As reported earlier this month by Unbound Gravel, GPS sports watch manufacturer COROS is entering the cycling market with its “Dura” Solar GPS cycling computer, boasting an astonishing battery life of over 120 hours.
Founded in 2016, COROS is relatively new to the sports technology industry but has quickly gained a devoted following among endurance athletes thanks to its high-end features, robust training programs and impressive battery life.
“We’ve often been asked when we would make a cycling computer. Although we have always been passionate about cycling, we didn’t want to develop a new head unit without creating something different,” the brand said.
With the Dura, COROS aims to provide athletes with “the ultimate cycling adventure and training companion” and has specifically set out to serve gravel racers, FKT hunters, certification riders and ultra-long-distance adventurers.
“Simplicity is the guiding principle for the new bike computer. COROS has put the riding experience first by addressing multiple pain points,” the brand said. “From seemingly endless battery life, to using Google Maps for navigation, to lightning-fast upload speeds and much more.”
The most notable feature of the device is its 120-hour battery life, which works independently of the solar panels. Like Garmin’s Solar products, the solar panels on this device extend battery life instead of charging the battery. COROS claims that one hour of direct sunlight can add up to two hours of driving time.
Below the solar panels is a 2.7-inch MIP color touchscreen. For those who prefer tactile controls, the side of the device contains a dial and button, allowing easy interaction with the computer’s many customizable pages. All this comes in a sleek and compact package, weighing just 97 grams and measuring 99.5 x 60.8 x 15.7 mm (3.92 x 2.39 x 0.62 in).
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COROS promises to offer all the features cyclists have come to expect from a GPS head unit, complemented by COROS’ robust training platform, which can be accessed via the mobile app and the desktop Training Hub and is free for device users. This service allows athletes to analyze performance data, communicate with their coach, create personalized workouts and training plans, and more. It’s like receiving TrainingPeaks with your purchase of a watch or cycling computer.
“Our goal is to create products that solve problems for athletes – whether that’s to help them train, explore the world or simply bring them closer to the sport they already love. COROS DURA is a clear extension of this ethos and is truly the ultimate adventure and training companion,” said Lewis Wu, co-founder of COROS.
The all-new COROS Dura will be available to pre-order from June 17 for $249/£249 and will ship to customers from July 15.
Cycling Weekly received a pre-release unit for testing, so let’s take a closer look at the Dura.
What is has
(Image credit: COROS)
- Size: 99.5 x 60.8 x 15.7 mm (3.92 x 2.39 x 0.62 in)
- Weight: 97g main unit, 44g holder
- Sleek, aerodynamic design
- Excellent price: $249 / £249 / EUR 289
- Battery size: 960 mAh battery
- Battery life: 120 hours excluding solar power (70 GPS hours in Dual-Frequency mode)
- Solar energy added: 1 hour of direct sunlight provides 2 hours of extra driving time
- The battery is fully charged in just 2 hours
- Screen: 2.7 inch MIP color touch screen with a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels
- Additional control via rotary knob on the side and Back/Lap button
- Built-in sensors: barometric altimeter, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, temperature sensor
- Storage capacity: 32 GB
- Working Temperature: -20C (-4F) to 60C (140F)
- Adaptive backlight
- Route builder in the app
- Smart diversion (via app)
- Standard quarter turn interface*
- Bluetooth/ANT+/WiFi connectivity
- Dual frequency GPS (L1+L5)
- Automatic GPS mode: GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, Beidou, QZSS
- IP67 water resistance
- Crash detection
- Bicycle alarm
- Follow live
- notifications
- Third-party app sync
- Free workouts and training plans available in app and desktop platform
- Together with a COROS watch, the ecosystem provides a 24/7 profile of your fitness and training status incl. data on sleep, HRV and daily stress
*Note: We found that the unit fit quite loosely into my stem-specific K-Edge mount, which the COROS rep told us was a known issue. COROS has since increased the size of the tabs on the rear of the DURA after the initial production run of units to better fit all K-Edge mounts.
