Coros apex review - best fitness watch around
By K10 Patel / Nov 13th, 2023
Coros is a reputable company just like Garmin, Suunto, Apple, Polar, Samsung, and Fitbit. This review specifically pertains to the Coros Apex GPS watch which I have been using since April 2020. The Coros Apex Premium is a 46mm watch that cost me about $350. Note that the 46mm pertains to the diameter of the watch which is about 1.8 inches.
Here are my pros and cons.
Pros
1. Battery Life
The Coros Apex 46mm has mastered the battery longevity. It’s been over three years and I’m still charging my Coros Apex every three weeks. It all depends on how much you utilize your fitness device, so to put that into perspective, I use the GPS for about 3 to 4 runs and about one strength training workout every week. Charging a fitness watch every 20 to 23 days is unheard of so this is one of the best features.
A great example of this to put the battery life in the spotlight is my 5-mile run from a few weeks ago. I usually charge my watch when I have about 10% battery life left, however, I had forgotten this time around so I started my workout with a 9% battery remaining. After I completed my 5-mile run, my battery life was at 7% which was surprising to know that after 50 minutes of GPS use on the watch, I had only used up 2% of the battery power.
2. Accuracy
The Coros Apex has very good accuracy when it comes to tracking the route of your run, measuring steps and heart rates.
3. Watch Material and Quality.
The Coros Apex is durable with a titanium alloy case with a 1.2-inch sapphire cover (sapphire is a hard crystalline type of material which is scratch resistant). There is one dial on the upper right side and one push button on the lower right side. I especially like the scroll feature with the dial – It’s super convenient and you can scroll back and forth with ease.
The wrist band is made out of silicone. An additional bonus for this watch is that I can purchase different color wrist bands and interchange them as I want. I have the different shades of the black, grey, orange, blue, green, and neon bands.
4. Syncing
The sync from the watch to my android and to other third party apps (such as Strava) is very easy. In over three years of using the Coros Apex Premium GPS watch, I have only had a sync issue once where my android bluetooth connection wouldn’t pick up the sync from the watch in which event I had to uninstall the Coros app and reinstall it. Otherwise, the sync has been very fast and easy to use. By very fast, I mean within approximately three to six seconds.
5. Workout features
There are 22 different type of workouts you can track on the Coros Apex. Of the 22 different type of activities, the eight I utilize are Run, Indoor Run, Trail Run, Track Run, Hike, Bike, Gym Cardio, GPS Cardio, Indoor Rower, and Strength. I use all the running workout features and I like the data the watch displays while on the run or when looking on the app. Things that my Coros Apex give me data on are Cadence, Heart Rate, Stride Length, Running Power, Elevation, and Pace.
The remainder of the workout types available are related to winter sport activities, swimming, and other miscellaneous activities that I don’t use. Nevertheless, the vast amount of running, walking and gym options available are desirable.
Cons
1. Treadmill Running
I seldom run on a treadmill since I enjoy running outdoors, however, the Coros Apex does not track your stationary run in the same spot very well. Every time I have used the Coros Apex to track my distance for a treadmill run, the watch always underestimates the distance.
2. Sleep Data
While the heart rate accuracy during sleep is tracked well, the Coros Apex only tracks sleep once. For example, if I go to sleep at 9PM and wake up at 3AM, my Coros will track that. I then go about doing my early morning activity for 90 minutes and if I go back to sleep from 430AM to 730AM, the Coros will not count that as sleep or track it. The same is true for naps during afternoons.
If you take a one-hour nap from noon to 1PM, the Coros will NOT know that you are sleeping or track it as sleep. The Coros Apex needs to get smarter and this needs to be fixed in future models. The Coros Apex only tracks sleep during your normal sleeping window you provide it. Also, you cannot edit your sleep manually in the Coros App. Due to the sleep tracking limitations, this is a major con for the Coros Apex.
3. Website Data Not Available
The Coros App is amazing and is very user friendly in navigating everything it possesses. One thing it does NOT have going for it is a website showing you everything you see in the app. There are work-arounds for getting data imported/exported, however, if you need a website url just like the Coros app, you will be disappointed with any Coros watch device.
Final Take
I like simplicity and the pros I have mentioned in this review are all I need for a functioning watch so I love my Coros Apex Premium watch. I keep my watch on my left wrist 24/7. There are definitely drawbacks, however, those are not enough for me to move away from this GPS watch until I decide I want to try a new fitness device.
Besides the long battery life, the Coros Apex Premium is a durable watch, has numerous user-friendly workout features with accuracy, and has an easy-to-use app and watch display. If you don’t mind the $350 price tag and want to take a chance on this fitness device, I would definitely recommend it as a good GPS watch.