COROS Vertix 2S

COROS just announced the Vertix 2S, an upgraded version of the high-end, all-out adventure watch. There are several minor improvements, including a new heart rate sensor which sadly reduces battery life overall.

DC Rainmaker has the full product review with the overall take-away:

As for upgrading from an existing Vertix 2? Probably not much of a reason. But if you’ve got a Vertix 1 or APEX series, this is definitely a solid upgrade.

COROS entered the marked a few years ago with a huge splash, competitive pricing, and dizzying speed of updates and product announcements. This clearly paid dividend and they were able to gain marketshare at a time when other watch makers (mainly Suunto) were struggling. Now it feel the product line is a bit more established and settled in, and as things are shaking out many of the competitors have now responded. As such COROS doesn’t feel quite like such a positive outlier anymore. Still solid, still a worthwhile product to consider, but not the darling on the block anymore.

Personally I was never a fan of the Vertix design language, that fake industrial bezel felt unnecessary and over the top burly to me, I’m curious if and how this product evolves in the coming years.