Review - multisport watch COROS PACE2

Why COROS PACE 2?

As a runner and person, I crave new technologies that move training efficiency higher and higher. So logically, I reached for the STRYD WIND its wonderfull toy, which I wrote about HERE. However, this wattmeter didn't want to be very friendly with my new Garmin FR 235 watch. During the year of running with a wattmeter, these watches appeared on the e-shop www.s1w.cz and promised that coveted cooperation with STRYD without the need to install an external application and other tasks.

COROS PACE 2 & STRYD WIND

So I reached for a new brand right after the first batch in the Czech Republic! I will update this review and add new information while using the watch.

The story of the legend:

The COROS brand is betting on its engaging advertisement with running celebrity Eliud Kipchoge. When overcoming the "Sub 2" marathon in less than two hours, this phenomenal Kenyan runner had COROS PACE 2 on his hands. Kipchoge literally said: "I can't train without a watch. I'm a marathoner and when I run a long run I wear only the lightest and most comfortable things. COROS currently offers the lightest watch (29-35 g depending on the type of strap), which is good for me. Running with them is the same feeling like running without a watch! " I definitely have to agree with the last sentence. I was really worried if my watch had slipped out of my hand because I can´t feel them on my wrist.

Parameters:

Pace 2 cost a surprising 240 USD when launched. With its parameters, it easily outperforms the models of competing brands in the same price category.

• Display size 1.2 ", 240 x 240 (64 colors)

• Always-On Memory LCD display type

• Corning® Glass surface

• Fiber-reinforced polymer frame

• Fiber-reinforced polymer cover

• Silicone / Nylon strap

• Quick release strap 20mm Size42 × 42 × 11.7mm,

• Weight with silicone strap 35 g, Weight with nylon strap 29 g

• Bluetooth phone connectivity

• Connectivity with ANT + / Bluetooth accessories

• GPS satellite chip, GLONASS, Beidou (Galileo with future firmware upgrade)

• Sensors Optical heart rate monitor, Barometric altimeter, Accelerometer, Compass, Gyroscope, Thermometer

• Waterproof 5ATM (50 Meters / 164 Feet)

• Operating temperatures -4 ° F to 140 ° F (-20 ° C to 60 ° C)

• Charging time Less than 2 hours

• Battery Life 20 days of continuous use, 30 hours in Full GPS mode, 60 hours in UltraMax mode

• Supported activities Running, treadmill, track, bike, indoor bike, swimming pool, open water, triathlon, cardio, gym, GPS cardio, strength, training

The thermometer is useless

During the first month of testing, the thermometer proved useless. If you have a watch on hand, the temperature is always around 78F - 86F (25 - 30 ° C). To find out the actual air temperature, it is necessary to take off the watch and leave it out of the reach of body heat for a while.

Optical heart rate monitor

It works better than it did with the Garmin FR 235 or Vivoactive 3. When you put the watch on your sleeve, the heart rate drops to zero and it does not invent "probable values". However, the accuracy of hand heart rate measurement is as poor as that of all other sports tester brands compared to the HRM chest strap. When the HR rises, the delay is somewhere around 5 seconds. The decline is delayed by more than 8 seconds and at beats above 170, the measurement of the decline is completely out of reality.

Settings and first activity

I do not want to write a review as a salesman or ambassador who would like to convince you of the perfection of this watch. This is followed by a free capture of feelings and knowledge from the first touches, runs and discoveries.

they were telling the truth! The weight of my watch took my breath away. Indeed, they are so light that one is afraid of being crushed. I immediately set about setting up and pairing with for the first time app COROS.

After setting up the application, you will find that it is a bit "poor" against Garmin Connect.

However, the first feeling of a "poor" application disappears after the first run and subsequent data analysis. This is ahead of me, so back to the application and its capabilities.

The first part is purely analytical and contains the following sections:

• Calories burned

• Total training time

• Number of steps

• Development of heart rate over time

• Information about your sleep. Each metric can be opened and studied in detail.

On the same screen you will also find the so-called Training load, ie a kind of graph showing the level of your overtraining. This is a useless metric for MYSASY users, but every beginner will certainly appreciate it. The last indicator is the Fitness index and fitness level, which based on your recent performance predicts your VO2 max, limit "threshold" rate and expected heart rate LTHR, ie Lactate threshold heart rate.

The second part contains a history of your activities. Here you can clearly filter your activities or view statistics of all activities on the timeline.

The third part contains user data, your personal records, scheduled training units and training plans, and the Muscle heatmap function. This feature is quite interesting if you are exercising without a personal trainer. Based on the selected exercises, it shows you over time in the silhouette of the figure which muscle parts you involved the most and which you forgot. It is therefore a kind of control mechanism that should help prevent overloading of some often loaded muscles.

The fourth and last screen contains detailed watch settings. Workout data for me is a TOP feature. I conveniently pre-set the individual data screens for all training modes from the phone. One click and 5 seconds of upload and the watch has taken over all the settings. In addition, you can freely change the "look of the watch" here. Edit your watch menus, edit your training schedules and, last but not least, update your GPS data! Just one click to update the GPS before training and your watch will load the GPS within 5 seconds.

STRYD compatibility

That's why I bought this watch. So how does it work? I admit that I didn't even have time to register how the two devices actually paired. In the MENU / SYSTEM on the watch, I selected an external sensor via ANT + / BLTH and Stryd appeared in an instant. I confirmed the pairing and that's it. Really? No external application? No watch teasing? On the first run, I checked the current power and the average power for the last 30 seconds, and I followed the cadence of the steps to see how the watch displays the metrics and everything seemed flawless. When I paired the CORROS application and the STRYD Power Center, the watch automatically took over the values ​​of the performance zones from the stry and therefore evaluates the wattage on the basis of this data.

Unfortunately, for a detailed analysis of the measured values, you will have to go either directly to the Stryd power center or import data into other platforms such as training peaks or FOOD (all can be automatically paired and the data will be sent immediately after the activity). The COROS mobile application cannot recalculate the sections you have selected and will show you a "mere" dry list of what happened during the performance.

However, if watts are your main metric, that's not a shortcoming, because you spend most of your time analyzing data in the Power Center.

COROS application summary

I find the application to be very useful and sufficient for runners who do not want to associate online and they only want a clear list of activities and detailed feedback on their performance. Forget about collecting badges and "likes or kudos" from friends, you're on your own ... I wanted to point out the impossibility of choosing more "masks" for the map, but before I dug to write, this shortcoming disappeared. In update 2.36.0, COROS added to the map not only the strength and direction of the wind, but also the humidity, temperature and prevailing weather at the training site. They also added map masks: Satellite, Outdoors, winter, Cali Terrain and Dark.

It can be seen that COROS is still working on its application and releases updates practically every month.

Preliminary conclusion

As I use the watch and make friends, I will expand this review. I will gradually add details about the construction and recording of training plans, controllability of the watch in the field and the accuracy of measuring the conquered track, because here COROS promises "smart corrections" GPS measurements, see the graphics below. Thanks for the patient reading and don't forget to subscribe :-)

Positive:

• Weight max 35g

• Price performance ratio

• STRYD compatibility

• Only two control buttons

• Intuitive lighting

• Long battery life (tested at an average temperature of -9 ° C, the watch is exposed to a gust of wind on the jacket sleeve. It managed 26 hours on a single charge with the STRYD and HR belt attached)

Negative:

• impossibility of detailed data analysis

• Absence of an online platform

• Difficult construction of training plans

• Difficult handling of the wheel button in gloves

• At present, it is almost impossible to get a protective glass on the display

• Inability to edit activities