on the market. Solely handheld GPS items can come shut. When testing this unit I discovered I used to be in a position to choose up GPS sign whereas inside my home!
With the GPS in use, you possibly can rise up to 140 hours of use with the battery when utilizing the GOS and QZSS methods.
The Coros Vertix 2 additionally makes use of the next GPS methods: GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, and QZSS. When utilizing all these extremely correct satellite tv for pc methods it provides you with 90 hours of battery life.
When utilizing duel frequency mode which is probably the most correct GPS system accessible, you’re going to get 50 hours of battery life. Basically that implies that the watch can use two GPS frequencies on the similar time for elevated accuracy. I’m unsure how they do it however this watch is extra correct than the Apple Extremely watch and something from Garmin, Polar, or Suunto.
So, best-in-class Battery life and GPS accuracy.
Altimeter, Barometer &Compass
All the perfect GPS watches have the ABC options of Altitude, Barometer, and Compass. There’s nothing particular about any of those options aside from they work as promised and are on demand while you want them.
The altitude characteristic has the power to trace your acclimatization to the altitude as you climb above 2500 meters / 8200 ft. On the time of writing, I’ve not had the prospect to check this characteristic, and can replace you when I’ve absolutely examined it. When utilizing this characteristic it hyperlinks in with the inbuilt blood oxygen saturation (SpO2)characteristic. I used it a number of occasions to measure my oxygen saturation which was useful after I has Covid amongst different issues!
The barometer characteristic is correct and has the power to trace fast drops in stress that are normally related to an approaching storm. On the time of testing, there have been no storms in my space so I’ve not been in a position to absolutely check this characteristic.
The Compass is correct and in comparison with a magnetic compass it really works nicely.
The Coros Vertix 2 has the power to navigate, use topo maps, save tracks and waypoints, use breadcrumbs, and all of the options you might have considered trying in a GPS watch. When utilizing the maps there’s a little bit of lag however it’s no completely different from every other GPS watch available on the market. However not as quick as a Handheld GPS or GPS app in your smartphone.
You may load tracks onto the watch by way of the Coros smartphone app and use it to navigate when out on the paths. The 32 gigs of storage will maintain plenty of mapping knowledge.
Whereas the maps are good I discovered that after I wished to make use of a mapping characteristic I might instinctually use my telephone as a substitute as it’s higher in terms of maps. However the smartphone will rapidly use the battery if utilizing it for tracks which is the place the Coros Vertix 2 is so a lot better.
Compared to the competitors, it’s not fairly nearly as good as Garmin within the mapping division. Having mentioned that, most individuals, myself included favor to make use of a smartphone or handheld GPS for superior mapping options.
Ease of Use
There’s a studying curve with all GPS watches as they every have their very own quirks that must be realized. The Coros Vertix 2 makes use of a big important button with a dial that may be locked to stop unintended scrolling. Of observe I discovered this method to work very nicely and I didn’t unintentionally scroll by way of features accidentally. When paired with the Coros App there are a number of watch faces that may be chosen. And a near-infinite variety of methods the information may be displayed on the display screen. Whether or not it’s mapping knowledge, health knowledge, or knowledge that’s displayed when climbing, operating, biking or no matter type of exercise you’re doing.
When climbing I like to make use of the next features, altitude, altitude gained and misplaced, time to sundown, time of day (in fact!), coronary heart charge, battery life, and distance coated. Whereas there are lots of different issues I might add, I discovered this to offer me nearly something I wanted when on the path. All of the options are absolutely customizable and straightforward to alter.
Design
The Coros Vertix 2 is large and heavy compared to many different GPS watches. Not everybody will like that. For me, I didn’t actually discover the burden and cherished the massive measurement as my eyes are not so good as they was once.
The Coros Vertix 2 is comprised of titanium alloy, has a Sapphire Glass watch face, and makes use of a silicon nylon watch band. The watch is constructed powerful for plenty of abuse. Throughout testing, I took a fall on the street whereas operating. Regardless of scratches on my arm and elbow, the watch remained unscratched regardless of hitting the bottom fairly exhausting.
The watch face and band work collectively nicely. However I did discover the watch band to be a bit of annoying. I discovered I wanted to have the watch band a bit on the tight facet to make sure it didn’t slip round and supply inaccurate coronary heart charge knowledge. However it’s no completely different from a Garmin GPS watch which additionally does the identical for me.
