Coros, the sports tech company best known in triathlon circles for its smartwatches and heart rate monitors, today made a move into the cycling market with the launch of an all-new GPS head unit that looks to challenge the best cycling computers.
Called the Dura, it’s a similar size to the Wahoo Elemnt Roam and mounts with a Garmin-style quarter-turn mount, but it does things a little differently than we’re used to.
Instead of filling the available space with as large a screen as possible, Coros deliberately used a smaller screen – 2.7 inches corner to corner – and filled the top third of the top with high-efficiency solar panels. The result, Coros says, is battery life that can run for 120 hours straight.
Under the right conditions, it could even end a ride with more charge than when it started, as the solar panels generate up to two hours of battery life for every hour of direct sunlight.
The screen itself is a Memory-in-Pixel color touchscreen with adaptive backlighting. It features fully customizable fields with all the data you’d expect to see in a top-end GPS cycling computer, such as speed, distance, time, power, heart rate, route functions and hundreds of advanced statistics.
Visually, it is a striking device with an aerodynamically shaped black plastic housing that is narrower and shallower at the front. It measures 3.92 inches x 2.39 inches x 0.62 inches and weighs 97 grams. A USB-C charging port is located on the back under a weatherproof cover.
The biggest aesthetic difference from the competition is the large digital watch face on the right, which mimics the functionality of the similar watch faces found on the brand’s smartwatches. This also doubles as an ‘ok’ button, and is accompanied by a ‘back/lap’ button just below it.
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It can access GPS, Glonass, Galileo, Beidou and OZSS satellite systems to get a location fix, and built-in algorithms will enable and disable the necessary features to optimize battery life. It outputs both the original L1 and the latest L5 GPS signals for a balance of reliability and accuracy in dense coverage or built-up areas.
Additional features include a built-in bike alarm and crash detection functionality, an overview of upcoming climbs and smart mid-ride rerouting using Google Maps (via phone connection), using live data such as traffic and road closures.
It can connect to the usual apps including TrainingPeaks, Strava, Komoot and RideWithGPS to download routes or workouts and then upload rides.
As expected, it also pairs with the Coros app, which allows users to configure the device and perform firmware updates. The Coros app also has a free-to-use built-in Training Hub, which, when paired with a Coros smartwatch, connects your rides to bigger picture health data including sleep, HRV and recovery.
Prices and availability
The Coros Dura costs £249.00 / US$249.00 / €289.00 / AU$449.00. This puts it in line with the smaller Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, cheaper than the Roam. It also means it’s cheaper than Garmin’s non-touchscreen Edge 540, as well as the Hammerhead Karoo.
Orders can be placed right at launch, but units won’t ship until July 15.
For such a competitive price, with its wide feature list and long battery life, the Dura looks very competitive in this area. It is the cheapest touchscreen bicycle computer available. We have only taken it one ride so far and the first signals are positive.
Coros is still releasing regular firmware updates as it transitions from beta to a fully functional, consumer-oriented product, so a thorough review is of little value at this stage as the feature list will continually expand and extend the life of the battery will be adjusted slightly. Therefore, we will be sure to give our readers a full review once the firmware updates have slowed down and the product is a better reflection of the final product.