New sports watch player hopes to mount a challenge to Garmin's throne
After revealing its first sports watch earlier this year, Coros has announced its return with the Apex.
A potential challenger to the multi-sport heavyweights from the likes of Garmin, Suunto and Polar, the company indicates that the Apex will last up to 30 days in normal battery mode. During GPS tracking, the watch will last 35 hours, while UltraMax mode stretches that out to 100 hours.
And this is backed up by the Coros Trainer, which essentially acts as the user’s on-board personal coach. Initially split up into three different stages – Warm-Up, Training and Cool Down – the watch is able to test the user before providing both aerobic and anaerobic tailored training plans.
In these workouts, Coros indicates that the Apex is able to track stamina level, training effects and recovery time, with these calculations based upon its ability to pick up the lactate threshold with 97% accuracy against lab testing.
The insights are also built upon in the Coros companion app, with information regarding the user’s VO2 Max, recovery advice, threshold pace, training load and a personal fitness index available to the user. The Apex can, of course, automatically beam workouts to the likes of Strava and TrainingPeaks, too.
But what about the design specs? Well, like we’ve seen with the Garmin Fenix 5 and Fenix 5 Plus range, different sizes are on offer with the Apex. One is a hefty 46mm, coming complete with a titanium alloy bezel, while the smaller 42mm variation will feature a ceramic bezel. Both displays are made from sapphire glass, while the silicon bands are interchangeable.
The only major difference between the pair, in terms of features, is the battery life we mentioned up top. While you’ll get 30 days with the 46mm Apex, its smaller twin will manage 24 days in regular mode, 25 hours in GPS tracking and 80 hours in UltraMax GPS tracking.
Will it all round into a package that can seriously challenge the top players in the field? We’ll be looking to test that when we get hold of one, with the company indicating that it’ll be available to buy from mid-November. If you have your eyes on the 46mm version, it’ll cost you $349.99, with the 42mm Apex coming in at a cheaper $299.99.
