Track Your Adventures With the GPS-Heavy COROS VERTIX 2 Watch

The COROS VERTIX 2 GPS adventure watch uses aviation-grade GPS and can run for months without a recharge.

The COROS VERTIX 2 makes use of major GPS networks and a big battery. It’s a beefed-up way to track your movements in low-reception areas, like climbing canyon walls or between skyscrapers.

This watch also lets you store 32 GB of maps in different formats so you can navigate your position and elevation in rough terrain. And it offers new smartwatch features not seen on previous models from the brand.

COROS VERTIX 2 GPS Adventure Watch

• All-satellite dual-frequency GNSS technology
• Battery lasts for 60 days of regular use or 140 hours in standard GPS mode
• Landscape, Topo, and Hybrid global offline mapping
• Measures performance training and daily metrics

The VERTIX 2 improves on its predecessor with a new chipset and processor that performs 20% faster, according to COROS.

And as long as your adventure takes you where one of the five major satellite systems works, the VERTIX 2 can track your movements. That’s thanks to its ability to communicate with satellites via dual-frequency, an option found more often in aviation products than in watches. 

As one of our testers noted, this can come in handy when your position is blocked by a steep rock wall, dense forest, or a city with tall buildings. 

The watch also offers global offline mapping in Landscape, Topo, and Hybrid modes. Users can download topo maps by region for free from COROS.com. The VERTIX 2 can hold 32 GB of data for your maps, workouts, and other adventures. 

GPS Modes & Runtimes

The battery life of the COROS VERTIX 2 is among the best, if not the best, we’ve seen on GPS watches. 

Of course, the battery life depends on what functions are running and what kind of navigation tracking the watch pings. With tracking off, the battery can last up to 60 days of everyday use.

In its most battery-intensive mode, the VERTIX 2 pings GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, and QZSS at the same time in dual-frequency. Even then, the battery can last up to 50 hours.

In standard full GPS mode, the VERTIX 2 can run up to 140 hours. And it can last up to 240 hours in UltraMax GPS mode because the watch checks in on GPS every 2 minutes and uses your movements to estimate from there.  

With a charge time of under 2 hours, you should be able to fill the battery while you nap. 

A Smarter Watch

The VERTIX 2 can measure your heart rate with some of the latest tech in smartwatches. It measures ECG (electrocardiogram) and heart rate variability (HRV) through your wrist. (HRV is a modern metric for measuring your body’s response to workloads and its ability to recover.)

In a first for the brand, the VERTIX 2 can store and play music and podcasts on wireless earbuds via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi when indoors. 

Like its COROS brethren, the VERTIX 2 can track and set alerts for metrics like cadence, elevation, heart rate, pace, power, etc. Bluetooth allows it to work with connected treadmills, trainers, and rowers to pull power, speed, and heart rate data. Of course, you can connect it to the COROS Pod as well.

It even works as a remote control for Insta360 cameras for out-of-reach selfies.

Look & Feel

The watch body is made from titanium alloy, and its 1.4-inch LCD screen is protected by coated sapphire glass. The new display has a reported 16% higher resolution. Workout displays can show up to eight data fields per screen as you scroll.

A digital dial on the side of the bezel is the main method of navigating through the watch’s different modes, while a back button allows you to undo your last selection. This dial is also how you can zoom in and out of maps. 

The touchscreen will let you move the map around the screen, giving you on-wrist wayfinding.

The watch comes with a silicone band, but a nylon band can be added for $29. 

This article is sponsored by COROS. Find out more about the VERTIX 2 online.

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