What it doesn’t have (at the time of pre-release testing)
(Image credit: COROS)
- Street names or POI on device maps
- Turn-by-turn navigation
- Integration with Ride with GPS
- Redirection on the device
- “Climb” function
- Temperature, weather, wind data
- Strava live segments
- Lap overview data
- Location on unit
What’s coming soon
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
- Turn-by-turn navigation (available at release)
- Driving with GPS integration (available this week)
- Cycling activities and full training building support on COROS Training Hub (available from this week)
- Outside temperature measurements (available from July 1)
- A “Climb” feature when following routes will be improved and long climbs will be better displayed
- Strava Live segments
- Shorter sync time for sending Strava routes to the COROS app
- Media controls for phone playback via Bluetooth
- Optimizations for Turn-by-Turn to make it more responsive at high speeds
“As with all COROS products, we will continue to update the product regularly with more software updates over the course of the year and beyond,” says Coros.
First impression:
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
We only received our test units a week before launch and so our time with the Dura GPS bike computer has been short, but we’ll now share our first impressions and a full-fledged review later this summer.
First impressions upon unboxing were that the device is surprisingly slim and light considering the claimed battery life and range of features. For comparison, the Dura is smaller than a Garmin Edge 1040 and looks more like the Hammerhead Karoo, but thinner.
The Dura has a decently sized, colorful screen – although it’s lacking in size and graphics compared to the likes of the latest Hammerhead Karoo – and a solar panel that’s much larger than what we’ve seen on Garmin’s Solar products. The dial on the side of the device is a nod to the brand’s watchmaking heritage. On wristwatches this button is called a crown and traditionally had the essential function of setting the time and winding the watch. The ‘crown’ on the GPS bicycle computer allows you to navigate through the device’s settings and pages.
The real star, of course, is the battery life. After a week of use, including one eight-hour adventure, the battery is still above 70%.
There’s always a learning curve when moving to a new ecosystem of products, and I recommend users take some time to get to know Dura and its companion app in particular. Many device settings and customizations are accessible through the app and are not accessible through the device itself.
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
I encountered a few hiccups during my admittedly few test drives, which left me somewhat disappointed. However, this is largely due to the fact that many features are not available until the public launch or ship time. These hiccups included the lack of integration with Ride with GPS (which will be fixed at launch), the slow-responsive zoom in and out buttons on the touchscreen, and the unit’s inability to locate my power meter or electronic groupsets.
The navigation and route options were also not what I expected. The map on the device does not show street or path names or indicate points of interest. At the time of writing this, the turn-by-turn navigation was also not working. The route there could be followed like a line on a map with little else. However, COROS states that detailed turn-by-turn navigation will be fully functional at the time of launch.
As someone who enjoys all-day remote cycling adventures, my main concern with Dura right now is its ability to change routes, or more accurately, its limitations.
COROS claims: “If you change your mind mid-ride, search for new destinations on your phone or draw a new route, COROS DURA will sync the updated route in seconds.” This may work well in a city, but falls short in remote inland areas where there is no cell phone reception.
The Dura is one of the few computers in its class that does not offer rerouting capabilities on the device. Instead, it relies on the app and cellular connection or WiFi.
“The idea here is that *usually* when you need this kind of rerouting assistance, you’re in a denser urban environment with multiple routes to the same destination (where you likely have cell coverage),” Coros tells Cycling every week.
“Conversely, if you are inland or in more rural areas where you may not have mobile coverage, it is usually quite easy to find your way back on the route by looking at the map if you take a wrong turn.”
From experience, I disagree with this logic. More than once I found myself in a wooded area, far away from any civilization, staring at five identical-looking gravel paths, wondering which one would take me in the direction I actually wanted to go. In these situations, I’ve come to rely on a new route on the device or my watch’s ability to direct me to the nearest POI to get me back on track.
In addition, the diversion is made possible by Google Maps, which generally does not suggest or even recognize gravel paths. Priority is given to paved, well-known roads. As such, I was recently diverted onto a heavily trafficked highway instead of the beautiful, quiet dirt roads my route would take me.
Fortunately, COROS revealed that it plans to bring redirect functionality to offline maps as soon as possible.
The Dura’s battery life is truly astonishing and sets a new standard in the market. The price is also very competitive. Other solar products have a price tag of at least $100 more, sometimes as much as $500 more, such as the Garmin Edge 1040 Solar.
Garmin and Wahoo have long dominated the GPS cycling computer market, so the emergence of a strong competitor would be a welcome development. However, impressive battery life is of little use if the device’s navigation capabilities fall short during long-distance and off-road adventures, where rerouting, bike walks and spontaneous decisions are unavoidable.
It is important to note again that these limitations come from using a pre-release unit. Consumer units won’t ship until July 15th. Therefore, I and our other testers will be spending all summer testing these units, and will report back with a full review.