Coros, a relative newcomer to the outdoor watch world is ready to brave the elements and help you get way up in those mountains with its new Vertix multisport watch.
Unlike its Pace and Apex watches that it's launched previously, the Vertix is designed with climbers, hikers and trail runners in mind. The Vertix offers a battery life of up to 150 hours in its UltraMax GPS mode, a pulse oximeter to assess how well you're acclimating to your lofty conditions, all wrapped up in rugged watch design that's waterproof up to 150 metres.
The 48mm sized watch, comes in four different looks with all made from titanium with sapphire glass covering its 1.2-inch display. It packs in GPS/GLONASS for mapping your outdoor pursuits and an optical heart rate monitor, which supports training in heart rate zones and better assessing recovery time in between your training sessions. It also includes a host of outdoor-friendly sensors like a barometric altimeter and a compass to offer that extra hit of data.
The headline feature though is Coros' Altitude Performance System, which uses the data measured from the onboard pulse oximeter to measure oxygen levels or oxygen saturation in the blood. When you're scaling the heights, that oxygen intake and blood oxygen saturation can decrease and can lead to symptoms related to altitude sickness. When you reach 2,500 metres, the Vertix's monitoring system will kick into gear offering recommendations on whether you should continue you ascent or to focus on resting up before continuing.
In terms of other features, the Vertix tracks running, cycling and swimming (pool and open) with a dedicated triathlon mode also on board. There's also navigation features including the ability to import routes onto the device. ANT+ support means you can pair external devices like heart rate monitor chest straps and speed and cadence sensors.
Battery life is another big thing for the Vertix with the promise of up to 60 hours in full GPS mode, 150 hours in UltraMax mode and 45 days in regular watch mode.
The Vertix goes on sale on 4 June with pricing starting at $599 with the priciest model setting you back $699. So it's firmly in the same price bracket as the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus and the Suunto 9. We've had an early play with it already, so you can check out our Vertix hands-on to see if it made a good first impression.
How we test
By Michael Sawh
Michael Sawh has been covering the wearable tech industry since the very first Fitbit landed back in 2011. Previously the resident wearable tech expert at Trusted Reviews, he also marshaled the features section of T3.com.
He also regularly contributed to T3 magazine when they needed someone to talk about fitness trackers, running watches, headphones, tablets, and phones.
Michael writes for GQ, Wired, Coach Mag, Metro, MSN, BBC Focus, Stuff, TechRadar and has made several appearances on the BBC Travel Show to talk all things tech.
Michael is a lover of all things sports and fitness-tech related, clocking up over 15 marathons and has put in serious hours in the pool all in the name of testing every fitness wearable going. Expect to see him with a minimum of two wearables at any given time.