As we reported earlier this month from Unbound Gravel, sports GPS watch maker COROS is entering the cycling market with its “Dura” Solar GPS bike computer, which boasts a staggering 120+ hours of battery life.
Founded in 2016, COROS is relatively new to the sports tech industry, but has quickly gained a devoted following among endurance athletes thanks to its high-performance features, robust training programs and impressive battery life.
“We’ve often been asked when we’re going to create a cycling computer. While we’ve always been passionate about cycling, we didn’t want to develop a new head unit without creating something else,” the brand says.
With the Dura, COROS aims to provide athletes with the “perfect cycling adventure and training companion” and specifically set out to serve gravel racers, FKT hunters, brevet riders and ultra-long distance adventurers.
“Simplicity is the guiding principle of the new cycle computer. COROS prioritized the rider’s experience by targeting several pain points,” the brand says. “From seemingly endless battery life, to using Google Maps for navigation, to lightning-fast upload speeds, and so much more.”
The unit’s most notable feature is its 120-hour battery life, which operates independently of the solar panels. As with Garmin Solar products, the solar panels on this device extend battery life rather than recharge the battery. COROS claims that an hour of direct sunlight can add up to two hours of driving time.
Underneath the solar panels is a 2.7-inch MIP color touchscreen. For those who prefer touch, there’s a wheel and button on the side of the device to easily interact 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 inches).
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COROS promises to provide all the features cyclists expect from a GPS head unit, complete with a robust COROS training platform that is accessible via a mobile app and desktop Training Hub and is free to device users. The service allows athletes to analyze performance metrics, communicate with their coach, create personalized workouts and training plans, and more. It’s like having TrainingPeaks on your watch or cycling computer.
“Our goal is to create products that solve the problems of athletes – whether it’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 best. a companion for adventure and training,” says Lewis Wu, co-founder of COROS.
The all-new COROS Dura is available for pre-order from June 17 for $249 / £249 and will begin shipping to customers on July 15.
Cycling Weekly got a preview unit to test, 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
- Elegant, aerodynamic design
- Excellent price: $249 / £249 / €289
- Battery size: 960 mAh battery
- Battery life: 120 hours without solar power (70 hours GPS in Dual-Frequency mode)
- Solar Addition: 1 hour of direct sunlight adds up to 2 hours of extra driving time
- The battery is fully charged in just 2 hours
- Screen: 2.7-inch MIP color touchscreen with a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels
- Additional control using the wheel on the side and the Back/Lap button
- On-board sensors: barometric altimeter, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, temperature sensor
- Storage capacity: 32 GB
- Operating Temperature: -20C (-4F) to 60C (140F)
- Adaptive backlight
- In-app route builder
- Smart redirect (via app)
- Standard quarter-turn interface*
- Bluetooth/ANT+/WiFi connection
- Dual-frequency GPS (L1+L5)
- Automatic GPS mode: GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, Beidou, QZSS
- IP67 waterproof
- Crash detection
- Bike alarm
- Live tracking
- Notification
- Synchronization of third-party applications
- Free workouts and training plans available on the app and desktop platform
- Together with the COROS watch, the ecosystem offers a 24/7 profile of your fitness and training status incl. Sleep, HRV and daily stress data
*note: We found that the unit fit quite loosely in 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 back of the DURA after the first production batch of units so they will fit more tightly on all K-Edge mounts.
What it doesn’t have (at the time of pre-release testing)
(Image credit: COROS)
- Street names or POIs on device maps
- Detailed navigation
- Integration with Ride with GPS
- Redirect to device
- “Climbing” function.
- Temperature, weather, wind data
- Live segments of Strava
- Summary bike data
- Location on the unit
What will be soon
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
- Turn-by-turn navigation (available at release)
- Driving with GPS integration (available from this week)
- Cycling activities and full training creation support on the COROS Training Hub (available from this week)
- Outdoor temperature data (available from July 1)
- The “Climb” function in track tracking will be improved and will better display long climbs
- Strava live segments
- Shorter sync time for sending Strava routes to the COROS app
- Control media for playback on your phone via Bluetooth
- Optimization for Turn-by-Turn to be more responsive at high speeds
“As with all COROS products, we will continue to regularly update the product with additional software updates, intermittently throughout the year and beyond,” says Coros.
