Coros APEX Premium Multisport GPS Watch

I checked out the COROS Apex 46mm after numerous reviews and excellent ratings/specs. Despite all of these, I thought the watch was lacking in simple functionality that would have made it a true competitor to Garmin and the like (and better than them hands down). I’ve been using generations of Garmin Fenix watches prior to switching to the COROS Apex. I was tired of Garmin’s poor app performance, constant glitches, and lack of hardware support. I primarily use my watch for daily smart notifications and weekly mountain biking, with occasional runs, hikes and other activities throughout the month. Numerous reviews said the COROS was an excellent bike sports watch. I tend to disagree. While it does accomplish the workouts, the core watch is not built for customizing for the individual user for the home screens. The COROS Apex is truly a runner’s watch with other sports tacked on. You can’t get rid of the 3 dedicated home screens for running stats (nor can you customize, remove, or hide any of them as you can for any other sports watch). So, if you aren’t a runner, you are stuck cycling through three running data screens that are always empty. Or if you don’t care about the sunset, barometer or other data points, you can’t get rid of them either. I reached out to COROS directly to see if this was just a glitch, but unfortunately it is not. It’s a bummer. At the same price point, I ended up ditching my COROS Apex for an Apple Watch – which includes the Fall/SOS feature which is nice – it has everything except for the insane battery life of the COROS Apex. The COROS App is great, and a nice simple interface compared to Garmin. It was super easy setting up custom workout screens with data points I was interested in.

Overall, if you are a runner and also do other workouts, this is definitely the watch for you. If you don’t run or focus on other workouts, it’s just a nuisance to deal with the shortcomings of the interface. It didn’t work for me, but could definitely be the right fit for a lot of people.

This is my daily driver now. It’s been about a month since I’ve had my Coros Apex. I’ve been managing about 15 days or so before charging the watch. That’s with exercising 6 days a week, 3 tracked runs and a ride/hunt/walk outside as well as a couple of days of indoor cycling with the smart trainer. Daily HR tracking, phone notification,s and a limited backlight plan. I really enjoy having my training plan, though I wish I could manage it on a computer (Training Peaks integration notwithstanding). I think the style is attractive and the quality excellent, no worse than other mid to top tier competitors. The accuracy is phenomenal and having Beidou actually works well over just GPS.

I’m looking forward to more updates, more features, more value for my money. If this is what they’re like onwards, I don’t hesitate recommending them to anyone who cares about about quality sports tracking with solid devices and excellent service. I’m not trying to sway anyone or be a shill; I’m just sharing my really positive experience after being frustrated over one thing or another. At the end of the day, what matters most to me is will these tools help me in my training or will I spend more time thinking about what solutions I need to accomplish my goals. If the barriers to entry for excising more aren’t there, I’m a gleeful guy. Thanks PowerMeterCity for a quick delivery of a great product.

Great watch for the price. I run predominantly and haven’t tested the bike and swim metrics, but so far, I am very pleased with the running metrics, battery life, and overall performance of the watch. I would highly recommend this watch if the higher end Garmin watches are out of your price range.