Coros, the sports activities tech firm identified greatest in triathlon circles for its smartwatches and coronary heart fee displays, has right now taken a step into the biking market, with the launch of an all-new GPS head unit that appears set to problem the perfect bike computer systems.
Called the Dura, it measures an analogous measurement to the Wahoo Elemnt Roam and mounts utilizing a Garmin-style quarter-turn mount, but it surely does issues slightly in another way to what we have come to count on.
Rather than fill the accessible area with as huge a display screen as potential, Coros has deliberately used a smaller display screen – at 2.7in nook to nook – and crammed the highest third of the higher face with extremely environment friendly photo voltaic panels. The outcome, Coros says, is a battery life that can final 120 hours of consecutive using.
In reality, in the suitable circumstances, it might feasibly end a journey with extra cost than when it began, because the photo voltaic panels generate as much as two hours of battery life for each hour of direct daylight.
The display screen itself is a Memory-in-Pixel color touchscreen with an adaptive backlight. It options absolutely customisable fields with all the information you count on to see in a top-end GPS bike laptop, reminiscent of velocity, distance, time, energy, coronary heart fee, routing features and a whole bunch of superior metrics.
Visually, it’s a putting unit with an aerodynamically formed black plastic housing that’s narrower and shallower at the vanguard. It measures 3.92in x 2.39in x 0.62in and weighs 97g. A USB-C cost port sits on the trailing edge beneath a weather-sealed flap.
Its greatest level of aesthetic distinction in comparison with the competitors is the big Digital Dial on the right-hand facet, which mimics the performance of the same dials discovered on the model’s vary of smartwatches. This additionally doubles as an ‘okay’ button, and it is joined by a ‘again/lap’ button simply beneath it.
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It can entry GPS, Glonass, Galileo, Beidou and OZSS satellite tv for pc methods to get a repair on location, and inbuilt algorithms will change on and off the mandatory features to optimise battery life. It runs each the unique L1 and the newest L5 GPS indicators for a stability of reliability and accuracy in dense cowl or built-up areas.
Additional options embody an in-built bike alarm and crash detection performance, an summary of upcoming climbs, and sensible mid-ride rerouting utilizing Google Maps (through telephone connection), leveraging stay information reminiscent of site visitors and street closures.
It can hook up with the standard apps, together with TrainingPeaks, Strava, Komoot and RideWithGPS to obtain routes or exercises after which add rides.
As anticipated, it additionally pairs with the Coros app, which permits customers to configure the machine and carry out firmware updates. The Coros app additionally has a free-to-use inbuilt Training Hub, which when paired with a Coros smartwatch, connects your rides to the bigger-picture well being information, together with sleep, HRV and restoration.
Pricing and availability
The Coros Dura is priced at £249.00 / US$249.00 / €289.00 / AU$449.00. This places it in keeping with the smaller Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, cheaper than the Roam. It additionally means it is cheaper than the non-touchscreen Edge 540 from Garmin, in addition to the Hammerhead Karoo.
Orders may be positioned instantly at launch, however items will not start delivery till July fifteenth.
At such a aggressive worth, with its broad characteristic checklist and robust battery life, the Dura seems extremely aggressive on this area. It’s the most cost effective touchscreen bike laptop round. We have up to now taken it for one journey, and early indicators are constructive.
Coros continues to be rolling out common firmware updates because it transitions from beta to a totally useful consumer-facing product, so there’s little worth in a radical evaluation at this stage, because the characteristic checklist will frequently broaden and the battery life will modify barely. Therefore we’ll you should definitely carry our readers a full evaluation as soon as the firmware updates have slowed and the product is a greater reflection of the completed product.