Review of Coros Vertix: It Is For All Mountaineers?
Coros is considered to mix low price with broad trainings apps for the triathlete with its Pace and Apex smartwatches. The third watch of the company, Vertix, tries a similar feat in the category of adventure watch. Vertix takes on the Garmin Fenix and Suunto 9 series with its outdoor-centered model and a price tag of $600.
Burly & Big
When designing the Vertix, Coros didn’t withhold. The watch materials are first class. The glass display is scratchproof with a 48 mm titanium case. Over a month, I wore the Vertix non-stop, and the display or the box has zero scratches. The watch still looks brand new, except dirt and grime.
With its heavy weight at 76 gr, Vertix is lighter than most fitness watches, but it offers stainless steel casing than competing adventure watches. I thought it would be a gloomy, but the Vertix, even on my small wrists, is surprisingly comfortable to wear. The 22-mm band is soft, flexible and adaptable from small wrists to the bigger wrists. The case fitted my wrist smoothly.
The Vertix has two buttons on the right side of the watch and a central, digital crown button. The watch buttons are flat, however, when you wear it on the the left hand, the digital crown twigs a little. The display can be rotated to left, but the labels are then reversed on top of the case.
Either outdoor or indoor, the 1.2 “240x 240 display in the sun was simple to read. Even when I was out of an exposed ridge in full sun, I never had problems seeing my walking figures on the screen. But Coros intelligently hides the black space with signs representing a clock dial around the display. I wish the display was a little bigger.
The interface department was closed by Coros. The view uses two buttons–the first to rear-light and the second to reverse. To enter the shortcuts menu, hold down the back button. There is a digital crown button in the centre, which is available to scroll through the menu system to select the items on the display.
The interface department was nailed by Coros. The watch uses two keys–one to backlight and the other to back / lap button. The watch has two keys. To access the shortcuts you can hold the back button. In the middle, you can scroll through the menu and click on a digital crown button for the items on the screen.
The crown hangs out somewhat, but with a glove it’s easy to use. Just like Apex, the Vertix menus are so easy that the menu system does not need a handbook.
Keeping to the fundamentals
Below the robust exterior of Coros Vertix is a fitness-tracking watch. There are all standard metrics: pace, cadence, monitoring of the heart rate, distance and elevation. Measured in line with the Garmin Fenix 6S Pro, the measurement of these measurements is correct. Through the data screens during the workout, you can view these measurements. These data screens can be adapted to the mobile app just like most high-end watches. I knew the degree and how rapidly (or slowly) I could go up or down when using this feature.
Coros uses the training data to determine the effect of training, which measures how your fitness is improved. I found Vertix’s workout effort continually underestimated. Recently my Garmin 6S Pro logged me as being too much as I pushed myself, while the Vertix rated it as unproductive. On a recent rise in Mount Katahdin in Maine, I observed a similar effect.
Every exercise is broken down and measured in colorful, readable charts. It shows only one training at a time and does not, unfortunately, allow you to see trends. You cannot return for a week or a month to see how you have changed pace or heart rate. They also do not recognize a run at the same place, so you can’t keep track of your performance over time. Other brands such as Garmin offer trend analysis unlike Coros.
The vertex comes with Pulse Oximeter up to 2500 m since it aims to target mountainous and the outdoor living communities. The vertex alerts you every time when you run out of Oxygen. These alerts are hourly based so you can keep tracing Oxygen level when hiking.
A barometer, temperature gage, and altimeter are available in order to monitor elevation and outside conditions. When I climbed Mount Washington, I took advantage of them. The Vertix is waterproof to 150 meters, so don’t worry if it is wet.
Read More: Review Fenix 6S Pro: Small-Size But Valuable
GPS
Coros Vertix delivers GPS as the key to an adventure watch. Satellites–both GPS and GLONASS-are connected quickly. The tracking was mostly accurate, but it would go down on occasions. In contrast to Suunto and Garmin, Vertix sometimes drops the GPS and loses some of my track.
Battery Life
The Coros watch lineup is characterized by battery life. But the company has perfected it, I don’t know how Coros is running battery life. I tested the lifetime of the Vertix battery and found best beyond any other fitness watch. The Vertix can be used in GPS and UltraTrax for up to 45 days, 60 hours and 150 hours respectively.
I was wearing it for 12 hours, and had a remaining 75% battery. It’s really incredible.
Final Verdict
The Coros Vertix is much to love. It has an excellent durability and an unrivaled battery life. It covers all basic fitness measurements, but in comparison with its rivals it falls short in the feature department. The Vertix can hardly be justified by expending $600 if you can spend a little longer on a music, maps, mobile payments and more in an entry-level Garmin Fenix 6 Pro.
Is there a better choice?
In terms of battery life, the Coros Vertix delivers best while it lacks in lifestyle and fitness features. The Garmin Fenix 6 Pro should be considered for those seeking the most features in $600 price.
Read Next: Google Pixelbook Go Laptop Leaked with Featured Images and Hands-On Videos
