COROSAPEX 2 Outdoor GPS Watch, 1.2" Sapphire Titanium, 14 Days Battery Life, On-Wrist Navigation, Offline Maps, Heart Rate Monitor, Track Sleep, Running, Biking, Skiing, Climbing-Coral

BLUF: This is an excellent watch at a lower price than the competition without any noteworthy compromises.CONTEXTI'm coming to Coros after about a decade as a dedicated Garmin person. The two things that drew me to Coros are cost and battery life. I'm upgrading because I want a longer battery, maps, and a more durable screen.My most recent Garmin was a Fenix 6. That watch has a 16-day battery life. My prior Garmin Fenix 3 had a 4-6 weeks battery life. Having to charge every couple of weeks was always a surprisingly frustrating experience after I upgraded to the Fenix 6. It was never not annoying.BATTERY LIFEI haven't tested the Coros' battery life to its limits, but the reviews and my experience with the Coros Vertix 2 make me fully confident that the Apex 2 Pro will hit the projected 30 days. This means that it has roughly *twice* the battery life of the direct counterpart Fenix 7. That's significant! The internet tells me that part of the battery savings comes from Coros' approach of checking your heart rate every 10 minutes while Garmin checks constantly. Two things to keep in mind with this are that (a) you can adjust a setting in the Coros to get constant HR checking at the expense of some battery life, and (b) the watch switches to constant HR checking as soon as you start an activity. I'll happily give up granular non-activity HR checking for double the battery life.COSTThe Apex 2 Pro comes in at $500. The equivalent Garmin Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar comes in at $900. That's a massive delta in price. One thing that has bothered me about many of the reviews I read about the Apex 2 Pro was that reviewers compared the 2 Pro to the $500 Garmin 955. Where this falls down for me is that the 955 has a full plastic case and a Gorilla Glass screen. With their metal faces and sapphire screens, the 2 Pro and the Fenix 7 are significantly more robust than the 955. This is important for many purchasers who are using these watches in the mountains, on job sites, and in other settings where durability is key.USER INTERFACEI was convinced that I would hate having to navigate the watch by twisting the crown. Surprisingly, I got used to this after about two weeks. (FYI - most of my time with a Coros has been with the Vertix 2) Now, the thought of returning to Garmin’s many buttons seems overly complicated. I’ve used Vertix 2 in snowy mountains with thick-ish gloves on and didn’t have any issues. During activities, you can cycle through screens with either the touchscreen or the crown. I’ve turned off the touchscreen during my activities solely because I kept accidentally moving through screens when sweaty towels swiped the screen while riding my trainer indoors.SCREENSome online reviews indicated that the Apex 2 Pro’s sapphire screen is slightly clearer and less reflective than the Vertix 2’s sapphire screen. I didn’t find that to be the case. In fact, I think the Vertix 2’s screen is ever so slightly clearer than the 2 Pro’s, but this is only something you’d notice when comparing the two watches side-by-side with indoor lighting.WHY I’M *NOT* KEEPING THIS WATCHAfter all that praise, you may be surprised to learn that I’m returning this watch to buy a Vertix 2. If the decision was only between the Fenix 7 and the Apex 2 Pro, I’d be keeping it. But I’ve been borrowing a Vertix 2 for a while now and the Vertix 2 wins out over the 2 Pro in a few areas. First, it has a two months battery life which is absolutely staggering. That’s a quality of life feature that I can’t give up now that I've had it. Second, I prefer how the Vertix 2 fits on my wrist. At 6’3” and over 200 lbs, I’m not a small person. I think the Apex 2 Pro will fit better for most people. Third, I prefer how the Vertix 2 looks. As vain as this is, the Vertix 2 is more rugged whereas the 2 Pro has a sleeker look. If I was still working in offices and wearing suits, I’d almost certainly go with the 2 Pro for its more professional appearance and its ability to more easily fit under tight sleeves.

Why did you pick this product vs others?:Coros' watches are hard to beat at the price point. They offer a lot of functionality hundreds of dollars less than competitors (basically just Garmin). I normally run 20-30 miles a week and only have to charge the watch every other week. I think a huge advantage of this watch is that it is light and more compact than competitors - I can't imagine running with a bulky aluminum watch.Functionality:The watch functions as expected - I find the ability to draw routes in the Coros app or pull from Strava and follow them on my wrist to be very handy. The watch also has a lot of customization around designing what screens you want to be displayed depending on the activity which is very nice.

I have wanted an outdoor sports watch for a while. After doing some research, this was a great and more affordable option on the market. It is great for tracking steps, calories, elevation, HR and exercise/activity. Offline maps are available also - helps when you are backpacking and don’t have service. Overall happy with my purchase!

I often tell people coros it just freeken works. Look if you want to do your banking, read your horoscope, and call your wife's boyfriend on Facebook messenger while training get a Garmin. If you want to run.... get a coros.

I was attracted to this watch purely because of the way it looks. I absolutely love the rose gold and the sapphire dial...just makes it look more like a proper watch than a sports watch and very high end. The interface is more like Garmin than apple watch, and has clearly been geared towards outdoor running, so if that is your sport this may be a great choice.Pros:1. Super good looking - feels more like a real watch than a sporta watch and appears to be very well constructed.2. Great running functions, including training load and race time predictor, along with training progrMs from 5k to marathon that you can load directly onto the watch.3. Detailed sleep tracking and still has the ability to measure resting heart rate and SPO2 intermittently, which produces great battery life.Cons:1. More difficult to find compatible watch bands. I like switching them out a lot so this is a bummer for me, but I have found some good ones on Amazon (just order 20mm quick release bands)2. Very pricey for the level of functionality - this is more expensive than my Garmin was and functionality is more basic, but esthetics were my primary reason for buying.3. Alarm vibration is a little weak - I have never not woken up but tend to set an extra alarm just in case because I wear earplugs when I sleep.

Great watch for quality to price value! I really like the training and sports programs included. There are still a few minor software things I wished were different, e.g. being able to customize what you see where (especially when using the mirror function on the phone: it would be great to be able to see my power instant value on the navigation also, along with the speed, slope estimate and what not...). I would give it a 4.5, but since it is not possible, 5/5.

Have been using for three years now. Great stats and app. Lengthy battery life. It sometimes skips laps in an indoor pool.