Music
The Coros Vertix 2 has the power to play music from the watch however I can’t see too many individuals utilizing this characteristic. Firstly, the music should be loaded onto the watch, identical to within the previous days earlier than apps equivalent to Spotify. Talking of Spotify, the Coros Vertix 2 won’t sync with Spotify and as a result of design and inside {hardware}, it won’t sync at any time sooner or later.
I didn’t use the music characteristic and to be sincere I in all probability by no means will. I’ll use Spotify linked to my telephone when out on the paths climbing or operating. General, a little bit of a ineffective characteristic that most individuals won’t use.
Coros App
The Coros App is the bridge that pairs the watch with the historical past of your runs, hikes, and extra. It updates the telephone and you’ll add and obtain routes. It additionally means that you can customise the watch face and customise what options you wish to see when operating climbing or biking. For instance, when climbing you may want altitude, time to sundown, distance coated, and extra. When operating you would possibly wish to see your present tempo, general tempo, distance, time, and extra. No matter you need, this watch can customise the show to your wants.
The Coros App works nicely and like nearly every little thing else it’s recurrently up to date with new options and updates for the present options.
Coros Vertix 2 Updates
Coros has been fairly lively in terms of software program updates. So all of the options listed on the time of the discharge of the watch have modified quite a bit and in all probability will change quite a bit over the approaching months and years.
The record of updates in current months may be very intensive. A few of the notable ones embrace time until dawn and sundown, improved sleep monitoring together with REM sleep, and discover my telephone/watch characteristic. All of that and fixed minor enhancements and bug fixes.
General, they’ve been very lively with steady enchancment and with no signal of slowing down.
Coros Vertix 2 Vs the Relaxation
The Coros Vertix is a formidable little bit of package for anybody eager about spending time open air and who desires a completely functioning GPS watch. No different watch can examine with battery life or GPS accuracy. For that purpose, it is a nice look ahead to climbing and backpacking. It’s forward of the present competitors for high quality, options, and accuracy. Nevertheless it comes at a worth that’s fairly excessive. If this watch was a bit extra inexpensive I might see everybody utilizing this watch and making the swap from no matter model they at the moment use. I lately made the swap from Garmin to Coros as a result of higher battery life, higher GPS accuracy, massive display screen, and extra.
Conclusion
General, the Coros Vertix 2 is a formidable look ahead to the outside. In case you are in search of a climbing watch, backpacking watch, or a watch on your extremely marathon-type actions then there’s nothing else available on the market with a battery that can final so long as this.
The Coros Vertix 2 could possibly be extra inexpensive to make it extra engaging. With the continual enchancment of the App and software program, this watch is already good and can get higher with time. General, that is the perfect look ahead to climbing and backpacking. And people which are into extremely marathons and multiday adventures will even discover this watch very engaging. I just like the watch a lot it’s the watch I at the moment use on all my adventures.
Often Requested Questions
The Coros Vertix 2 is among the greatest climbing and backpacking watches. It has the best-in-class battery life and probably the most correct GPS on any watch available on the market. These two options alone make it an awesome watch. Add to that high quality maps, altimeter, barometer, compass, and extra making it an awesome look ahead to outside adventures.
BikeHikeSafari Gear Evaluation Course of
The creator, Brad McCartney from BikeHikeSafari is a small impartial adventurer and outside gear tester who owns and runs BikeHikeSafari.com.
BikeHikeSafari will not be half of a giant weblog community and is proudly impartial. All evaluations on this web site are impartial and sincere gear evaluations of outside merchandise by the creator.
The creator, Brad McCartney is a really skilled triple crown thru-hiker, adventurer, and bike tourer having spent 1000s of nights sleeping in a tent and sleeping bag (Learn extra). He was a supervisor of an out of doors retail retailer and may be very skilled in what’s essential when utilizing and testing gear for evaluations like this.
BikeHikeSafari won’t ever obtain any cash for evaluations and they don’t settle for sponsored evaluations on this web site. All of the feedback concerning the gear evaluations are from the creator based mostly on his years of expertise. Hope this impartial assessment was useful for you.