First impressions:
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
We only received our test units a week before launch, so our time with the Dura GPS cycling computer was short, but we’ll share first impressions now and a full review later this summer.
Initial impressions out of the box were that the unit is surprisingly sleek and light considering its claimed battery life and range of capabilities. In comparison, the Dura is smaller than the Garmin Edge 1040 and the more similar Hammerhead Karoo, but thinner.
The Dura has a decently large color display – though it lacks both size and graphics compared to, say, the latest Hammerhead Karoo – and a solar panel that’s much larger than we’ve seen on Garmin Solar products. The dial on the side of the unit is a nod to the brand’s horological heritage. In wristwatches, this button is called the crown and traditionally had the essential function of setting the time and winding the watch. The crown on the GPS bike computer allows you to navigate through the unit’s settings and pages.
Of course, the real star is the battery life. After a week of use, including one eight-hour adventure, the battery is still over 70%.
There is always a learning curve when moving to a new ecosystem of products, and I encourage users to spend some time familiarizing themselves with Dura and the companion app in particular. Many of the device’s settings and customizations can be accessed through the app and cannot be accessed through the unit itself.
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
I experienced a few hiccups in my admittedly few test drives that left me somewhat stunned. However, this is largely due to the fact that many features are not available until the time of public launch or delivery. These issues included the Ride’s lack of GPS integration (which will be fixed by launch time), slow-responsive zoom in and out buttons on the touch screen, and the device’s inability to find my power meter or electronic groupset.
Its navigation and routing capabilities were also not what I expected. The device map does not display any street or trail names or mark any points of interest. At the time of my writing, turn-by-turn navigation didn’t even work yet. The route was to follow like a line on a map with nothing else. However, COROS says turn-by-turn navigation will be fully functional at launch.
As someone who loves all-day long-distance bike adventures, I’m currently most interested in the Dura for its redirection capabilities, or rather its limitations.
COROS claims: “If you change your mind while driving, look up new destinations on your phone or draw a new route, COROS DURA will sync the updated route in seconds.” This may work well in the city, but it falls short in remote backcountry environments where there is no cell phone reception.
The Dura is one of the few computers in its class that does not have device redirection capability. Instead, it relies on an app and a cellular connection or WiFi.
“Most of the time you need this kind of rerouting help, you’re in a denser urban environment with multiple routes to the same destination (where you’re likely to have cellular coverage),” Coros recounts Cycling Weekly.
“Conversely, when you’re out in the backcountry or in more rural areas where you may not have cell coverage, it’s usually pretty easy to find your way back on the route by looking at the map if you take a wrong turn.”
From experience, I have to disagree with this logic. More than once I found myself in a wooded area, far from any civilization, staring at five identical looking gravel roads and wondering which one would lead me in the direction I actually wanted to go. In these situations, I’ve come to rely on device redirection or my watch’s ability to direct me to the nearest POI to get back on track.
Additionally, the redirection is based on Google Maps, which generally does not suggest or recognize gravel trails. It prefers paved, familiar roads. As such, I recently found myself diverted onto a heavily traveled highway rather than the beautiful, quiet gravel roads my route was meant to take me on.
Fortunately, COROS has revealed that it plans to bring the redirect feature to offline maps as soon as possible.
The Dura battery life is truly amazing and sets a new standard in the market. Its price is also highly competitive. Other solar products carry a price tag of at least $100 more, sometimes as much as $500 more like the Garmin Edge 1040 Solar.
Garmin and Wahoo have long dominated the GPS cycle computer space, 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 lag during long-distance, off-road adventures where route changes, cycling situations and spontaneous decisions are inevitable.
It is important to note again that these limitations result from using a pre-release unit. Consumable units will not be shipped until July 15th. That’s why I and our other testers will spend the summer testing these units and bring you a full review.